Who is your cell phone provider?

Cool Texan · 05-21-2003, 09:25 AM

Thinking about making a switch...curious who uses which carrier and how happy you are.

crabbait · 05-21-2003, 09:57 AM

Slight problem with the poll. There is no way to link the level of satifaction with the service to the provider.

I use Verizon and like it for the most part. The only thing I don't like is the fact that the folks with ATT can get a better signal at my buddie's cabin in the Van Duzer corridor. I can make calls but only if I stand in a certain area. They can wander around talking on the phone.

This is the only place that I have had a coverage problem but it is also the place that I would most like to have full coverage. Of course, there have been other times when the verizon coverage was beter than ATT. I guess for full coverage I need one of each, ATT and Verizon.

fish_on · 05-21-2003, 10:02 AM

I have ATT and sprint, we use sprint for our personal phones because the plan was the best for a shared minutes plan 2000 for $100. My ATT is for work because I travel to remote areas so much and the no roming feture is a lifesaver. ATT has better coverage but it costs more, they all have bad service and there is not one company that really cares if you are happy they have so many people signing up each day that to loose a few due to bad CS is worth it. Sad but true.

WaterDog · 05-21-2003, 10:13 AM

I have ATT and it's ok. My only issue is that where I springer fish I have lousy coverage and it's in the Willamette Valley. My Dad has Verizon and his phone works fine in the same hole. The only reason I went this way was that it was cheap through my wifes work. I didnt know about the dead spot until I already had the service.

Pilar · 05-21-2003, 10:58 AM

Verizon ...

Works at the Rockpile (17 miles offshore) and most everywhere else from BC to the Mexican border. It even works in Idaho.

I check in with my mate on my trips out to the perimeter. That way she knows how the crew and the boat are doing and this makes her less likely to worry.

The perimeter is about 30 miles offshore and it is where we find the big game like TUNA! and Halibut.

OceanBlue · 05-21-2003, 12:22 PM

I like Verizon, too. That way when I'm out on the Perimeter with Pilar, I can call folks and say, "Neener, neener! We got FEESH!"

Cool Texan · 05-21-2003, 02:48 PM

I was asking cuz right now I have Sprint. I can be in some parts of Portland, and get no signal. If we go to my wife's mom's house in Blodgett, I dont get signal...her old AT&T phone did. If we go on hikes, I'd like to think my phone would work in an emergency. My Sprint phone usually will not.

Busy · 05-21-2003, 03:25 PM

I am somewhat biased as I work for Verizon Wireless. Verizon has the largest digital network and also spends quite a bit on network quality. The other carriers also spend quite a bit on network quality. The way I see the current situation is this:

TDMA - limited life span of technology allowing limited access to # of users - more users=poorer service.

GSM - better technology but still limited - requires larger leaps of technology to get it to be able to handle 2nd and 3rd generation cellular.( Data transmission which equals new fun stuff - pictures/graphics/ color/games/ etc...)

CDMA - This technology was origionally adapted for military use by Qualcom. It was a latecomer to the 'digital' services but offered the best option for expansion and leapfrogging to the next level of technology without sacrificing equipment on the network level. This is why ATT and others have to build out a whole new GSM network to go to the new technology. The origional technology they went with ( TDMA etc) is not easily expandable to newer technology.

What this means to the customer - basically, the customer pays for the new equipment whenever there is a technology change - just look at computers. With different technologies phones need to be backwards capable - they have to operate on all the types of service offered from the carrier, e.g. analog, TDMA, GSM - three totally differrent technologies. This will open the door to more challenges with the network and problems for the customer placing and receiving calls. For Verizon, we operate on Analog 900 MHz, CDMA 900 and 1900 MHz frequencies. The leap
to third generation or '1X' technology is easier, more a matter of software than equipment change.

Not all phones are created equal - even on the same technology. A low end Nokia phone may not operate the same as a higher end Motorola or vice versa eben though they may run on the same technology.

Not all providers have the same coverage - ask around - lots! Check with the people that use the different providers in the areas where you know you will want service. They either will have it or not. Then make your decision. A cheap price plan does you no good if you can't place the call or receive the call.

Research with JD Powers and Consumer Reports. They will give you some information on what each carrier has to offer and how they rate with the public.

Check on-line resources including wireless technology websites. They will have more in depth information and clues as to what will be coming for each carrier.

Good luck with whomever you choose.

WildHawg · 05-22-2003, 05:54 AM

I have ATT and placed a call from the Chicken Ranch on May 8th, 35 miles from the Newport Bar.
I pay more with ATT (limited coverage area), but I can always get out.

Smj · 05-22-2003, 06:44 AM

We've always had Verizon and never had a problem with either customer service or getting and recieving calls. I don't think you can really expect a cell phone to work if your deep in the woods, that's the only time we can't get out. On the other hand when I'm forced to talk to people with ATT cell they always sound like they're on the water, or under the water, and they lose service while talking from around town! We don't do much traveling from state to state so I can't say who has the best service in that case, but if the service isn't dependable localy what good is it?

Smj

Silver Hilton · 05-22-2003, 12:17 PM

Just a little fun story that just happened to me.

After throwing my old phone into the Columbia in a fit of pique, I got a new one from ATT. After three weeks, it quit working right, emitting a high pitched squeal intermittantly. So I take it back to the ATT store to get a new one. The young fellow tells me that he can't do that - that he needs the original box and all the original paperwork to exchange the phone. I suggest that he just take the box and paperwork from the phone that I want him to give me. Nope, can't do that, wouldn't be raht. However, if I hold on to the phone for another week, then I wouldn't be returning the phone under their "buyers remorse" program, it would be under warrantee. I point out that, from where I sit, it looks like a warrantee return to me. No luck...

So I ask to speak to the manager, planning to point out that I spend about $800 a year on their services, etc. Well, the manager doesn't come out, but the young fella does, and starts typing on the computer. They found a way to give me a new phone. Seems, however, that they don't have the old phone that they sold me last time, so they have to give me a new phone. I also note that, as they are filling out the paperwork, he has a copy of my receipt in front of him. Five minutes before, he had insisted that there was no copy of the information around...

Hm-m-m-m. Just goes to show that being firm, insistant, polite, but a bit noisy can get you through a lot of customer service siutations.

Not sure whether this means ATT is a good vendor or a bad one, you be the judge. If I hadn't been just a bit pushy, I would not have gotten a replacement phone for my defective phone.

Barviewrocks · 05-22-2003, 07:53 PM

I have Verizon - I did an update recently which supposedly updates new antenna sites. It seems to be better now. Go figure. Has anyone else noticed anything different when you do an update? Or is this just a way for them to find out which phone you are using?

Busy · 05-24-2003, 12:39 PM

Verizon Wireless has a feature called Over The Air - it is a way to remotely update the information in the phone. A customer dials *228 from the handset while in digital mode (won't work in analog)- preferably in the home market - and the PRL - preferred roaming list - in the phone is updated. What this list is comprised of is a list of SID - system identification codes - of the preferred carriers that Verizon uses. In markets where Verizon is the carrier the phone will choose that code and run off cell sites that send out that code. When there is a market with Verizon and an secondary carrier the phone will first look for the Verizon Wireless SID code then for the secondary carrier's code. If you notice an improvement in 'coverage' after doing this it is because a new secondary carrier was added to the most recent version of this list that just got downloaded into the phone. The PRL - preferred roaming list - is updated pretty frequently so it is recommended that you update your phone every few months.

TAILOUT · 05-24-2003, 02:26 PM

I have verizon and my wife has at&t I bought the verizon through my company and it has awsome coverage but there billing isn t the best but it has been better the last six mnths. at&t on the other hand doesnt seem to have as good coverage in the areas I frequent but there billing has never been a problem for me.

Cool Texan · 05-24-2003, 05:16 PM

Well, my carrier is about to change. Went out to comparison shop plans and phones today. AT&T had more minutes for same money than Verizon...so that was good. The Verizon web site offered slightly lower prices for their phones than AT&T....so that was good.

Deciding factor...AT&T gave me one of the two phones I was interested in, for free. Gotta like having a new small phone for free. :grin: Now I can sell my old one on Ebay (which was free too) for $100, and I will be able to say that I have NEVER paid for a phone, have always had the cool phones, and have $100 in my pocket.

I love wireless companies.

Mr. Carp · 05-24-2003, 11:35 PM

I have T-Mobile and it is one of the cheapest I have found (as long as you don't go over the minutes for the month), but the coverage is poor because of them being a small provider compared to ATT and Sprint or even Verizon. It works well along major corridors and cities, but rural areas are a no-go.

Killertraylor · 05-27-2003, 11:43 PM

This topic really irks me. It seems a lot like the computer industry - they have the technology for cel phones to work everywhere, all the time, but they keep dragging it out to make more and more money. I have AT&T because my employer pays for it. It works ok, but I still lose coverage in places on I-5 which I deem totally unacceptable and I lose coverage between Portland and home in St. Helens which seems poor also. And forget about making calls between St. Helens and Astoria - too many dead zones to count.