Need New Cell Phone Carrier. Suggestions?

bqmassey

bqmassey

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Sep 18, 2006
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636
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Central Oregon
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Display name:
Brandon
I've been with Alltel for years. I was content, for the most part, with their service. They were the only carrier that serviced our area of Nebraska that I could get reception with in my very small town. Now I've moved to Houston (my family still lives in Nebraska), and Alltel doesn't provide service here, so I'm switching carriers.

I'm looking for suggestions for my next carrier. Ideally, I would get good coverage in Houston and usable coverage (probably from Alltel's tower) in my hometown in Nebraska, without roaming charges. Besides that, my next priorities are good customer service and reasonable rates.

I probably won't be getting a smart phone, as I can't really justify paying for the data plan, but it's a consideration.

Thoughts?
 
I found Verizon to work everyplace I've been. My personal experience show Verizon works in O'Dell, NE (down to the KS border), Crete, Lincoln, Omaha, and Beatrice. I was always able to make calls when I wanted on I-80 from the GWB (in NJ) all the way through to Lincoln, NE. The only place I've ever had problems is once on the MIT campus in Boston:dunno:. Everywhere else in Boston- no problems.
 
http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/

Depending on what you're looking for, T-Mobile may be it for ya. Cheap, good customer service (I'm not biased at all....), and decent phones.

SignalStrengthGrn.gif

1) Lincoln, NE
2) Houston, TX
 

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I just changed plans with T-Mobile. I've been with them for four years and service hasn't been too bad. The new plan is $39.99 for 1,000 minutes a month and unlimited nights and weekends. Roving has been relatively decent with few exceptions. For a smart phone, it's an extra $19.99 for unlimited web access and email.

Their customer service is based in the US but you risk running into people like Nick. :)
 
Any of the majors ought to work fine. I've used Verizon and T-Mobile in Houston with good results. AT&T has a good footprint, as does Sprint.

T-Mobile is the most user-friendly, but has less coverage outside the metro areas.
 
I use T-mobil also we have 5 phones, each extra phone is $5.00 extra. The only way I could be happier is if Catherine Sata Jones came and gave me a hug for signing up.

Dan
 
wsuffa said:
Any of the majors ought to work fine. I've used Verizon and T-Mobile in Houston with good results. AT&T has a good footprint, as does Sprint.

T-Mobile is the most user-friendly, but has less coverage outside the metro areas.
Click to expand...

BUT....and this isn't a hardsell, seeing how I don't do sales (or support for that matter anymore), but, with the roaming agreements, even outside metro areas, its not bad anymore:

Surprisingly, Sprint has the worst coverage it appears...I seem to remember being really happy with their coverage when I had them.

1) T-Mobile
2) AT&T
3) Verizon
4) Sprint
 

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SkyHog said:
BUT....and this isn't a hardsell, seeing how I don't do sales (or support for that matter anymore), but, with the roaming agreements, even outside metro areas, its not bad anymore:

Surprisingly, Sprint has the worst coverage it appears...I seem to remember being really happy with their coverage when I had them.

1) T-Mobile
2) AT&T
3) Verizon
4) Sprint
Click to expand...

DOn't get me wrong - I like TMo. I have a TMo phone - it's the one I take internationally. I also still have a VZ phone with analog capability ( :P Scott) because there are still a few areas where analog is all there is.

I agree on Sprint. And their customer service stinks to boot.
 
bqmassey said:
I've been with Alltel for years. I was content, for the most part, with their service. They were the only carrier that serviced our area of Nebraska that I could get reception with in my very small town. Now I've moved to Houston (my family still lives in Nebraska), and Alltel doesn't provide service here, so I'm switching carriers.

I'm looking for suggestions for my next carrier. Ideally, I would get good coverage in Houston and usable coverage (probably from Alltel's tower) in my hometown in Nebraska, without roaming charges. Besides that, my next priorities are good customer service and reasonable rates.

I probably won't be getting a smart phone, as I can't really justify paying for the data plan, but it's a consideration.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I'm in Lincoln. A couple years ago I finally got fed up with Alltel coverage
and their crappy service. I changed over to Verizon. I have no complaints.
When I go to Miami I always go thru Houston. I couldn't get a signal except
in a rare few areas of IAH .. now with Verizon no problems. In Miami I
was always having trouble initiating calls with Alltel and with dropped
ones. With Verizon I haven't had a single issue.

RT
 
Verizon and AT&T are the only truly nationwide carriers. I used to have vz, now on AT&T. I seem to drop fewer calls and have slightly better coverage but the difference is only just big enough to be noticeable, it's not night and day.

FWIW I dropped vz because they nickel and dime you to death and cripple features in their phones.

*cough* iPhone. ;)
 
We've been with Verizon for a number of years. Except for a dead spot in eastern Washington (where nothing works) I've never had a failure to get a signal. In the US, that is. Had a problem a few years ago in Puerto Rico. Seemed it needed an update before I left, which it didn't get and I couldn't get while I was in Puerto Rico. Frustrating. Works great in Hawaii. However, it's turned off and buried in my computer bag right now. Doesn't work in Europe. I'll turn it on again when I get home Thursday night.
 
wsuffa said:
:P Scott because there are still a few areas where analog is all there is..
Click to expand...
I never said nor expected it to be turned off right away outside of large metro areas. I am curious about OnStar subscribers. Lots of cars that use OnStar still have analog in them. But I did celebrate the end of analog requirements this week with a nice lunch of Indian food with a couple of co-workers. It is not often in my line of work that you get to see the end results. Much of the stuff takes years before it is approved and then more year until enacted. I always like to say I have responsibility of a great many things but because I am long gone by the time they are enacted I have no accountability.
 
smigaldi said:
I never said nor expected it to be turned off right away outside of large metro areas. I am curious about OnStar subscribers. Lots of cars that use OnStar still have analog in them. But I did celebrate the end of analog requirements this week with a nice lunch of Indian food with a couple of co-workers. It is not often in my line of work that you get to see the end results. Much of the stuff takes years before it is approved and then more year until enacted. I always like to say I have responsibility of a great many things but because I am long gone by the time they are enacted I have no accountability.
Click to expand...

Did I ever tell you about how I got U.S. Robotics to set the DIP switches on modems so they served the needs of all of the customers rather than tradition? I spouted that out off the top of my head when the boss asked what needs to changed.

The way they shipped them, every customer had to call us in tech support when they had a problem. The settings were in the huge, intimidating manual but who reads that?

I didn't know they had finally changed it until I bought some modems when I worked for Steve Fossett.

I wonder which manager took credit for the idea.
 
smigaldi said:
I am curious about OnStar subscribers. Lots of cars that use OnStar still have analog in them.
Click to expand...


Onstar subscribers are out of luck; some of the newer analog units were upgradeable, but for many (like the one in my Caddy), they offer no upgrade path.

They do offer a coupon for $500.00 off on my next Cadillac. Wow.
 
SCCutler said:
Onstar subscribers are out of luck; some of the newer analog units were upgradeable, but for many (like the one in my Caddy), they offer no upgrade path.

They do offer a coupon for $500.00 off on my next Cadillac. Wow.
Click to expand...

Well, I HOPE they give you a big discount on the OnStar service fee. :D
 
SCCutler said:
Onstar subscribers are out of luck; some of the newer analog units were upgradeable, but for many (like the one in my Caddy), they offer no upgrade path.

They do offer a coupon for $500.00 off on my next Cadillac. Wow.
Click to expand...

Yep. And it's turning into a really big deal (expect some kind of lawsuit to emerge...)
 
wsuffa said:
Yep. And it's turning into a really big deal (expect some kind of lawsuit to emerge...)
Click to expand...

Remember that Scott's initiative is not that analog has to be killed, only that carriers no longer have to support it. Analog OnStar might work for a while in some places.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
.

FWIW I dropped vz because they nickel and dime you to death and cripple features in their phones.

*cough* iPhone. ;)
Click to expand...

If I ever Leave VZ, it'll be for this very reason. Their coverage is excellent.
Want ringtones? Gotta buy fron VZ.
Take a picture? Gotta $end it thru their system to get it off their phone. Just cheesy stuff like that that doesn't affect the service, just makes me mad, that they force you to pay them for ANYTHING not on their stripped down phones. And, thay are CDMA only. No sim card phones for you!!! Also they set it up with phone manufacturers so you cannot even download your contacts when you switch to their latest phones. They will, however transfer them.... for $20.
 
mikea said:
Well, I HOPE they give you a big discount on the OnStar service fee. :D
Click to expand...

Well, I suppose they could, but...

mikea said:
Remember that Scott's initiative is not that analog has to be killed, only that carriers no longer have to support it. Analog OnStar might work for a while in some places.
Click to expand...


...OnStar no longer offer service for the analog-equipped vehicles. I expect that they have concerns about it being available in some places and not in others, and worry about the consequence of someone expecting it and it not working.

I have not subscribed for several years- it is a great service, does everything that they say it does, but I decided that I just did not need what it did for the price (fairly hefty chunk). If they had offered a reasonably-priced cellphone plan earlier on, I would have jumped at it, as the hardware is very good, but they only just lately rolled out a shared-minute plan for Verizon customers, which I ain't one of.

I know people who are very happy to have the OnStar service available for spouses / family who are elderly or otherwise fragile, and the reassurance that help really is available at the touch of a button (or instantaneously, in the event of a crash) is valuable to them. For these people, cellphones just don't do it.

I wish I could hack the connections to use the in-car hardware for a third-party cellphone, but GM has done a pretty thorough job of protecting it, as best I can tell.
 
mikea said:
Remember that Scott's initiative is not that analog has to be killed, only that carriers no longer have to support it. Analog OnStar might work for a while in some places.
Click to expand...

I know. But the consumer doesn't understand that - all they know is that they were sold a service that the company (GM) can't provide any more.....

Not saying it's right, but the class-action guys have sued over less than this in the past.
 
Keith Lane said:
If I ever Leave VZ, it'll be for this very reason. Their coverage is excellent.
Want ringtones? Gotta buy fron VZ.
Take a picture? Gotta $end it thru their system to get it off their phone. Just cheesy stuff like that that doesn't affect the service, just makes me mad, that they force you to pay them for ANYTHING not on their stripped down phones. And, thay are CDMA only. No sim card phones for you!!! Also they set it up with phone manufacturers so you cannot even download your contacts when you switch to their latest phones. They will, however transfer them.... for $20.
Click to expand...

False information.

USB cable will treat your phone just like a portable hard drive. BitPIM (free download) allows you to upload and download ringtones, address book, pictures, or whatever you put on your phone. How do I know? I've spent the last 3 days fooling around with my VX9900 and giving everyone personalized ringtones.
 
My sprint contract expired in december.

I'm looking at my options.

Do T-Mobile and AT&T allow you to use your own ring-tones? Or do you have to buy them like you do from Sprint?
 
Greebo said:
My sprint contract expired in december.

I'm looking at my options.

Do T-Mobile and AT&T allow you to use your own ring-tones? Or do you have to buy them like you do from Sprint?
Click to expand...

On AT&T you *can* buy a ring tone, which BTW, can expire after 90 days as another in the RIAA silk jacket benevolent movement. But if your phone will play an .mp3 as a ring, why would you accept that deal?

And if you have a way to capture and convert the sample ring tone they sell from the web site....

AFAIK, an unhacked iPhone is locked down to only accept ringtones with iTunes DRM, but there are ways there, too.

The ringtone business is $billions - almost more than CD sales. That's what they're protecting. There are more spoiled teens in the world than you can imagine.
 
So its more a question of the phone's abilities than the carrier?

Great - now I get to go look at all the models, AGAIN...
 
EdFred said:
False information.

USB cable will treat your phone just like a portable hard drive. BitPIM (free download) allows you to upload and download ringtones, address book, pictures, or whatever you put on your phone. How do I know? I've spent the last 3 days fooling around with my VX9900 and giving everyone personalized ringtones.
Click to expand...


Double False Information.....
The Samsung SCH-U410, the Verizon phone of the month, (which is what they sent us when my wife re-upped our contract) is not supported by the latest version of BitPim. Samsung does not offer a contact copier for it either and according to them they are not inclined to do so in the future.
If you have some other version of BitPim that'll work with tihs phone, you will be an even greater aviator than I already assume you to be. I tried BitPim when we first got the phones a couple of months ago and it definitely was NOT supported. My old Samsung phone (SCH-A310) definitely was, which is how I copied stuff off and on it a lot. Samsung contact copier also worked on it. I ended up manually inputting 145 contacts into this as yet to be liked phone. I think I may try a refurbed Treo 650, without the data package, just to have the PDA functionality if I can find a Verizon one cheap.
Any software that works, for the 410, please advise...:)
 
Well that's more the phone than the carrier. My brother found a site that he can get ringtones for free to his phone. He doesn't have the cable, but I know he's not paying for the ringtones. Something to do with e-mailing his phone, but he also has an e-mail a la cart package.
 
EdFred said:
Well that's more the phone than the carrier. My brother found a site that he can get ringtones for free to his phone. He doesn't have the cable, but I know he's not paying for the ringtones. Something to do with e-mailing his phone, but he also has an e-mail a la cart package.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the quick reply, Ed.
My point in my original post/rant was, that but not for Verizon's penchant for locking down "their" phones, one would not need to go these shenanigans to use the phones that are usable only on their system. They obviously see the dollar here-dollar-there revenue stream as more profitable than just letting users customize their phones via BitPim or "let" Samsung, or other phone manufacturers produce software for doing same. The SCH-U410 is available only thru Verizon, or so I believe, therefore if Vz says don't produce software, Samsung doesn't do it. Personally, I shouldn't complain too much, the phone was "free" after all. (With a two year extension)
If you hear of a solution, though, I'd be greatful and in your debt.
 
EdFred said:
Well that's more the phone than the carrier. My brother found a site that he can get ringtones for free to his phone. He doesn't have the cable, but I know he's not paying for the ringtones. Something to do with e-mailing his phone, but he also has an e-mail a la cart package.
Click to expand...

Careful. Many of those "free" ringtones sites quietly charge $14.99 a month to your phone bill where you can never cancel it. They bury that in that fine print. You can "agree" merely by sending or receiving a text message.

I just locked out text messages (and internet) on my phone.
 
I have Verizon and have traveled the country with it. And I mean traveled by car, including many places that are in the middle of nowhere. Even when I was 50 miles from the "No services on interstate next 100 miles" sign in Utah, I still had signal. There are other places where I didn't, but it's rare. I have been pleased with the signal overall, and recommend them and stay with them for this reason.

Phone wise, I have a Treo 700p. I realize that most people just want a standard cell phone and the Treo is expensive, however I find this system to work. Transferring anything is easy because I can just throw it on the SD card and transfer it that way. It supports stereo sound. With the SD card I've got 2 gigs of music on mine, which makes it a nifty MP3 player. I don't believe in getting alternate ringtones (I just use the one that actually pretends to sound like a phone), but I could trasnfer them using the SD card if I wanted to. Plus, being a Treo, it's got my calendar and everything else on it. I am happy with this result, and when this phone dies or I get elegible for my next discounted phone with 2 year leash extension I plan on getting another one.

Customer service is less than great, but I have to use it very rarely, so it's not a big deal.
 
mikea said:
AFAIK, an unhacked iPhone is locked down to only accept ringtones with iTunes DRM, but there are ways there, too.
Click to expand...

Wrong. Buying a ringtone off iTunes is the easiest way, but you can also open up an MP3 in GarageBand, select the part you want to use as a ringtone, set it to loop, and choose the "send ringtone to iTunes" menu item. Easy, and FREE.
 
Keith Lane said:
Thanks for the quick reply, Ed.
My point in my original post/rant was, that but not for Verizon's penchant for locking down "their" phones, one would not need to go these shenanigans to use the phones that are usable only on their system. They obviously see the dollar here-dollar-there revenue stream as more profitable than just letting users customize their phones via BitPim or "let" Samsung, or other phone manufacturers produce software for doing same. ...
Click to expand...

Verizon will not give up this business model. If you call and complain they respond with, "It's not something our customers want." Ignoring the fact that the customer who is calling WANTS IT!

I'm sure the Verizon execs who turned down the iPhone are enjoying their bonuses. Now Verizon is scrambling to get other phoen makers to make an iPone look-alike that works as much the same as possible execdpt for the Verizon toll gate at every button.

They've lost business on this stupid policy. They need to lose more.

Verizon wants the same Best-Buy-ideal customer, that has enough smarts to make the money to buy and buy but not enough smarts to know they're being taken.
 
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Keith Lane said:
If I ever Leave VZ, it'll be for this very reason. Their coverage is excellent.
Want ringtones? Gotta buy fron VZ.
Take a picture? Gotta $end it thru their system to get it off their phone. Just cheesy stuff like that that doesn't affect the service, just makes me mad, that they force you to pay them for ANYTHING not on their stripped down phones. And, thay are CDMA only. No sim card phones for you!!! Also they set it up with phone manufacturers so you cannot even download your contacts when you switch to their latest phones. They will, however transfer them.... for $20.
Click to expand...
The newer LG phones that Leslie and I have from VZ have MicroSD cards, so we can get photos and songs back and forth that way. (Never tried ringtones).

Also, if you're signed up with My Account, you can get the Backup Assistant product free, which backs up your phone book nightly. You can edit it online, and it will download to a new phone.
Backup Assistant is free for My Account customers
The $1.99 monthly fee that you are asked to accept will be waived as long as you remain a My Account customer. You will not see a charge for this service on your bill. Not a My Account customer?
Click to expand...

Not that I disagree with your basic premise about VZ nickeling and diming you to death, just that there are workarounds in some cases.
 
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gprellwitz said:
The newer LG phones that Leslie and I have from VZ have MicroSD cards, so we can get photos and songs back and forth that way. (Never tried ringtones).
Click to expand...
Be careful with that. I have found out that it does nto always work that way. Downloaded ringtones and such even on the SD card will transfer to another SD card. I changed the micro SD in my phone from 256K to 2 meg. I moved my ringtones that were on it and the DRM would not allow them to work in the very same phone.
 
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