$5 monthly surcharge

On Wed, 2 Aug 2006 13:39:53 UTC, "Thomas T. Veldhouse"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Kevin K <[email protected]> wrote:
> > If Sprint had decent coverage at my home, I would probably still have
> > them. Their 3G coverage is, as of today, still better.
>
> My experience with comparing Sprint and Cingular is that they are very
> comparable in coverage with the advantage going to Sprint because of their
> AMPS roaming ability. There are exceptions though. I get better Cingular
> coverage on the top floor with my current client (Cingular 800MHz), but I get
> better coverage on the bottom floor with Sprint PCS ... and inside room, I
> roam onto Verizon 800Mhz ... on Cingular I get nothing (Go Phone ... there is
> a T-Mobile antenna on top of the building, so perhaps it would roam on a
> regular plan). In any event, it is nearly a wash. However, in some locations
> that I am aware of (like a previous employer), Cingular has a little better
> coverage. In all cases, I see that Verizon has better coverage with digital
> than either SPrint or Cingular. In short, because I work with a diverse
> client base, I am often in trouble areas for all carriers, and Verizon seems
> to top the heap with ability to function in trouble areas with Cingular and
> Sprint being a near wash.
>
> If it wasn't for the fact that changing plans reinstitutes a new 2-year
> contract AND changing ESNs starts your two year timer over to get a discount
> on a new phone, I would probably consider Sprint for the future, but these
> issues really irk me. Plans and extras with Sprint are pretty good (free long
> distance on my home phone for 50 minutes / month and free calls to my home
> phone from my cellular phones ... no minutes used).
>

Part of the issue is that my Sprint phone was digital only, so I could
only roam on other CDMA coverage. If I had had NO signal at home, I
would have just signed up for the inexpensive roaming plan, but it
tried to stick on the poor signal. First or second bill had a hefty
roaming charge when it grabbed the signal at home. I then disabled
roaming.
--

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"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...

>
> Around here (Tri-Valley part of the San Francisco Bay Area), Cingular
> has the best coverage overall, followed by Verizon and T-Mobile, with
> Sprint-Nextel last.
>

This is simply an unproven opinion form a very biased customer. Back it up-
for once.

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 13:43:40 GMT, "Thomas T. Veldhouse"
> <[email protected]> wrote in <[email protected]>:
>
>>John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>It will be interesting to see how many trimode activations VZW picks
>>>>up. That might provide some clues as to the number of people that still
>>>>require analog capability.
>>>
>>> With AMPS going away, there's no real benefit to be had.
>>
>>For two years AMPS will be around ... by mandate,
>
> Actually just 18 months.
>
>>and I suspect it will be
>>around much longer in remote areas [where most users are likely to need
>>it].
>>...
>
> I think it will go away much faster than you expect. It's expensive to
> maintain, and demand is falling.
>

And you base this opinion on what? You have no practical experience to rely
on.

Scott wrote:
> "John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news[email protected]...
>
>> Around here (Tri-Valley part of the San Francisco Bay Area), Cingular
>> has the best coverage overall, followed by Verizon and T-Mobile, with
>> Sprint-Nextel last.
>>
>
> This is simply an unproven opinion form a very biased customer. Back it up-
> for once.

In fact, the Cingular coverage in the tri-valley area is very poor. I
can't even get a signal two miles from Cingular's western regional
headquarters, in a very flat part of Pleasanton. In some of the smaller
towns nestled in the hills, you can get Verizon coverage, but no
Cingular. And of course the Bay Area has hills and mountains surrounding
it, chock full of parks and small towns, where AMPS is often the only
coverage.

John is simply lying. As usual.

>
> Most likely, as those people have already shown resistance to change, and thus
> an implied brand loyalty.
>
> --
> Thomas T. Veldhouse
> Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
Maybe, but maybe they have poor coverage, and analog or TDMA is all
that works. At our cabin with a 3W booster and an antenna, GSM won't
work in the rain. TDMA holds just fine. Cingular isn't the problem,
it's Dobson there. When Cingular drops TDMA, I will have to see if
Dobson still allows it.

On 3 Aug 2006 06:00:53 -0700, [email protected] wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>... At our cabin with a 3W booster and an antenna, GSM won't
>work in the rain. TDMA holds just fine. ...

GSM is based on TDMA, and works as well as or better than "TDMA"
(actually D-AMPS). The problem is probably tower location, not the air
interface.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

John Navas wrote:
> On 3 Aug 2006 06:00:53 -0700, [email protected] wrote in
> <[email protected]>:
>
> >... At our cabin with a 3W booster and an antenna, GSM won't
> >work in the rain. TDMA holds just fine. ...
>
> GSM is based on TDMA, and works as well as or better than "TDMA"
> (actually D-AMPS). The problem is probably tower location, not the air
> interface.
>
I have both GSM and TDMA service from the same carrier.

Dobson Celluar One has co-located GSM and TDMA (IS-136) and AMPS in
the cellular band (no PCS). I have used both a Siemens S56 and a Sony
Ericsson T616. I have a Yagi antenna, and I can only get a signal in
one direction from one carrier. Since both phones are from the same
carrier I cannot believe that GSM holds a candle to TDMA. My TDMA
phone is a Nokia 6360 (before that I used a bag phone). Dobson
customer service people I have talked to agree with my experience (they
don't suggest yet another GSM phone). That is why Dobson is adding
towers to make GSM work (but not nearly enough, and haven't gotten to
us). There are trees between me and the tower.

Along roads that Dobson has not upgraded, GSM drops out between towers.
I have seen the same with Cingular in central Wisconsin. TDMA lets
you make a call, GSM drops or won't do anything.

Also in my Jeep with a 3W amplifier and a 3dB antenna I get no signal
with either of my GSM phones, but a fair, usable signal with my Nokia
6360 in Brimson MN.

Maybe in perfectly clear conditions (no trees) without exceeding the
35KM limit for GSM they are the same if you are a Cingular salesperson.

I will be using TDMA till Dobson turns the thing off or a miracle
happens.

GSM is great for internet access, but for voice it stinks.

On 3 Aug 2006 20:08:30 -0700, [email protected] wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>... I cannot believe that GSM holds a candle to TDMA....

Nevertheless it does. The differences you are seeing are probably in
equipment and carrier deployment. With equal equipment and deployment,
GSM is as good as D-AMPS ("TDMA").

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>