Change from T-Mobile to Cingular?

I have been with T-Mobile since pre Voice Stream days (Omni Point) here in
NY City.
I have been moderately happy for the past 3-4 years.
However my Motorola V300 is in need of replacement and I am not thrilled
with the choices
presented to me by the retention department.

My questions are in NYC does Cingular still use the 1900 bandwidth they were
leasing from T-Mobile or have they migrated to the 850 band.

If they have migrated to 850 is the rf better in buildings than the 1900
T-Mobile bandwidth.
I have always felt that in NYC if I am in buildings my T-Mobile service
could have been much better.

Also I do want a quad band 850/900/1800/1900 phone because when I travel I
buy local sim cards.
Does Cingular unlock phones as easily as T-Mobile. When I call T-M for an
unlock code I have always been given the code without any hassle.

I need recommendations for what phone to get.
My priorities are good rf, good hearing volume, clear voice transmission, if
possible no external antenna and the qualities just enumerated. Bluetooth if
available, voice dialing if available.

My experience with customer service over the years has been generally
excellent with T-M.
I understand that in the past Cingular has had horrible CS and I was
wondering if things have had a major improvement.

Your help is appreciated

---

› See More: Change from T-Mobile to Cingular?

sonyericsson z520



"El Jefe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I have been with T-Mobile since pre Voice Stream days (Omni Point) here in
> NY City.
> I have been moderately happy for the past 3-4 years.
> However my Motorola V300 is in need of replacement and I am not thrilled
> with the choices
> presented to me by the retention department.
>
> My questions are in NYC does Cingular still use the 1900 bandwidth they
> were leasing from T-Mobile or have they migrated to the 850 band.
>
> If they have migrated to 850 is the rf better in buildings than the 1900
> T-Mobile bandwidth.
> I have always felt that in NYC if I am in buildings my T-Mobile service
> could have been much better.
>
> Also I do want a quad band 850/900/1800/1900 phone because when I travel I
> buy local sim cards.
> Does Cingular unlock phones as easily as T-Mobile. When I call T-M for an
> unlock code I have always been given the code without any hassle.
>
> I need recommendations for what phone to get.
> My priorities are good rf, good hearing volume, clear voice transmission,
> if possible no external antenna and the qualities just enumerated.
> Bluetooth if available, voice dialing if available.
>
> My experience with customer service over the years has been generally
> excellent with T-M.
> I understand that in the past Cingular has had horrible CS and I was
> wondering if things have had a major improvement.
>
> Your help is appreciated
>

Things are still very bad over at Cingular.
I think things will continue to worsen
given all the trouble brewing with the
AT&T castaways they have.


They still have allot of trouble getting the
billing right. I just gave up, I just pay whatever
they say. I am too tired to keep fighting every month.

I am glad only a few months left to go with them.

I might try net10 this time around.

I wish you the very best of luck if you
decide to go with Them

The following was url is from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...860428-5981633
The way I read this is that if I order service via Amazon and then ask to
port my T-Mobile number to Cingular Amazon will charge me $250.
If anyone has definite information to the contrary please post it.

This equipment discount information also appears with the other carriers not
just Cingular

Thanks
Eljefe

Your price paid includes an equipment discount of $250 that has been
provided to you by Amazon.com for activating a new non-substitute line of
service with Cingular and maintaining this new line of service with the
selected rate plan in good standing for a minimum of 181 consecutive days.

By accepting this equipment discount, you agree that for a period of 181
days after your new line of service is activated, you


1. will pay your balance due to Cingular each month;
2. will not disconnect this Cingular line of service;
3. will not transfer this equipment to another Cingular line of service;
4. will not transfer an existing phone number to this new line of service;
5. will not change your Cingular service rate plan to a lower monthly
service rate;
6. will not use this new line of service to replace an existing account with
Cingular.

If these conditions are not met, you herein agree to a $250 reimbursement to
be paid to Amazon.com. This reimbursement of the $250 equipment discount
will only be charged if the above conditions are not met.

At 21 Oct 2006 13:22:04 +0000 El Jefe wrote:
> The following was url is from Amazon.
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-
/1173901/ref=amb_link_3772812_1/002-1860428-5981633
> The way I read this is that if I order service via Amazon and then ask
to
> port my T-Mobile number to Cingular Amazon will charge me $250.

Correct. See:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-
/508597/ref=amb_link_3409342_36/002-6672447-4128058

"If you choose to purchase a Cingular phone through Amazon.com and port
your number with Cingular, you herein agree to a $250 reimbursement to be
paid to Amazon.com...

"We hope to offer a porting option in the coming months, so please check
back."

It sounds like Amazon and Cingular basically haven't figured out how to
handle porting systemically without it cancelling Amazon's commissions
from Cingular, so the penalty is passed on to you.


> This equipment discount information also appears with the other
carriers not
> just Cingular

I'm guessing the part about porting your number is not there for the
other carriers, however, since only a $250 penalty with Cingular is
mentioned in the link I posted...

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Todd Allcock" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> At 21 Oct 2006 13:22:04 +0000 El Jefe wrote:
>> The following was url is from Amazon.
>> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-
> /1173901/ref=amb_link_3772812_1/002-1860428-5981633
>> The way I read this is that if I order service via Amazon and then ask
> to
>> port my T-Mobile number to Cingular Amazon will charge me $250.
>
> Correct. See:
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-
> /508597/ref=amb_link_3409342_36/002-6672447-4128058
>
> "If you choose to purchase a Cingular phone through Amazon.com and port
> your number with Cingular, you herein agree to a $250 reimbursement to be
> paid to Amazon.com...
>
> "We hope to offer a porting option in the coming months, so please check
> back."
>
> It sounds like Amazon and Cingular basically haven't figured out how to
> handle porting systemically without it cancelling Amazon's commissions
> from Cingular, so the penalty is passed on to you.
>
>
>> This equipment discount information also appears with the other
> carriers not
>> just Cingular
>
> I'm guessing the part about porting your number is not there for the
> other carriers, however, since only a $250 penalty with Cingular is
> mentioned in the link I posted...

I just looked at Verizon and T-Mobile and Amazon has the same disclaimer
with these carriers also.

"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Things are still very bad over at Cingular.
[snip]
> They still have allot of trouble getting the
> billing right. I just gave up, I just pay whatever
> they say. I am too tired to keep fighting every month.
[snip]

Thank you for this information. It confirms that I'm not the only one with
that type of experience. Two years ago I switched from T-Mobile to Cingular
for exactly the same reason you cited: My phone broke and T-Mobile didn't
offer any reasonable replacements. Cingular promised certain discounts
through my employer, but found I had to call them every month to get them
applied. 9 months into my 1 year contract, a customer service rep. told me
that I wasn't eligible for the discount because of some aspect of my calling
plan. 3 months later, when my Cingular contract ended, I was back with
T-Mobile.

Since then, T-Mobile started removing features, like 50 free text messages
every month. I may have to start shopping around again, but Cingular is off
my list.

Walt Kienzle

On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:21:41 GMT, "El Jefe" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>I have been with T-Mobile since pre Voice Stream days (Omni Point) here in
>NY City.
>I have been moderately happy for the past 3-4 years.
>However my Motorola V300 is in need of replacement and I am not thrilled
>with the choices
>presented to me by the retention department.
>
>My questions are in NYC does Cingular still use the 1900 bandwidth they were
>leasing from T-Mobile or have they migrated to the 850 band.
Call them up and ask. The only way they can get 850 Mhz space is by
buying up one of the original wireless license holders. Generally one
went to the Wireline operatore in the Area, and the other to someone
else. So if either Cingular or ATT ended up owning one of the those
two licenses, they have 850Mhz service. Remember the Cingular
incorporates a number of the original wireline operators, so they have
850 Mhz space.
>
>If they have migrated to 850 is the rf better in buildings than the 1900
>T-Mobile bandwidth.
1900 is probably better in buildings. 850 Mhz needs bigger 'holes' in
the building to propogate than 1900. However 1900 is lower power on
the handset end.
>I have always felt that in NYC if I am in buildings my T-Mobile service
>could have been much better.
>
>Also I do want a quad band 850/900/1800/1900 phone because when I travel I
>buy local sim cards.
There are some tri-bands with 850/900/1900, and there are few places
in the world where that won't work. I have an S710a, which is
850/900/1900. There are a handful of countries with 1800mhz only.
Used (even new) S710a's are quite reasonably priced. A lot of phone
for the money. If you are really handy, but a used beat up S710a and
replace the housing.....
>Does Cingular unlock phones as easily as T-Mobile. When I call T-M for an
>unlock code I have always been given the code without any hassle.
AT&T traditionally does not unlock phones, period, end, stop. Not
sure what the Cingular policy is these days, but I suspect the answer
is the same as AT&T.
>
>I need recommendations for what phone to get.
>My priorities are good rf, good hearing volume, clear voice transmission, if
>possible no external antenna and the qualities just enumerated. Bluetooth if
>available, voice dialing if available.
>
>My experience with customer service over the years has been generally
>excellent with T-M.
>I understand that in the past Cingular has had horrible CS and I was
>wondering if things have had a major improvement.
>
>Your help is appreciated
>

In article <[email protected]>, Mike wrote:
> They still have allot of trouble getting the
> billing right. I just gave up, I just pay whatever
> they say. I am too tired to keep fighting every month.
>
> I am glad only a few months left to go with them.
>
> I might try net10 this time around.

Net10 exclusively uses Cingular's network - so if your problems include
technical problems, you may want to stay away from them. If Cingular screwups
only include customer service and billing problems, you'll probably be ok with
Net10.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED

It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

At 21 Oct 2006 20:23:36 +0000 matt weber wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:21:41 GMT, "El Jefe" <[email protected]> wrote:

> >My questions are in NYC does Cingular still use the 1900 bandwidth
they were
> >leasing from T-Mobile or have they migrated to the 850 band.
> Call them up and ask. The only way they can get 850 Mhz space is by
> buying up one of the original wireless license holders.

IIRC, AT&T Wireless was the 800MHz A-carrier in NYC when Cingular
purchased them. I assume Cingular is now using that spectrum for their
service and weaning themselves off of T-Mobile's 1900MHz network.


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> The following was url is from Amazon.
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...860428-5981633
> The way I read this is that if I order service via Amazon and then ask to
> port my T-Mobile number to Cingular Amazon will charge me $250.
> If anyone has definite information to the contrary please post it.
>
> This equipment discount information also appears with the other carriers not
> just Cingular

The $250 fee applies only to Cingular, not to other carriers.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/508597/ is Amazon's
summary of number portability procedures. You can port a number to any
carrier they deal with other than Cingular without paying the fee.
(Just recently went through Amazon when I left Cingular. No big fee for
porting my number, still got the free phones and rebate, etc.)

A workaround if the switch is worth $10/month: you could buy new
Cingular service through Amazon to get the phone you want. Then, after
you have a new number at Cingular, call them up and switch plans to one
of their family plans, get their cheapest phone for the added line, and
port your old number to the new line. Use your good phone for your old
number, and just let the new number sit there 181 days until you can
cancel it without the fee.

--
[email protected] is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Braze your own bicycle frames. See
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/build.html>

"El Jefe" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> I just looked at Verizon and T-Mobile and Amazon has the same
> disclaimer with these carriers also.
>

There's a very small but significant difference between the disclamer on
T-mobile contract vs Cingular contract (haven't looked at the others):

In Cingular disclamer:
4. will not transfer an existing phone number to this new line of
service;

In T-mobile disclamer:
4. will not transfer an existing phone number from another T-Mobile
account to this new line of service;


Or in other words T-mobile won't allow you to transfer a number from
another *t-mobile* line, while Cingular won't let you transfer any number
(without a penalty).

And to the original questions - I don't think there is a way to unlock
your phone through Cingular. T-mobile is the only carrier that does it,
AFAIK. You can, of course, unlock it for a few bucks in the nearest
chinatown, but that will probably void your warranty... And I keep
hearing the horror stories about Cingular's CS... So you decide.

One thing you CAN do - get a replacement phone from t-mobile, unlock it,
then sell it on eBay (you may have to use it for a few times on your line
before selling to meet service requirement, especially if you are getiing
mail-in rebate for it -- read the fine print carefully). With money you
make buy an unlocked phone of your liking (perhaps on eBay again, or back
in chinatown)... Do check out independent resellers. Last year when I was
upgrading my T-mobile phones I got a far better upgrade deal from an
independent kiosk in local mall than anything T-mobile corporate store
(in the same mall) could offer (or their web site). But be careful and
read everything you sign - some independent resellers are crooks indeed,
and things may not work the way they promise, but by the time you find it
out you'll be stuck with them!

LEM
(remove all digits from address for e-mail reply).

P.S. Just short of 3 years ago I bought 4 t-mobile phones on Amazon, each
with individual plan, the day they arrived converted them all to one
family plan (Amazon didn't sell family plans back then) and ported my 4
sprint pcs lines to them. No hassle at all. Ended up making some cash
after all rebates came in. I've heard since then it became much harder to
do similar tricks... But I'm not about to switch anyway!

"LEM" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> "El Jefe" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>>
>> I just looked at Verizon and T-Mobile and Amazon has the same
>> disclaimer with these carriers also.
>>
>
> There's a very small but significant difference between the disclamer on
> T-mobile contract vs Cingular contract (haven't looked at the others):
>
> In Cingular disclamer:
> 4. will not transfer an existing phone number to this new line of
> service;
>
> In T-mobile disclamer:
> 4. will not transfer an existing phone number from another T-Mobile
> account to this new line of service;
>
>
> Or in other words T-mobile won't allow you to transfer a number from
> another *t-mobile* line, while Cingular won't let you transfer any number
> (without a penalty).

I can vouch that T-Mobile allows porting in a non-T-Mobile phone
number without causing a problem with the Amazon.com rebate.
That's exactly what I did seven months ago when I ordered a
RAZR V3 from Amazon.com.

--
John Richards

I tried sprint, congular, att, tmobile and found t-mobile the most
convenient in most ways. Reception usually depends on the handset
itself, not on the provider. The difference in 850/1900 reception is so
subtle that works only in theory.

T-mobile does unlock handsets but only after you have been a customer
for 6 months however people with good social engineering skills can
get it done faster.

Provider is not the only place where the phone can be unlocked.
www.cellcorner.com is a good site to unlock all kind of phones.



Regards

At 25 Oct 2006 15:51:34 -0400 Cyrus Afzali wrote:

> >IIRC, AT&T Wireless was the 800MHz A-carrier in NYC when Cingular
> >purchased them. I assume Cingular is now using that spectrum for their
> >service and weaning themselves off of T-Mobile's 1900MHz network.
>
> They have to. As you might recall, T-Mobile and Cingular ended their
> networking sharing agreement that gave Cingular the right to use
> T-Mobile's network in NY and T-Mobile the right to use Cingular's in
> California.
>
> As a result, both carriers now use their own native networks in those
> two areas. It's been that way for quite some time.

I knew the roaming agreement was over, I just didn't know how long a
period the two carriers gave each other to complete the transition. Now
that you mention it, it has been awhile since we've seen any "why does my
T-Mo phone say 'Cingular' on the display when I'm in LA?" posts... ;-)

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com