best cell phone service

what is the best cell phone service in the united states?

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Basically the cell phone companies that I am aware of are:

T-Mobile
Cingular
Sprint
Nextel
Verizon
Cricket?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these?

Ersalan Rahman

[email protected] wrote:
> what is the best cell phone service in the united states?

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Basically the cell phone companies that I am aware of are:
>
> T-Mobile
> Cingular
> Sprint
> Nextel
> Verizon
> Cricket?
>
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these?

I didn't know there'd be a test. I'm not ready. I didn't study. The dog ate
my notes.

T-Mobile: Lower cost. Coverage not quite as good. Good customer service. OK
international roaming for the usual countries.
Cingular: Higher cost. Good coverage. Customer service has been described as
hostile, arrogant, etc. Good international but can be higher cost.
Sprint: Native coverage a bit better than T-Mobile. Good high speed data but
not cheap. Good domestic roaming coverage. You don't want to use their
international roaming. Don't know about customer service.
Nextel: Push-to-talk
Verizon: Good coverage, only native service on DC Metro (last time I
checked). Higher cost. Good international roaming.
Cricket: Not in my area. Last time I checked they provided AYCE local
service in select markets at a fixed price.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Verizon and Sprint are both CDMA carriers and therefore do not roam
internationally on GSM networks.

"Donald Newcomb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:44b1c386@kcnews01...
>
> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Basically the cell phone companies that I am aware of are:
>>
>> T-Mobile
>> Cingular
>> Sprint
>> Nextel
>> Verizon
>> Cricket?
>>
>> What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these?
>
> I didn't know there'd be a test. I'm not ready. I didn't study. The dog
> ate
> my notes.
>
> T-Mobile: Lower cost. Coverage not quite as good. Good customer service.
> OK
> international roaming for the usual countries.
> Cingular: Higher cost. Good coverage. Customer service has been described
> as
> hostile, arrogant, etc. Good international but can be higher cost.
> Sprint: Native coverage a bit better than T-Mobile. Good high speed data
> but
> not cheap. Good domestic roaming coverage. You don't want to use their
> international roaming. Don't know about customer service.
> Nextel: Push-to-talk
> Verizon: Good coverage, only native service on DC Metro (last time I
> checked). Higher cost. Good international roaming.
> Cricket: Not in my area. Last time I checked they provided AYCE local
> service in select markets at a fixed price.
>
> --
> Donald R. Newcomb
> DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
>
>

"Mij Adyaw" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:dOksg.10644$Nv.4866@fed1read10...
> Verizon and Sprint are both CDMA carriers and therefore do not roam
> internationally on GSM networks.

Only partially right. They are CDMA. CDMA roams in many places overseas
(e.g. NZ, S. Korea, India, etc). They both also have GSM roaming solutions,
though neither is the best choice for international travelers. I think
Verizon now requires you to buy some bizarre CDMA/GSM handset, rather than
just issuing you a SIM.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Donald Newcomb wrote:
> "Mij Adyaw" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:dOksg.10644$Nv.4866@fed1read10...
>> Verizon and Sprint are both CDMA carriers and therefore do not roam
>> internationally on GSM networks.
>
> Only partially right. They are CDMA. CDMA roams in many places overseas
> (e.g. NZ, S. Korea, India, etc). They both also have GSM roaming solutions,
> though neither is the best choice for international travelers. I think
> Verizon now requires you to buy some bizarre CDMA/GSM handset, rather than
> just issuing you a SIM.

Verizon and Sprint both have carried the Samsung 890 in the past. US CDMA
frequencies + European GSM frequencies. Verizon also carried a similar Moto
handset for a while. Not sure what they have now.


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

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

Steve Sobol wrote:
>
> Donald Newcomb wrote:
> > "Mij Adyaw" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:dOksg.10644$Nv.4866@fed1read10...
> >> Verizon and Sprint are both CDMA carriers and therefore do not roam
> >> internationally on GSM networks.
> >
> > Only partially right. They are CDMA. CDMA roams in many places overseas
> > (e.g. NZ, S. Korea, India, etc). They both also have GSM roaming solutions,
> > though neither is the best choice for international travelers. I think
> > Verizon now requires you to buy some bizarre CDMA/GSM handset, rather than
> > just issuing you a SIM.
>
> Verizon and Sprint both have carried the Samsung 890 in the past. US CDMA
> frequencies + European GSM frequencies. Verizon also carried a similar Moto
> handset for a while. Not sure what they have now.

I don't think Sprint ever carried the 890, but I could be wrong.

Naaaaaaaahhhhhh! <g>

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=595

Notan

Notan wrote:

> I don't think Sprint ever carried the 890, but I could be wrong.
>
> Naaaaaaaahhhhhh! <g>
>
> http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=595

Duh.

The Samsung *790* was the CDMA/GSM hybrid carried by both Sprint and Verizon.
Mea culpa.

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=406

Sprint's designation, "IP-790", presumably stands for "International Phone."

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

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

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Verizon and Sprint both have carried the Samsung 890 in the past. US CDMA
> frequencies + European GSM frequencies. Verizon also carried a similar
Moto
> handset for a while. Not sure what they have now.

For anyone familiar with GSM this is a stupid solution. Just give me a SIM
and forget your stupid hybrid phone. But my understanding is that this is
the only way that Verizon will let you get GSM roaming. Stupid and
expensive. Too bad because their GSM roaming is pretty good, for a US
carrier.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

[email protected] wrote:
> what is the best cell phone service in the united states?

According to extensive surveys by JD Power and Consumer Reports, it's
Verizon.

"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] wrote:
> > what is the best cell phone service in the united states?
>
> According to extensive surveys by JD Power and Consumer Reports, it's
> Verizon.

I've seen a number of these studies and it all depends on who commissions
the study. What they do is find something unique to their service that is
given a high weight in the study, while giving low weights to things they
don't do well, or at all. For instance, a carrier with good rural coverage
might commission a study compare service, but make sure that the study
includes rural areas. A carrier with poor rural coverage will ask to
concentrate on large cities. A carrier with good connect speed will make
that a priority. You have to read the fine print.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Donald Newcomb wrote:

> For anyone familiar with GSM this is a stupid solution. Just give me a SIM
> and forget your stupid hybrid phone. But my understanding is that this is
> the only way that Verizon will let you get GSM roaming. Stupid and
> expensive. Too bad because their GSM roaming is pretty good, for a US
> carrier.

Well, most people don't choose a carrier because of which technology they
use. Before T-Mo I used Sprint and Verizon, because at the time, those
carriers' coverage and services met my need.

And I didn't switch to T-Mo because they were GSM, either.

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

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

Why did you switch to T-Mobile? Was it the "more whenever minutes" than any
other carrier?

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Donald Newcomb wrote:
>
>> For anyone familiar with GSM this is a stupid solution. Just give me a
>> SIM
>> and forget your stupid hybrid phone. But my understanding is that this is
>> the only way that Verizon will let you get GSM roaming. Stupid and
>> expensive. Too bad because their GSM roaming is pretty good, for a US
>> carrier.
>
> Well, most people don't choose a carrier because of which technology they
> use. Before T-Mo I used Sprint and Verizon, because at the time, those
> carriers' coverage and services met my need.
>
> And I didn't switch to T-Mo because they were GSM, either.
>
> --
> Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl **
> Linux/*BSD/Windows
> Apple Valley, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
>
> It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

Donald Newcomb wrote:
> "SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>> what is the best cell phone service in the united states?
>> According to extensive surveys by JD Power and Consumer Reports, it's
>> Verizon.
>
> I've seen a number of these studies and it all depends on who commissions
> the study.

No one commissions the Consumer Reports study. It's a study with a huge
sample size, sub-divided by geographic area. They're not asking "which
is the best service?" they're asking for the subscribers experience with
their own carrier. Unless a Cingular subscriber is inherently more
critical than a Verizon subscriber, then the results are accurate for
the time the survey was done.

Cingular is desperately trying to add coverage to their network, they
must issue a press release every day that details some new coverage that
they are adding. I expect that by the 2009 survey by CR, that Cingular
and Verizon will be a lot closer in quality because Cingular will have
phased out their old TDMA network, and both Cingular and Verizon will
have turned off their AMPS networks, worsening coverage for anyone with
a tri-mode phone, which is only Sprint and Verizon customers.

Steve Sobol wrote:
> Donald Newcomb wrote:
>
>> For anyone familiar with GSM this is a stupid solution. Just give me a SIM
>> and forget your stupid hybrid phone. But my understanding is that this is
>> the only way that Verizon will let you get GSM roaming. Stupid and
>> expensive. Too bad because their GSM roaming is pretty good, for a US
>> carrier.
>
> Well, most people don't choose a carrier because of which technology they
> use.

Not directly, but it does have an indirect effect.

Look at Verizon's extremely low churn rate compared to the other
carriers. The reasons for this are the two networks they operate enable
them to provide superior coverage to other carriers. Even though Sprint
is also CDMA, Sprint is all at 1900 Mhz which is less desirable than
Verizon's mainly 800 Mhz network. Every survey and study backs up the
fact that Verizon has the best coverage, and other surveys show that
coverage is the deciding factor for more people than any other factor
(not a majority, but more than any other factor).

Look at how well Sprint and Verizon are doing in high speed data, and
how poorly Cingular is doing. The reasons for this are inherent to the
technology that each uses. By the time Cingular catches up with Sprint
and Verizon in terms of geographic coverage, Sprint and Verizon will
have upgraded their data network to be several times faster than
Cingular's first generation HSDPA network.

There are users that choose a carrier based on technology. Cingular has
a big advantage for business people that travel to Europe or most of
Asia, and that can't be bothered with extra handsets, and buying prepaid
SIM cards in order to keep costs down.

I don't have T-Mobile coverage where I live, so it was never a carrier I
considered, after having service but no coverage on the network that
they now operate.