Goodbye, Cingular; hello, ATTWS

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <d%[email protected]> on Tue, 03 Aug 2004 15:16:25 GMT,
John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:

>My phone is GSM 1900 but not GSM 850. The problem there is that Cingular has
>sold its 1900 spectrum to T-Mobile, and I doubt Cingular will now have much
>interest in improving 1900 coverage. I may be out of luck with that phone
>unless Cingular enables use of ATTWS 1900 coverage by Cingular subscribers.
>
>Thus, to get good GSM coverage in this area, I may be forced to look into
>replacement of my (relatively new and otherwise terrific) phone with one that
>supports GSM 850. [sigh] But first I'm going to do some testing with an
>ATTWS SIM, since another option is to switch from Cingular (where I'm
>month-to-month) to ATTWS.

Confirmed today that here in Northern California:

* ATTWS GSM subscribers may now roam freely on Cingular, giving them the
combined coverage of ATTWS and Cingular.

* Cingular subscribers are prohibited from roaming on ATTWS (which I frankly
think is a bit shabby).

That makes a big difference in (say) Foster City, where ATTWS has pretty good
coverage, whereas Cingular has a fairly large coverage hole south of 92, as
shown in my own tests of both carriers. Although there are other areas where
the reverse is true, likewise as shown in my own tests, ATTWS now avoids that
problem by allowing roaming on Cingular.

That difference, plus some nice incentives (discounted bundle of voice +
unlimited night&weekend + 7pm nights + data + free incoming messages + text
messages + picture messages), pushed me into switching from Cingular to ATTWS.
Since I have an unlocked phone and month-to-month service, the switch was
relatively easy, and my number should be ported by early tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, I'm already enjoying the benefits of ATTWS coverage in places
like Foster City, and the ability to roam on Cingular where ATTWS has holes.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

---

› See More: Goodbye, Cingular; hello, ATTWS

I have found ATTWS coverage to be FAR superior to that of Cingular (big
signal versus none at all) in my area of suburban LA.

George


"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <d%[email protected]> on Tue, 03 Aug 2004 15:16:25
GMT,
> John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >My phone is GSM 1900 but not GSM 850. The problem there is that Cingular
has
> >sold its 1900 spectrum to T-Mobile, and I doubt Cingular will now have
much
> >interest in improving 1900 coverage. I may be out of luck with that
phone
> >unless Cingular enables use of ATTWS 1900 coverage by Cingular
subscribers.
> >
> >Thus, to get good GSM coverage in this area, I may be forced to look into
> >replacement of my (relatively new and otherwise terrific) phone with one
that
> >supports GSM 850. [sigh] But first I'm going to do some testing with an
> >ATTWS SIM, since another option is to switch from Cingular (where I'm
> >month-to-month) to ATTWS.
>
> Confirmed today that here in Northern California:
>
> * ATTWS GSM subscribers may now roam freely on Cingular, giving them the
> combined coverage of ATTWS and Cingular.
>
> * Cingular subscribers are prohibited from roaming on ATTWS (which I
frankly
> think is a bit shabby).
>
> That makes a big difference in (say) Foster City, where ATTWS has pretty
good
> coverage, whereas Cingular has a fairly large coverage hole south of 92,
as
> shown in my own tests of both carriers. Although there are other areas
where
> the reverse is true, likewise as shown in my own tests, ATTWS now avoids
that
> problem by allowing roaming on Cingular.
>
> That difference, plus some nice incentives (discounted bundle of voice +
> unlimited night&weekend + 7pm nights + data + free incoming messages +
text
> messages + picture messages), pushed me into switching from Cingular to
ATTWS.
> Since I have an unlocked phone and month-to-month service, the switch was
> relatively easy, and my number should be ported by early tomorrow morning.
> In the meantime, I'm already enjoying the benefits of ATTWS coverage in
places
> like Foster City, and the ability to roam on Cingular where ATTWS has
holes.
>
> --
> Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
> John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

I have also noticed the same issue with Cingular in Foster City.
Only reason I am sticking to Cingular is because of CSD (Circuit
Switch Data). ATT does not have CSD and then they force people
to use GPRS/UMTS and pay 1/3 cents/K byes. With CSD, even though
slower, I only consume my voice minutee.

-a

> That makes a big difference in (say) Foster City, where ATTWS has pretty good
> coverage, whereas Cingular has a fairly large coverage hole south of 92, as
> shown in my own tests of both carriers. Although there are other areas where
> the reverse is true, likewise as shown in my own tests, ATTWS now avoids that
> problem by allowing roaming on Cingular.
>

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.attws - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

I agree that the lack of CSD is a drawback to ATTWS (likewise the refusal to
unlock phones), but on balance I'm now happier with ATTWS than with Cingular.
I expect to be using both EDGE and UMTS soon, which beats the c&%$&^ out of
CSD!

In <JdlQc.91293$eM2.11844@attbi_s51> on Thu, 05 Aug 2004 07:21:13 GMT, akmu
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I have also noticed the same issue with Cingular in Foster City.
>Only reason I am sticking to Cingular is because of CSD (Circuit
>Switch Data). ATT does not have CSD and then they force people
>to use GPRS/UMTS and pay 1/3 cents/K byes. With CSD, even though
>slower, I only consume my voice minutee.
>
>-a
>
>> That makes a big difference in (say) Foster City, where ATTWS has pretty good
>> coverage, whereas Cingular has a fairly large coverage hole south of 92, as
>> shown in my own tests of both carriers. Although there are other areas where
>> the reverse is true, likewise as shown in my own tests, ATTWS now avoids that
>> problem by allowing roaming on Cingular.
>>

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/>