Florida Report on Verizon and Cingular

Last week I was traveling throughout Florida. I had a Cingular and
Verizon phone with me.

In Orlando, both phones worked flawlessly. Traveling on some rural roads
up to Mount Dora, Cingular coverage was spotty, while Verizon coverage
had no gaps.

In Gainesville, Cingular coverage was very poor, dropping out completely
two blocks from Royal Park shopping center, in a wooded residential
neighborhood on SR 26. Cingular coverage was also poor out in the NW
section of Gainesville.

I then drove through the Ocala National Forest on 40, where having a
phone that supports AMPS proved to be very useful, as there is no
digital coverage in much of the national forest. Once in Ormond Beach
(I-95), digital coverage returned for both carriers, and was fine all
the way to South Florida.

I was picking up some relatives from a cruise at Port Canaveral, and it
was interesting to note that they could use their Verizon phones very
far from the shore (about 50 miles), but the Cingular phones stopped
working at about 20 miles from shore. So there is apparently no extended
range GSM on the Florida coast.

---

› See More: Florida Report on Verizon and Cingular

"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Last week I was traveling throughout Florida. I had a Cingular and Verizon
> phone with me.
>
> In Orlando, both phones worked flawlessly. Traveling on some rural roads
> up to Mount Dora, Cingular coverage was spotty, while Verizon coverage had
> no gaps.
>
> In Gainesville, Cingular coverage was very poor, dropping out completely
> two blocks from Royal Park shopping center, in a wooded residential
> neighborhood on SR 26. Cingular coverage was also poor out in the NW
> section of Gainesville.
>
> I then drove through the Ocala National Forest on 40, where having a phone
> that supports AMPS proved to be very useful, as there is no digital
> coverage in much of the national forest. Once in Ormond Beach (I-95),
> digital coverage returned for both carriers, and was fine all the way to
> South Florida.
>
> I was picking up some relatives from a cruise at Port Canaveral, and it
> was interesting to note that they could use their Verizon phones very far
> from the shore (about 50 miles), but the Cingular phones stopped working
> at about 20 miles from shore. So there is apparently no extended range GSM
> on the Florida coast.

Verizon is the only service I've had since I moved to Florida & the coverage
is great. The only place where it's a little spotty for me is on Alligator
alley. Did you use an external antenna to get coverage 50 miles out? I never
thought it would extend that far.

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:50:26 -0700, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:

>Last week I was traveling throughout Florida. I had a Cingular and
>Verizon phone with me.
>
>In Orlando, both phones worked flawlessly. Traveling on some rural roads
>up to Mount Dora, Cingular coverage was spotty, while Verizon coverage
>had no gaps.
>
>In Gainesville, Cingular coverage was very poor, dropping out completely
>two blocks from Royal Park shopping center, in a wooded residential
>neighborhood on SR 26. Cingular coverage was also poor out in the NW
>section of Gainesville.

Probably your old Cingular phone again. You really ought to get a new
one (assuming you're more interested in communicating than ranting).

>I was picking up some relatives from a cruise at Port Canaveral, and it
>was interesting to note that they could use their Verizon phones very
>far from the shore (about 50 miles), ...

Color me very skeptical.

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

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 21:06:18 GMT, "RichC"
<rcacace@{REMOVE_TO_REPLY}swfla.rr.com> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...

>> I was picking up some relatives from a cruise at Port Canaveral, and it
>> was interesting to note that they could use their Verizon phones very far
>> from the shore (about 50 miles), but the Cingular phones stopped working
>> at about 20 miles from shore. So there is apparently no extended range GSM
>> on the Florida coast.
>
>Verizon is the only service I've had since I moved to Florida & the coverage
>is great. The only place where it's a little spotty for me is on Alligator
>alley. Did you use an external antenna to get coverage 50 miles out? I never
>thought it would extend that far.

It won't. He must have been using his external imagination.

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

SMS wrote:
> Last week I was traveling throughout Florida. I had a Cingular and
> Verizon phone with me.
>
> In Orlando, both phones worked flawlessly. Traveling on some rural roads
> up to Mount Dora, Cingular coverage was spotty, while Verizon coverage
> had no gaps.
>
> In Gainesville, Cingular coverage was very poor, dropping out completely
> two blocks from Royal Park shopping center, in a wooded residential
> neighborhood on SR 26. Cingular coverage was also poor out in the NW
> section of Gainesville.
>
> I then drove through the Ocala National Forest on 40, where having a
> phone that supports AMPS proved to be very useful, as there is no
> digital coverage in much of the national forest. Once in Ormond Beach
> (I-95), digital coverage returned for both carriers, and was fine all
> the way to South Florida.
>
> I was picking up some relatives from a cruise at Port Canaveral, and it
> was interesting to note that they could use their Verizon phones very
> far from the shore (about 50 miles), but the Cingular phones stopped
> working at about 20 miles from shore. So there is apparently no extended
> range GSM on the Florida coast.

And another feature is that Verizon doesn't omit things like batteries,
generators and redundant data paths. Ask anyone who has experienced the
Florida weather which system will be usable.

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 17:54:46 -0400, George <[email protected]> wrote
in <[email protected]>:

>And another feature is that Verizon doesn't omit things like batteries,
>generators and redundant data paths. ...

Likewise other carriers, including Cingular.

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

RichC wrote:

> Verizon is the only service I've had since I moved to Florida & the coverage
> is great. The only place where it's a little spotty for me is on Alligator
> alley. Did you use an external antenna to get coverage 50 miles out? I never
> thought it would extend that far.

I wasn't on the cruise, I was picking up some people. CDMA has no
problem at 50 miles (though I don't know if the people were on AMPS or
on CDMA). GSM has a hard limit of about 22 miles, though one person in
the U.S. has extended range GSM.

I didn't make it out to Alligator Alley, but I recall being in far west
Fort Lauderdale at the Kid's Art Museum, and not having digital coverage
(this was many years ago though).

I was worried about coverage in south Florida, where Verizon is all 1900
MHz, but it was fine--maybe because the population density is so high
and the terrain so flat.

George wrote:

> And another feature is that Verizon doesn't omit things like batteries,
> generators and redundant data paths. Ask anyone who has experienced the
> Florida weather which system will be usable.

It's really amazing that more businesses that are as critical as this
don't have back-up power. Verizon's always been the best carrier in
terms of the percentage of their cells with back-up power. During the
big hurricane in South Florida last year, it wasn't just Cingular, it
was the vast majority of gasoline stations that had no back-up power.
Plenty of gasoline was in the underground tanks, but there was no way to
pump it.

You can still see a lot of hurricane damage, a year later. Lots of roofs
still have tarps, and lots of traffic signs are bent over.

> It won't. He must have been using his external imagination.

Nah... I was on a cruise from Miami recently and noticed the same thing. I
attributed it to antennas being placed on the outlying islands and such as
the ship was heading out to open sea.

-Frank

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:16:03 -0700, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:

>RichC wrote:
>
>> Verizon is the only service I've had since I moved to Florida & the coverage
>> is great. The only place where it's a little spotty for me is on Alligator
>> alley. Did you use an external antenna to get coverage 50 miles out? I never
>> thought it would extend that far.
>
>I wasn't on the cruise, I was picking up some people. CDMA has no
>problem at 50 miles (though I don't know if the people were on AMPS or
>on CDMA).

Actually CDMA2000 does have problems at that range, given standard
towers and standard handsets.

>GSM has a hard limit of about 22 miles, though one person in
>the U.S. has extended range GSM.

Extended range GSM has range comparable to CDMA2000.

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

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 16:31:23 -0600, "Frankster" <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:

>> It won't. He must have been using his external imagination.
>
>Nah... I was on a cruise from Miami recently and noticed the same thing. I
>attributed it to antennas being placed on the outlying islands and such as
>the ship was heading out to open sea.

Out of Miami there's Bimini, and then the Bahamas. But Steven claims to
have had reception where there aren't any such islands. Perhaps he was
seriously lost.

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

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:19:48 -0700, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:

>George wrote:
>
>> And another feature is that Verizon doesn't omit things like batteries,
>> generators and redundant data paths. Ask anyone who has experienced the
>> Florida weather which system will be usable.
>
>It's really amazing that more businesses that are as critical as this
>don't have back-up power. Verizon's always been the best carrier in
>terms of the percentage of their cells with back-up power. During the
>big hurricane in South Florida last year, it wasn't just Cingular, ...

In fact all carriers have backup systems.

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

Alligator alley..Why does most every male driver wear a hat????
Sound like a misplaced New Yorker...Did you get you early bird special
today????


HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAH



"RichC" <rcacace@{REMOVE_TO_REPLY}swfla.rr.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Last week I was traveling throughout Florida. I had a Cingular and
>> Verizon phone with me.
>>
>> In Orlando, both phones worked flawlessly. Traveling on some rural roads
>> up to Mount Dora, Cingular coverage was spotty, while Verizon coverage
>> had no gaps.
>>
>> In Gainesville, Cingular coverage was very poor, dropping out completely
>> two blocks from Royal Park shopping center, in a wooded residential
>> neighborhood on SR 26. Cingular coverage was also poor out in the NW
>> section of Gainesville.
>>
>> I then drove through the Ocala National Forest on 40, where having a
>> phone that supports AMPS proved to be very useful, as there is no digital
>> coverage in much of the national forest. Once in Ormond Beach (I-95),
>> digital coverage returned for both carriers, and was fine all the way to
>> South Florida.
>>
>> I was picking up some relatives from a cruise at Port Canaveral, and it
>> was interesting to note that they could use their Verizon phones very far
>> from the shore (about 50 miles), but the Cingular phones stopped working
>> at about 20 miles from shore. So there is apparently no extended range
>> GSM on the Florida coast.
>
> Verizon is the only service I've had since I moved to Florida & the
> coverage is great. The only place where it's a little spotty for me is on
> Alligator alley. Did you use an external antenna to get coverage 50 miles
> out? I never thought it would extend that far.
>

I drove that stretch on 40 through the Ocala National Forest back in the
mid-1990's. It was AT&T analog then.

"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Last week I was traveling throughout Florida. I had a Cingular and Verizon
> phone with me.
>
> In Orlando, both phones worked flawlessly. Traveling on some rural roads
> up to Mount Dora, Cingular coverage was spotty, while Verizon coverage had
> no gaps.
>
> In Gainesville, Cingular coverage was very poor, dropping out completely
> two blocks from Royal Park shopping center, in a wooded residential
> neighborhood on SR 26. Cingular coverage was also poor out in the NW
> section of Gainesville.
>
> I then drove through the Ocala National Forest on 40, where having a phone
> that supports AMPS proved to be very useful, as there is no digital
> coverage in much of the national forest. Once in Ormond Beach (I-95),
> digital coverage returned for both carriers, and was fine all the way to
> South Florida.
>
> I was picking up some relatives from a cruise at Port Canaveral, and it
> was interesting to note that they could use their Verizon phones very far
> from the shore (about 50 miles), but the Cingular phones stopped working
> at about 20 miles from shore. So there is apparently no extended range GSM
> on the Florida coast.

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:16:03 -0700, SMS <[email protected]>
> wrote in <[email protected]>:
>
>>RichC wrote:
>>
>>> Verizon is the only service I've had since I moved to Florida & the
>>> coverage
>>> is great. The only place where it's a little spotty for me is on
>>> Alligator
>>> alley. Did you use an external antenna to get coverage 50 miles out? I
>>> never
>>> thought it would extend that far.
>>
>>I wasn't on the cruise, I was picking up some people. CDMA has no
>>problem at 50 miles (though I don't know if the people were on AMPS or
>>on CDMA).
>
> Actually CDMA2000 does have problems at that range, given standard
> towers and standard handsets.

Cite?

>
>>GSM has a hard limit of about 22 miles, though one person in
>>the U.S. has extended range GSM.
>
> Extended range GSM has range comparable to CDMA2000.
>

Talking about vaporware again, I see.