Signal Quality Throughout IN and MI

I live in northern Indiana and travel a lot on business to SW Michigan
(roughly between South Bend, iN, and St. Joe, MI). Occasionally my
wife and I also travel south, toward Plymouth and Warsaw, IN, so
we're not always close to a tower. I am extremely unhappy with
tMobile, my current provider, and will be switching at the end of this
month.

I have a specific question about cell phone coverage in my geographical
area-something that is learned best through user experience, not
through looking at the official map offered on a service provider's
Web site.

Since I want to remain with a Symbian-based platform, my two choices in
this area seem to be Cingular and Centennial Wireless. I can get a
great deal on equipment and adaptive software-(I am a totally blind
user and want to add speech output options, etc., to a smart
phone)-if I go with Cingular. But I've heard awful things from two
of my friends about bad call quality and dropped connections in this
area with Cingular. Centennial seems to have great coverage, but not
as good of a deal on rebates/discounts for the phone unit or software
that I want. Of course, the less expensive option is very tempting.
But what can anyone tell me about personal experience with Cingular in
Indiana or Michigan, outside of the major cities? I'll be using a
smart phone such as the Nokia 6620, 6682, or E-70.

BTW, a competitor told me recently that Cingular rents tower usage
rights from Centennial in this region and that these rights are about
to expire without being renewed. I am concerned that signing with
Cingular for two years might cause me to be "out of luck" with
coverage shortly after I've committed. Does anyone have insight into
this?

Kind regards,

-Kane

---

› See More: Signal Quality Throughout IN and MI

On 2 Dec 2006 07:36:50 -0800, "Kane" <[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>I live in northern Indiana and travel a lot on business to SW Michigan
>(roughly between South Bend, iN, and St. Joe, MI). Occasionally my
>wife and I also travel south, toward Plymouth and Warsaw, IN, so
>we're not always close to a tower. I am extremely unhappy with
>tMobile, my current provider, and will be switching at the end of this
>month.
>
>I have a specific question about cell phone coverage in my geographical
>area-something that is learned best through user experience, not
>through looking at the official map offered on a service provider's
>Web site.

Not necessarily. User experience tends to be anecdotal and emotional,
and Cingular's new detailed coverage maps are quite good. Suggest you
start there, and then test it yourself -- you can return a phone within
the no risk trial period.

>BTW, a competitor told me recently that Cingular rents tower usage
>rights from Centennial in this region and that these rights are about
>to expire without being renewed. I am concerned that signing with
>Cingular for two years might cause me to be "out of luck" with
>coverage shortly after I've committed. Does anyone have insight into
>this?

I personally wouldn't worry too much about that kind of FUD. You have a
right to cancel without penalty in any event if coverage degrades
significantly.

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

John Navas <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:


>
> Not necessarily. User experience tends to be anecdotal and emotional,


Including your own? Or are you too much of a CIngular stooge to even be
able to admit this?