Sprint in Houston

I had Sprint until 2 yrs ago and switched to Verizon because I was getting
so many dropped calls, especially inside the Loop I am looking for a new
carrier and like Sprint's phones but don't wanna go back to the poor
coverage. The feedback I've gotten so far is mixed so wanting to get a few
more opinions before I decide.

Also, are any of the Sprint phones especially good for holding a signal?
I'm looking mainly at the Sanyo VM4500 and Toshiba VM(?)4050.

Thanks.

---

› See More: Sprint in Houston

In article <[email protected]>,
"Zen Cohen" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I had Sprint until 2 yrs ago and switched to Verizon because I was getting
> so many dropped calls, especially inside the Loop I am looking for a new
> carrier and like Sprint's phones but don't wanna go back to the poor
> coverage. The feedback I've gotten so far is mixed so wanting to get a few
> more opinions before I decide.
>
> Also, are any of the Sprint phones especially good for holding a signal?
> I'm looking mainly at the Sanyo VM4500 and Toshiba VM(?)4050.

SprintPCS certainly has many satisfied customers in Houston.

The Sanyo phones apparently are the best of what SprintPCS has to offer.

You may want to check at Costco, which sells SprintPCS phones, and will
stand behind those phones with a "satisfaction guarantee" which is
stronger than SprintPCS' own warranty. Also check with BestBuy, which
often has the best prices in town on SprintPCS phones, and if purchased
with a Gold MasterCard, you then have a 2 year warranty.

Keep in mind the deadzones listed for you in "houston.general"

>> Behind Lamar High School. Bellaire & Hillcroft; etc. etc.
>> are dead zones with SprintPCS.

> Add the intersection of Waugh and Fairview.........
> Drops the call everytime....

Also that SprintPCS still uses the 1900 MHz PCS band which is poor for
building penetration when compared to the 800 MHz used by Verizon.
Whether any given location inside the loop will still have too many
dropped calls is unknown as SprintPCS' coverage map imprecisely shows
total coverage and omits any deadzones. Try hanging around the SprintPCS
store on Westheimer, just east of Shepard and talk to customers as they
leave for their view on coverage.

Someone in "houston.general" said they have seen an improvement in
coverage over the past few years. The main improvement I have seen is
that you can now drive to Austin and have a good signal all the way,
whereas 5 years ago you'd have 50 miles of deadzone between Columbus and
Bastrop. Coverage is now excellent at the Houston airports. I have seen
coverage get worse in the Bellaire/Galleria area, but that may be due to
a tower or two sometimes being at full capacity. Anytime it rains, it's
now hard to get a call through in less than 3 or 4 tries in that part of
town.

Check out for the new (Area) plans Sprint is promoting, (i.e 1000
minutes for $45) which when if you go outside of Texas will cause every
minute to be a roaming minute at 50 cents. If you stay in Houston, the
Area plan is good for the extra minutes you'd get at the same price.

"Zen Cohen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I had Sprint until 2 yrs ago and switched to Verizon because I was getting
> so many dropped calls, especially inside the Loop I am looking for a new
> carrier and like Sprint's phones but don't wanna go back to the poor
> coverage. The feedback I've gotten so far is mixed so wanting to get a
few
> more opinions before I decide.
>
> Also, are any of the Sprint phones especially good for holding a signal?
> I'm looking mainly at the Sanyo VM4500 and Toshiba VM(?)4050.
>
> Thanks.
>
We don't see much, if any complaints with the Houston area in this
newsgroup. Even our resident troll, Robert M. aka: Phillipe and 58 other IDs
hasn't complained about coverage in Houston, and god knows he likes to
complain ...

As to the Sanyos, they get the highest praise here.

Bob

[email protected] says:

> We don't see much, if any complaints with the Houston > area in this
newsgroup. Even our resident {expert},
> Robert M. hasn't complained about coverage in
> Houston

Actually just the post prior to yours he discussed Houston rather fully with
maybe a few complaints:

SprintPCS certainly has many satisfied customers in Houston.

The Sanyo phones apparently are the best of what SprintPCS has to offer.

You may want to check at Costco, which sells SprintPCS phones, and will stand
behind those phones with a "satisfaction guarantee" which is
stronger than SprintPCS' own warranty. Also check with BestBuy, which often
has the best prices in town on SprintPCS phones, and if purchased
with a Gold MasterCard, you then have a 2 year warranty.

Keep in mind the deadzones listed for you in "houston.general"

>> Behind Lamar High School. Bellaire & Hillcroft; etc. etc.
>> are dead zones with SprintPCS.

> Add the intersection of Waugh and Fairview.........
> Drops the call everytime....

Also that SprintPCS still uses the 1900 MHz PCS band which is poor for
building penetration when compared to the 800 MHz used by Verizon.
Whether any given location inside the loop will still have too many dropped
calls is unknown as SprintPCS' coverage map imprecisely shows
total coverage and omits any deadzones. Try hanging around the SprintPCS store
on Westheimer, just east of Shepard and talk to customers as they
leave for their view on coverage.

Someone in "houston.general" said they have seen an improvement in coverage
over the past few years. The main improvement I have seen is
that you can now drive to Austin and have a good signal all the way, whereas 5
years ago you'd have 50 miles of deadzone between Columbus and
Bastrop. Coverage is now excellent at the Houston airports. I have seen
coverage get worse in the Bellaire/Galleria area, but that may be due to
a tower or two sometimes being at full capacity. Anytime it rains, it's now
hard to get a call through in less than 3 or 4 tries in that part of
town.

Check out for the new (Area) plans Sprint is promoting, (i.e 1000 minutes for
$45) which when if you go outside of Texas will cause every
minute to be a roaming minute at 50 cents. If you stay in Houston, the Area
plan is good for the extra minutes you'd get at the same price.

Bob Smith is forgetting the complaints of "WollyBully", which he
responded to,.

"Cell merger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] says:
>

>
> Actually just the post prior to yours he discussed Houston rather fully
with
> maybe a few complaints:
>

Robert- are you now talking about yourself in the third person?

Why did you feel the need to change names in the middle of the thread?
>

"Cell merger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] says:
>
> > We don't see much, if any complaints with the Houston > area in this
> newsgroup. Even our resident {expert},
> > Robert M. hasn't complained about coverage in
> > Houston

Phillipe, if you are going to quote my prior comments ... QUOTE THEM,
instead of misquoting me. And stop demunging my email address as well, you
little twerp.

Bob ::thinking it's time to complain to EL again.::

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Bob Smith is forgetting the complaints of "WollyBully", which he
> responded to,.

What are you talking about troll boy?

Bob

"Zen Cohen" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I had Sprint until 2 yrs ago and switched to Verizon because I was getting
> so many dropped calls, especially inside the Loop I am looking for a new
> carrier and like Sprint's phones but don't wanna go back to the poor
> coverage. The feedback I've gotten so far is mixed so wanting to get a few
> more opinions before I decide.
>
> Also, are any of the Sprint phones especially good for holding a signal?
> I'm looking mainly at the Sanyo VM4500 and Toshiba VM(?)4050.
>
> Thanks.

Sanyos and nokia have the least amount of dropped calls on Sprint's
network. Samsungs with ESN's starting with 056 and 081 are also good.
Toshiba is also proving to be good.

I've been a Sprint subscriber pretty much since Sprint started selling
their first clockwork-powered phones here. And yes, coverage has been
substantially improved over the years, and is now (for all practical
purposes) flawless. My last three phones have been Sanyos, with a
4900 my current phone. Coverage on most of the main highways out of
town seems to be excellent.

The only colossal mess-up here with Sprint was during the Great Flood
(Tropical Storm Alison) a few years ago. Sprint was the only cell
provider that went off the air. As I recall, it was because they'd
placed their switches at ground level, so they ended up under water.
I don't know whether they've changed that, but there were a lot of
disgruntled subscribers went elsewhere at the time -- if there's one
time you need your phone it's during a disaster.

Just my $0.02.

E.J. Bleendreeble
http://www.AmerUKa.com

In article <[email protected]>,=20
[email protected] says...
> Check out for the new (Area) plans Sprint is promoting, (i.e 1000=20
> minutes for $45) which when if you go outside of Texas will cause every=
=20
> minute to be a roaming minute at 50 cents. If you stay in Houston, the=20
> Area plan is good for the extra minutes you'd get at the same price.
>=20

Basically true, but, since the bill will list them this way, it's=20
worth noting that these minutes are called "travelling" minutes, not=20
roaming minutes.

--=20
R=D8=DF
O/Siris
I work for Sprint PCS
I *don't* speak for them

In article <[email protected]>,
O/Siris <0siris@sprîntpcs.com> wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
> > Check out for the new (Area) plans Sprint is promoting, (i.e 1000
> > minutes for $45) which when if you go outside of Texas will cause every
> > minute to be a roaming minute at 50 cents. If you stay in Houston, the
> > Area plan is good for the extra minutes you'd get at the same price.
> >
>
> Basically true, but, since the bill will list them this way, it's
> worth noting that these minutes are called "travelling" minutes, not
> roaming minutes.


Are they still charged at 50 cents each?

Frank Harris <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Cool! My Samsung A620 (VGA1000) has an ESN starting with 056 and its
> reception is pretty good!

Yes 056 is usually the top performers for Samsung. I just bought a
Vi660 from Costco that also has 056. My A500 has 081 (which is
second).

Scott Stephenson wrote:

> Robert- are you now talking about yourself in the third person?
>
> Why did you feel the need to change names in the middle of the thread?

Can we say..."The Three Faces of Eve"?

Oh.....I can see a remake! Don't know how Philly looks in drag though.
ROLMQA

"JRW" <no_addy@no_.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Scott Stephenson wrote:
>
> > Robert- are you now talking about yourself in the third person?
> >
> > Why did you feel the need to change names in the middle of the thread?
>
> Can we say..."The Three Faces of Eve"?
>
> Oh.....I can see a remake! Don't know how Philly looks in drag though.
> ROLMQA

That's a horrible thought! Funny ... but horrible ... The horror ...

Bob