Cell Phone reception experience

[Tdog]

Here’s a brief summary of my recent cell phone experiences. My old phone was a Nokia, the model # I can’t quite remember. Whatever, my screen was never bright enough to see well enough during the day, especially while in the car. On top of that, the screen was plenty scratched & was difficult to read. So my wife & I decided we would both get new phones, as hers was the same old Nokia clunker.

We picked the Samsung Sync. I really liked it. Large, bright screen and huge font. That’s important for my geeezerly eyes. When I it got home, I wanted to become familiar with its features, but I could not get anything to work. The phone was on, but it kept telling me ‘emergency calls only’. I finally called Cingular/AT&T [a couple of times] & finally got transferred to a technician. He had me try several things that were unsuccessful and finally suggested that I go outside. Bingo - - no network inside. Yes, I live in a fairly remote area, but I was really surprised because my old Nokia clunker worked [a little] from my recliner, which is right next to glass patio doors. OK - - the problem is weak reception on the new phone. So I asked the technician what phone would do better. He was very reluctant to say, but finally said he thought that Nokia and Motorola get the best reception.

I took our two Syncs back and came home with a couple of Motorola Razr’s. It’s too late to make a long story short, but the Razr gets much better reception - - it will work all over my house, not just next to a window like my Nokia. The screen is nice & bright, but the font is not as large as the Sync. The Razr has tons of features I will never use. I do not need to watch videos, or carry around music, or access email & the internet on my phone. I just wanted a phone that worked at my house.

I know many people on TBN live in rural areas like I do & have weak cell phone reception. Hope my experiences are relevant for you.

Jack

 

[randy41]

i've got an LG with verizon...the only carrier servicing this area. been pretty satisfied but i live sorta on top of a hill. down along the road by the creek forget it.

 

[Tdog]

randy,
visitors to my place who have had verizon have had no service. It's been a year or more since someone tried, though. Cingular/AT&T covers my area best. If I were in town, Verizon, Sprint, & maybe others would be options, but here, I think it's cingular.

Jack

 

[BubbaJr]

Tdog's experience mirrors mine also. I've been with AT&T/Cingular/AT&T since 1990, and in this area I've always gotten at least as good and usually better reception than everyone I've compared with.

I had a Motorola Startech phone for years, and was very happy with it, but they recently told me that TDMA support for my phone would cease in February of 2008.

I looked at my phone bills for the last two years and figured out how much usage I had on average per month. Then I used those figures to determine how much it would cost us to get two phones for the wife and I using AT&T's Go phone pre-paid program. It turned out that we could purchase 2 phones and purchase a years worth of time for each phone at roughly half the price of my previous plan for 1 phone. We both chose Nokia phones, I got a 6102i, and my wife got a 6030. We've had the phones for almost a month now, and they both work fine. So if your contract is up or you are thinking about making changes, you should figure out if a pre-paid plan will work for you, saving you a lot of money. I should mention that this plan is for people that don't spend a lot of time on the phone, because the per minute charge is a little high. But you still come out ahead in the long run. Plus now we have the latest features and all the regular services like call waiting, forwarding, ID, no roaming, etc.

Just food for thought, and may not work in your area or for your style of usage.

 

[Bird]

I guess we've stayed with the same cell phone plan longer than anyone we know. Our first experience with cell phones was when we got a Nokia phone with service from Southwestern Bell Mobile, which later became Cingular, and now is the "new AT&T". We got that first cell phone in February 1999. But we've stayed with the same plan; 250 prime time minutes and 3500 nighttime and weekend minutes per month, and we've never come close to using half of them in any month. I'm sure the telephone instruments have improved over the years, but of course the company's coverage has also improved. With that first phone, we lived 20 miles from town and had to go outside in front of the house to use it. Then, after a few years, we traded up to an Ericsson phone that worked better, and then a little over 2 years ago, we traded up to a Motorola V551 to get the Bluetooth. But we haven't found any place in the last 4 or 5 years that we didn't have decent reception. Trips to my wife's family in West Virginia several years ago would take us through areas with no reception, but not in the last 4 or 5 years.

 

[randy41]

we used to have a prepaid plan but it turned out that since we didn't have a 'plan' that in network calls cost money. our son went to college in Philly with his cell and verizon plan and i was replenishing the prepaid very often. so we got a verizon family plan. now he and my wife call each other for free all the time.

 

[milkman]

Been with Cingular, now At&T for years and am pleased with the coverage even when I was all over the country, wife has Verizon at work, not as good where we live. All my family has At&T so almost no minutes used, have had several phones, Nokia has been good, wife had a cheap LG that was OK, Motorola V400 was a good phone, my favorite so far is the Razr because of the Bluetooth, had a Motorola headset that truly sucked, gave it away and got a Plantronics 510 head set that is comfortable and clear.
We had a lightning storm here around June 26th and since then there are places that the signal was weak before, the phone loses signal now. Don't know how we got by before cell phones, but they sure drive me crazy sometime.

 

[RoyJackson]

Had the same problem with the same phone Tdog had (the Samsung). Shame, as it is a nice phone with BIG characters.
So, ended up with a Motorola Razr too...it got the best reception of the three phones I tried.

None of the phones I used had external antennas...I think that's my problem.

 

[ronjhall]

We changed phones about 2 months ago. Spent quite a bit of time researching what was the best phone for reception, long battery life and ease of use. Top of the line phones were Nokia, then Motorola, some Samsung's and lastly LG. Ended up with Motorola Razr because it had abiltiy to hook up a external antenna and amplifier in the car or motorhome.
So far they have worked as well as our old Nokia's that were over 3 years old. They great for reception and battery life. But short on features. At&t/Cingular is about the only phone service that will work inside our house. Verizion, Sprint/Nextel and others will not work reliably inside our home.
It pays to reserch phones and service that work best in your area.

 

[RoyJackson]

Ended up with Motorola Razr because it had abiltiy to hook up a external antenna and amplifier in the car or motorhome.

Which Razr do you have, Ron?

 

[randy41]

Roy- the big characters is important to me too. i hate having to put on my reading glasses just to see whats going on on the phone.

 

[ronjhall]

Which Razr do you have, Ron?

Razr V3

 

[RobS]

We live about a half mile from the Indiana/Michigan stateline. There are a couple of popular roads that parallel the dividing line pretty much the whole length. I've got Verizon and the reception is terrible from East to West. North or South a bit and it's fine, but right along the state line is horrible. They've really got the antennas tuned in to make sure they get their roaming charges I guess. Friends with Centennial fare much better in this area.

 

[motepoc]

Had Nokia's since we started with ALLTEL. They were the best phones when compared to my kids and others phones that were not Nokias. My son lives accross the street out in the country. When I called his phone(don't know what kind, other than different than Nokia, but newer and could do more???), I would get his voice mail. Then he'd get the message and call me back, and his call to me would come through to me. Before you ask, he didn't have any feature turned on.

I had bought wall chargers for batteries, and extra batteries (larger capacity too) and never had to plug phone into charger, just change batteries. Well, my wife was in the hospital, and somehow lost hers. Think it may have been in the sheets once when they were changed. Never did find it, so bought her a new phone. Asked for the same old Nokia, but couldn't be had. Had to settle for one of those new ones with all the bells and frills (camera phone) made by Motorola. It seems okay right now. And wouldn't you just know it, but mine went south just about the same time, so got a second one. Haven't had them long enough to give a fair appraisal.

 

[RoyJackson]

Roy- the big characters is important to me too. i hate having to put on my reading glasses just to see whats going on on the phone.

Yeah, but they're not much use if the phone has no reception.

I am pretty happy with my Razr, but I sure don't get as good reception as I did with verizon.

 

[randy41]

my son has a razr that has not held up very well...he's had it for a year now and he says some of the keys pop off. lucky for him his agreement is for one year so he's due for a new plan and a new phone.

 

[BillyP]

my son has a razr that has not held up very well...he's had it for a year now and he says some of the keys pop off. lucky for him his agreement is for one year so he's due for a new plan and a new phone.

You might want to check but I'm pretty sure that phone comes with a manufacturer's 12 month warranty? I do have the razr v3 phone and maybe you son has another model but the only way the key/s could pop off is the whole key pad would have to come loose?

 

[froggy]

Trips to my wife's family in West Virginia several years ago would take us through areas with no reception, but not in the last 4 or 5 years.

I have AT&T and just took a trip to northwest North Carolina to stay with some friends at their cabin and we couldn't get reception there. The people who own the cabin had Verizon and had excellent reception.

 

[Sigarms]

California, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Nebraska, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Pennyslvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Mexico, Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana are some of the states that I can think of that I didn't have any major issues with my carrier, Verizon (yes, there were some spots in some states that I couldn't get coverage).

Although Verizon may not have the best reception in an area that is "dictated" by a local carrier (like cingular), I have found that in most instances, if I have coverage, there is a possibility that someone I'm with that has another carrier doe not. I have never been in an area where I've not had coverage and someone else around me does.

Tried Nextel, the two way radio is great, however, found that carrier to be the least dependable out of all that I've tried.

I average about 4,000 minutes a month, and although I may not have the "best" plan out there, no complaints so far.

I have heard although, that Verizon via landline is one of thee worst carriers to use.

 

[ronjhall]

I have heard although, that Verizon via landline is one of thee worst carriers to use.

That may be the reason I will never consider their cell phone service. Over 30 years of poor service has made me sceptical of any of their advertisements.