Picking a wireless provider

[vansmack]

Originally posted by bellenseb:
  Right now at Cingular/ATT I'm paying 60/month for 2 lines, no data/text, 400 daytime, unlimited night/weekend.

And T-Mobile has 700 minutes for two lines at $60, with unlimited nights and weekends.
 
 They are also running a special on their new MyFaves plan, which is 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends and MyFaves Family plans also include unlimited calls to the five numbers you call mostâ?? and each person can choose their own top five.

[godsshoeshine]

i've had trouble getting a signal in most of the places i've lived in va. but i hear that tmobile is having a phone that works on wireless internet. tell me more about this

[vansmack]

Originally posted by bellenseb:
  Right now at Cingular/ATT I'm paying 60/month for 2 lines, no data/text, 400 daytime, unlimited night/weekend.  

And your contract needs an upgrade because the current deal is 550 minutes on Cingular/AT&T at that price.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
   but i hear that tmobile is having a phone that works on wireless internet. tell me more about this

Stay away for at least 2-3 more years!  I tested an Earthlink Wi-fi phone in Anaheim (they have municipal wireless) and it worked great in the home near a wireless router, coverage was spotty as I walked around the house and virtually impossible to use while moving in a car.  It just couldn't seamlessy switch from one access point to another.
 
 Sprint/Nextel is going to do this with Wi-Max (A faster wireless internet) in the next couple of years - I'll be interested to see if its any better.  I can't imagine t-mobile trying this with their already slow data speeds.

[RatBastard]

I use Sprint and will NEVER go with anyone else.  The service is excellent.  I get and can make calls in places other people can barely get the clocks on their phones to work.  Support (in the infrequent instances when you need them) are always there and take care of issues right away.

[ratioci nation]

Originally posted by RatBastard:
  I use Sprint and will NEVER go with anyone else.  The service is excellent.  I get and can make calls in places other people can barely get the clocks on their phones to work.  Support (in the infrequent instances when you need them) are always there and take care of issues right away.

I swore to never use Sprint again, the few times I would call them I always had trouble, and if the call took any thought at all they would say hold on and put you back in to the queue without warning.  Other Sprint users I know have had similar experiences.  I have never had any problems with Verizon.

[bellenseb]

Originally posted by vansmack:
   

Originally posted by bellenseb:
  Right now at Cingular/ATT I'm paying 60/month for 2 lines, no data/text, 400 daytime, unlimited night/weekend.  

And your contract needs an upgrade because the current deal is 550 minutes on Cingular/AT&T at that price. [/b]

I should have been more specific - I'm paying 60 including all fees and taxes (it comes to 48 or so before them).

[vansmack]

Originally posted by RatBastard:
  I use Sprint and will NEVER go with anyone else.  The service is excellent.  

I agree.  After a short and problematic stint with Verizon, I became a Sprint customer in the late 90's and will never leave them.  
 
 I've had very few problems but stuck with them after one major problem in 2000.  I had a problem with my mobile phone, but only in the cell where my apartment was located (imagine walking north on Conn ave from the Woodley Park Metro and getting to Cathedral Ave and losing the call.  Walk back across cathedral and I could make the call, but anyhwere inside the entire cell - from cathedral to ~Van Ness, the park to Wisconsin - I couldn't make or recieve a call).  I called customer service and told them about the problem, and they referred me to tech support almost immediately.  I explained my methodology for testing this problem (which I would explain but it would only prove that I am bigger dork then you already think I am) and he said he'd never heard of it, but thought it sounded reasonable.  So he reset the Db for that cell and it fixed the problem.  A few days later Sprint called me, thanked me (apparently it was affecting more people that just me) and asked me if I want to be a beta tester of their new products and services.  It's been a great relationship for 7+ years now.
 
 For the record (and so people don't accuse me of pushing their goods because they give me stuff), I still pay a bill for a regular plan, I only don't pay for the services they ask me to test, and I do get free equipment that I have to give back, but that's usually when they send me something else to test.  And they don't pay me a dime.
 
 I'm sure this is a rare occurence, but one that will keep with them for life.  If work wants to pay another provider for a phone, that's cool, but I will always be with Sprint for my personal plan.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by bellenseb:
  I should have been more specific - I'm paying 60 including all fees and taxes (it comes to 48 or so before them).

It's a fun exercise for me, but I won't go through the hassle of calculating taxes and fees for ya!  So it sounds like you've got what you want with that plan and if the minutes are adequate, then stick with what you've got.  I don't see any other monthly plans with rates that low.
 
 Of course, when AT&T says you have to switch to a new plan because this one's out of date, we'll talk again...

[Chip Chanko]

I've been using T-Mobile for 4 years now and have had zero problems and excellent coverage unless I'm camping or something. They're 5.99 data plan will let you use google local or windows live search (if you can install them on your phone, I mainly buy unlocked phones so I'm not confined to their offerings). I pay 44.99 for 1500 minutes and the data (slow edge data but works for what I need).

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by vansmack:
 
 Of course, when AT&T says you have to switch to a new plan because this one's out of date, we'll talk again...

heh, that's what verizon does to me all the time.  went to add another person to my plan, had to get a new, more expensive plan....

[Bags]

Originally posted by vansmack:
   

Originally posted by TheDirector217:
  Verizon has the best service

I have gotten to the point where I don't think anybody offers more coverage in major metro areas (they're all spotty) or better customer service (they all suck).[/b]

I never have Verizon service give out on me anywhere in DC or New York.  When iPhone comes out with a second generation, and I can get Verizon, I'll think about it.
 
 Additional plus is that Verizon is wired down in the metro.  Big plus if you need to call to say the train you're on has stopped.  For a long time.
 
 I have a Cingular "pay as you go" phone I bought to use in the Virgin Islands.  The phone was free, and they gave me $70 worth of minutes for the $50 initial payment.  I'd say that's not bad, in order to have an international phone at the ready...
 
 My actual phone is...oops, at home.  It's a Samsung, I've never had a problem and it's over 2 years old.  I can do the two for new or whatever the hell, but why if my phone is fine?  I don't care that it's not a razor or chocolate or whatever...  Every once in a while I covet one of those very cool looking new phones, but can't justify a change because it looks cooler.

[walkonby]

dropping loads