Are you happy with your Cell Phone Service?

[FoxJet]

I have Verizon Wireless and although I am happy with the service domestically I have found it rarely works internationally. This includes Bahamas, Mexico and Great Britain.
Can anyone suggest a carrier that they have been happy with while completing international flights to include Europe. -Thank You

 

[NW_Pilot]

Go with Cingular, T-Mobile, or any other GSM type service! I know I switched from T-mobile to Cingular becuse of the coverage aera.

 

[HawkerF/O]

I have Verizon Wireless and although I am happy with the service domestically I have found it rarely works internationally. This includes Bahamas, Mexico and Great Britain.
Can anyone suggest a carrier that they have been happy with while completing international flights to include Europe. -Thank You

Verizon used CDMA signals and most other providers is GSM signals. That's the problem. CDMA works very well but it is not compatible with the foreign GSM signals. You have to trade 1 for the other. Verizon is the best in the US. There is no arguing that. But overseas, it's a crap shoot. The reason Verizon works so well in the US is due to the CDMA signal it uses. GSM is just not as good, but it is more of the standard worldwide. I just got a WiFi phone from Vonage and it works anywhere there is Wi-Fi service. I dont travel inernationally much, but the Wi-Fi phone was 80.00 and 24/month for unlimited service. If I were to go to Europe for example, I would just need to find a hot spot (usually a hotel or FBO)and I could call the US as much as I wanted for nothing additional to my 24/month service fee. Call quality is great; as good as a cell phone. In the FBOs domestically, it works great because all of them for the most part have free wi-fi. Even the hole in the wall 1 horse towns seem to have high speed wi-fi. Call it if you want to: 636 787 7820 and see how good the call quality is.

Just stay away from Cingular. They have the worst coverage domestically and will nickel and dime you on your monthly bill. Those are my thoughts, but if you pick up the consumer reports annual survey on cell phone satisfaction, it will echo what I have said.

 

[FoxJet]

I am leaning towards cingular, one of the other guys I fly with uses them and seems to have service a lot more often then I do. On the other hand the Vonage idea is a great one that I haven't considered...excellent thinking. Maybe a combo of the two would be the best way to go. Thanks A lot.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

Cingular and Tmobile both have great Intl coverage.

Cingular better domestic.

I would go cingular and get a sim for Great Brit if you are there often.

 

[HawkerF/O]

This was posted on the NBAA msg board about a year ago.......
A INTL GIV,GV pilot had written in and asked what people thoughts were on the VOIP phones. Here was a particularly good response that expalins the VOIP systems very well.

I have nothing but positives to say about the service. I have been using it for over a year now, and it works very well. I live in St. Paul, grew up in the great state of Illinois where my parents still live as well as some old friends. My primary Vonage # is a St. Paul # and for $5/month I also have a local Chicago # (it's called a virtual phone #) that forwards to my primary Vonage #. My parents and friends make a local call to call me directly at no charge to them and it only costs me $5. Most of the time I have it forwarded to my cell phone. When someone calls the Chicago or St. Paul #, it rings directly to my cell and the person calling has no idea all of this is happening. If you have clients in other parts of the country and some parts of the world, you can get a local # to them that rings to your primary #, and at $5/month, there is no limit to the amount of #s you can have.

For a world traveler such as you, it would be great. The box I have is about the size of 2 cigarette packs and it can fit in my pocket. You just need high speed Internet to make it work. From anywhere in the world, you just plug the box into AC power and high speed Internet, and you have your home phone wherever you are. The box works anywhere. The box does not know where it is; it only knows that it has high speed internet. I was in Nassau last fall and it worked well. Anyone that dialed my home phone # was actually calling me in my hotel room. People in foreign countries have the Vonage boxes sent over to them, and they dial a # local to the US (no 011+country code, etc), and they talk to relatives, friends, clients, etc for as long as they want at no charge (except for the monthly fee). Like I said earlier, the box does not know where it is, it just knows whether or not it has high speed Internet connected. You can also get local #s for Canada, Mexico, and the UK, so if you speak frequently with someone from one of those countries, they can dial a # local to them and it will ring directly to you here in the states with no charge for long distance, just the additional monthly charge to you of $5.

The call forwarding, called ID, dialed #s, etc can all be viewed online. Caller ID is advanced and online, it is actually broken down into what # who called in on if you have more than 1 phone #. Another feature that is great is the fact that you can actually transfer calls to another phone when you are talking to someone. For example you are talking on your Vonage phone at home, and you are getting ready to walk out the door. You can Xfer the live call to your cell phone for example, then unplug the Vonage box and take it with you all without dropping the call. All of this is laid out in a simple format. The downside is that if your cable or power goes out, you have no phone, but Vonage has it set so if your high speed is down, it will automatically ring to a predetermined phone # that you choose, in my case my cell phone. Basic Vonage with unlimited LD and local is about $27 and that includes taxes. They hit my credit card once a month and I like that so I don’t have to pay the bill manually, it is automatic.

For you, I would get the box I use. It is very small and simple to take with you. ( http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/6778/6778365cv1a.jpg ) You can get bigger boxes that have wireless routers and all that built in, but that is not necessary for what you are wanting to do. The box I have is made by Linksys. It is a 2-line unit though I only use 1 line, but I have the availability to add another actual phone line, not a virtual #, if I want. You can use the hotel's phone and just plug it into the box, but I travel with a cordless phone that is a headset so I walk around the hotel room with it and do not have to be stationary.

Finally, in a month or 2, Vonage is coming out with a Wi-Fi phone, that works just like Vonage does now and like a cell phone, except it will use Wi-Fi signals to make and receive calls and it's about the size of a cell phone. Anywhere you can get onto a wireless network, you can make and receive phone calls. It is going to be pretty sweet, and for someone in our industry, I can't see living without it. One a single charge it is expected to have a 5 hour talk time. I personally think it will replace cell phones that are issued directly to corporate aircraft, as most FBOs have Wi-Fi that will reach the ramp, and at $25/month (expected price), pilots will be able to use it as much as they want for business or personal calls without worrying about minutes. It's either use it or lose it.

Article on the Wi-Fi phone with lots of pictures.
http://www.vonage.com/corporate/press_news.php?PR=2005_04_15_1

Article on the Wi-Fi phone
http://www.vonage.com/corporate/press_news.php?PR=2005_09_12_0

 

[snowman]

carry a laptop and use skype for free. works very well.
I am constantly in communications with someone from Australia.
no brainer. FREE!!!!!

 

[banned username 2]

Cingular would be your best compromise (Domestic/International coverage)... Make sure you get a Quad-Band GSM phone (I use a Motorola V3 RAZR) and you will have as good worldwide coverage as you can get...

Since aquiring AT&T Wireless, Cingular's domestic coverage has grown very rapidly...

 

[G100driver]

I use cingular international and have never had a problem. Plus this way I can stick it to the man with my rollover minutes ... oh wait .... I work for the man.

 

[FL420]

I am happy with Verizon. I have used it in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. These countries and most of the Caribbean islands have CDMA networks. You do have to tell Verizon customer service to activate your account for roaming in the countries in which you want to use it.

The only problems I had was the CSR's were not too familiar with international roaming and several times when my phone didn't work where it should, a call to Customer Service revealed that my roaming authorization had inexplicably been dropped from my account. Roaming charges were 65 cents/minute as I recall.

 

[Diesel]

I use a combination of cingular and skype.

Cingular has an excellent domestic and international coverage. Using a quad band GSM phone ensurs you cover the spectrum. Remember to be able to just pop in a sim chip means that the phone has to be "unlocked". I've got unlock codes for nokias and others. This unlocks it from the service provider so you can use your own sim chip. It can be a pain though

I got my wife a blackberry 8700c which has both unlimited international and domestic data for 69bucks a month. While that sounds like a lot my wife doesn't have to carry a laptop on the other side of the world and we can just send an instant message to have a chat or just see if the other one is up. I've also downloaded a bunch of programs for her that is a currency and airline flight checker and a world clocks. Plus i keep our calendars sycnhed so when i change my calendar it changes on her phone on the other side of the world. 2 pilots takes some planning.

I carry a laptop so what I do when i'm international is keep my phone on. I have the cingular international discounted dialing which is a lower rate but you pay 5 bucks a month. Usually if the person is calling me i'll tell them i'll call them back. Thats where i use skype.

Skype is a good service that is free skype to skype, think aol instant messanger with voice. You can use it also to dial phone numbers for pennies a minute. It works well if you have a laptop you carry.

Vonage has a phone that uses wireless or eithernet internet to make and recieve calls. Works really well is what my friends say but some of them don't bring a laptop. So it really depends on what you do.

Hope this helps. Sorry it's long winded but I've tried a variety of stuff.