Cell Phones

[sky4]

I am currently shopping for a new cell phone service and wondering if I could get some help from you all. I am looking for the best coverage and price for my family. As a frac pilot going to god knows where at anytime I have yet to find a good service.

And what are the best deals now?

Thanks

 

[marqmarq]

Cell phones

Sprint sucks! But it is cheap....

 

[banned username 2]

Verizon and the Motorola T730... Best coverage, great phone.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

umm..I heard NOKIA makes the best phones..??

 

[niteflyr]

another vote

I too will have to vote for Verizon. Third cell company I have had and it is the best by far. 2 phones, unlimited nights and weekends and cell to cell for $60 a month. I have only been to one place in 2 years of fractional flying that was roaming.

 

[Fokkerflyer]

I'm with niteflyr- just signed up for the Verizon package, with a second phone for the homefront. Great coverage just about everywhere, pretty good deal too.

Stay away from Nextel and ATT.

FF

 

[fracflyer]

I vote for Verizon.

Sprint sucks the big one

 

[CLCAP]

I think AT&T is pretty good if you stay away from their GSM plan! Have been to VERY few places where my phone didn't work! (Have an dual analog & digital phone)

 

[stillaboo]

I use sprint. Works everywhere I go (I don't do EAS routes though, so, maybe my flying stays closer to civilization than a frac pilot would).

Now a friend of mine has verizon . . . doesn't work in his own house (and he lives in the NE, where Verizon is supposed to be strongest!). "Can you hear me now?" is something I say to him all the time, b/c he can't, he's in a dead zone!

Every cell phone company has dead spots. Find someone who goes everywhere you go and ask them what works. For me, Sprint works great!

 

[bigD]

AT&T isn't cheap, but my service has been reliable, and I seem to be able to get a hold of a service rep in no time at all, which I like. Especially since I've had them replace broken Nokia phones several times (the buttons just decide to stop working). Now I'm back to Motorola, and hopefully I won't have to think about it anymore.

 

[NJA Capt]

I have used Sprint for 5 years and three telephones and haven't had a problem. I have flown with other Sprint users who complained about reception, while I was using my phone at the same time (in multiple cities). Personally, I think it has to do with your settings. Mine stays in digital only. I doubt I have any more dropped calls than any other carrier. It has worked almost everywhere (in digital) in the Lower 48 and Hawaii.

Periodically, I check other carriers and I'm yet to find one cheaper than Sprint for my type of coverage.

 

[Live4flyng]

NJA CAPT

I agree, I have Sprint and have had it for more than 4 years. The first phone I had was a Samsung. That phone sucked, and I thought it was Sprint's service. Then I got a Motorolla, and have not had any problems since then. My phone works everywhere I have been, even when I thought it wouldn't. Most of the time, it's the type of phone. I heard from a dealer that is has to do with the power of the phone, as in MegaHertz.

 

[banned username 2]

Re: NJA CAPT

I heard from a dealer that is has to do with the power of the phone, as in MegaHertz.

Megahertz is the frequency the phones uses. Power output is measured in Watts. But more so the sensitivity of the Receiver and the quality of the RF section are what make a good phone. Keep in mind, a cell phone is nothing more than a complex 2 way radio operating in duplex mode (over simplified but makes a point).

 

[rice]

Oversimplified for Who???????

This kinda talk makes my head hurt .

 

[CLCAP]

I hear that Sprint has great coverage in the US - used to fly with a guy that had it - but he never could make it work in Montreal....

Anybody else having that problem?

 

[sky4]

Thanks

Does anyone use cingular or alltel? and if so how would you rate them?


Thanks

 

[H25BCPTN]

Sprint is great. I have had Sprint for over 6 years and have had only one problem and that was with the phone. My wife had a Samsung phone and it sucked. Sanyo and Motorolla phones work so much better but I don't think they sell the Motorolla phones anymore. Best Bang for the buck if you ask me.


Fly Safe

 

[46Driver]

Anybody have any comments on Cingular? i am completely fed up with Sprint.

 

[FlyaLear35]

Verizon or AT&T

My company has tried AT&T, Sprint and now Verizon in the last 3 years.

AT&T were (and still are) the most expensive, Sprint was great, WHEN it works, and also VERY expensive out of network. We changed to Verizon with Motorola (free) phones just last year.

I still carry my personal AT&T with a "One Rate" no roaming charge plan with a Nokia AND carry the Verizon phone (don't you hate that - all I need is a pager too!). Both work equally as well, though I prefer the Nokia for ease of use and quality. I'd be hard pressed to choose on quality of service between AT&T and Verizon, but the plans at Verizon are "friendlier."

I've flown with a Gulfstream guy who had Cingular. He used my AT&T phone to call his wife almost every day on the road. It's probably changed, but it's worth checking into. Roll over those minutes, right?

Alltel? Haven't heard much, sorry, can't help.

Be careful about the contract length, a year is fine, 2 years, and they better be giving you something.

Hope this helps. Call me after 9:00pm or weekends, it's free for me!

 

[Hawker rider]

WE have Cingular as our cellular provider and are ver happy with it, we fly in the US an mexico an Canada.

Only time that we have a problem is in some of the Detroit areas, do't ask me why but my phone doesn't ring there, I will get a voicemail notification right the next second, and call out just fine, just doesn't ring there.
For the rest of the country and Canada, just fine, and hasn't given us any problems whatsoever

 

[proav]

I have been using Cingular for about two years. I just switched to Alltel just because I wanted a new phone and Cingular's system would not support it in the very small town that I live in. I had no problems at all with Cingular's service and would switch back if they supported my new phone. I have been using Alltel for about two weeks and so far so good. They just switched to digital service in my home town. Prior to that service was terrible I was told by friends who were using it before. I believe they are partnered with Verizon for their nation wide service.
I have three phones on my plan ( I operate a small flight school) and Alltel was willing to give me a Kyocera 7135 PDA/phone which retails for $499.00 for $250.00 plus two months free nation wide service for all three phones! Cingular couldn't compete and I am only so loyal. So far I am happy with the service with Alltel.

 

[sky4]

Thanks

Thanks to everyone for there response, I was wondering why Verizon was not offered in my area but I guess it must be a deal with Alltel.

I had Cingular for two years a while back, I had no trouble with the phone service, but the customer service was horrible. This was when it was BellSouth Mobility.

I have still not switched and I am sure many other folks are interested in this topic, so please everyone, let us know what you think of your service.

Thanks

 

[learflyer]

Hey stillaboo, what happened to my little asian friend on your Avatar? I looked fwd to seeing her everyday!!

 

[huncowboy]

This has not come up yet, but T-Mobil and Att (the GSM version) are plain crap. This is in South FL by the way, I did not commute with them but this is supposed to be a well developed area for both provider. Yeah right...

We both (me & wife) had Cingular before and since we are from Europe and have used GSM phones since 1994 I could not wait to change to GSM here as I was not too happy with the clarity of TDM (is it called that?).

To make it short, it was a bad move. With Cingular coverage was pretty good, but quality was just "alright". T-mobile and Att are both nightmares, especially T-mobile. Stay away... IMO for a long while GSM networks won't delivery in the USA. They will need years to build it up.

I have the T-mobile, my wife has the Att. I won't comment on Att but this is what I am going through with T-mobile (and it is not the phone, I have tried 3 different phones):

- every 2nd outgoing call is dropped or just hangs (50%) until I re-initiate the call
- echo (I have never had or heard of echo with a GSM network, either you can or you cannot call... that is it)
- on major roads and highways within the official coverage area is no coverage
- peak times you get a message of: "Due to high call volume of calls... jada... jada..."
- voice mail has to be reset every 3-4 months because I get no txt message about the fact that someone left me a message

My contract is coming up soon, so does hers... I guess we will go back to cingular or may be voice stream based on the above posts.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

humm..

I have had good service with TMobile.
Its not the best coverage in the US, but overseas its great.

Also use verizon and think they have the best US coverage, hands down.

 

[huncowboy]

You got good coverage overseas because the partner GSM networks are already built up. You could pick any GSM provider in the USA and travel to say Germany and have 100% coverage as long their contract partners have good coverage, at least in Europe they all have that for a few years. Well... I guess that was not much of a news to anyone here.

The only problem I encountered with intl roaming that the charges often are so high that it is better to buy a prepaid SIM card once you get to your destination country and put that into your phone, as long you have a tri band phone that is.