Posted: 9/26/2010 11:59:33 AM EDT
| I am looking to reduce my cell phone costs, I have used Sprint/Nextel with the direct connect feature for about seven years or so. Does anyone have any input on other providers and their customer service and coverage areas(I mostly work in the north sound). I am willing to drop the direct connect if I can get a couple decent phones for a lower cost as long as the cell coverage is good with a lower cost plan(spending over $150.00 a month now). Any input is appreciated. |
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Well i will only use Verizon, but I don't know how their pricing compares to the other carriers. Saw an add on tv for some unlimited everything plan for $60 bucks with either AT&T or T-Mobile I think. But what good are those savings if you never have signal? Actually I think it was Sprint.
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Quoted:
Verizon costs more, but has far better coverage than Sprint. Sprint is probably the cheapest out there, though. This. Verizon also has "push to talk" Two models of BlackBerry have an app to do Push to talk. The new Androids will do something similar but only to other Andriods. Wait to the first of the year and they will be 4G. It starts coming online mid Nov. |
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I don't yet think there is a good combination of "cheap monthly service cost" and excellent coverage and service. I think you have to pick the one or two things that really matter, and shop based on those. If coverage is really what you need, then it seems Verizon is your choice, but this didn't come cheap or with excellent service. We are Verizon customers, and we have always done better by going in to a company owned store and taking care of anything face to face. This service has been good, and we have no deal breaker complaints with their CS over the phone. If you are looking for cheap, consider Cricket, but don't be surprised if coverage and service don't make you happy.
Again, there just doesn't seem to be a best of both world available yet. ETA: I haven't been a Sprint customer in over a decade, but they used to suck ass. This was in the Portland area. All you folks that have been using Sprint, I hope they are better than they had been. Sprint and T-Mobile dropped calls like it was some kind of drug, and they couldn't get enough. |
| I'm a fan of these guys. Have had coverage everywhere in WA and OR so far, even when Moon's T-Mobile didn't. |
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Quoted: Quoted: tmobile blows, a lot paging metonymy.... Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I second that. I have TMobile family plan, it works out to some $65 / month for 3 lines without data/web and texting (you just pay per message if necessary). Problem is tmobile these days aren't what they used to be 5 years ago. If I can get a connection, the voice quality is poor (drunken sailor, parakeet, or crickets your choice), and dropped calls is no problem (happens almost every call). So, uh, I'm in the same boat as you  Just saying don't crowd my service more, keep out and go somewhere else!<disconnected> |
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We ( gf and I ) use Verizon wireless
2 phones / combined 1400 mins premium talk time. Obvious all weekends free and late hours free and obviously all long distance free. Also friends of family thing where you select any 10 numbers for unlimited talk time. incoming calls from any verizon phone do not count towards minutes used. No media web surfing or texting. we just use them as phones. Monthly bill is around $90 after all taxes fees etc etc. Pretty reasonable price and coverage is fantastic. never a dropped call and exc reception anywhere from the middle of the Cowlitz river to middle of San juan islands. ETA We each get a brand new phone every 2 yrs when I sign on again. There could possibly be alittle savings ( cost wise ) out there .... but as far as cell phone service and customer service. Not to mention error free billing for 7 plus years. i'll stick w/ Verizon till I am 100% certain a better option is out there. ETA ( pt 2 ) Also free to roam and travel anywhere in the US. So no hassles with expensive billing when you are out of your home area. Not sure how common this is w/ other carriers. When I cancelled my service with AT&T / Cingular about 8-10yrs ago .... I told the lady on the phone I would not stay with them if they offered me free phones and free cell service for life. Their reception / coverage and roaming fees were ridiculous. |
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I did a lot of studying on how to save money on the cell phone game.
It came down to this: PagePlus They use 100% of Verizon's networks. I have 1200 minutes & 1200 texts a month for $29.95 with NO TAX on that! If you have a Verizon phone with a clean esn, then it will work. The phones that do NOT work are BlackBerrys. |
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Quoted:
I did a lot of studying on how to save money on the cell phone game. It came down to this: PagePlus They use 100% of Verizon's networks. I have 1200 minutes & 1200 texts a month for $29.95 with NO TAX on that! If you have a Verizon phone with a clean esn, then it will work. The phones that do NOT work are BlackBerrys. Damn I may just have to get one of them to try it out...Damn good price for what it offers... |
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T-Mobile... Run away. Run far, far away. While at Ft. Benning I had T-Mobile suspend my service while I was going through basic, AIT and other Infantry schools. After 12 or so months I was ready to have my service reinstated. I called them to have my phone reactivated. They never deactivated it. They then attempted to bill me for over $900. It took me over 6 years, multiple copies of paperwork from them showing my account was suspended and several letters from attorneys to have them admit fault and remove the charges. But my credit score still took a hit from them. As soon as I arrived at Ft. Lewis I signed up with Verizon. It costs more but their coverage and features are hard to beat. |
| Nextel is the only one that works most of the places here, but other than that, it is AT&T. It works better than anything else, other than Nextel, which I don't really like. That is why we have AT&T. I started with Cingular, who had the best customer service I ever had. AT&T tries to have the same type of customer service, and so far, they aren't doing too bad. I would not have chosen AT&T, due to problems in the past, but since they took over Cingular, they have improved 1,000%. That is up here very far north and west. |
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I knew a guy that had Nextel. He said the direct connect feature worked about 40% of the time, if he was lucky. One time I was sitting in his truck with him as he tried to make a phone call to one of his customers. We were in a downtown area with good cell coverage, according to the display on his phone. After the sixth time of the signal suddenly dropping completely to zero, he gave up trying to get the call through. Two days later he had a Verizon phone and plan. In the 9+ years that I've been with Verizon, I've had the signal drop out exactly twice, both within the first year. Now that they've got more cell sites I can get a usable signal almost anywhere I need to be. I've called Verizon customer service once and experienced no hassle at all. I've never had any cell service except Verizon, so I can't compare one to another, but what I have has always worked fine for me and I see no reason to switch. |