Cell Phone ?

[PLaFrombois]

Well I've decided to move into the 21st Century and get a cell phone. I don't think I'll make it to the 22nd. There are so many carriers and plans out there I don't know which one would give me the least amount of problems. Any pros or cons about the carriers that are being used? I do alot of driving in the state of WI, but do get some traveling out of state. I don't always stay on major Interstates when I travel. Let the suggestions come forth.

Thanks

Paul

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Depends on what you want to spend.



I think Nextel is the absolute best - but it's expensive.



I have T-Mobile and have not been very happy with it at all. Most of this is due to my phone - Sony Ericsson T300 camera phone - biggest POS phone I have ever owned or used. (Blood pressure rising, even though purchase price was only $100... )



Sprint PCS treated me very well for the 2 years I had it - no surprises in the billing and worked well.



AT&T was before that - and I had problems with them billing me for stuff I didn't use.



Lots to think about - tell us how much you want to use it (when you want to use it, etc. ), how reliable it has to be, features you might want/need, etc.



Matt

 

[Briar Hopper]

Not all companies have good coverage in all states... Nextel and Cingular are really great in Kentucky, but out of state only Cingular has come through for us.

TDR member LSmith lives in Wisconsin, travels some, he mentioned something about which companies are good, in another thread like this one... either run a search using "cell phones" or "LSmith" see whatchagit... .

New development for traveling cell users being advertised in the magazines lately, called "OnStar" , www.onstar.com

Probably pricey?

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

I've had Voicestream, (now T-mobile), and now I have Cingular. The only thing I can say about t-mobile is POS. And that doesn't mean positive. They were so bad, I was walking through a mall one day and saw a lady at one of their concessions thinking about getting a phone. I hung around a few minutes, listened to their spiel, and told her to find a different carrier. They didn't even work at my house, and when I told them that, they basically said too bad. It was still going to cost me 200 just to drop them. Cingular, on the other hand, works at my farm in Mo, which is 40 miles from nowhere. They have worked for me everywhere I have gone, including Alaska, and parts of Canada.



Jim

 

[klenger]

I am very pleased with Verizon Wireless. The wife and I share a family plan with 700 prime time minutes, + 1000 mobile to mobile (on Verizon) + unlimited nights and weekends + no roaming anywhere on the Verizon network. There are other plans for more casual users. The nationwide plans are about the same price as their local plans, but you get a few less minutes.





When we moved into our new house, we decided not to get a wired landline phone. We use our cell phones exclusively + cable for internet.





www.verizonwireless.com

 

[bmoeller]

I don't what the plans are/were on the phones I've had since my boss got it for me (only have need for them for work). We have had USCC, Verizon and now have Nextel.



We have Nextel mostly for the 2-way paging so we were able to get rid of the 2-way FM radios. As long as you are in your sevice area, it works great. I think they are going to have nationwide service soon, so that should help in coverage.



Verizon had GREAT coverage. Made a run out to Nebraska and S. Dakota last May and had a full signal even out in the middle of nowhere. There were some holes in the service near home, but they are in the same spot with all companies.



Overall, if you have friends with the Nextel, you can put their private id codes in the phone. Then you won't use up minutes that way. For us anyways, the Nextel has served us the best.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Rams-n-Hogs: I feel your pain... The only thing T-Mobile has going for them is their spokesperson. :-laf



Catherine Zeta Jones (Douglas?) is an ideal spokesperson if you think about it. She's very easy on the eyes, comes off as being intelligent, and she's very seductive (heck, I'd buy anything she was selling... . wait,..... I did!).



Matt

 

[Clinton]

I've been happy with Sprint PCS, but am going to try Verizon for their 'no roaming' plan. Seems Verizon and Sprint have the best coverage across the country and that's the deciding factor for me.



Yeah, the 'Can you hear me now?' guy, the guy in the trench coat, or Catherine Z. J. ? It's all about the marketing.

 

[JakeGMCHD]

Paul

Look into Verizon Wireless or U. S. Cellular. I have had both and like Verizon better threw out WI, MN, IL, and IA. I have the MidWest 8 State plan.

 

[TPCDrafting]

Ask people you know or meet who live/work/travel the same areas as you and figure out which service provides the best coverage. Weak signals will be what drives you from having a phone at all. I did the same, talked to neighbors, friends, etc. and found Verizon works best in this area. I've only had the phones a week or two, but so far I'm real impressed with the service. I have LGVX10's, one for Dad, one for my Wife, and one for me, all shared together in one plan. It's only 20/mo. for an extra phone with the same options, so it made sense to just get a third phone for Dad instead of having him start his own plan. He doesn't use it much anyway.

 

[klenger]

Verizon has a 14 day return policy, no questions asked. Try it, you'll like it.

 

[tpuig]

Lots of choices...

It sort of depends on how and where you use the phone. If you spend most of your time in metro areas, most plans are fine. Look on the coverage maps and decide if you live in one of their "shaded" areas to see whether roaming charges will apply.



I've been a Cellular One (now AT&T Wireless) customer for a long time, with very basic usage. Low end minute plan, and most of my call time was late hours and weekends, which was counted as Off Peak. I recently upgraded to a slightly higher plan of $39/mo, and I get most metro areas in the US and all my long distance included. This will hurt me when I travel across the country in sparsely populated areas, but since I'm most often in cities, it works out better. I save $ on not paying long distance and never break my included minutes limit. Sort of a wash. It can be confusing, but really sit down and think of how you intend to use it. Hope this helps.

TP

 

[RustyJC]

My company cellphone is on a commercial Verizon plan. My wife chose a Verizon Wireless program. Neither of us have any complaints - we haven't found any coverage problems, and the billing is timely and accurate.



Someone mentioned OnStar - I have it in my Acura 3. 2TL-S as part of the navigation system. It has a hands-free cellular phone capability built into the OnStar system that you can activate for cellular service (provided through OnStar) as an option. You purchase blocks of minutes in advance, then you either use 'em or lose 'em. To give you an idea of pricing, I bought 100 minutes that are valid for 12 months - it was forty-something dollars. I only buy enough for emergency or high priority use when I don't have my cellphone with me. It's far too expensive (IMHO) to rely upon for high-usage cellular service and, since it's only available in the vehicle, not very practical as your only cellular service.



Rusty

 

[Cowboy Medic]

I have Verizon and their customer service has been awesome for me. There have been occassions where my bill was wrong and I called and usually within a few minutes it was corrected. Also I carry the phone insurance and last fall when I lost my old phone out in a field when helping with farm work, I called them on a friday afternoon around 4 pm CST and had a new phone fully programmed and ready to go delivered to my door by fed ex on monday afternoon. Coverage has never been an issue annywhere in rural areas of South Dakota and Minnesota. Also they will let you switch calling plans at any time to meet your needs, all you have to do is keep service of some kind for the agreed contract period. I had Cellular One before this and I won't even bother to talk about them other than to say you would be better off calling your dentist and asking for all your teeth to be extracted without use of anesthetic.



Jon

 

[PLaFrombois]

Thanks for all the responses. I haven't had time to do anything more in looking at different plans. I did ask someone about who their carrier for the cell phone, and they said Alltel. They do alot of traveling so they have a national plan, they have 1500 anytime min, and unlimited nights and weekends. Most of the ones I've seen with national plans don't give you nights and weekends. One more to compare. I'm going to have to just flip a coin and pick. I didn't have this much trouble picking out my truck.

Thanks again

Paul

 

[Texas Diesel]

Here is my experience:



Sprint sucks big time, coverage bad, hassles with billing etc.



ATT sucks too, coverage poor, they say that they cover the whole state but 99% of the time you are roam or extended area. You get charged for everything when roam or ext area and no way to get credit. How about getting charged 8, 1 minute calls inside of 2 minutes, each ATTEMPT counted as a call and no credit because "we dont own the towers".



ATT blows. My son has Verizon and loves them.