NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

[Dagsta]

OK, I've had it. I thought during Katrina it was an anomaly that Sprint cell service was totally useless. Now, after Issac I'm convinced it's totally useless.

I sat and watched neighbors I took in from the flood during Issac talk on their cell networks in the heat of the storm. It appeared AT+T, and Verizon worked almost flawlessly while I was dead in the water for the second storm in a row.

For some of you that travel and have experience with both these providers, I would very much appreciate your opinions pros and cons as I will be switching my company over along with all of my family. I'm so disgusted with Sprint but I don't want to jump out of anger and wish i would have evaluated and made a more educated decision.

Thanks for your help gents!!!

 

[Twitch2120]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

had ATT and switched to Verizon. so far have only found one dead zone in the Atlanta area and have useable service everywhere the railroad takes me. fewer dropped calls than ATT and the folks at the stores actually knew their shit. the ATT stores around here are hit and miss.

 

[Queequeg]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

I have been with Verizon for many moons and I have no complaints. Back in the mid 90s I had AT&T but got pissed at them about something or other. I believe Verizon and AT&T have the largest networks and that may explain the problems Sprint had in your area. Could also have been plain bad luck!

Regarding Verizon, I went along with what my My brother in law had been coaxing me to do which was to go with Primco when I quit AT&T back in 1998. He worked for them back then and always took care of us. Verizon Wireless bought Primco and we have been with them ever since. My brother in law is still with Verizon and as long as that is so, we are likely to stand pat.

Good luck.

 

[plant.one]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

i used to have sprint here in detroit, as well as Nextel (pre sprint merge) and AT&T.

all three were about as usefull as tits on a bull moose as far as the quality of their signal AND customer service went. I always used to budget shop for my cell service.

there were stretches with sprint that i couldnt drive 5 miles down a road here without a half dozen drops on my calls. I dont think i had that many drops on my recent trip to vegas for my bro's wedding.


i switched to verizon 7 or 8 years ago now - and even though i'm paying more for my service - i do so gladly. Its the best damned cellular service i've ever used and i've had one on my hip from the back in the days when 100 minute a month plans were just starting to become standardized.

hell - i have a 4g signal (although only 2 bars) in my deer blind

just another happy customer who's been drinking the verizon kool-aid for a long time now.

 

[Phylodog]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

I've used all three and while Verizon has not been without problems they have been far and away superior to AT&T & Sprint in every way.

 

[Maggot]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

Seig Heil, mine Dagfurher,

Im in agreement with most here, go with Verizon. I travel all over the US from time to time and find very few dead zones. A couple of years ago (with Verizon WIFI) I booked a room in Tuscon while my girlfriend was driving...about half way between San Diego and Phoenix...middle of the desert.

There customer service is excellent as well. AT&T is yesterday.

They (Verizon) even have a NO CONTRACT option, $50.00/month, with UNLIMITED cell, text, and picture...whats not to love. You have to mention it though, they will try to sign you up to a contracted service with a 1 or 2 year obligation

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

Had AT&T for a long time and just recently (3 years) switched to Verizon. I am pretty happy with the switch and still have unlimited data.

 

[ColoWyo]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

I can not wait till my contract is up with AT&T. We moved east of town and I get no service most of the time while my neighbors can send picture texts on their Verizon phones. AT&T can suck it. Go with Verizon.

 

[Mike]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

I had Verizon for my personal service and it was good but had its own issues. Now I've used AT&T for 4+ years with my work phone and it's been very good too. I think either of those would be fine.

 

[Dagsta]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

Thanks guys, hopefully you will never have to experience an emergency condition and have a useless POS cell service that could possibly spell the difference between life and death.

Amazing others could see and had word that water was flowing in like a river into my area and no one could contact me or anyone in my family to let us know.

I should have done this a long time ago. But I will assure you that it won't happen again. Thank You for your information.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

So Dag, aside from the communication issue, this 'water flowing in like a river' has hit you, or missed you? And yours?

 

[Dagsta]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

Sean, by the Grace of God it hit 3 houses over, and got up to my door. I look around my area with a lot of very nice homes and somewhat have the survivor syndrome. I am so fortunate to have damage but not a flooded home.

Amen bro!!!

 

[Genius.]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

I had Nextel for years, my wife ditched Nextel and went to Sprint, she had awful service. Our two phones could be right next to each other, my Nextel had service, her sprint did not, she had terrible dropped calls.

I spent hours on the phone with Sprint trying to get some help, their go-to answer was, well according to our map you have good service by you. So, I had a few friends come over and they also had awful service with their sprint phones.

When my Nextel phone broke I dropped Sprint like a hot potato, switched to Verizon and couldn't be happier.

 

[KAman9803]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

Personally I couldn't be happier with AT&T. My experience with them over the last four years has been quite good. From Houston to North Carolina I have always had service. If I had to suggest to anyone though I'd probably say Verizon, I know more people unhappy with AT&T than Verizon regardless of my experience.

 

[hayboy]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

AT&T in my part of AL is just short of not having one and most of my friends say so also.

 

[mrfudd]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

It all depends on your area. I work for a major telecom company; our local coverage is so poor that the company buys cell service from their largest competitor. I understand your comm frustrations during hurricane recovery. I was in Poplarville, MS for about a month after Katrina. My phone battery was constantly draining while trying to find a Verizon tower.

 

[EddieNFL]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

I'll list the carriers I have personal experience with and received good service:




Here's the list of carriers I've never heard anyone complain about:

 

[High Binder]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: EddieNFL</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'll list the carriers I have personal experience with and received good service:



</div></div>


^This

I have AT&T and to their credit they did credit us for a "mistake" they made but the whole "opps, sometimes our system bills incorrectly" was very shady.

 

[SRSDriver]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

Verizon brought in portable towers during fires in northern colorado... They were primarly for firefighting use, but gives you and idea as to the scale and capabilities of their network. While stuff was burning, their trailers came in and provided comms over some very difficult terrain.

I have ATT, both seem about the same from a consumer perspective.

 

[KYS]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

Verizon has the best selection of phones and I have generally had better service from them. I also carry a phone that is AT&T for emergencies.

 

[Inogame]

Re: NEED ADVISE!! Cell Phone Rant

I'm the cell czar for my company, we have both Verizon plans and AT&T plans. Prior to this job I was with Nextel/Sprint.

If you stay stateside, verizon is the way to go. If you travel overseas at all AT&T is the stuff.

Really either stateside is decent, but I find verizon cheaper and I agree with above their phone selection is better.

AT&T held Apples nuts too long, in my opinion.