GadgetFreak

Im sorry, this is sheer nonsense. Cingular does NOT have better coverage in the US than Verizon. It isnt even a subject for discussion. I have not seen anyone but you say that. And I will stand by what I said about Cingular as well. They do not have the coverage of TMobile and certainly not of Verizon. No one has better coverage in the US than Verizon. Moreover, the "truck driver" comment points to the absurdity of your statement. You are saying that TMobile only has good coverage if you are a "truck driver" and then saying it isnt good if you travel. Are you aware that truck drivers travel?

I havent compared rates internationally for a while but at the time I last looked TMobile had cheaper international roaming rates. Coverage isnt an issue with either TMobile or Cingular internationally so to say that Cingular is better internationally has no real standing frankly. Next time my friend with Cingular wants to borrow my TMobile or Verizon phone because he doesnt have a signal on Cingular and I do on both TMobile and Verizon (I still remember him trying to get a signal standing on top of a brick fence in Taos - I was watching out the window from inside with a signal on both my phones) I will tell him no because you said his is better and Im a "truck driver".

Capite

Photog72 and GadgetFreak, you guys apparently disagree with drbond about Cingular's coverage being better than T-Mobile. But he did post links to coverage maps, and Cingular does appear to cover more of the US than T-Mobile.

Are you guys saying that the coverage maps are inaccurate?

Or are you saying that in the places that are covered by both, T-Mobile has a stronger signal? If that's the case, can you provide any evidence other than anecdotal?

I'd really like to know, as I have Cingular right now and was considering switching (because I get poor reception in my house!).

Also, I do travel a lot, and if you guys have any evidence that T-Mobile has better overseas service or prices than Cingular, that would be great.

GadgetFreak

The fact that he said that Cingular has better coverage in the US than Verizon to me is prima facie evidence to discount his post. I have never seen anyone argue, before now, that Cingular had better coverage than Verizon. No one is better than Verizon in the US. As far as the maps I have two comments. First, I could have a map showing coverage anywhere, whether I can actually use my phone there is an independent variable. Second, while the coverage maps do show that Cingular has more coverage than does TMobile, the areas that are different are only areas where a "truck driver" would go. I dont go to most if any of those places. In areas line the NY-Washington, DC corridor, my experience is that TMobile has vastly better coverage. Also, I would refer to the customer surveys on customer service, in contrast to what drbond says, Cingular is almost always at the bottom and TMobile and Verizon are battling for the top. Personally, I will not do business with Cingular due to their policy on unlocking phones. If you travel overseas a lot that is a killer.

But, all of this is, at best, based on where we use our phones. I have had Verizon and TMobile for about 3 years. I had ATT prior to that. My is suggestion to you is to try Tmobile. I think they have a 2 week money back guarantee. Try them for two weeks, if you dont like them, stick with Cingular. If you dont want to go that route, spend $30 or $50 on prepaid card and try it. Well assuminging you have an unlocked, phone that you can test it in.

Emma65

Agreed! I just checked the deals on Vodaphone and have changed over to them.

Vodaphone passport is great for the roaming part. However - calling abroad while in the country you bought the sim is NOT cheap. Then again - it is the same charge on pay as you talk as on a pay mothly.



Stay away from 3. They first say they have roaming agreement with 150 countries until you read the fine print and find out that the 3 Pay only roams in something like 10 countries.

/E

goalie

using cngular (old at & t ) in the us

fwiw, for my trip to paris i picked up an sfr sim when i arrived in paris for 25 eu which contained a 5eu credit. i added 25 eu on top of that simply becasue i wasn't sure how much it would be used (outgoing calls only as for folks in the states, it was cheaper for them to call me with a phone card and free for me to receive)

i ended up with almost 10eu left over and the bizzah paht (<--boston accent) is that not only did the sim work inside lhr while waiting for my connection (roamed to t-mobile and vodafone) but it works here in san francisco (it's not supposed to ). in sf, my phone was roaming to cingular so i tested it by calling my french number and voila-my cell rang. go-figure.

lastly, when i cleared customs in france , the first thing i did was to turn my phone on to see if i had service (with my us sim card) and there it was within seconds (and then turned it off of course, )

drbond

Ok, forget the truck driver part. Now, T-Mobile is licensed based on interstates. I am not going to go into the LOOONGGG drawn out reason as to why or discusion on this. T-Mobile is not even as good as Sprint/Nextel. I did not say that Cingular was better than Verizon, I did say in the south and mid us Cingular is far superior. Verizon is better in the north and west. I see you are in these catagories. One NY and one LA, that is North and West. If you had Verizon where I live you would have NOTHING and not only that but vast areas of NOTHING. That is NOTHING in areas of TN, AL, GA, MS, LA & FL. I can take you to those places. But in other areas of the country it is right the opposite. See maps.

crhptic

Hogwash. I have used my Verizon phone all over TN, AL, MS, LA, and FL, including in remote towns which are not near an interstate. I have NEVER had a problem getting a signal, and I have NEVER been charged one dime for roaming fees. The only roaming charges I have ever paid on my Verizon phone in 5+ years were in rural eastern Washington State (between Yakima and Moses Lake) which is truly the end of the earth.

drbond

I stand by my previous post and I can prove it.

photog72

You must be working for Cingular. Can you back up your post about Cingular's International rates being better than T-Mobile's?

Capite

Yes, please do.

GadgetFreak, good idea on the prepaid card. I'll try it as I do have an unlocked phone (my Cingular phone which was ridiculously easy to unlock).

crhptic

I do too, and I can too.

drbond

My post does not say that Cingulars "INTERNATIONAL RATES" are better than T-Mobiles "INTERNATIONAL RATES".

drbond

Go to Verizons website and pull up a map of their VERIZON coverage for Mississippi.
Let's drop this one unless you are willing to fly to Atlanta and rent a car and go for a signal comparison ride.

crhptic

1. My post was only about my personal experience. I assume you are not arguing that I didn't actually have that experience.

2. A coverage map does not necessarily equate to actual coverage. If carrier X has a better map than carrier Y that doesn't mean their coverage is actually superior.

3. I actually *did* look at coverage maps for both Verizon and Cingular in MS, and Cingular has MORE areas which aren't in their network ("partner") than Verizon does. I am not sure which Mississippi you are looking at.

photog72

Okay. Your post never did indicate that. It indicated "For international customer service Cingular is NUMBER 1 no doubt about it." Where is the rationale for this claim? I found something you may be interested in. I couldn't find anything regarding INTERNATIONAL customer service. Does Cingular provide superior customer service from reps in India? Prove your "facts" to us. So, far all I have read/seen is your opinion.