28 Jan 2003 | Steve said...

I switched from SprintPCS to T-Moblie (Voicestream at the time) about a year ago, and could not be more happy. Their plans are excellent, and the coverage is great. I travel often between Chicago, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities and only lose signal in the very north woods of Wisconsin.

I can wholeheartedly recomend T-Moblie.

28 Jan 2003 | 8500 said...

T-mobile is horrible. I've tried their service in Austin TX and Chicago and had the connections drop about half the time. I transfered to Sprint (and tested it in both of the above locations) and found it to be completely superior to T-Mobile.

28 Jan 2003 | John said...

I'm a huge fan of T-Mobile. Where they have coverage, it's a wonderful service, much much better than you can get with most any other carrier. The real big downside is that their coverage isn't great, but as long as you don't travel too far out of major cities it's a solid service.

Plus, GSM phones are always cooler :)

28 Jan 2003 | fajalar said...

Anything is better than SprintPCS. Tin cans and a string is better.

28 Jan 2003 | nathan said...

First take a look at Deadcellzones, maps of GSM coverage, and phonescoop (great cross referenced phone/carrier/network resource).

In my experience GSM is not ready for prime time, I picked up an ericson T68i through AT&T, but the network coverage was too spotty in los angeles, so I returned the phone and went back to sprint and got the Sanyo 6200. Sprint's CDMA network is the best because it's built from the ground up (not a hodgepodge of aquired networks), uses newish technology, but is old enough for the network to be widespread.

The only reason I wanted to switch from Sprint was because their phone selection is lame, but when it comes down to it, without coverage all you've got is a nifty brick.

28 Jan 2003 | 8500 said...

I've only had Sprint service for 3 months but I've had almost no problems with it. I've never had a call drop or not been able to reach someone from city to city. Both were daily problems with T-mobile which I only had for the two week trial perion (in October 2002). I know that the hardware (phone) does make a difference so maybe that is what is causing the discrepancies with reports of Sprint's service.

28 Jan 2003 | Darrel said...

Does it really matter? Aren't all cell phone companies awful?

I've had Sprint for a year. Swiss cheese coverage in major metro areas. Support is awful. But, then again, that's par for the course.

28 Jan 2003 | nathan said...

For the interface aficionados out there, Sprint and AT&T stores are great because you can handle and use the phones and PDA/phones. All Cingular and Tmobile dealers (and big electronics stores) I've seen just display dummy phones.

In any case, it was an eye opener to see all the crummy phone interfaces out there. Most of the problems were related to 'overfeaturization' (like making 'cool' but seldom used features prominent, while important features like the contact list and ring mode get buried) and overuse of multimedia (do I really need a 2-second animation before I get to see my contact list?).

28 Jan 2003 | Hagbard Celine said...

I have a T-Mobile Sidekick. Regarding the hardware, the telephone interface sucks, but the web browser, email, and text messaging makes up for it in my case.

Unfortunately, the T-Mobile coverage is horrible. I live in downtown San Jose and work in the East San Francisco Bay Area (Hayward, halfway between San Jose and Oakland) and I can't get coverage at my house or my office. In between the two on the freeway is fine, as are other areas of San Jose, around the Bay, and Sacramento.

I also have a company phone through AT&T Wireless. I administer about 20 phones for our company, and the coverage is great and customer service (for business accounts, anyway) is quick and friendly.

28 Jan 2003 | John said...

My wife and I just switched from T-Mobile to Sprint PCS and I'm happy. Our new plan with Sprint is about $105/month as opposed to $80/month (for 2 lines) but we will never again have to worry about roaming or running out of anytime minutes, which is a huge plus. I bought the phones at Radio Shack and got a nice color screen web-enabled phone for only $50. The coverage seems good in Atlanta, because I had a hard time getting a signal with my T-Mobile phone inside my apartment, but my Sprint phone gets a decent signal.

28 Jan 2003 | SU said...

A friend of mine has taken the plunge with T-Mobile in part because of the "Free" T68i offer from Amazon/T-Mobile. So far, she's been happy and the sound quality seems good compared to my spotty Sprint PCS coverage. She definitely doesn't think the T68i phone is worth its normal $299 price tag, however.

28 Jan 2003 | Urbanchords said...

How much of the problem with dropped calls a/o coverage has to do with the phone. I theory is that the phones are the problem. I have know people with the same company have completely different results while standing next to each other. Only thing different is the phone.

28 Jan 2003 | ek said...

A bit off-topic, but speaking of phones, has anyone seen this new mobile phone from Siemens.

I hate the marketing concept, but the phone itself looks interesting. I'm guessing that it's GSM-only.

28 Jan 2003 | Trevor Smith said...

My girlfriend decided to switch to AT&T and when she called Sprint PCS to cancel they offered her a exceedly better plan to drop her new AT&T plan, so she is back with Sprint PCS.

Give it a try.

28 Jan 2003 | SU said...

Does anyone have much recent experience with AT&T mMode? I believe that's there latest and greatest GSM solution.

28 Jan 2003 | deem said...

If their US automated telephone support is anything like the UK version you should sing up for at least one account...There's about six 37S white papers in them thar hills :)

28 Jan 2003 | JF said...

RE: that Siemens phone... Gotta love it when companies provide massive photos of their products. I'd love to see more of this -- especially from car makers.

28 Jan 2003 | Smiler said...

US seems complete poop for mobile phone coverage compared to UK.

Get it sorted :)

28 Jan 2003 | JF said...

I'm surprised no one has blamed the poor coverage on Bush yet. Any takers?

28 Jan 2003 | Thumper said...

Quick question to you GSM lovers. What is the reason you believe GSM (and I assume you really means GPRS) is better than the CDMA 1xRTT networks deployed by Sprint PCS and Verizon?

28 Jan 2003 | barry said...

Nextel

28 Jan 2003 | marusin said...

Been with T-Mobile (voicestream since it's inception in Chicago) and think the service is good. I had Sprint before which was awful (a phone call to cancel my service while I was literally in front of their office in Rosemont dropped which I found "fitting")... I've used my service all around the Chicago area without a problem as well as San Francisco, Boston and Vegas. I think the only company with better service is AT&T but you pay for it...

All I want to do now is upgrade my phone to a T68i or Sidekick and I'll be even happier...

28 Jan 2003 | Derek said...

Cell phones are quite strange... You can never hear the same story twice, even from people on the same service in the same city.

I live in Chattanooga, TN and have used my SprintPCS phone for over a year here and in Nashville and have had 0 problems. I've never had a single dropped call (on my end anyway... lots of dropped calls from people I was talking to that were on Cingular and stuff). And the phone only roams in 2 places... at my dad's house because he lives at the foot of a mountain and there is some dead zone right around his house. and then out in the middle of no where, 1 hour outside the city limits in a little town with one fast food restaurant. And the sound quality is always perfect. Just like a landline phone. Unless the other person's cell phone is cracking up.

In fact, I have canceled my home phone and am using my cell phone as my primary phone. No point in paying $30 a month so that telemarketers can call me night and day. And we've been using the cellphone for all long distance calls since we got it anyway...

28 Jan 2003 | ek said...

On a more specific note, has anyone had any experience with the Sony Ericsson T68i Phone?

The specs seem perfect, but the reviews I've heard to date have been mixed. I'm curious because this phone, more than service issues with SprintPCS, is making me consider the switch to T-Mobile.

29 Jan 2003 | thePOSTMAN said...

Not sure how the rest are for customer service, but I have had T-Moble for about 4 months, it sucks. They have yet to send a correct bill, I have never gotten the same answer twice, and I loose my connection in and around the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.

29 Jan 2003 | Simcoe said...

I'm out in the boonies of the Sierra Mts., and I use T-Mobile. I've found them to have surprisingly good coverage, something hard to find out here. Most important to me is the fact that their customer service has been great. I have a question? I call and get an answer -- a friendly answer. No automated phone maze, no runaround, no attempts to upsell me. My customer service experiences with AT&T and Verizon were miserable, so T-Mobile is a pleasant surprise.

I agree with the suspicion that the phones have something to do with dropped connections. I'm really dissatisfied with the Motorola C332 "peanut" phone that came with the account; the battery life is appalling and the whole device seems really flimsy. Oh well, free is free and it is kinda cute...

29 Jan 2003 | drake said...

I own a T68i using AT&Ts service. I've had it for 5 months after replacing my crappy Nokia 8260. I really like this phone, it's small - fits easily in pants pocket- and just works.

Bluetooth is very cool. I have my Palm Tungsten (bluetooth-enabled) using AT&Ts mmode service to surf the web. AT&T won't allow you to use it as a modem (via infrared or bluetooth), so you chew up your MB plan very fast on the Palm.

The limited colors (256) is ok, but doesn't compare to the Samsung color phones. The web browsing is lame, mostly text (WAP) sites and as fast as Sprints Vision.

I sync a subset of my Outlook contacts with the phone (via infrared), so I don't have to manually enter in any contacts. Also, the contacts are stored on the SIM card, so if you get a replacement phone, your contacts are safe.

The screen is very bright, easy to read indoors and most of the time outdoors - the only exception is when in direct sunlight.

Battery life is awesome, I have to charge it about once a week - with bluetooth enabled.

29 Jan 2003 | ek said...

The disparity in opinions on this topic is amazing!

I guess it's pretty much a crapshoot. We had tons of problems with SprintPCS in the first year of service, but for about the past year we've been pretty much trouble free.

29 Jan 2003 | pk said...

I was going to say "never ask such a question". It's like a "half empty - half full" query.

29 Jan 2003 | dgm said...

T-Mobile is fine as long as you are in a major metropolitan area. Their Blackberry service is very good too.

AT&T is still the best, but have the least competitive rate plans. You pay for the better coverage.

Sprint has dreadful coverage and same goes for the customer service.

29 Jan 2003 | 8500 said...

Most cell companies offer a 2 week trial period. Take advantage of this since it seems the service/phone/location triangle makes it hard to determine if a phone will match your needs.

29 Jan 2003 | JF said...

Most cell companies offer a 2 week trial period.

Really? I've never heard of this. Do you know if T-Mobile offers this?

29 Jan 2003 | 8500 said...

Yep - they offer a two week trial period for those signing a contract. I bought two phones last October from one of their stores with a single service plan. The phones were nice (samsung full-color flip phones) and that is why I decided to go with T-Mobile. After two weeks of usage my wife and I both agreed that the service was shit so we returned them. Got credit for the phones ($630!) and had to pay for the usage + connection. We were out 70 bucks but weren't stuck with bad service for a year.

29 Jan 2003 | 8500 said...

Quote pulled from T-Mobile contract (click on Terms and Conditions at the bottom of their site):

"The 'Return Period' is the earlier of fourteen (14) calendar days from Service activation, or thirty (30) calendar days from the Unit's purchase date if not activated. Only Like New Units returned with proof of purchase to the place of purchase within the Return Period are eligible for a refund of the purchase price. "

30 Jan 2003 | Phil Oye said...

As you can clearly tell from the above posts, the "best" is defined by where you are. For the record, T-Mobile is great in NYC, a little better than Sprint (my previous provider).

Where T-Mobile really shines is customer service. Orders of magnitude better than Sprint.

And yes, GSM is fantastic. Global roaming and the ability to swap phones merely by swapping SIM cards are incredible. The latter is great, if your battery dies, borrow someone else's phone, put your SIM card in it, presto, you have your address book, your calling plan, and your phone number. Also handy if you want to upgrade phones. You're not dependent on what phones the carrier has. Want the latest and greatest? Buy it from anywhere (assuming it is Tri-band) and it is yours. I did that with my T68i. I bought before it was released in the US. No regrets.

02 Feb 2003 | wire7 said...

"Cell phones are quite strange... You can never hear the same story twice, even from people on the same service in the same city."

...which is why this question is useless. I work in a call center for a major wireless carrier and get different opinions of the same service from people who live just across town from one another -- vastly different.

Unless the person you're asking advice from will be using the phone in exactly the same locations -- not the same town, the same locations -- as you, then ignore their advice. It means nothing to you. Wireless service is such that my signal can be quite different from the guy's across the street.

This should be obvious to you guys.

Take the advice of the poster who recommended using trial periods to your advantage. It'll turn out to be the best advice on this page.

01 Apr 2003 | bogdan said...

I'm using a t-mobile phone right now and I am astonished how horrible can work, I just moved from Europe to US and trusting the European mobile phone service I thought that T-Mobile it's the best choice but regretably, I must confess that it's by far the worst service you can buy for a undeserved amount of money.Their network has a very low coverage and the clarity of transmition and reception is far from being good.The retransmitters (amplifiers)are to far from each other and the signal is very weak.But if you have extra money and you don't mind to waste for nothing (not for fun) try it.wish you luck and hope you think twice because more it worthless.

22 May 2003 | borr said...

Try out first. Don't hand out your number first then find out the coverage problem. With all the rebate and such, you don't have to pay any to try for a week, or pay very little.

Don't ask people about the signal quality. Anyone who cares to give an opinion tells you either "perfect" or "horrible." The perfect comes from the people who recognize the pattern and remeber the areas that give the problem, and the horrible comes from all else except those who have the signal problem in the critical areas like their workplace or home. One exception to this; there may be people who feel that the service should be available all the time. They would never stop complaining as long as they live in this country.

When you are in trial, make a note regarding three things: provider, location and time. Get the service that allows you to make a call where you make a call, when you need to make a call.

IMHO, the opinions like X service in Y area is horrible, or Z phone sucks in signal strength are not worth listening to. Instead ask about the battery life, interface, then any added features that might be important to you.

04 Oct 2003 | jamie said...

no cell phone calling plan company is lame.
it boils down to preference.
unlimited minutes, limited coverage.
widespread coverage, hiring a minute man.
to truth if you're the white or blue collar vorizon has good coverage for your business travels ( within the states).
but if you're the teenager-lets look cool on the phone-type of person then an unlimited plan is the suiture.
also your location makes a huge factor to your cell phones ineffeciences.
most cell phone post-paid plan carriers have maps of area signal coverages.
I have a brother who brought and used a t-moble in texas. the coverage was great down there. when he came home back to virginia his phone couldn't dial out calls because of the weak coverage in virginia.
another thing thats essential to high quality cell phone service is the receiving chip in the phone.
those chips are made for a specific type of tower. the towers are transmitters that send and recieve signals to and from designated cell phones. take a p-moble cell phone for instance. i call out to a nokya phone, the out going signal goes to my p-moble tower, the tower converts my signal into a compatible frequence with the nokya and the nokya rings. the calling plan company also charge outside users for that.
why do you think some calling plan companies offer free moble to moble. as already being part of their company they just give that benifit. that would be like trying to put tax on food stamps (it already came from the government)
disclaimer
all are opinions of the persons name below. comments were not of or pertaining to any particular calling plan company nor the calling plan facts there of.

18 Oct 2003 | Justin said...

I love my Moto V-66 with T-Moble service. I knew Nextel had the best coverage but $40.00 was my budget, not $60.00 for the lowest package. Besides, I get free long distance and the phone was free. To me, saving twenty a month was worth it. Sure, it's not the best coverage but I know the sections of which streets that have weak signals and it's much better than a home phone! I'm no complainer. Many people don't even have this luxury, think about it. God bless.

19 Nov 2003 | Jeff said...

I just switched to T-mobile in Sacramento and cannot get service inside my house and even parts down my street. T-Mobile has good advertising and slick features but does no good if you can't get a signal. Be careful. Of course, it depends where you are and I never had even close to this kind of a problem with Verizon.

20 Nov 2003 | car quotes said...

sprint is probably the best but t-mobile is a better deal

23 Nov 2003 | julie said...

am planning to get TMOBILE, their rates are great compared to sprint. I have a sprint phone which i dearly love but their plans are too expensive. service is great but txt messaging is HORRID up load time is approx 1 min. (when its running) viewing websites is nother prob. sprint cust. service sucks, they always tell u the same excuse when u have a problems with your phone.. new towers.. system upgrage all BS i tell u. am happy with the SPRINT coverage but if am paying extra for txt messaging it better damn work. so i've heard great things about TMOBILE, are they true? what's the coverage like in the So. CALI 818/310/626 area? BTW am planning to get tmobile's SIDEKICK... thanks