Cingular vs. TMobile....cell phone helps
04-07-2005, 10:57 AM
#1
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Cingular vs. TMobile....cell phone helps
wife & I were originally on AT&T shared plan (TDMA) and it works great in our area (sorta moutianish/rural) so Cingular bought them out and won't reactivate on TDMA for anything reasonable...
our plan originally was fine, but now i'm using my phone more for work, so i need to upgrade...plus both are phones are old and dated...
cingular choice is like new customer, but it requires a 2 year contract for free phones. (i really want the 6230 Nokia...bluetooth, MP3 player & Ringtones...all the gadgets, etc...i'm a nerd!)
Tmoblie has more mins, less monthly costs, only 1 year contract required & better customer service...plus tmobile phones suck! (prolly go with Motorola V600 just cuz tmobile has no good nokias available.)
only major drawback is that Tmobile GSM reception at our house is spotty at best...(was last year when i had a company phone (it may have been the phone it's self that sucked it was an old Sony/Erricsson that dropped calls all the time)
but i'm still affraid the cingular GSM will be the same.
it's essential we get phone calls at our house, but the GSM maynot carry thru the narrow canyon where we live...
but if we make the switch to GSM on cingular we can switch back in 30 days to the TDMA without penalties...
if we go with the better company support from Tmobile and have our phone #'s changed over to the tmobile account and the GSM service doesn't work...we maybe stuck...
it's crucial we keep the same #'s...
they're on both our business cards & we've both had the same #'s for over 5 years...so everyone knows them.
nextel sucks...and Verizon & Sprint don't work up here.
so...
any suggestions???
any other phones that aren't out yet that i could wait for???
like a Nokia 6230 on the Tmobile GSM band?
i know you guys have the inside scoops...spill it!
our plan originally was fine, but now i'm using my phone more for work, so i need to upgrade...plus both are phones are old and dated...
cingular choice is like new customer, but it requires a 2 year contract for free phones. (i really want the 6230 Nokia...bluetooth, MP3 player & Ringtones...all the gadgets, etc...i'm a nerd!)
Tmoblie has more mins, less monthly costs, only 1 year contract required & better customer service...plus tmobile phones suck! (prolly go with Motorola V600 just cuz tmobile has no good nokias available.)
only major drawback is that Tmobile GSM reception at our house is spotty at best...(was last year when i had a company phone (it may have been the phone it's self that sucked it was an old Sony/Erricsson that dropped calls all the time)
but i'm still affraid the cingular GSM will be the same.
it's essential we get phone calls at our house, but the GSM maynot carry thru the narrow canyon where we live...
but if we make the switch to GSM on cingular we can switch back in 30 days to the TDMA without penalties...
if we go with the better company support from Tmobile and have our phone #'s changed over to the tmobile account and the GSM service doesn't work...we maybe stuck...
it's crucial we keep the same #'s...
they're on both our business cards & we've both had the same #'s for over 5 years...so everyone knows them.
nextel sucks...and Verizon & Sprint don't work up here.
so...
any suggestions???
any other phones that aren't out yet that i could wait for???
like a Nokia 6230 on the Tmobile GSM band?
i know you guys have the inside scoops...spill it!
04-07-2005, 11:09 AM
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howardforums for all of your phone geeky needs.
The nearest Tmobile and Cingular/ATT GSM antenna might be on the same physical tower. So you might be screwed. But like you said it could have been the phone that was giving you trouble. Try the Cingular route cuz it sounds like it's easier to go back. If that doesn't work then look at others.
The nearest Tmobile and Cingular/ATT GSM antenna might be on the same physical tower. So you might be screwed. But like you said it could have been the phone that was giving you trouble. Try the Cingular route cuz it sounds like it's easier to go back. If that doesn't work then look at others.
04-07-2005, 11:13 AM
#3
Where in Placerville are you exactly?
My parents live by El Dorado HS and Markham JHS, and I never had a problem with AT&T/Cingular GSM service at their house.
EDIT:
Also, make sure to get GSM phone that supports all of Cingulars towers. I had an old phone that only supported one of Cingular's towers.
Cingular towers are either 1900 or 800/850, I'm pretty sure. So make sure your new phone supports both. I had a phone that only supported one, and service sucked really bad.
My parents live by El Dorado HS and Markham JHS, and I never had a problem with AT&T/Cingular GSM service at their house.
EDIT:
Also, make sure to get GSM phone that supports all of Cingulars towers. I had an old phone that only supported one of Cingular's towers.
Cingular towers are either 1900 or 800/850, I'm pretty sure. So make sure your new phone supports both. I had a phone that only supported one, and service sucked really bad.
Last edited by Nick Koan; 04-07-2005 at 11:21 AM.
04-07-2005, 11:26 AM
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def...the 6230 is GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1800/1900 MHz so it should be the best reception possible...
i'm at the east end of Placerville (last Pville exit on the way to S. Lake Tahoe on 50) and we live in this little canyon (Smith Flat) that is steap on both sides...
we can't even get Dish or DirectTV cuz it would take too much cable to get high enough up the hill on a tree to get reception an the cable wouldn't carry the signal back to the house.
but TDMA phones work great down the canyon...the signals carry further than GSM...
i'm at the east end of Placerville (last Pville exit on the way to S. Lake Tahoe on 50) and we live in this little canyon (Smith Flat) that is steap on both sides...
we can't even get Dish or DirectTV cuz it would take too much cable to get high enough up the hill on a tree to get reception an the cable wouldn't carry the signal back to the house.
but TDMA phones work great down the canyon...the signals carry further than GSM...
04-07-2005, 11:31 AM
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how about getting cingular to provide you with the cheapest or free phone that has the sim card with your existing numbers. they should do that for free since gsm is their choice of format. then check out http://www.expansys-usa.com/ and do a one time purchase and just buy the phone you want. if you can get them to give you the phones for free or really cheap without contract then you will save money in the long run because you are not locked into a contract.
just my .002
just my .002
04-07-2005, 11:35 AM
#9
Yeah, I know that area. I worked on some houses around there. I assume you are in that canyon south of 50. If its that canyon, its pretty bad for GSM IIRC. If you are totally forced to get a GSM phone, you might want to look into auxillary antennas to use while you are at home, they might help your reception.
GSM, unfortunately, was designed to have a shorter range then TDMA because it can handle more data (tradeoff between distance vs. power)
GSM, unfortunately, was designed to have a shorter range then TDMA because it can handle more data (tradeoff between distance vs. power)
04-07-2005, 11:44 AM
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I'm a long-time (8 years) AT&T digital user. I'm also the last non-GSM user in our shared plan. If you want to use cell phones reliably outside of the cities, the AT&T network (now Cingular) is by far the most extensive. I'm still using the old digital system (which will get into analogue cells (if there are any left). I'm also using my trusty old Nokia 5400 (I believe) series phone. Nokia still sells virtually every phone they ever made at their website. It's a brick, but it has a more powerful signal and larger battery capacity than the newer GSM phones. It's good for using on the boat and way up north on HWY 101, where smaller phones don't work.
On second thought I may have the 6200 series phone. They look almost the same. What's with the conspiracy to not have model numbers on cell phones?
On second thought I may have the 6200 series phone. They look almost the same. What's with the conspiracy to not have model numbers on cell phones?
Last edited by yzercyber; 04-07-2005 at 11:55 AM.
04-07-2005, 01:07 PM
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there is a cool interactive map on one of those links here:http://compass.t-mobile.com/MapPage.asp
it shows max signal strength at my house, so maybe i'll try to get a loaner tri-band phone from a tmobile dealer and see how the reception is at home.
it shows max signal strength at my house, so maybe i'll try to get a loaner tri-band phone from a tmobile dealer and see how the reception is at home.
04-07-2005, 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by N600
there is a cool interactive map on one of those links here:http://compass.t-mobile.com/MapPage.asp
it shows max signal strength at my house, so maybe i'll try to get a loaner tri-band phone from a tmobile dealer and see how the reception is at home.
it shows max signal strength at my house, so maybe i'll try to get a loaner tri-band phone from a tmobile dealer and see how the reception is at home.
04-07-2005, 03:11 PM
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Originally Posted by ryball
No you don't. You just need to not suck at the intarweb.
That's pretty cool. I wish the other providers would be that honest rather than just coloring the whole fricken state one solid color.
ryball and soggy have better coverage than me.
