I'm getting sick of dropped call and bad coverage issues with cingular, and am shopping for a new phone anyway so figured I should find one with a great signal. Sure I know a phone won't fix cingular's (numerous) problems but I want to do everything on my end to get the best service.

Which GSM phones have the strongest signal? Are there any links or review to confirm your selection, or is it personal experience?

7/7/2005 7:57:32 PM

Sony Ericsson T637.

I used to have a Motorola V551, which I must say, is a pretty shitty phone. I had horrible coverage and I had weak signals from buildings at NCSU. I work at Page Hall, where there is absolutely no cellular service (even people without Cingular never got a signal from in there). And when I didn't have a signal, the phone would drain the battery trying to search for a signal. That's how I got terrible battery life and ended up selling it.

[Edited on July 7, 2005 at 9:09 PM. Reason : bio]

7/7/2005 9:05:31 PM

its the towers
be patient

[Edited on July 7, 2005 at 9:09 PM. Reason : which model phone do you have now?]

7/7/2005 9:06:30 PM

I have never had a dropped call with even the T68i

But I use a T637 right now

7/7/2005 9:21:54 PM

T290 if you want a cheap phone that has an exceptional radio.

Other then that, S710a.

However, Cingular coverage has been flaky as of late.

7/7/2005 10:11:15 PM

wear a tin foil hat when you make calls

7/7/2005 10:14:32 PM

i've never had problems with either Siemens phone I've used - S40 previously and now an S66 - Cingular service in general is pretty good around the region - only random small pockets behind hills and such that don't have signal it seems

7/7/2005 11:09:12 PM

Quote :

" which model phone do you have now?"

lately i've used a motorolla mpx220 and a sony ericsson t616 and both had had all kinds of dropped calls and shitty coverage

7/8/2005 1:56:02 AM

I have owned two Sony T637s. They were pretty good phones, with great battery and reception. The only pain i had was with the laggy interface... for instance when sending text messages, I could type 3 or 4 characters ahead of the T9 word guessing. The buttons were kinda "tough" to depress too... i was used to Nokia buttons before this phone. The camera though (by today's standards) is shitty.

Here's a T637 image:


The motorola V551 i've heard has pretty average reception. My roommate's girlfriend has one.

The motorola V505 is the newer version of it. It looks about the same, except the faceplate has little hole grating, instead of a brushed metal finish. Bluetooth just like the Sony. Buttons are easier to press, and it's a flip phone (so i don't randomly call people). The camera is crazy awesome... here is an image at 2x zoom. Battery and reception are comparable. Display is also bigger, and it holds about 10 times more images.

The only thing with it is the way the ringer is setup. There are a set number of profiles, and it's difficult to setup "vibrate" on it. There's silent, which only vibrates. There's "silent then ring", and i can specify the rings. And there are various non-silent ones, which don't vibrate (unless I specify don't ring, just vibrate). So I really just keep it on "silent then ring". Oh, and a feature i LOVED about the T637 was that it would go into "silent" mode when i was in a meeting i entered on the calendar.

How much money doyou have to spend on a phone? If you can afford it, don't get a phone that's been out for 18 months. Get something new.

7/8/2005 2:14:27 AM

Quote :

"lately i've used a motorolla mpx220 and a sony ericsson t616"

ok for you it wasn't the towers
those two phones really sucked. hell they pulled the mpx220

you will get much better reception with the phones mentioned here, even the v551 which has a few issues

7/8/2005 7:42:32 AM

Quote :

"they pulled the mpx220 "

yeah i heard about that...because of call quality issues?

Quote :

"So I really just keep it on "silent then ring"."

so it vibrates, then rings? yeah all the SE phones i've had have a vibrate+ring setting, very nice

Quote :

"How much money doyou have to spend on a phone?"

i'd like to keep it under 200, i would consider signing a 1yr contract if i coule get a good deal

[Edited on July 8, 2005 at 9:46 AM. Reason : ]

7/8/2005 9:42:22 AM

Quote :

".because of call quality issues? "

that and camera problems, and volume problems, and getting stuck in certain menus...

7/8/2005 11:35:00 AM

bttt

8/18/2005 2:32:37 AM

Switch to Verizon Wireless CDMA/EV-DO and you won't need to worry. Unless of course you travel overseas every couple of weeks and are one of the .05% of people who actually get good use out of a GSM phone. Or hell, you can even get a phone that is both CDMA and GSM, so you get the best network in the US and still use it anywhere overseas.

But I'm guessing the majoirty of you GSM fanboys don't use it overseas for dick.

PS - It is the network. Cingular's sucks. The sooner you own up to that fact, the better your life will become.

8/18/2005 9:52:20 AM

You cannot get a phone that is CDMA and GSM.

You could only get TDMA / GSM.

The CDMA algorithm is not compatible with GSM.

8/18/2005 10:09:05 AM

You, my friend, are absolutely 100% wrong.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/internationalsvcs/globalphone/samsung_sch_a790.jsp

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/internationalsvcs/globalphone/mot_sch_a840.jsp

But thanks for playing.

8/18/2005 10:19:19 AM

PS: GSM phones with good signals don't exist.

Maybe you meant good reception.

8/18/2005 12:19:32 PM

Now that is definitely cool.

CDMA and GSM in one phone both operating at totally different frequencies. They stuck two radios in there but they still kept the phone light.

Samsung is crazy.

[Edited on August 18, 2005 at 12:39 PM. Reason : .]

8/18/2005 12:38:53 PM

engin got served

8/18/2005 12:50:49 PM

Hey, I realize I may have sounded a bit prick-ish saying that and must confess. I am working at Verizon Wireless in Internet Strategy and Programs (MBA internship). One of my many projects this summer was a redesign of the international services pages. Thus, I knew of the GSM/CDMA phones. However, they are buried in the site...and not available for online purchase. You'd really have to know they existed to find them on the site, or be looking for an international phone.

Having said that, they are heavily subsidized, yet still cost around $300. If you're actually a regular international traveler, they are some sweet phones to look at. But they don't have the super whizz-bang features of other phones.

The more you know...

8/18/2005 1:34:38 PM

my Sony Ericsson z500a gets full signal just about everywhere.. i only have a signal problem at work, but i'm also surrounded by a couple hundred power conduits, and 8" concrete walls..

8/18/2005 2:25:11 PM

z500 has great signal strength. The s710a has good strength but like john said its the towers. cingular fucked themselves.

8/18/2005 2:33:27 PM

Quinn, I'm too busy lusting after you to know about every obscure product out there .

In all honesty, I think the SCH-a790 is a cool concept.

I wouldn't never use it if I were a Verizon customer though because I could probably score a used GSM phone for considerably less money then that.

8/18/2005 3:57:33 PM

Quote :

"Quinn, I'm too busy lusting after you to know about every obscure product out there . "

I noticed that thing you did with your tongue last night, and i approve

8/18/2005 4:04:43 PM

BTW, Cingular did it first

T62u trimode.
http://www.cellular.co.za/phones/sonyeric/sonyeric_t62u-tdma-gsm.htm

8/18/2005 4:36:17 PM

it's sad to know that Tmobile is $10 cheaper than cingular and has similar if not better reception, Cingular is $10 more and has worse reception, and Verizon is $10 more than Cingular (Family plan wise).

Verizon has shitty calling plans though, almost everyone beats them.

So you do have to pay more for better service in this case.

8/18/2005 6:13:05 PM

el oh el @ u

8/18/2005 6:40:23 PM

cingular is the best cell phone service for the price, signal, features, and rollover

i never have THAT BAD of cell phone reception problems

[Edited on August 18, 2005 at 6:57 PM. Reason : rollover being key]

8/18/2005 6:56:50 PM

nokia phones get the best reception, and cingular is going to carry the new nokia flip phone.....

8/18/2005 8:04:06 PM

Someone told me that the 64k SIM cards get better reception than the 32k ones. Dunno if that's true.

8/18/2005 8:55:52 PM

I'm very pleased with my new Sony Ericsson S710, including the signal.

8/18/2005 8:58:50 PM