I currently have Cingular service, but my dad wants me to switch to Verizon or US Cellular. I am concerned that the coverage is not as good. Has anyone had problems with Verizon or US Cellular?

9/7/2006 10:47:23 AM

Verizon is pretty good in the Triangle...However let me say I use Alltel and I love it...besides a phone that has served me well (Motorola E815) I like the My Circle feature which allows me to assign 10 numbers (regardless of carrier) that I can call for free...so I can call my buddies for free that have other carriers...good stuff...but if your only choices are Verizon, US Cellular, or Cingular I would go with Verizon I guess....you have to figure out which carrier is going to serve you best...maybe surf over to http://www.howardforums.com and do some reading/studying on the different carriers...
Good luck!

9/7/2006 10:51:43 AM

I hear ya man, I have Cingular now and I'm hating life. Wish I was back with Alltel of all people. Go with verizon my sister has it and she travels all over the country from busy aiports to small towns and back. She's never had problems.

9/7/2006 1:05:10 PM

don't get cingular

go with alltel

9/7/2006 1:05:49 PM

if you never want a dropped call keep cingular

i've had it since the end of 2002 and i think i've had like 2 dropped calls ever, plus you get rollover

[Edited on September 7, 2006 at 1:35 PM. Reason : .]

9/7/2006 1:35:32 PM

shiny phones = cingular
reliable service = verizon
clever marketing = alltel

9/7/2006 2:29:05 PM

I've had US Cellular for 3 years and I really like it. Their customer service is great, if you have problems. I called once because the new walmart back home didn't have very good coverage. They sent a guy up the tower to adjust antennas and fix it. I called another time because I realized I was going to go over my minutes. Wanted to see if there was anything I could do besides stop using the phone, so they gave me 300 "goodwill" minutes.

The new plans are pretty good too.

9/7/2006 5:28:44 PM

My Verizon service sucks. I was at the game Saturday and had bars, but could do nothing but text message. Then I worked in Belhaven and had to call from a certain point between two trees in the area. And at home (Manteo), my phone will ring but I can't answer it or call from it. Maybe Verizon just hates the east coast and Carter-Finley.

9/7/2006 5:33:40 PM

belhaven is in the middle of nowhere and the all towers get overloaded when you have an event that increases usage like that

9/7/2006 6:05:05 PM

where's sprint in this mix?

cheap-voice-and-data-without-rollover plans + decent-but-not-great phones = sprint

[Edited on September 7, 2006 at 6:22 PM. Reason : .]

9/7/2006 6:21:56 PM

you forgot "+ horrendous customer service"

9/7/2006 6:24:25 PM

how often do you call your cell provider's customer service, seriously?

you say that as if you try to ask the customer service reps out on dates or something.

sprint is pretty good about replacing stuff though - very minimal interrogation too.

9/7/2006 6:38:19 PM

when i had sprint- pretty often
they always fucked up the bill

9/7/2006 6:38:52 PM

Quote :

"belhaven is in the middle of nowhere and the all towers get overloaded when you have an event that increases usage like that"

yeah, and goddamn if US Cellular didn't have a monopoly in that area. There were two US Cellular stores in that small town. I switched to Verizon from US Cellular because I kept hitting deadspots in Raleigh, now I'm not sure. I wish one fucking company would just say," We have a tower in every town or your service is free." I mean, come on. Cells are damn near making regular phones obsolete, yet I still can't find service I'm satisfied with.

9/7/2006 6:39:13 PM

it's not realistically possible to provide 100% coverage everywhere, and satisfy all users everywhere. too many differences in geography and zoning laws, not to mention the areas where human population is sparse. Carter-Finley is a whole 'nother matter, tho, and that's pretty disappointing. was that an isolated incident, or has that happened to lots of other people?

9/7/2006 9:12:57 PM

^its basically impossible to call out during a game with any service at Carter Finley.

Been there with Alltel, could never connect a call.

Been there with Verizon, could never connect a call.

Been there with Cingular, could never connect a call.

Between the three I love Verizon's coverage and service, I love Cingular's phones, interface and features, and I loved Alltel's price. Still a bit of a tossup but Verizon has me won over currently

9/7/2006 11:45:21 PM

US Cellular sucks. Customer service is AWFUL. Go in the store and expect a LONG fucking wait.

Alltel has better marketing as was said earlier, but they blow too, esp. from a customer service standpoint. I have gone by that place many times and had friends/family wait over an hour just to have one question answered. They said everybody was in there bitching, but they may just be cheap asses on the number of customer service reps they hire for an area. Expect to wait days to get help in many places.

Verizon from what I have seen is most reliable down East. Plans are pretty good, real good coverage, and pretty damn good phones too. Also coverage related thing, if you get Verizon you are also getting full Alltel footprint, meaning if you go somewhere that has little or no Verizon towers, it goes into Extended Network. Its free for you and me, but they pay Alltel $texas to share their coverage. So that is another bonus if you travel in rural places a lot, where Verizon towers aren't as common, you get that Alltel footprint as a backup, and it is NOT a roaming charge, its still considered in Network calling.

9/7/2006 11:59:08 PM

verizon or cingular

alltell is garbanzo

9/7/2006 11:59:32 PM

been w/ verizon for 2-years & love it

no problems/issues whatsoever, nor coverage, nor dropped calls EVER, and i mean NONE!

btw, can anyone tell me who offers the best data service?

[Edited on September 8, 2006 at 12:27 AM. Reason : . ]

9/8/2006 12:27:14 AM

i switched over from US Cellular to Verizon about six months ago, it was one of the better decisions i've ever made

i love verizon

9/8/2006 12:31:07 AM

verizon/alltel if you want reliable service and want to be able to use that service just about anywhere in the country

us cellular/cingular if you want a pretty phone and don't mind losing your service when you drive away from a city

i have alltel, love their cellular service, customer service, my phone, and the "my circle" gig

9/8/2006 10:13:40 AM

if by "driving away from a city" you mean "getting off any major roads in the middle of bumfuck"

9/8/2006 10:45:00 AM

FYI, Alltel doesn't work in about 95% of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico or Arizona.

It's the reason I switched to Verizon.

9/8/2006 10:46:33 AM

Quote :

"FYI, Alltel doesn't work in about 95% of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico or Arizona."

we can argue until we're blue in the face, but i call total BS...i spent a month out in ND, SD, wyoming, kansas, and montana and NEVER ONCE did i lose service...even out in the middle of podunk nowhere...this was a year ago

9/8/2006 10:49:33 AM

Quote :

"if you never want a dropped call keep cingular i've had it since the end of 2002 and i think i've had like 2 dropped calls ever,"

That's interesting, I take it you never drive on I-40 while on your phone because there is a dead zone right before the I 540 exit coming from 40 west. My call gets dropped EVERY single time I roll through there no matter what time of day.

[Edited on September 8, 2006 at 11:41 AM. Reason : ....]

9/8/2006 11:41:33 AM

yeah, theres definitely a dead spot there

9/8/2006 11:42:15 AM

^^ I've seen calls dropped in that spot from USCC, Alltel, and Cingular. It's just dead.

I'd go Alltel if you can; they definitely have the broadest coverage and I've had very good service from them thus far. I had USCC before and loved it as well, but the "My Circle" deal is just too good to be true.

The wife & I's 1st month on Alltel we used less than 100 anytime minutes -- and 3,000 My Circle minutes that don't count against the 900 anytime minutes w/ our plan. It's the heat.

9/9/2006 8:14:17 AM

Quote :

"I called once because the new walmart back home didn't have very good coverage. They sent a guy up the tower to adjust antennas and fix it."

How much time do you spend in Walmart?

9/9/2006 9:21:34 AM

I had Bellsouth, Cingular, ATT, and now I am with Verizon.

You will hear opinions for all the carriers, good and bad. I ended up with verizon and have no plans of going back.

The cell phones provided from work are all Verizon. The other companies I can think of for sure use verizon as their provider. I'm sure plenty don't, but I'm thinking of major places.

Probably the largest factor of your experience is the phone you decide on. If you pick a phone solely based on cost or how slick it is then you aren't doing yourself a favor. It is a phone first afterall.

[Edited on September 9, 2006 at 10:58 PM. Reason : .]

9/9/2006 10:57:18 PM

^^ haha, there are a lot of US Cellular customers back home, so it was kind of a big deal. The main part of the argument was that there is a high school across the highway from it. It would also drop calls if you were on the highway at the time. Alltel still drops calls there now, but USCC doesn't.

9/9/2006 11:26:25 PM

Quote :

"we can argue until we're blue in the face, but i call total BS...i spent a month out in ND, SD, wyoming, kansas, and montana and NEVER ONCE did i lose service...even out in the middle of podunk nowhere...this was a year ago"

It could very possibly have been my phone, being it was the piece of shit Motorola silver soap phone, but I've driven with it across the US two years in a row, through nearly every major highway from here to California and back and it had HORRIBLE service while on the road.

Being stationary is a completely different story, I never had a problem when in a single spot.

9/10/2006 2:24:31 AM