[Toshi]

do any of you seattle folks have input on what cell phone services have or have not worked for you?

right now i'm using a nokia 3650 on t-mobile and am reasonably happy with it. i'm letting my contract expire soon so that i can snag a 206 number and get a good promotional deal on sign up through amazon. for example, i got the 3650 free a year ago through amazon...

 

[Freak]

do any of you seattle folks have input on what cell phone services have or have not worked for you?

right now i'm using a nokia 3650 on t-mobile and am reasonably happy with it. i'm letting my contract expire soon so that i can snag a 206 number and get a good promotional deal on sign up through amazon. for example, i got the 3650 free a year ago through amazon...

It probably depends on where you'll be spending most of your time. I hate AT&T GSM service and I work for them!! hehe If you do get AT&T the plus side is that you can switch networks and just use the Cingular network with no charge. So, you'll have a choice of either network (whichever one is stronger).

I just got a T-mobile phone (that's who I'll be working for next week ) and so far I'm happy with it, but I don't have extensive time with it yet.

But I can tell you this, all of the cell companies will have their problem areas up here in Seattle. Of course, some worse than others, but it all depends on where you'll be spending most of your time.

 

[Toshi]

ok. i'll be in the u district 99% of the time. does that help? and thanks for not just pushing at&t

 

[Snacks]

I have T Moblie and have had tons of issuses with dead spots and dropped calls.

Trailhacker has Verison and he gets service pretty much everywhere.

 

[bikegrrl]

I originally got Verizon specifically because they have the best coverage up by Snoqualmie...so I could contact my crew on the mountain...and Verizon has continued to kick ass in Oregon, where I have coverage on Hood when none of my non-Verizon friends do...

 

[Toshi]

I have T Moblie and have had tons of issuses with dead spots and dropped calls.

Trailhacker has Verison and he gets service pretty much everywhere.

noooooo... t-mobile (and att gsm too i guess) have the best phones

thanks for the input so far. maybe t-mobile is good right in my neighborhood. hmm

 

[bikegrrl]

noooooo... t-mobile (and att gsm too i guess) have the best phones

thanks for the input so far. maybe t-mobile is good right in my neighborhood. hmm

Just a thought ;-)
BTW, when are you moving from PDX to Seattle? Sounds like we might be on the same moving timeline...I might be heading north (for good, not just interviews) very very soon if the next week goes as planned.
Wish I had joined you guys for urban but maybe next time.

 

[Honeywell]

I just extended my contract with T-Mobile another year. I've been very happy with it. T-Mobile headquarters are in Bellevue so you'd think they'd have their own backyard covered pretty well. Although at my aunt's house, right across the freeway from the TMO office buildings, is a dead spot

Here's a site where you can check out the locations of T-Mobile towers. http://www.tmobiletowers.com/default.aspx I searched all types of towers and the only thing they have anything listed for is monopoles. There must be more than that though.

I can get a full signal in Friday Harbor in the San Juans, they have the whole I-5 corridor covered pretty well. All the way from the border down to California. I know for a fact that they have Steven's Pass covered, I believe Snoqualmie as well.

I guess bottom line is if you're going to dwell mainly in the city T-Mobile will be fine, but if you're gonna be out in the middle of nowhere Verizon is probably better. Although I've had no problems, or complaints, with my T-Mobile service. My mom and dad also work in Seattle, my mom in Fremont, dad in Northgate. They also haven't had any problems.

 

[Transfer]

Verizon is the best no matter where you go. They just have the coverage. I'm with AT&T and it's ok, but I wish I had Verizon.

 

[Toshi]

Just a thought ;-)
BTW, when are you moving from PDX to Seattle? Sounds like we might be on the same moving timeline...I might be heading north (for good, not just interviews) very very soon if the next week goes as planned.
Wish I had joined you guys for urban but maybe next time.

i'm probably not going to be headed up until august. my lease here runs out august 1st. are you headed up to seattle or to bc?

Honeywell, thanks for the tip on that site. i didn't know you could search for towers.

i'm not that keen on verizon, because amazon.com doesn't sell plans by them, so i can't get good deals on phones . and i'm hoping that being in the thick of the city will keep the signal strong, at least if i stick with a nokia instead of going for one of the stylish sony ericssons with their poor reception and all...

 

[Skookum]

i have had Sprint for about 5 years, i'm not gonna raise the Sprint flag, but i've been happy with it more often than not. I very rarely drop calls... It also has been very convenient for use when i was in Boston, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Spokane, Maui, and assorted other areas that i've been to over the recent years.
Just used it on Tiger Mt. today...

 

[MMike]

I had T-Mobile for a year. Sucked ass. It's fine if you're within 50 feet of the I-5 or I-90 corridors....but if you venture off the beaten path...as we mountain bikers tend to do, then you are SOL. My T-Mobile phone would not work at Rat-Pac or at Taneum Creek for example. But people with other providers would still have service.

I have Sprint now. Better coverage. Not thrilled with their customer service.

If you don't care what it costs, hands down Verizon is the best. But you'll never get a free phone out of them. Sprint had the free phones and the coverage is decent. Better than T-mobile at least.

Car Toys actually has "coverage maps". It has red shaded areas that shows the service zones. Verizon's map basically...well is all red! T-Mobile, there are a couple of thin little red lines running along the Interstates.

Anyhoo....this was a couple of years ago now since I had T-Mobile. It may have improved since...

But liek they say, you get what you pay for.

 

[toughguymagee]

I don't think that AT&T GSM is so bad. I live out in the boonies and still have good coverage. As Freak said, you can now roam on AT&T and Cingular, with no additional charge, which gives you pretty darn good coverage here as well as across the country. AT&T Wireless has also launched 850MHz in Seattle, as well as everywhere else, which should also give you a more robust signal. (if your handset will support 850/1900MHz)

Signal, especially for 1900 MHz GSM, depends on the phone. If you have a phone that has a low RF range, then you are going to see more issues. That not the network's fault, but rather the handset.

Ghettobooty and I have AT&T GSM service and both have Siemens phones. She has one model and I have a different one. Sitting in the same location we can have 10+ dbm difference in our signal due to the limitations of the phone.

 

[oly]

Im on a REAL old school phone/plan. Im with AT&T. Ive been with them for years. Ive called CS once and changed my plan because my bills were usually over 100 bucks!! Hey, i was new...... But that was like 4 years ago. Im on a nokia 5165 tank phone with a smashed display. My service sucks for the most part, but i dont know if its because my phone/plan is so old. I went to an At&t store and the lady didnt even know what my plan was.... she had to look it up, and kept asking me.... wahs was it again?? I loose signal by FT lewis on the freeway, and at my house i have to stand in a few specific spots to make calls, also on vashon island i get some service, but not in the building i work in. I really want to change phones/systems but im really lazy. Problem is too between my wife and I (same plans, but 2 bills) we pay about 80bucks a month for our phones. She doesnt use hers too much, and i use mine enough to get close to using my minutes. When I went to car toys it seemed like i'd get crap for 2 phones for 80 bucks a month. I looked at all the carriers and talked chainwhips ear off about what to do. Verison was looking to be what ill go to, but ive just been puting it off.

 

[Toshi]

When I went to car toys it seemed like i'd get crap for 2 phones for 80 bucks a month. I looked at all the carriers and talked chainwhips ear off about what to do. Verison was looking to be what ill go to, but ive just been puting it off.

hmm, i'm not getting your plan then! for comparison, my old plan on t-mobile had/has 600 daytime minutes, unlimited weekends (current promo plans have nights + weekends but my plan is old), $40, with no roaming or long distance charges of course -- do any plans still have those?

 

[Toshi]

I don't think that AT&T GSM is so bad. I live out in the boonies and still have good coverage. As Freak said, you can now roam on AT&T and Cingular, with no additional charge, which gives you pretty darn good coverage here as well as across the country. AT&T Wireless has also launched 850MHz in Seattle, as well as everywhere else, which should also give you a more robust signal. (if your handset will support 850/1900MHz)

Signal, especially for 1900 MHz GSM, depends on the phone. If you have a phone that has a low RF range, then you are going to see more issues. That not the network's fault, but rather the handset.

Ghettobooty and I have AT&T GSM service and both have Siemens phones. She has one model and I have a different one. Sitting in the same location we can have 10+ dbm difference in our signal due to the limitations of the phone.

which of your siemens is better? what model is it? att gsm is riding high on my list -- do you think it is better than t-mobile because of the cingular takeover? also, gsm == same, nice phones as t-mobile :heart:

http://tinyurl.com/3gu2k

 

[Freak]

which of your siemens is better? what model is it? att gsm is riding high on my list -- do you think it is better than t-mobile because of the cingular takeover? also, gsm == same, nice phones as t-mobile :heart:

http://tinyurl.com/3gu2k

I think he is using the SL56, I'm using a M56 and it has good RF.

 

[Toshi]

Car Toys actually has "coverage maps". It has red shaded areas that shows the service zones. Verizon's map basically...well is all red! T-Mobile, there are a couple of thin little red lines running along the Interstates.

t-mobile:

att gsm:

sprint pcs:

verizon, see attachment if this doesn't work:

 

[Honeywell]

If you really want to know if they'll be service in your area go to any T-Mobile store and give them your zip code, or the zip code of the area you'll be moving to. They have coverage maps available (to the employees) that shows coverage area pretty much down to the major street names of that zip code. Just get them to turn the computer around so you can see it

 

[MMike]

hmm, i'm not getting your plan then! for comparison, my old plan on t-mobile had/has 600 daytime minutes, unlimited weekends (current promo plans have nights + weekends but my plan is old), $40, with no roaming or long distance charges of course -- do any plans still have those?

My sprint plan is about that.

I was very happy with my T-mobile plan. It was just the actual carrying out of theservice I had a problem with. Had the family plan, two phones, unlimited between our phones. Unlimited weekends. Free long distance, no roaming within the US. and 800 shared minutes.

Looking at the T-mobile map...the fact that it includes Port Angeles is funny. My phone wouldn't work worth a damn at the White Knuckle, (or the road approaching it). You have to be ON hwy 101, in town for it to work.

But I managed to get a comparable plan, free phones, with Sprint...but it was an additional...I was to say $15-$20 per month for the two of us. And our sprint phones worked in Maui too with no roaming. My wife called her mom in Kent when we were in Maui and it was a local call. Kinda cool when you think about it...

 

[joshg]

i have the ATT gsm stuff goin on right now and im fairly happy with it except for one thing....when i switched from the TDMA to the GSM they didnt cancel my account properly and they lost a payment i sent them so im in billing hell with them right now...double billed for a month and a "missed payment" so with that aside they are ok and have some of the better coverage in eastern washington esp. around pullman....

 

[Toshi]

thanks for the report, josh. i'm actually claiming washington residency in moses lake, btw.

 

[Snacks]

Another note about T Mobile....I was driving home yesterday on 99 and I could not get service from Belltown all the way to Green Lk. About 5 miles in a major area!

Now I don't know all the mumbo jumbo crap about tower locations and what not, but come on a 5 mile dead spot!?!?!?!?!

 

[Toshi]

Another note about T Mobile....I was driving home yesterday on 99 and I could not get service from Belltown all the way to Green Lk. About 5 miles in a major area!

Now I don't know all the mumbo jumbo crap about tower locations and what not, but come on a 5 mile dead spot!?!?!?!?!

hmm, that is pretty awful. what kind of phone do you have, snacks? a nokia?

 

[Snacks]

hmm, that is pretty awful. what kind of phone do you have, snacks? a nokia?

No, a Samsung.....I don't really know anything about cell phones and the individual ranges they have.

 

[MMike]

I had rotten luck with a Samsung phone. Apparently everyone was. Sprint was handing them out. But they were jsut plain defective. They would freeze, crap out....just basically not work. So they swapped it out for a sanyo camera phone... The phone part works great. Never use the camera feature.

 

[Toshi]

I had rotten luck with a Samsung phone. Apparently everyone was. Sprint was handing them out. But they were jsut plain defective. They would freeze, crap out....just basically not work. So they swapped it out for a sanyo camera phone... The phone part works great. Never use the camera feature.

my experience was the same when i was on sprint (1999-june 2003). i had a samsung whose display simply stopped working one day. luckily sprint had no qualms about overnighting a new phone to me. oh, it would also never ring -- i'd always hear of calls when the voicemail indicator would chime. :mumble:

 

[Fast&Smooth]

verizon is horrrriiibbllee for customer service

 

[Toshi]

verizon is horrrriiibbllee for customer service

do tell why

 

[MMike]

my experience was the same when i was on sprint (1999-june 2003). i had a samsung whose display simply stopped working one day. luckily sprint had no qualms about overnighting a new phone to me. oh, it would also never ring -- i'd always hear of calls when the voicemail indicator would chime. :mumble:

Yeah...me too was it a Samsung flip phone, but the display didn't get covered up by the flippy part. And it had speaker phone? That's what I had. The speaker phone feature was sweet....

 

[Toshi]

Yeah...me too was it a Samsung flip phone, but the display didn't get covered up by the flippy part. And it had speaker phone? That's what I had. The speaker phone feature was sweet....

that's the one. also had a primitive voice dialing feature, about the only cool thing about it. maybe it was just that model of phone that sucked, and not sprint pcs... hmm. too many choices and conflicting opinions here ink: (but thanks to all for contributing the conflicting pieces of information tho )

 

[MMike]

Yeah that was totally the phone, not the service. I'm all good with the new one.

Poop on T-mobile...

 

[joshg]

Tosh-
Claiming residence here eh?

 

[Toshi]

Tosh-
Claiming residence here eh?

yeah, it's justifiable tho! i still have a washington drivers license and i went through middle and high school in mercer island and tacoma, and the moses lake house is still unsold so i could be living there, theoretically ...

 

[Toshi]

ok, i ended up getting a cingular T637. here are my thoughts:

i've owned a nokia 3650 and currently have a SE T637. the T637 is not all roses:

T637 high points:
- small size
- good looking
- free themes available
- reception is fine with Cingular in metro Seattle, WA

T637 low points:
- the phone is locked down: i can't put my own ringtones, programs, or games on, can't modify the menu or the stupid joystick shortcuts from the main menu
- the interface is awkward. there's no quick way to exit from the browser, for instance, and having a dedicated "back" button that's not at the top edge of the buttons is also annoying
- the camera is useless
- the built in WAP browser is also useless
- unlocking the phone (both in the sense of carriers and in letting the user change programs) requires a PC and a dedicated cable

Nokia 3650 high points:
- Series 60 rocks. Opera for Series 60 worked great
- my T-Mobile 3650 let me transfer files freely via bluetooth, including wav and midi ringtones, apps/games
- unlocking the phone from T-Mobile was a matter of going to a website, generating a code, and typing it in
- reception was good
- battery life was good
- camera took very decent images, sort of painterly
- syncing of calendars, etc. via isync worked fine. additionally, address card pictures (that you see in iChat and in address book) synced to the phone, so when you'd call or receive a call from a contact their picture would show up next to their name. very slick.

3650 low points:
- HUGE in comparison to modern phones
- very lightweight feeling, not confidence inspiring
- circular keyboard not for some. my thumb got used to it
- Opera is not supported any more, and isn't perfect

overall i'd pick the T637 again at this point in my life, since i'm using the phone exclusively as a phone and its size is important. however, in terms of usability and interface the nokia series 60 product wins hands down without a question. once i unlock my T637 perhaps i'll have a better impression of it.

 

[oly]

Toshi,

to unlock your phone push Triangle, Square, Circle, X, Up, Down, Left, Right, Up, Up, R1, R2, L1, L2.....

 

[bikegrrl]

verizon is horrrriiibbllee for customer service

I SO do not agree...i decided to stay with them when I moved back here and they hooked me up with a 23% discount when they found I where I work, because apparently there's some corporate discount that no one else...including my employer...had told me about.

Not to mention that my phone works when no one else's does...

However, my Samsung flip phone sucks ass. I have had to have it replaced three times. Among other things, the voice speaker keeps dying, and no one can hear me until I get the replacement, no matter how many troubleshooting tweaks I try. However, Verizon has always replaced the phone without any hassles whatsoever. But I am definitely doing my research so I can get a better phone when I am eligible for my new discounted phone in February. I don't know that I'm gonna go with Samsung unless their other phones are hella better than this one.