Foo - cell phones

Is there any reason in the US for someone to seek out a GSM phone/network rather than use Verizon which seems to have better coverage? I guess travel overseas where you could just swap in a different card is a plus for GSM, right?

Verizon now has smart phones that will work on CDMA or GSM networks.

I like Verizon because I think CDMA is a better technology, and Verizon has the best network coverage. My neighbors with AT&T are constantly standing out in their front yard talking on their mobile phones because they can't get reception inside their house.

Sure there is: some people just gotta have an iphone, which is not available on Verizon.

I won't use anyone but Verizon in the US simply because of the coverage.

I wish they had the iPhone, but no matter how sexy a phone it, it's useless if it DROPS A F***ING CALL!

The only place my AT&T service has never been good is A: On the factory floor at my jobs, and B: in walmart. Yea, really I rarely get good service at any Walmart...but its getting better as of late.

Otherwise, I get great service with AT&T. And, they are way nicer to deal with for customer service (I have Verizon DSL, THEY ARE A PAIN if you have to call CS)

Though I am close to switching to verizon because I think I could get what I need in a plan cheaper, and everyone and their brother has verizon. But...I would rather get rid of my phone all together and get a pre-paid because I am really tired of spending $70/month on something I don't use enough.

The only place my AT&T service has never been good is A: On the factory floor at my jobs, and B: in walmart. Yea, really I rarely get good service at any Walmart...but its getting better as of late.

Otherwise, I get great service with AT&T...

Go on a camping trip with someone who has a Verizon phone, and get back to us on that list of places. :D

Found out recently how crap AT&T coverage is while driving from Texas to Estes Park Colorado via Raton New Mexico with two of the three phones in the caravan being AT&T iphones. They were useless once out of the big cities for calls.

I use a Verizon Blackberry Worldphone because it works on CDMA and GMA systems. When I am in the UK or India, I use a local SIM card. At home, the coverage is great. Abroad, it's also great (Mumbai, Chennai, London).

Go on a camping trip with someone who has a Verizon phone, and get back to us on that list of places. :D

Normally where we go camping no one gets service, even your beloved Verizon. At other campgrounds, the service is equal here in NY state. My girlfriend has Verizon, so I know first hand. Heck neither of us get great signal in her house but outside we both get plenty to make a call with...

Maybe our area is just better for AT&T?

If you're camping and you get Cell phone service, you're doing it wrong :P

If you're camping and you get Cell phone service, you're doing it wrong :P

There's app for...oh nevermind.
http://imod.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/iphone-application-lighter.jpg

I'm still sort of hoping cell phones are a fad, personally, although it finally seems like there's a rudimentary form of etiquette that has finally caught up with the technology, thank Gawd.

The most obvious reason is price. Verizon is one of the more expensive providers, so that better coverage comes at a cost.


I'm still sort of hoping cell phones are a fad, personally, although it finally seems like there's a rudimentary form of etiquette that has finally caught up with the technology, thank Gawd.

The next step is for folks to start actually practicing that etiquette.

The most obvious reason is price. Verizon is one of the more expensive providers, so that better coverage comes at a cost.I'm willing to pay more for something that works.

I have Verizon.. I want a droid.

Want the ultimate service?

http://www.iridium.com/

This is definitely on the pricey side, but you can connect in the Sahara or on the Pacific, 500 miles offshore.

Want the ultimate service?

http://www.iridium.com/

This is definitely on the pricey side, but you can connect in the Sahara or on the Pacific, 500 miles offshore.
I have two of those at work. $41/ea per month for basic service.

Normally where we go camping no one gets service, even your beloved Verizon. At other campgrounds, the service is equal here in NY state. My girlfriend has Verizon, so I know first hand. Heck neither of us get great signal in her house but outside we both get plenty to make a call with...

Maybe our area is just better for AT&T?

Those maps are not fiction. The judge threw out AT&T's lawsuit. I've been plenty of places where Verizon had service, and other carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile) didn't. Along the upper reaches of the Potomac, at Scout Camps, on the Big Island outside of major towns, while out riding in the countryside. If you only go where all carriers have signal, or none do, it doesn't much matter, but if you plan on using your phone in one of those in between areas, it certainly does.

fwiw - there's a bunch of things I'd change about Verizon if I could (long term contracts, no plans with less than 700 minutes, etc.), so it's not like I'm one of the Apple cheerleaders. What they do have is the best coverage, and a decent discount that they extend to people at my place of employment.


If you're camping and you get Cell phone service, you're doing it wrong :P

Tell them to rip down the cell towers around Loysville, Dillsburg, and along the Potomac. ;) When we go into the wilderness, my phone becomes my emergency alarm clock - and that's fine.

Not only coverage, but capacity. Anyone ever done RAGBRAI? Last couple of years I've done it, everyone with ATT had fits trying to get a basic phone call through, let alone 3G service. Verizon? 100% of my calls went through on the first attempt. I didn't have a smart phone then, so can't comment on that for Verizon.

Too many people trying to use the ATT service and there wasn't enough capacity. I'd guess that the numbers of Verizon and ATT users were, statistically speaking, the same and everyone else (that I knew, anyway) with Verizon had 100% success getting through.

I've been with Verizon for over 10 years now and at first absolutely hated their customer service. So much so, that in 2006, I moved to Cingular/ATT... for about a week, but since I had no coverage in my house, I exercised my 30 day option and went back. These days, I've had very good CS experiences with Verizon.

If Apple builds an iPhone for CDMA, ATT will have some problems... though their network might work better with fewer users!

I'm willing to pay more for something that works.

To be clear, I wasn't really criticizing Verizon's price. I actually suggested my fiance's parents switch to Verizon, because they run a mobile business that often takes them to places their Sprint service doesn't cover.

Meanwhile, I don't use my phone much and got T-Mobile almost entirely based on price.

For what it's worth, I have an uncle who used to work for Sprint and now works for Verizon. He says Verizon is a far better employer. I figure good treatment of employees is also worth a little bit of consideration.


Want the ultimate service?

http://www.iridium.com/

This is definitely on the pricey side, but you can connect in the Sahara or on the Pacific, 500 miles offshore.

Iridium is pretty cool, but anybody who gets it should know it's pretty feature limited and the phones are bulky. The company already went bankrupt once because the appeal is pretty limited. They saved themselves by branching out into remote data. The Navy was actually a big part of what kept them alive, and researchers at the South Pole seem to think they're amazing.

They also got themselves a slot in the history books by owning the first satellite to collide with another one - a dead Russian bird whose position wasn't well known.

I've had great customer service from Verizon. The only decent service I had from my previous carrier, Alltel, was well before they were bought out...and I had sent certified, signature-required letters of complaint to their CEO, CFO, and COO. Ended up getting the regional manager in some hot water. That's what happens when you hire incompetent morons and outsource your operations to third party vendors.

T-Mobile, when I had them, had horrible coverage but ridiculously friendly customer service.

I'm with a regional (mainly WI) provider that uses CDMA. Dropped call? What's that? Not once in 18 months.

I think ATT will go to lengths to keep the iPone out of Verizon's hands for as long as possible, because ATT would lose a ton of business if Verizon ever got it.