Sprint PCS - The solution for the bad CS experiences

Author

The solution for the bad CS experiences

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:58 pm

Well, I guess I've found the ultimate solution for bad Sprint CS.

My mother-in-law called us yesterday. Told us Wirefly/InPhonic was offering
a free Moto RAZR V3 with new T-Mobile activation and a one-year contract
(T-Mobile doesn't do two-year contracts). She switched yesterday. You pay
$200 for the phone up front, then InPhonic sends you $200 worth of Customer
Loyalty rebate forms after six continuous months of service. Net cost is
zero bucks, and you get a couple free accessories too.

Well, my wife typically talks 500-700 minutes on her 300-minute Free & Clear
plan. She can get away with that because only about 100-150 minutes per
month are peak. The rest are PCS to PCS, mostly on calls to her mom (with
some calls to me thrown in for good measure).

So, switching to T-Mobile made good sense for us, even considering that I am
going to be paying $150 to terminate my Sprint contract eleven months early.
It was either that, or stop calling Mom... :) (And, unlike many people, I
happen to love my mother-in-law and enjoy talking to her.)

We opted for the no-upfront-cost Motorola V188. Two of them, actually. After
the first six months, each phone gets a $50 customer loyalty mail-in
rebate... yes, that means we make a $50 profit on each phone, InPhonic kicks
XXX... and we'll also be getting two free car chargers and two free MP3
players (we're planning on selling them off to cover most of the cost of the
Sprint ETF).

The V188 is an entry-level phone but has a good feature set and is a GSM
quad-band "world" phone, meaning it operates on 800/1900 MHz GSM here in the
US and also on 900 and 1800 MHz for use in Europe and Asia. Oh yeah, and
this is the first phone I've ever owned that SHIPS WITH a data cable! Cool!
(The RAZR does also, and has Bluetooth too, but I can't afford a RAZR.)

On the calling plan side... 1000 shared nationwide minutes, $69.99, no
domestic long distance charges, no roaming charges anywhere in the US (like
F&CA). Unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to other T-Mobile customers is
included on shared-minute plans at no charge.

For her 300-minute plan and my separate 700-minute plan, we're paying
roughly $100 per month to Sprint, so we come out ahead on the monthly
airtime bill.

I'm a little ambivalent, as I'd found my dream phone (a VGA-1000) and I
think Sprint's network rocks here in the Victor Valley. But on the other
hand, Customer Service... well, you know. :(

My father-in-law, a private pilot who flies his clients worldwide and relies
heavily on his T-Mobile phone, has nothing but good things to say about
their customer service, so I'm hopeful that my experiences with that company
will be positive.

I swore off Motorola phones after using my GTE Mobilnet StarTAC 7760 several
years ago - great RF performance, but crappy fit and finish, hardly worthy
of a phone as expensive as the StarTAC - but I'm hoping that the V188
changes my mind about Moto handsets.

We signed up through InPhonic last night. Our phone numbers have already
been ported and are ringing through to our T-Mobile voicemail boxes. We'll
receive the phones Thursday afternoon.

I'll definitely stick around and continue to harrass y'all here in the
newsgroup, though. :)

**SJ "still a little bummed that I don't have the money for a RAZR" S

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Mij Adyaw

2005-07-24, 1:58 pm

Unfortunately T-Mobile's network does not provide near the level of coverage
as SprintPCS. Best of luck, I hope that the coverage works ok for you.

-mij

"Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
news:dbkgd4$opm$1@ra
tbert.glorb.com...
> Well, I guess I've found the ultimate solution for bad Sprint CS.
>
> My mother-in-law called us yesterday. Told us Wirefly/InPhonic was
> offering a free Moto RAZR V3 with new T-Mobile activation and a one-year
> contract (T-Mobile doesn't do two-year contracts). She switched yesterday.
> You pay $200 for the phone up front, then InPhonic sends you $200 worth of
> Customer Loyalty rebate forms after six continuous months of service. Net
> cost is zero bucks, and you get a couple free accessories too.
>
> Well, my wife typically talks 500-700 minutes on her 300-minute Free &
> Clear plan. She can get away with that because only about 100-150 minutes
> per month are peak. The rest are PCS to PCS, mostly on calls to her mom
> (with some calls to me thrown in for good measure).
>
> So, switching to T-Mobile made good sense for us, even considering that I
> am going to be paying $150 to terminate my Sprint contract eleven months
> early. It was either that, or stop calling Mom... :) (And, unlike many
> people, I happen to love my mother-in-law and enjoy talking to her.)
>
> We opted for the no-upfront-cost Motorola V188. Two of them, actually.
> After the first six months, each phone gets a $50 customer loyalty mail-in
> rebate... yes, that means we make a $50 profit on each phone, InPhonic
> kicks XXX... and we'll also be getting two free car chargers and two free
> MP3 players (we're planning on selling them off to cover most of the cost
> of the Sprint ETF).
>
> The V188 is an entry-level phone but has a good feature set and is a GSM
> quad-band "world" phone, meaning it operates on 800/1900 MHz GSM here in
> the US and also on 900 and 1800 MHz for use in Europe and Asia. Oh yeah,
> and this is the first phone I've ever owned that SHIPS WITH a data cable!
> Cool! (The RAZR does also, and has Bluetooth too, but I can't afford a
> RAZR.)
>
> On the calling plan side... 1000 shared nationwide minutes, $69.99, no
> domestic long distance charges, no roaming charges anywhere in the US
> (like F&CA). Unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to other T-Mobile
> customers is included on shared-minute plans at no charge.
>
> For her 300-minute plan and my separate 700-minute plan, we're paying
> roughly $100 per month to Sprint, so we come out ahead on the monthly
> airtime bill.
>
> I'm a little ambivalent, as I'd found my dream phone (a VGA-1000) and I
> think Sprint's network rocks here in the Victor Valley. But on the other
> hand, Customer Service... well, you know. :(
>
> My father-in-law, a private pilot who flies his clients worldwide and
> relies heavily on his T-Mobile phone, has nothing but good things to say
> about their customer service, so I'm hopeful that my experiences with that
> company will be positive.
>
> I swore off Motorola phones after using my GTE Mobilnet StarTAC 7760
> several years ago - great RF performance, but crappy fit and finish,
> hardly worthy of a phone as expensive as the StarTAC - but I'm hoping that
> the V188 changes my mind about Moto handsets.
>
> We signed up through InPhonic last night. Our phone numbers have already
> been ported and are ringing through to our T-Mobile voicemail boxes. We'll
> receive the phones Thursday afternoon.
>
> I'll definitely stick around and continue to harrass y'all here in the
> newsgroup, though. :)
>
> **SJ "still a little bummed that I don't have the money for a RAZR" S
>
> --
> Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
> Company website: http://JustThe.net/
> Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
> E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:58 pm

Mij Adyaw wrote:
> Unfortunately T-Mobile's network does not provide near the level of coverage
> as SprintPCS. Best of luck, I hope that the coverage works ok for you.

Y'know, people said EXACTLY the same thing to me about Sprint PCS,
especially considering that I switched from Verizon, the carrier claiming to
have the most comprehensive coverage.

I think T-Mobile is in the same situation as Sprint, where they used to have
very little native coverage but have made great strides to enhance their
native network in the past few years. VoiceStream was supposed to have
launched their Cleveland network a year or so before they actually did, for
example... and they didn't end up launching until '01 or '02 and by that
time were already rebranded as T-Mobile. But their coverage was astounding.
They had coverage in a rural area 40 miles east of Cleveland, where my
parents live, fifteen miles from any semblance of civilization, for
example... *when they launched.* Not six months or a year later.

Plus, I can roam on other GSM carriers here in the US and not pay roaming
charges. Dobson CellularONE is GSM, Cingular is GSM, Western Wireless
CellularONE is CDMA but has GSM coverage for roamers...

According to my father-in-law, between the roaming coverage and T-Mobile's
decent native coverage, he hasn't been anywhere yet that he couldn't acquire
a GSM signal. So I'm not too worried about coverage.

The only thing Sprint has that T-Mobile doesn't is high-speed data. T-Mobile
doesn't even have EDGE yet; just GPRS. I'll live with GPRS for now. I don't
plan on using their data services for a while, anyhow.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Bob Smith

2005-07-24, 1:58 pm

"Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
news:dbkjmi$p84$2@ra
tbert.glorb.com...
> Mij Adyaw wrote:
coverage[color=darkr
ed]
>
> Y'know, people said EXACTLY the same thing to me about Sprint PCS,
> especially considering that I switched from Verizon, the carrier claiming
to
> have the most comprehensive coverage.
>
> I think T-Mobile is in the same situation as Sprint, where they used to
have
> very little native coverage but have made great strides to enhance their
> native network in the past few years. VoiceStream was supposed to have
> launched their Cleveland network a year or so before they actually did,
for
> example... and they didn't end up launching until '01 or '02 and by that
> time were already rebranded as T-Mobile. But their coverage was
astounding.
> They had coverage in a rural area 40 miles east of Cleveland, where my
> parents live, fifteen miles from any semblance of civilization, for
> example... *when they launched.* Not six months or a year later.
>
> Plus, I can roam on other GSM carriers here in the US and not pay roaming
> charges. Dobson CellularONE is GSM, Cingular is GSM, Western Wireless
> CellularONE is CDMA but has GSM coverage for roamers...
>

Good luck with the new service Steve. Even through you may have good roaming
coverage, I suggest you use the hell out of the phone in your local haunts
during the trial period, just to make sure you have sufficient coverage for
your needs, and for you and your wife to speak with your MIL. Let us know
how it works out for you.

Bob

daniel cairns

2005-07-24, 1:58 pm

Inasmuch as TM's rates are hard to beat, there are just too many "dead
spots' in their coverage. For example, I recently moved to a new job in the
heart of Dearborn Michigan where one would think coverage would not be a
problem and I had no service in the building, I even tried three different
phones. So I switched to Sprint which has higher rates and way more
expehsive phones just so I could have a working cell phone at work.
Daniel Cairns

"Bob Smith" < usirsclt_No_Spam_@ea
rthlink.net> wrote in message
news:SvrDe.1831$6f.1818@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
>
> "Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
> news:dbkjmi$p84$2@ra
tbert.glorb.com...
> coverage
> to
> have
> for
> astounding.
>
> Good luck with the new service Steve. Even through you may have good
> roaming
> coverage, I suggest you use the hell out of the phone in your local haunts
> during the trial period, just to make sure you have sufficient coverage
> for
> your needs, and for you and your wife to speak with your MIL. Let us know
> how it works out for you.
>
> Bob
>
>

2005-07-24, 1:58 pm

"Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
news:dbkjmi$p84$2@ra
tbert.glorb.com...
> Y'know, people said EXACTLY the same thing to me about Sprint PCS,
> especially considering that I switched from Verizon, the carrier claiming
> to have the most comprehensive coverage.
>
> I think T-Mobile is in the same situation as Sprint, where they used to
> have very little native coverage but have made great strides to enhance
> their native network in the past few years. VoiceStream was supposed to
> have launched their Cleveland network a year or so before they actually
> did, for example... and they didn't end up launching until '01 or '02 and
> by that time were already rebranded as T-Mobile. But their coverage was
> astounding. They had coverage in a rural area 40 miles east of Cleveland,
> where my parents live, fifteen miles from any semblance of civilization,
> for example... *when they launched.* Not six months or a year later.
>
> Plus, I can roam on other GSM carriers here in the US and not pay roaming
> charges. Dobson CellularONE is GSM, Cingular is GSM, Western Wireless
> CellularONE is CDMA but has GSM coverage for roamers...
>

I hope you check the heck out of the coverage... where there is coverage is
very good. But it drops off quickly. But they do have a good coverage map
system on-line better than any other carrier.

But Sprint and T-Mobile have no coverage in my county. Sprint occasionally
gets a signal. Nextel, Verizon, and Cingular all have fair to good coverage.

John Richards

2005-07-24, 1:58 pm

Steve Sobol wrote:
>
> According to my father-in-law, between the roaming coverage and T-Mobile's
> decent native coverage, he hasn't been anywhere yet that he couldn't acquire
> a GSM signal. So I'm not too worried about coverage.

You'll have good coverage where there are GSM towers. But, if I'm not
mistaken, GSM has no fallback to AMPS. So, if you're stuck out in the
boonies, good luck.

--
John Richards

Mij Adyaw

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Where do you live? I find it interesting that Sprint does not have coverage
in areas where Nextel has coverage. I thought that Nextel only works in
metropolitan areas because their service is aimed at the business user that
uses cellular but also needs the walkie talkie service. Now I am really
confused.

"AL" <al145@.x..com> wrote in message news:dbljf211k9j@new
s4.newsguy.com...
>
> "Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
> news:dbkjmi$p84$2@ra
tbert.glorb.com...
>
> I hope you check the heck out of the coverage... where there is coverage
> is very good. But it drops off quickly. But they do have a good coverage
> map system on-line better than any other carrier.
>
> But Sprint and T-Mobile have no coverage in my county. Sprint occasionally
> gets a signal. Nextel, Verizon, and Cingular all have fair to good
> coverage.
>

Mij Adyaw

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

You had better know how to send Morse Code with a bright spotlight.

"John Richards" <jr70@blackhole.invalid> wrote in message
news:iItDe.4356$IG2.4075@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com...
> Steve Sobol wrote:
>
>
> You'll have good coverage where there are GSM towers. But, if I'm not
> mistaken, GSM has no fallback to AMPS. So, if you're stuck out in the
> boonies, good luck.
>
> --
> John Richards
>
>
>

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

"Mij Adyaw" <mijadyaw@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:fPvDe.349$bp.33@fed1read03...
> Where do you live? I find it interesting that Sprint does not have
> coverage in areas where Nextel has coverage. I thought that Nextel only
> works in metropolitan areas because their service is aimed at the business
> user that uses cellular but also needs the walkie talkie service. Now I am
> really confused.

I live in Southern Indiana, Sprint covers I-65 as does T-Mobile. But one
mile out and T-Mobile is no more. Sprint gets spotty, but could provide
service. Five miles out and Sprint is no more.
Nextel has excellent coverage 25 miles from the interstate. But I would
still goes with VZW or Cingular for service as they have the greatest
coverage area. But Nextel runs a close third.

AL

Isaiah Beard

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Steve Sobol wrote:

mpany will be positive.
>
> I swore off Motorola phones after using my GTE Mobilnet StarTAC 7760
> several years ago - great RF performance, but crappy fit and finish,
> hardly worthy of a phone as expensive as the StarTAC - but I'm hoping
> that the V188 changes my mind about Moto handsets.
>
> We signed up through InPhonic last night. Our phone numbers have already
> been ported and are ringing through to our T-Mobile voicemail boxes.
> We'll receive the phones Thursday afternoon.
>
> I'll definitely stick around and continue to harrass y'all here in the
> newsgroup, though. :)

Good to hear Steve. Hope things go well.

FWIW, I too have ported out of Sprint, alas. I got my Motorola RAZR
from Amazon (free after rebate) and ported my number to Cingular.

It's a shame, I've been with Sprint since 1998. And while I didn't have
too much of a problem with CS, is was poor coverage choices which forced
me to leave. I recently moved into a development that's just a quarter
of a mile from a major highway, and maybe an eighth of a mile from a
water tower that houses cellular gear from all of the major cell
carriers: Verizon, Cingular, T Mobile, Nextel. But, not Sprint.

For whatever reason, it appears that Sprint decided that the water tower
itself wasn't an acceptable site, and instead opted to build a 100 foot
mast just next to the tower. The problem: the mast is shorter than the
water tower. While the tower faces the road and offers superb coverage
along US Highway 1 in Central New Jersey, the sector that faces the new
housing tracts is completely blocked.

When I moved in last fall, it wasn't so much of an issue. I'd get about
1 bar of signal in my house, steadily. I'd hear some occasional
artifacts in the audio from the not-so-strong signal, but it wasn't so
bad through the fall and winter and spring.

Well, now it's summer. And now that the foliage in my area is in full
growth (the development is in a dense forest with about 40% of the trees
being deciduous) Sprint has NO signal in my house or the surrounding
area, at all. Of course, the moment I drive out onto the highway and
the Sprint tower is out of the water tower's shadow, I have a full five
bars again.

My neighbors however, were on Cingular, and they continue to get a great
signal indoors and out. So considering that I has "cut the cord" long
ago, and simply could not go 4 months of every year without cell
coverage in my house, I had to jump ship.

I'm still not a fan of GSM, I'm afraid. Today's crop of GSM phones
REALLY put out tons of RFI that affects speakers and electronic gear,
more than I remember the last time I used a GSM handset. But still, I
needed service, and being used to some sort of plan adapation with
Sprint's Fair & Flexible, Rollover was the next best thing. I'm hoping
though, that UMTS will be a friendlier technology in terms of RFI.

Anyway, that's my story. It's a shame that I had to leave, but if the
phone doesn't work where I need it, then there's not much else to do.

--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Isaiah Beard

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Mij Adyaw wrote:
> Unfortunately T-Mobile's network does not provide near the level of coverage
> as SprintPCS. Best of luck, I hope that the coverage works ok for you.
>
> -mij

Doesn't T Mobile have a roaming agreement with Cingular and other
smaller GSM partners? I know that as a newly-minted Cingular customer,
I can roam without a care on T Mobile (not that I have yet) and not have
to worry about roaming charges. I would think that T Mobile would ask
the same transparency of Cingular to make the deal work for them too.

--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Isaiah Beard

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Steve Sobol wrote:
> Mij Adyaw wrote:
>
>
>
> Y'know, people said EXACTLY the same thing to me about Sprint PCS,
> especially considering that I switched from Verizon, the carrier
> claiming to have the most comprehensive coverage.

Considering that the GSM roaming agreemetns among US carriers appear to
be quite friendly and amicable, I wouldn't worry so much about coverage.

What I would be MORE concerned about is T Mobile's future. There have
been rumours about Deutsche Telecom wanting to sell the US operations,
and there not being any buyers lined up.

[url]http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml? articleID=165600579[
/url]

There's also the fact that T-Mo has kind of painted itself into a
corner, and hasn't planned for network upgrades. While every other GSM
carriers is looking to UMTS, T Mobile USA hasn't even rolled out EDGE
yet. Estimates are that they've waited to long, and it's gonna cost
upwards of $10 billion that the parent company doesn't readily have.

This is why when I jumped ship, I decided to opt for Cingular.

--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Isaiah Beard

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Mij Adyaw wrote:
> Where do you live? I find it interesting that Sprint does not have coverage
> in areas where Nextel has coverage.

Actually, it's very common. This past summer I've visited many places,
often in the south and Western states, where there is no Sprint signal
(I ended up romaing on carriers liek Alltel) while people on Nextel are
going strong.

Of course, the drawback to Nextel is that you essentially can't roam.
Nextel is pretty much the only game in town for iDEN, and if they don't
have a signal, well, that's it.

> I thought that Nextel only works in
> metropolitan areas because their service is aimed at the business user that
> uses cellular but also needs the walkie talkie service. Now I am really
> confused.

No need to be confused. While it's true that most of Nextel's coverage
is in major metro areas, there are still quite a few outlying areas
where Nextel has coverage. Basically, Nextel expanded their network by
buying out Specialized Mobile Radio carriers across the US (SMR is the
type of service where people rent old fashioned walkie talkies). Nextel
started out as a walkie-talkie firm, then went digital and integrated
cell phone service, and basically bought everyone in existence out, and
replaced the old gear with theirs.

So, this is why you'll sometimes end up in timbuktu with a strong Nextel
signal. Such remote places are very few and far between though.

--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Isaiah Beard

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

John Richards wrote:
> Steve Sobol wrote:
>
[color=darkred]
> You'll have good coverage where there are GSM towers. But, if I'm not
> mistaken, GSM has no fallback to AMPS. So, if you're stuck out in the
> boonies, good luck.

Fortunately, if you look at a map, nationwide GSM coverage has gotten to
a point where it rivals the current AMPS/CDMA footprint. In most places
where AMPS cellular service existed, there was one side (often the
A-side) that converted to TDMA, while the other side (often B-side, and
often now either Alltel or Verizon) went with CDMA.

Now, nearly all of the TDMA carriers have converted over to GSM,
equalizing the footprints.

--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Bob Smith wrote:

> Good luck with the new service Steve. Even through you may have good roaming
> coverage, I suggest you use the hell out of the phone in your local haunts
> during the trial period, just to make sure you have sufficient coverage for
> your needs, and for you and your wife to speak with your MIL. Let us know
> how it works out for you.

Well, we know T-Mobile, unlike Verizon, like Sprint, will work here at the
house. My father-in-law's phone works fine here, and at his house only about
a half-mile away.

Really, the only thing I'm worried about coverage-wise is roaming, and even
there we should be fine. As I mentioned to Mij, I use T-Mobile's launch of
GSM in my hometown a few years ago as an example... where at launch time,
they had coverage where some other carriers didn't even though they'd been
in Cleveland for years.

I've been told over in a.c.gsm.carriers.voicestream that T-Mobile roams on
Cingular and some smaller carriers like Suncom and Dobson, so there should
be very few places where I actually can't get a signal.

Still, there are some things I'm really, really going to miss about Sprint.
Some are big, some are little (like when you leave a numeric page from a
phone that doesn't have Caller ID blocked :> That's a pretty convenient feature)

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

AL wrote:

>
> I live in Southern Indiana, Sprint covers I-65 as does T-Mobile. But one
> mile out and T-Mobile is no more. Sprint gets spotty, but could provide
> service. Five miles out and Sprint is no more.
> Nextel has excellent coverage 25 miles from the interstate. But I would
> still goes with VZW or Cingular for service as they have the greatest
> coverage area. But Nextel runs a close third.

My father, a longtime Nextel customer, uses his phone for his business but
also when he roadtrips to dog shows with my mother. (They breed and show
Chinese Shar-Pei.)

Nextel has surprised me by having coverage in *some* small rural towns, off
the beaten path, where I'd expect a Nextel handset to be a paperweight.

VZW and Cingular don't surprise me. VZW in Indiana used to be GTE, Cingular
used to be Ameritech Cellular. They're incumbents, so I'd expect them to
have a pretty huge coverage area.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

John Richards wrote:
> Steve Sobol wrote:
>
>
>
>
> You'll have good coverage where there are GSM towers. But, if I'm not
> mistaken, GSM has no fallback to AMPS. So, if you're stuck out in the
> boonies, good luck.

No, you're not mistaken. The new Motorola V188 phones we'll be receiving are
quad-band, 800/1900 GSM for the US and 900/1800 for Europe and Asia. But no
analog.

Not a big deal for my wife, who's used a 1900MHz-CDMA-only Hitachi P300 on
Sprint for the past year or two. A bit of a change for me, though, since I
always made a point of buying tri-mode phones when subscribing to CDMA
carriers' services.

Of course, I have been a couple places up north of here, between Victorville
and Barstow, where I haven't gotten a signal because it's outside Sprint
coverage and my phone's usually set to Sprint Only... I think I'll be OK :)

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Isaiah Beard wrote:

>
>
> Doesn't T Mobile have a roaming agreement with Cingular and other
> smaller GSM partners?

Yes, and you get free roaming on all T-Mobile nationwide plans.

And... I just asked in the TM newsgroup... there is no restriction on what
percentage of usage must be on-network.

> I can roam without a care on T Mobile (not that I have yet) and not have
> to worry about roaming charges. I would think that T Mobile would ask
> the same transparency of Cingular to make the deal work for them too.

I do understand that to be the case.

There is one thing... In Ohio we used to like to pay our bill at the Sprint
store fifteen minutes from our house. Then we moved here. The closest Sprint
store was 45 minutes away in Rancho Cucamonga.

Well, they have FINALLY opened up in Victorville after a year and a half of
delays... and guess what? Now I'm a T-Mobile customer, and T-Mobile doesn't
have any corporate-owned stores up here :D

Closest stores are in San Bernardino, Rialto and Rancho Cucamonga (Foothill
Boulevard, five minutes up the street from the Sprint store). All.. you
guessed it... about 45 minutes from my house :D

Fortunately, the T-Mobile dealer on Bear Valley Road across from the mall
has a payment center. (Ironically, they're right across the street from the
new Sprint store!)

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Isaiah Beard wrote:

> What I would be MORE concerned about is T Mobile's future. There have
> been rumours about Deutsche Telecom wanting to sell the US operations,
> and there not being any buyers lined up.

Yeah, I've heard that rumor. I don't know that I'm overly concerned about it.

> There's also the fact that T-Mo has kind of painted itself into a
> corner, and hasn't planned for network upgrades. While every other GSM
> carriers is looking to UMTS, T Mobile USA hasn't even rolled out EDGE
> yet. Estimates are that they've waited to long, and it's gonna cost
> upwards of $10 billion that the parent company doesn't readily have.

Yes, I noticed that they only have GPRS data. I am somewhat worried about
that...

> This is why when I jumped ship, I decided to opt for Cingular.

Cingular wouldn't have solved the problem we'd have had. My wife's Free and
Clear plan only had 300 minutes but she used 400-500 minutes per month on
average, talking to her mom and I, PCS to PCS. And Mom's on T-Mobile now.

Aside from that, SBC screwed me royally, or attempted to, when I lived in
Ohio and had DSL from them. I will not give them any more money for
anything, ever. And that includes Cingular wireless phones.

I wouldn't even use T-Mobile in California for the first two years that we
were here, because T-Mobile had the agreement with Cingular to use their
network in this area and I didn't even want Cingular to profit indirectly
from my cellular usage.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

C M

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Good luck with the new service. Do let us know in 6 months how the
rebate goes? I had wanted to try Wirefly/InPhonic but ended up just
re-signing with Sprint. Pleas let us know if the process of getting the
rebates went smoothly. Thanks.

Steve Sobol wrote:
> Well, I guess I've found the ultimate solution for bad Sprint CS.
>
> My mother-in-law called us yesterday. Told us Wirefly/InPhonic was
> offering a free Moto RAZR V3 with new T-Mobile activation and a one-year
> contract (T-Mobile doesn't do two-year contracts). She switched
> yesterday. You pay $200 for the phone up front, then InPhonic sends you
> $200 worth of Customer Loyalty rebate forms after six continuous months
> of service. Net cost is zero bucks, and you get a couple free
> accessories too.
>
> Well, my wife typically talks 500-700 minutes on her 300-minute Free &
> Clear plan. She can get away with that because only about 100-150
> minutes per month are peak. The rest are PCS to PCS, mostly on calls to
> her mom (with some calls to me thrown in for good measure).
>
> So, switching to T-Mobile made good sense for us, even considering that
> I am going to be paying $150 to terminate my Sprint contract eleven
> months early. It was either that, or stop calling Mom... :) (And, unlike
> many people, I happen to love my mother-in-law and enjoy talking to her.)
>
> We opted for the no-upfront-cost Motorola V188. Two of them, actually.
> After the first six months, each phone gets a $50 customer loyalty
> mail-in rebate... yes, that means we make a $50 profit on each phone,
> InPhonic kicks XXX... and we'll also be getting two free car chargers
> and two free MP3 players (we're planning on selling them off to cover
> most of the cost of the Sprint ETF).
>
> The V188 is an entry-level phone but has a good feature set and is a GSM
> quad-band "world" phone, meaning it operates on 800/1900 MHz GSM here in
> the US and also on 900 and 1800 MHz for use in Europe and Asia. Oh yeah,
> and this is the first phone I've ever owned that SHIPS WITH a data
> cable! Cool! (The RAZR does also, and has Bluetooth too, but I can't
> afford a RAZR.)
>
> On the calling plan side... 1000 shared nationwide minutes, $69.99, no
> domestic long distance charges, no roaming charges anywhere in the US
> (like F&CA). Unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to other T-Mobile
> customers is included on shared-minute plans at no charge.
>
> For her 300-minute plan and my separate 700-minute plan, we're paying
> roughly $100 per month to Sprint, so we come out ahead on the monthly
> airtime bill.
>
> I'm a little ambivalent, as I'd found my dream phone (a VGA-1000) and I
> think Sprint's network rocks here in the Victor Valley. But on the other
> hand, Customer Service... well, you know. :(
>
> My father-in-law, a private pilot who flies his clients worldwide and
> relies heavily on his T-Mobile phone, has nothing but good things to say
> about their customer service, so I'm hopeful that my experiences with
> that company will be positive.
>
> I swore off Motorola phones after using my GTE Mobilnet StarTAC 7760
> several years ago - great RF performance, but crappy fit and finish,
> hardly worthy of a phone as expensive as the StarTAC - but I'm hoping
> that the V188 changes my mind about Moto handsets.
>
> We signed up through InPhonic last night. Our phone numbers have already
> been ported and are ringing through to our T-Mobile voicemail boxes.
> We'll receive the phones Thursday afternoon.
>
> I'll definitely stick around and continue to harrass y'all here in the
> newsgroup, though. :)
>
> **SJ "still a little bummed that I don't have the money for a RAZR" S
>

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

C M wrote:
> Good luck with the new service. Do let us know in 6 months how the
> rebate goes? I had wanted to try Wirefly/InPhonic but ended up just
> re-signing with Sprint. Pleas let us know if the process of getting the
> rebates went smoothly. Thanks.

I will. InPhonic calls them Customer Loyalty rebates and you get them after
spending six months as a customer of your new carrier. We have two coming to
us; my mother-in-law has one. I'll keep you updated.

I don't know whether we get the free MP3 players now or whether we also have
to wait six months for them... I'm assuming the coupons for the MP3 players
will come in the boxes with the phones tomorrow.

So far, the InPhonic sales experience has been a good one for us. Credit
approval in about thirty minutes (amazing, considering that I expected
T-Mobile to require a deposit from us), porting complete on both lines
within 24 hours even though the website warns that it might take 5-7 days.
We didn't pay for express shipping, so we get our phones tomorrow. My MIL
did and will get her RAZR tonight. She's bringing it over to show it to us.
:) *drool*

(I might have to swap SIM cards when we get our phones tomorrow) ;)

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Jerome Zelinske

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Here I think cellular A uscellular went tdma then cdma. I think
cellular B cingular went tdma then cdma then tdma then gsm.

Isaiah Beard wrote:
> John Richards wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> Fortunately, if you look at a map, nationwide GSM coverage has gotten to
> a point where it rivals the current AMPS/CDMA footprint. In most places
> where AMPS cellular service existed, there was one side (often the
> A-side) that converted to TDMA, while the other side (often B-side, and
> often now either Alltel or Verizon) went with CDMA.
>
> Now, nearly all of the TDMA carriers have converted over to GSM,
> equalizing the footprints.
>

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Jerome Zelinske wrote:
> Here I think cellular A uscellular went tdma then cdma. I think
> cellular B cingular went tdma then cdma then tdma then gsm.

I do believe you're correct about US Cellular But... you're in the Greater
Chicago area, right? Southeast Wisconsin?

In the Chicago market, something weird happened between Ameritech and GTE
Mobilnet... don't remember the exact sequence of events, someone else here
probably will. That's why the path to Cingular involved GSM, TDMA *and* CDMA
and was rather convoluted :)

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Mij Adyaw

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

I thought that Ameritech in the Chicago market was bought by Verizon.

"Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
news:dbn435$7nh$3@ra
tbert.glorb.com...
> Jerome Zelinske wrote:
>
> I do believe you're correct about US Cellular But... you're in the Greater
> Chicago area, right? Southeast Wisconsin?
>
> In the Chicago market, something weird happened between Ameritech and GTE
> Mobilnet... don't remember the exact sequence of events, someone else here
> probably will. That's why the path to Cingular involved GSM, TDMA *and*
> CDMA and was rather convoluted :)
>
>
> --
> Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
> Company website: http://JustThe.net/
> Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
> E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Jerome Zelinske

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

SE Wisc. Ameritech Mobile (cellular B carrier) is now cingular.

Steve Sobol wrote:
> Jerome Zelinske wrote:
>
>
>
> I do believe you're correct about US Cellular But... you're in the
> Greater Chicago area, right? Southeast Wisconsin?
>
> In the Chicago market, something weird happened between Ameritech and
> GTE Mobilnet... don't remember the exact sequence of events, someone
> else here probably will. That's why the path to Cingular involved GSM,
> TDMA *and* CDMA and was rather convoluted :)
>
>

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Mij Adyaw wrote:
> I thought that Ameritech in the Chicago market was bought by Verizon.

Verizon Wireless was formed from GTE, Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch and
Primeco Cellular. Primeco and GTE Mobilnet were both in Chicago. One of them
became Verizon, the other didn't. I'm *pretty* sure the Primeco Chicago
market got sold, because isn't Verizon 800 MHz in Chicago? Primeco was 1900
everywhere.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Frank Harris

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

I think the US hwy 395 corridor on the eastern slope of the Sierras in
California is one of those places where Nextel has service and Sprint
doesn't (yet).

Good luck, Steve. It's been nice having you here in the a.c.s. ng.

Mij Adyaw wrote:
> Where do you live? I find it interesting that Sprint does not have coverage
> in areas where Nextel has coverage. I thought that Nextel only works in
> metropolitan areas because their service is aimed at the business user that
> uses cellular but also needs the walkie talkie service. Now I am really
> confused.
>
>
> "AL" <al145@.x..com> wrote in message news:dbljf211k9j@new
s4.newsguy.com...
>
>
>
>

--
Frank Harris in San Francisco with an A680

O/Siris

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

In article < dbkgd4$opm$1@ratbert
.glorb.com>, sjsobol@JustThe.net says...
> So, switching to T-Mobile made good sense for us, even considering that I=
am=20

> going to be paying $150 to terminate my Sprint contract eleven months ear=
ly.=20
> It was either that, or stop calling Mom... :) (And, unlike many people, I=
=20
> happen to love my mother-in-law and enjoy talking to her.)
>=20

Sorry to hear that Sprint is losing you, Steve. As you've reported,=20
it's really a great network, but that customer service...

Anyway, I hope it all turns out to meet your needs.

--=20
R=D8=DF
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+

Mij Adyaw

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

I would assume that if I travel on HWY 395 that I will be roaming on
Verizon's digital network. I live in Southern California and in the very
rare instance that I do not get a Sprint signal, my phone will roam on
Verizon's digital network.

-mij

"Frank Harris" < frankbhX@Xcompuserve
X.com> wrote in message
news:%9GDe.5291$_%4.2587@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
>I think the US hwy 395 corridor on the eastern slope of the Sierras in
>California is one of those places where Nextel has service and Sprint
>doesn't (yet).
>
> Good luck, Steve. It's been nice having you here in the a.c.s. ng.
>
> Mij Adyaw wrote:
>
> --
> Frank Harris in San Francisco with an A680

John Richards

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

AL wrote:
>
> I live in Southern Indiana, Sprint covers I-65 as does T-Mobile. But one
> mile out and T-Mobile is no more. Sprint gets spotty, but could provide
> service. Five miles out and Sprint is no more.

The difference is that (in an emergency) your Sprint phone can roam on AMPS,
even beyond that few miles digital range, while GSM users are SOL if they're
further out than a mile or two from the tower.
My original reason for getting my wife (and I) cell phones in the first place
was for safety in case one's car died out in the boonies.

--
John Richards

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Frank Harris wrote:

> Good luck, Steve. It's been nice having you here in the a.c.s. ng.

I'm not going anywhere. Y'all just won't be able to make PCS to PCS calls to
me. :)

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

O/Siris wrote:

> Sorry to hear that Sprint is losing you, Steve. As you've reported,
> it's really a great network, but that customer service...

I have to tell you...

Look up Waalew Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307. It's a back road that runs by
the Apple Valley Airport. I take Waalew frequently to get home from
Victorville and Adelanto.

Between Corwin and Central, T-Mobile doesn't have much coverage (it's good
after you pass Navajo Road, but between the hill on Corwin and Navajo, I
dropped a call two or three times today).

I wouldn't expect anyone to have solid coverage out there - it's hilly and
rural. T-Mobile's is ok. Verizon's was nonexistent. Sprint's, however, is
complete (except on the hill on Corwin, where I dropped calls with Sprint...
and I also dropped calls with Verizon there, and apparently I also drop
calls with T-Mobile there).

Amazingly, Sprint has a tower out here on the "back forty" - right by the
Central/Waalew intersection. I'm going to miss that tower.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Steve Sobol

2005-07-24, 1:59 pm

Mij Adyaw wrote:
> I would assume that if I travel on HWY 395 that I will be roaming on
> Verizon's digital network. I live in Southern California and in the very
> rare instance that I do not get a Sprint signal, my phone will roam on
> Verizon's digital network.

Digital?

Last time I roamed in this area, I roamed analog. Not sure where I was
roaming, didn't want to pay for a call to find out. Was between Victorville
and Barstow on National Trails Highway (old US 66).

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

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