Cingular?

[Aperture]

I have Verizon now and have been more than satisfied with them. Great coverage and so on. (I live in PA btw) I really do not see a need to switch to Cingular other than the iPhone. My question for you long time Cingular guys is, are you satisified with them? Good customer service/coverage?

On top of that, I've only ever had Verizon, being CDMA, I know nothing about GSM carriers. Is there anything very different? I don't even know what a SIM card is.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any of your comments.

(Oh and I do realize there are a set of people with every carrier that will say they are the WORST)

 

[balamw]

Anyway, I'd appreciate any of your comments.

IMHO unless you travel a lot, don't listen to what anyone outside your usage area has to say. The cell phone providers are run as largely independent regions and what can be great service in one place, is just plain lousy in others.

That said, I've always been with Cingular and the service has been fine here in California.

EDIT: FWIW, think of a SIM card as a small capacity memory card that has your phone # and can also store your contacts. You can move the SIM card from phone to phone w/o telling the provider or activating the phone and it serves as your means of identification to the network.

B

 

[MacbookSwitcher]

Because of my job, I have cell phones on all three major carriers: Sprint, Cingular, and Verizon.

Cingular is the only one on which I do not get coverage in my apartment. Overall their coverage seems to be a bit more spotty as well. Because of that, I would never use Cingular.

Another major point is that Sprint's data plans are significantly cheaper than Cingular's. Verizon's are about comparable in price, but much better in service coverage. (Cingular's UMTS deployment is atrocious) I haven't tried EDGE, which is what the iPhone uses, but it's not as fast as EVDO.

The advantage of GSM is that if you travel internationally, you can just buy a prepaid SIM once you arrive and pop it into your phone, whereas with CDMA it's much more of a hassle. Also, Cingular has cooler phones than Sprint or Verizon.

 

[yg17]

I had Cingular. Worst company I've ever been with. Never had reliable coverage anywhere. When calls didn't drop, the sound quality was sh*t, and customer service was horrible as well. Avoid them like the plague. The iPhone isn't worth the 2 years you'll have to painfully endure with them.

 

[princealfie]

I hate Verizon very much because of the wiretapping issue. Honestly, I don't like their involvement with the NSA.

AT and T rules (Cingular's new name) honestly. Nary a problem and no NSA involvement as I know.

I value my privacy.

 

[mduser63]

I have Verizon. Worst company I've ever been with. Never had reliable coverage anywhere. When calls don't drop, the sound quality is sh*t, and customer service is horrible as well. Avoid them like the plague. Verizon's much-promoted "network" isn't worth the 2 years you'll have to painfully endure with them.

Note: I copied yg17's post to make the point that there are people with every carrier who hate them, but the feelings about Verizon expressed above are an accurate reflection of my own feelings. I like Microsoft much better than Verizon, and that's saying something.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Cingular is the only one on which I do not get coverage in my apartment. Overall their coverage seems to be a bit more spotty as well.

This holds true for me as well. I also found that between Verizon and Cingular I have more issues with Cingular with dropped calls, especially at 5:01 p.m. PST on Fridays.

 

[suneohair]

Another major point is that Sprint's data plans are significantly cheaper than Cingular's. Verizon's are about comparable in price, but much better in service coverage. (Cingular's UMTS deployment is atrocious) I haven't tried EDGE, which is what the iPhone uses, but it's not as fast as EVDO.

Hmm well of course it isn't EVDO is a generation ahead, wait til HSDPA hits the iPhone.


EVDO < HSDPA

 

[Fearless Leader]

I got screwed over by sprint moved to verizon got screwed again and wont ever go back. Also SIM cards and the GSM Netwrok is much better in my opinion cause of the move form phone to phone keep your number. (i kill alot of cellphones)

Cingular or AT&T mobility as it will be called works great in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Not so well in Nashville (as of a year ago not sure now) kindy of sketchy till Georgia and mostly good in Florida. And it either works great or not at all in California.

My experience anyways.

 

[MP4-22]

I have no problems with Cingular. It is probably the best provider in my area. Plus, almost all my friends and family have Cingular so I almost never use up any minutes.

Also, like balamw said it probably won't help asking people on a forum, you see how happy people in your area are.

 

[Shanesan]

I have Cingular. I use it in CT and in Maine when I go to University. In Connecticut reception was about 1 bar with no drops until they put a tower on the top of the local water tower. Now it's 5 bars all the time and never a dropped call. Sound quality is decent.

Threre's that rare occourance of an issue in service for recieving calls and stuff, but that was a long time ago and doesn't happen anymore.

As for Maine, there is not much service up here (they rely on "partner" providers) so there' a lot of roaming that Cingular pays for, but they won't go into the red on your account just so you can have free roaming. Be careful about that.

Thats my analysis of Cingular.

 

[TEG]

I have used phones from all the nation-wide providers, and I have friends with each. In my experience, the quality of the calls seems to be best with Cingular. There always seems to be an inordinate amount of static and interference with Sprint/Nextel and Verizon. Cingular is also the only service I know of that I can use wherever I am. There are places where I don't get service, but that is true with all services. Alot of the differences between carriers are actually due to phones not services. I have found that GSM carriers have higher quality phones, because the manufactures have to ensure that the phone will work with various systems worldwide, whereas CDMA only has to deal with South Korea, Canada, and the US (currently).

TEG

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I live in Pa, in an area that's has "amazing coverage" according to Cingular. For years, I've had my phone and been superbly happy with it.

Once I dropped it one too many times, I finally saw what all of my Cingular friends with RAZR's complained about. Cingular is sh*t. Or, rather, the RAZR is utter crap, but since that's pretty much all I see anyone with anymore, it reflects poorly on Cingular. If you have a good enough phone (with a good enough antenna), Cingular is perfectly fine.

And since dropping my phone a few more times, I must've knocked something back in place because it's working again, and I'm happy I can keep my phone until the iPhone is released.

 

[princealfie]

I live in Pa, in an area that's has "amazing coverage" according to Cingular. For years, I've had my phone and been superbly happy with it.

Once I dropped it one too many times, I finally saw what all of my Cingular friends with RAZR's complained about. Cingular is sh*t. Or, rather, the RAZR is utter crap, but since that's pretty much all I see anyone with anymore, it reflects poorly on Cingular. If you have a good enough phone (with a good enough antenna), Cingular is perfectly fine.

And since dropping my phone a few more times, I must've knocked something back in place because it's working again, and I'm happy I can keep my phone until the iPhone is released.

No wonder you don't like Cingular, the RAZR gets poor reception!

 

[Squidly]

I have had Cingular for going on 4 years now. Decent service, bit better than Verizon, my previous carrier. Sound quality...average. Dropped calls...maybe 4-5 over that time frame. Not a big issue. Good website for managing your account. Data plan is pricey...and that's an understatement. Not a whole lot of great options there.

 

[Shanesan]

I live in Pa, in an area that's has "amazing coverage" according to Cingular. [...] The RAZR is utter crap [and] reflects poorly on Cingular. If you have a good enough phone (with a good enough antenna), Cingular is perfectly fine.

Fixed.

 

[AlexGFX88]

I'm in Tennessee, and I have cingular. Honestly, I've never had a problem with the service regardling phones. But customer service is the pits, to be blunt: They suck.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[CuteMacGirl]

Cingular

I have cingular and I have never had a problem with them, I've had to call customer service a few times (because I've broken my phone) and they have always been helpful. In my experience the sound quality with cingular depends on the phone you have, not the network.