My Cingular trial is not looking so hot

[Andy]

Well, as some of you have noticed, I now also have a Cingular RAZR. I got the phone to try out Cingular coverage first hand and to have free M2M minutes with a person I spend most of my time talking to who is locked into another 17 months of Cingular service.
Cingular service in Northern Utah is still bad- garbled/dropped/choppy calls are all too common even though, in some areas, Cingular has more cellsites than other carriers. Incoming calls often go straight to voicemail, outgoing calls sometimes get rejected by the network, and calls are just way too garbled and unreliable.
The only way this phone actually works great is when it roams on T-Mobile here. I honestly don't think it's worth it for me to pay for Cingular service every months so that both sides of our conversation are now garbled, and not only her side.
From what it looks now I am going to have to return my phone again and cancel the service within the 30 days and pay her ETF and have her join Verizon.
The thing that I just don't understand is how can Cingular voice quality be so bad if they have more cellsites than Verizon in some areas and Verizon has perfect voice quality?

Here's a thread I started a few months ago on Cingular in my area and it has just gotten a little better, but is still bad:
http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/we...d-up-here.html

Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on this?
Thanks!

[hillbilly44]

Andy;

Best guess is not enough radios in the cell sites plus not enough transport facilities. In other words their network needs to have capacity added to it which would fix alot of their problems. Also could be having some interference problems. Sounds like they have alot of work to do there because I don't think they have integrated that area yet.

[JR1]

Take it back and trade for another phone and see if it comes in better. Nokias seem to work well in areas where other phones don't come in.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by hillbilly44

Andy;

Best guess is not enough radios in the cell sites plus not enough transport facilities. In other words their network needs to have capacity added to it which would fix alot of their problems. Also could be having some interference problems. Sounds like they have alot of work to do there because I don't think they have integrated that area yet.

The thing is though- we are on the old AT&T network, there was no Cingular network, so what Integration would be needed?
Seems like capacity is not really the problem most of the time since those problems like calls rolling straight to voicemail happen even in the middle of the night. Also, people calling Cingular phones sometimes have to wait up to a minute to hear the first ring.
I guess maybe the network isn't set up correctly and cellsites are somehow interfering with each other.
The interesting thing, though, is that in areas that are not populated, like ski areas or areas out of town where there is not a lot of cellsites but also not a lot of users, calls are always clear and I don't have nearly as many problems. Strange, ha?

[Andy]

Originally Posted by JR1

Take it back and trade for another phone and see if it comes in better. Nokias seem to work well in areas where other phones don't come in.

JR, I wish it was the phone, but everyone with Cingular here is having the exact same problems, even those with Nokia phones, so I really don't have to bother.

[walkguru]

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Originally Posted by Andy84094

Well, as some of you have noticed, I now also have a Cingular RAZR. I got the phone to try out Cingular coverage first hand and to have free M2M minutes with a person I spend most of my time talking to who is locked into another 17 months of Cingular service.
Cingular service in Northern Utah is still bad- garbled/dropped/choppy calls are all too common even though, in some areas, Cingular has more cellsites than other carriers. Incoming calls often go straight to voicemail, outgoing calls sometimes get rejected by the network, and calls are just way too garbled and unreliable.
The only way this phone actually works great is when it roams on T-Mobile here. I honestly don't think it's worth it for me to pay for Cingular service every months so that both sides of our conversation are now garbled, and not only her side.
From what it looks now I am going to have to return my phone again and cancel the service within the 30 days and pay her ETF and have her join Verizon.
The thing that I just don't understand is how can Cingular voice quality be so bad if they have more cellsites than Verizon in some areas and Verizon has perfect voice quality?

Here's a thread I started a few months ago on Cingular in my area and it has just gotten a little better, but is still bad:
http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/we...d-up-here.html

Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on this?
Thanks!

I find it rather odd. I have had cingular for a really long time, with no prob.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by walkguru

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I find it rather odd. I have had cingular for a really long time, with no prob.

Have you visited Northern Utah with your Cingular phone recently?

[josephd]

I have to say I agree with Andy, it is Cingulars network. I have posted before about this so I don't want to sound like a broken record or also bashing Cingular but after all the leaves on the trees disappeared my service improved.Although last spring and summer my service was nothing but misery with the same problems Andy is experiencing .So IMO Cingulars network seems to have a problem handling the capacity, anyone who has Verizon or Sprint in my area have no problems year round.
Joe

[josephd]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

The thing is though- we are on the old AT&T network, there was no Cingular network, so what Integration would be needed?
Seems like capacity is not really the problem most of the time since those problems like calls rolling straight to voicemail happen even in the middle of the night. Also, people calling Cingular phones sometimes have to wait up to a minute to hear the first ring.
I guess maybe the network isn't set up correctly and cellsites are somehow interfering with each other.
The interesting thing, though, is that in areas that are not populated, like ski areas or areas out of town where there is not a lot of cellsites but also not a lot of users, calls are always clear and I don't have nearly as many problems. Strange, ha?

Not really Andy I said the same thing, I drive a truck and it seems the places I go to there are more Livestock than people and my service could not be better.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by josephd

I have to say I agree with Andy, it is Cingulars network. I have posted before about this so I don't want to sound like a broken record or also bashing Cingular but after all the leaves on the trees disappeared my service improved.Although last spring and summer my service was nothing but misery with the same problems Andy is experiencing .So IMO Cingulars network seems to have a problem handling the capacity, anyone who has Verizon or Sprint in my area have no problems year round.
Joe

Joseph, are you experiencing those problems here in UT or in other areas you travel to?
The thing that I don't understand is that there isn't all that many cingular customers, most people here have verizon, so, in an area that has 3 cingular cellsites, but only 1 verizon cellsite, how can Verizon call quality be great and Cingular's call quality be awful and calls will drop/garble/go straight to voicemail?
I'm not trying to bash Cingular- I gave them a fair shot and am listing my problems.

[josephd]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

Joseph, are you experiencing those problems here in UT or in other areas you travel to?
The thing that I don't understand is that there isn't all that many cingular customers, most people here have verizon, so, in an area that has 3 cingular cellsites, but only 1 verizon cellsite, how can Verizon call quality be great and Cingular's call quality be awful and calls will drop/garble/go straight to voicemail?
I'm not trying to bash Cingular- I gave them a fair shot and am listing my problems.

Sorry Andy, I did not mean to throw you off I am in the Northeast but I have experienced the same problems as you so I thought I would let you know you are not alone.
Joe

[Andy]

Originally Posted by josephd

Sorry Andy, I did not mean to throw you off I am in the Northeast but I have experienced the same problems as you so I thought I would let you know you are not alone.
Joe

Joe, no worries. You didn't throw me off at all. Where in the Northeast have you experienced these problems?

[josephd]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

Joe, no worries. You didn't throw me off at all. Where in the Northeast have you experienced these problems?

I am in Worcester,MA. Andy I migrated from blue back in Dec.2004. When I was blue my service with my 6200 was exceptable and I was a big promoter of that phone to me that had to be AT&T's best phone for RF. I always held a clear call and it was reliable even with 2 bars. When I migrated to Orange things were even better so I was happy... that was until Spring was in full bloom, 2 bars on my Orange phone meant find another place to make a call or lose it. I thought the degrade in service was due to network integration but nothing was being done around here yet. So now November of this year rolls around and miraculously my service is now even better than it was last year I get 3 and 4 bars in my house I never saw 4 bars in my house before and my calls are clear again and not dropping, that was when I put 2 and 2 together and figured it was the lack of foliage. If things change again in the spring... I will just pay the ETF again only this time I will continue to move forward.I hope things work out for you Andy.
Joe

[Andy]

Originally Posted by josephd

I am in Worcester,MA. Andy I migrated from blue back in Dec.2004. When I was blue my service with my 6200 was exceptable and I was a big promoter of that phone to me that had to be AT&T's best phone for RF. I always held a clear call and it was reliable even with 2 bars. When I migrated to Orange things were even better so I was happy... that was until Spring was in full bloom, 2 bars on my Orange phone meant find another place to make a call or lose it. I thought the degrade in service was due to network integration but nothing was being done around here yet. So now November of this year rolls around and miraculously my service is now even better than it was last year I get 3 and 4 bars in my house I never saw 4 bars in my house before and my calls are clear again and not dropping, that was when I put 2 and 2 together and figured it was the lack of foliage. If things change again in the spring... I will just pay the ETF again only this time I will continue to move forward.I hope things work out for you Andy.
Joe

That's too bad that tree foliage can make such a difference in service. My problem is not really signal strength/bars on the phone, but just voice quality, whether I have full service or one bar all sounds the same.

[viewfly]

Courageous to give it a try Andy, but too bad it didn't work out. I think the military base nearby is messing with the signal!

As you say, very strange that it works well in the ski areas, works well for me in CT, where the hills are all over, yet in Salt Lake your in a flat area with only a range of mountains on the edge of town, it sounds messed up. I took a look via google Earth, and the terrain looks so much easier than here.

Hey, write Stan the Man a letter.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by viewfly

Courageous to give it a try Andy, but too bad it didn't work out. I think the military base nearby is messing with the signal!

As you say, very strange that it works well in the ski areas, works well for me in CT, where the hills are all over, yet in Salt Lake your in a flat area with only a range of mountains on the edge of town, it sounds messed up. I took a look via google Earth, and the terrain looks so much easier than here.

Hey, write Stan the Man a letter.

Thanks, viewfly. M2M minutes would have been worth it for me to keep an active Cingular line so I did give it a try.
The Salt Lake Valley itself is pretty flat, even though the bench areas on each side of the mountains are not necessarily that flat. Cingular definitely has more than enough cellsites here so that's not the cause. Oh well I guess we'll just have to shell out the ETF to port my girl out of Cingular; I doubt much will change if I write Stan a letter.

[viewfly]

Originally Posted by josephd

I that was when I put 2 and 2 together and figured it was the lack of foliage. If things change again in the spring... I will just pay the ETF again only this time I will continue to move forward.I hope things work out for you Andy.
Joe

There will a small effect, but I doubt as much as you noticed. Let us know what happens in next year. Probably some other explanations are more probable. The effect you noticed is certainly true with GPS systems.

[josephd]

Originally Posted by viewfly

There will a small effect, but I doubt as much as you noticed. Let us know what happens in next year. Probably some other explanations are more probable. The effect you noticed is certainly true with GPS systems.

Thanks viewfly I certainly will come Spring time, I hope it continues to improve there is a lot about Cingular I like.

[walkguru]

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Originally Posted by Andy84094

Have you visited Northern Utah with your Cingular phone recently?

No i have not.