Dobson/AT&T Tower Integration

[svanwormer]

Originally Posted by cellular_freak

Tuscola. So, the little hamlet by Vassar and Frankenmuth.

I do know what you're talking about with the tower problems. So many people are complaining about that. When you go towards Reese, there is a Dobson tower but an AT&T phone will bypass it and head right for the tower on the other side of Reese and only get 1-2 bars until you finally reach it. They really need to get on a ball and convert these towers around here to AT&T towers because I don't think they realize what's going on. Also, they need to upgrade their towers to Fine EDGE speeds too so people can start getting the iPhone. One last criticism I have is that there's not enough towers here in the Thumb. Especially around Caro. Sure downtown Caro and the direct vicinity is okay, but once you head towards Watrousville or Deford or any place else that gets away from their towers, the service really stinks.

Yeah, I have had some dropped calls when I come out of Caro on M-81 once I get past the "big hill". I think that because I am at a slightly higher elevation and can see forever, I actually pick up an ATT tower from Saginaw county. That might be part of the problem for me. I have a buddy that used to live in Watrousville that had Verizon and he had really crappy service, but found out he was mostly locked onto the Verizon tower from Saginaw county. Once we figured out how to change the SID and lock onto Thumb Cellular, it was all good. Either way, Cellular One is kinda dead in that area. Know anyone with the last name of Nichols?

[cellular_freak]

Originally Posted by svanwormer

Yeah, I have had some dropped calls when I come out of Caro on M-81 once I get past the "big hill". I think that because I am at a slightly higher elevation and can see forever, I actually pick up an ATT tower from Saginaw county. That might be part of the problem for me. I have a buddy that used to live in Watrousville that had Verizon and he had really crappy service, but found out he was mostly locked onto the Verizon tower from Saginaw county. Once we figured out how to change the SID and lock onto Thumb Cellular, it was all good. Either way, Cellular One is kinda dead in that area. Know anyone with the last name of Nichols?

Yeah, I know what you're talking about. But, the thing is, there's a lot of hills going towards Watrousville and with no towers being in that area, the service is really bad. And I do have Verizon, so I know what you're friend is talking about. There is actually a Thumb Cellular tower in Watrousville, so if you're lucky you can get full service of Extended Network through that area on Verizon. My idea is for AT&T to now add a panel to that T.C. tower in Watrousville to add service through that part of Tuscola County. BTW, that last name does ring a bell somewhere in my head, but I can't quite think of a name.

[cellular_freak]

Originally Posted by EricN4707

i think you need to be a little understanding of the amount of work that it takes to do something like that.

im not sure what line of work you are in, but not everything in life is on demand.

sorry if im a bit brash, but i feel that you are a little unsympathetic to the whole transition including the men that are on the front lines trying to get it done, who may be members on this site or potential browsers.

im sure that it will get done as soon as they possibly can, and there will be growing pains, but there has to be a level of exceptance from the people as well.

Just FYI.

Well I do understand that it may take some time. But I just figured that it's going on about four months now since the acquisition and Dobson isn't exactly the largest company in the country. It just seemed like when Cingular bought AT&T Wireless that the transition started pretty quickly. AT&T hasn't even started to do anything yet at least in my part of Michigan. It also just seems like a lot of cell phone companies are neglecting Michigan lately to be frank. If you look at a lot of their websites and where they're adding towers, Michigan is hardly getting any from anyone. I wonder why?

[Eric47]

try living in a rural area in GA or AL or MS. then youll know what neglect is


no seriously though i understand how it can be frustrating, where i live coverage is below par in many residential areas, mainly due to constraints of local government and building approval.

but with the transition im not familiar with any particulars, i just know that it always takes time, espically when you have the same towers in the same town, they are having to switch over all the equipment and the whole nine yards. think about just one city, even a small one, you are talking about 50-100 towers. thats what we have in my area and like i said, it could use more. so transitioning is going to be a time table issue.

not to mention Dobson was very regional and spread all over, the main thing that your going to see is where the highest revenue places for Dobson will be converted first, and everything else last.

this may be the reason that in your area it may take longer. this is a guess though

[RadioFoneGuy]

There are new SIM flashes for those border areas that will help.

The stock SIM flash looks for 410 every 9 mins and will lock in to 410 until completely gone, plus if not on Dobson towers the phone will scan every 9 mins and shortens battery life.

The newer ones SIM flashes have fixed some of the bugs.

Upgrades are already in progress, but it takes time.

[n9upc]

In WI, more of western WI, Cell One is still being broadcasted on the tower ID's. I heard that the Cell One towers are going to be the last of the whole tower swtich over due to T-Mobile and agreements between Cell One DCS and T-Mobile.

(Over hear T-Mobile will NOT roam on to AT&T. However, if you select Cell One manually, start a call and head towards the cities Cell One DCS will had it off to AT&T no prob. However, try to manually select AT&T and you get "Emergency Calls Only!")

I know my T-Mobile BB Pearl (one of the first ones) will allow you to manual force. However due to SIM encoding and such my battery runs down like you would not even imagine in manual mode.

I wonder if they do switch the name if it will causing roaming issues or not. RIP Cell One, and soon for me: burn and die T-Mobile!

[cellular_freak]

Anymore news on this from anybody that works in this field? I know it's been a couple of months, so I'm just curious to know if anybody knows anything about the integration between the two networks.

[svanwormer]

Originally Posted by cellular_freak

Anymore news on this from anybody that works in this field? I know it's been a couple of months, so I'm just curious to know if anybody knows anything about the integration between the two networks.

AFAIK, the Thumb towers (at least the one I pick up at my house) have not been converted to 310-410 yet. I have not verified it with my manual selecting V400 w/in the past couple of weeks, but just knowing the difference between having 1-2 bars most of the time and 3-5 bars if I can loose the 1-2 bar tower, I can tell pretty well. I just hope there is no programming in the SIM to prefer 1900 over 850 or I will prolly be in the same boat. The Tri-cities area that was formerly ATT Wireless is 1900 and the thumb Cellular One towers are 850.

[cellular_freak]

Yeah, I've been checking an unlocked Cellular One phone almost every day, LOL. I just really want this to happen quickly, as June approaches because that's when I'm hoping the 3G iPhone is released and I'll be switching to AT&T.

But, I know what you mean about the SIM preference. I couldn't imagine that it would prefer 1900 over 850. I would think that it would just prefer the stronger signal if it's the same MNC.

[svanwormer]

Yeah, hopefully soon, but I am not holding my breath. I know how long it took them to convert all the Tri-city towers from 310-380 to 310-410. 3G iPhone will be awesome.

[clock3687]

It's still two seperate networks in upstate NY as well. Picked up the Cingular MNC in addition to CellOne DCS.

[Alienware_51]

It's still registered as "cell one" in my area. RadioFoneGuy, do you know if they are converting to 410 yet around Michigan?

[RadioFoneGuy]

They already started changing the Alpha Tag. Dont know on the MNC change yet.

[RadioFoneGuy]

Should be this summer some time