Verizon in downtown Milwaukee stinks!!

[AnthroMatt]

I just got back from a conference in Milwaukee...I don't know if Verizon just has poor coverage downtown where I was (near the Hilton) or if it is because they are PCS in that part of Wisconsin, but whenever I went into a building I was on the extended network (using USCC) and sometimes I was on USCC even outdoors. So is the poor coverage a product of the PCS? I had no problems with Sprint when I was in hotels in downtown New Orleans and downtown Chicago, so I am not sure if the 1900MHz is to blame.

[sillybilly]

I live near Madison, WI and when I'm inside at work (a huge warehouse) my USCC phone is usally roaming on Verizon!! But a lady I work with, has Verizon service and one day on break, we were standing 3 feet from each other; we both tried to make phone calls. When I made a call, my USCC phone was roaming on Verizon and Her Verizon phone was roaming on USCC!! What the @$#& is the deal with that? When we go out side, there is a good signal on both our phones but when we are inside, we start roaming on each others different service providers!! I have asked around at work and this seems to only happen with USCC and Verizon users, Sprint seems to work fine inside. I thought 800mhz "worked" better indoors than 1900mhz? And why would USCC and Verizon roam on each other when you are standing next to each other?!!

[AnthroMatt]

That is pretty funny.

I was in Madison too this weekend, and my phone worked fine indoors on Verizon...the only problem was in Milwaukee, where based upon my phone's test mode screen Verizon is PCS 1900MHz and USCC is 800MHz cellular. So I could understand my phone switching over to USCC indoors, but that doesn't explain the fact it would use USCC outdoors at least half the time nor the fact that my friends with Sprint, which also uses 1900mhz, had no problems. I think Verizon's coverage, at least in the western half of d-town Milwaukee, must be severely lacking.

Your situation is very bizarre...obviously the signals are strong enough, so you would think the phones would stay with their own carriers!

[sillybilly]

Hey AnthroMatt, I do believe USCC got ATT's PCS licence in Milwaukee with that deal they made a few months back but I don't think they (USCC) would have PCS "turned on" yet!! Also, my sister goes to school in Milwaukee and a lot of her friends have tried Verizon and they don't like it because of what you are talking about! Very good one second and then crap; very spotty!!

[Drummerboy]

Actually, there was a report in our local paper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, a year back which said Verizon had the best coverage in downtown Milwaukee of all the carriers. I live in the Milwaukee Metro area and have few issues with roaming. Make sure you always have the latest firmware and PRL's loaded on your phone (although I think your are a higher level user and know these things). We have a very small downtown area so I don't think the carriers try to ensure coverage in those areas. Most of Milwaukee is housing so I'm willing to bet the carriers optimize their coverage for that more then the dense 6 block radius of our downtown area.

[AnthroMatt]

Yeah, I just updated my firmware and my PRL last week, so that is not an issue. Perhaps the Hilton and the Midwest Airlines Center is just a bad spot for Verizon. Just a couple blocks away in my hotel (Courtyard) I got service about 95% of the time (albeit very poor signal...it improved greatly when I forced cellular only and then I had a very strong USCC signal), the other time I was on USCC as part of the extended network.

[sdeto]

In Wisconsin, Verizon and USCC share towers. Verizon is 1900MHz and USCC is 800MHz. They started doing this in November when USCC launched it's CDMA network. This is what allows Verizon to claim a new larger calling area in Wisconsin. Check out each companies coveage maps of the state, they are the same.

[rgm313]

So does Verizon let their subscribers use USCC for free? I know when I got my USCC CDMA phone in December 2002, they told me that even though my phone may say roam (in a bar or basement or something) it would not be considered roaming on my bill. I know that I have roamed on both Verizon and Sprint (by dialing 611) and been very happy that I could use my phone in places my old TDMA would say "no service."

[rgm313]

I was also wondering if there are any other ways to tell who you are roaming on. Lately when I dial 611 (when my phone says roam) it will say "welcome to US Cellular" but not the same greeting I get when I dial 611 when I am actually on a USCC tower.

[wyldekard]

rgmannetter,

When you get charged for roaming on another carrier depends on the calling plan you have and the roaming agreements between carriers.

USCC doesn't use an ERI (they did about 2 years ago, but stopped for some unknown reason), so 611 is the only option I know of to find who you are roaming on.

[AnthroMatt]

Originally posted by: rgmannetter
So does Verizon let their subscribers use USCC for free?

In Milwaukee, Madison, and the middle of nowhere in Indiana Verizon does not charge to roam on USCC. In other parts of the country (Oregon for example) I think you are charged to roam on USCC. It all depends where you are I think.

[DaveyJ]

Originally posted by: AnthroMatt
I just got back from a conference in Milwaukee...I don't know if Verizon just has poor coverage downtown where I was (near the Hilton) or if it is because they are PCS in that part of Wisconsin, but whenever I went into a building I was on the extended network (using USCC) and sometimes I was on USCC even outdoors. So is the poor coverage a product of the PCS? I had no problems with Sprint when I was in hotels in downtown New Orleans and downtown Chicago, so I am not sure if the 1900MHz is to blame.

Really? I work downtown Milwaukee for roughly 40% of the year (college student working summers / breaks) and in the Wells building downtown Milwaukee up on the 12th floor I have astounding signal strength. I've been a lot of places in Milwaukee (downtown) and have never had a problem with Verizon service. Maybe they were doing some work on a tower the time you were there? What's funny is I can even get a signal in the elevator of the building I'm in. The other guys at the office have T-Mobile, AT&T (TDMA) and USCC (CDMA) and none get service in it.

Anyway, just my $0.02. But, I work roughly 5-6 blocks from the location you reported problems and I always have a great signal (from Verizon's network).

[Tadlock2699]

Anthromatt: I saw that you are using the Samsung a310 as a temp. phone...If I may be so nosy, why are you being forced to use that god awful phone? I saw god awful because most people complain that the ringtones are very very rinky dinky. What's your take?

--J.T

[AnthroMatt]

The ringtones are atrocious. Terrible. Awful. Tomorrow I go back for a "new" temp phone, probably the VX2000, but possibly the v120e. I wanted to go with a real cheapo phone like the Nokia 3285 or Kyocera 2235 since I am just using it until my SE gets repaired, but they were all out of the cheap phones. The only reason I passed on the VX2000 initially was because of its lack of side buttons for vilume adjustment.

[Tadlock2699]

That is exactly what I have heard. I do not like the look of VX2000 but, its your call of course. Could you post some examples of your most-hated ring tones for the a310?

-J.T

[AnthroMatt]

LOL, most hated ringtones...how about all but "bell 4." Message alerts? Hate em all. Wouldn't really be a problem, you can set it to vibrate, but the vibrate seems really weak. I missed 7 text messages in vibrate mode and 3 calls. I even put the a310 in my pocket and called my cell from my landline...i could barely feel the vibrate and I knew my phone was about to ring so I was being much more attentive than I would be under normal circumstances.

I don't really like the look of the VX2000 either, but I tried a friends v120e and I don't like how it feels against my ear when in use. Since I don't plan on using the phone for too long (not more than a month I hope) look is not too important to me.

[Tadlock2699]

AnthroMatt: I'm sorry it's been a few days for my reply. I sort of agree about the v120e, the way it feels, takes a little getting used to. I was used to using my Nokia 5185i, but then when I got my v120c and e, it just kind of stuck there..LOL. Anywho, I feel that the a310 needs a good firmware update to give it some better ringtones and possibly have a vibrate update LOL. I'm not sure if it is the battery that vibrates or a little motor type thing inside the phone that makes it vibrate...I know it's the little motor thing in my v120e and it works well. In any event..I do not like the look of the VX2000, but, to each his own.

--J.T

[Gonz]

My USCC Phone will somwtimes roam on verizon... First, it'll try to place the call on USCC, and if it doesen't connect within 10 seconds, the phone will search for other providers. For seeing which carrier you are roaming on, i suggest dialing some sort of nonsense number such as 583 SEND. Usually, the carrier will ID itself in an error message. The other interesting thing about my phone is if I am outside of my HCA, (even when my PRL makes me roam on verizon), I can force analog, the switch between A/B carrier! COOL! The only setback is that it won't do it while my phone is in my HCL.

[Gonz]

Oh, g, forgot to add my initial point, almost everyone I know of uses USCC in wisconsin! I go to a high school where just about everybody has a nokia 5100 series. Hah! I was one of them until about a month ago. From what I've heard, verizon doesen't actually have a very big customer base in this state. Proabaly has something to do with the USCC plans being so great. The problem with verizon is that only Milwaukee/Waukesha have high speed data capability. It has to do with the network being biult by Primeco in 1996, and most parts no being upgraded since.

[Tdog]

Hey guys,

I have had pretty good luck with VZW in Janesville and Madison for the past 4 years....I just got the VX4400 and like it alot, but I have 14 more days to find the kinks...

My Startac 7868 is one of the best phones I own, and I refuse to give it up...

(4400 was free basically, $100 new every 2, and a junk phone to send in for the rebate)...

ps. My boss has the A310 and HATES the ringers, every one of them..so I did some research and the Madison Plaza Verizon Store can flash the phone to the latest software and add 1 new semi-normal ringer, plus a few other fixes. Talk to the tech, Kyle.

Later.

I was also considering Sprint FC America Plan...due to travel...I cant use a regional plan. but not too sure about Sprint coverage in this area and during travel.

[bjaminn]

I was told the same thing by a customer service person in the Verizon store. He said that there is an agreement between us Cellular and Verizon about roaming for wisconsin customers. But when I asked him why I was being charged for the roaming he said you need a new plan. I recently upgraded so we will see on my next bill. However when I caleld customer support *611 to verify this they told me that that was entirely wrong. I asked them why my phone wasn't tel;ling me in was in roaming and they thought it was software. I am very tired of getting a different story from everyone. Has this happened to anyone else is there a fix? In general I am happy and the people at *611 refunded my roaming charges but I don't want ot have to do this every month. My phone has done several other weird things including having the digital indicator a "D" be half negative image. Does anyone know what this means for motorola phones. Also i have been on the digital network and placed a call waiting for it to connect it slipped into what appeared to be analog. Is this normal the guy at *611 didn't think do anyone else had this problem?

[Drummerboy]

Wow this thread came back to life? Anyway. Not sure how new you are but just run by the basics with ya.
1. Do a *228 and Update your Roaming (option 2). You can verify that you are current by going into your phone's menu, Phone Status - Other Information and find PRL Version (assuming your menus are the same as my T720). Should read 50085 or higher.
2. Make sure you have the latest firmware. Found under Phone Status - Other Information - S/W Version. Should be 2200.01.2b or higher.
If the firmware is not the same, or if your PRL Version still doesn't match after updating, you should bring your phone in to Verizon to see if they can get it updated. If everything does match and your still having problems with it slipping into analog, then get it replaced. Hopefully Verizon will help you out with this. It helps to talk to a manager. Sales reps will tell you what they feel like if it may help them get a sale on a new phone.

[Craptain]

I read that most Verizon 120c phones have 2100.03.28.05 or 2101.03.28.05. I also thought that the PRL depends on your location?

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] you're right... this is an older thread