Thinking about changing carriers from Qwest

[NoSpoon]

I currently have qwest wireless. They work great except at my new job. I can't get a signal in my building. Since our contract is up shortly, we are thinking about switching carriers. I called Qwest and they offered us an awsome deal on service, $59.99 for the 1200/3000 min shared plan (plus $300 to use as we wish on phones or service). I've checked with various plans T-Mobile, Verizon, ATT, SprintPCS, they can't really match the price. The best deal looks like Sprint with their 2000 minute plan. Qwest told me there is a bad spot right where my building is, but I tried an unactivated sprint phone for a day and it appeared to have full signal in my office. I also recently tried switching to a motorola v60i, it sort of had a signal but it was hit and miss. Does anyone have advice about getting signals on the University of MN campus (buildings are built to survive a nuclear blast) and in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area in general?

[Codepyro]

i suggest using the trial period...qwest might have good plans but its loosing alot of money in its wireless division...it was planing on selling its network to another provider possibly verizon or att...with that said i belive they will not continute to improve thier service... i suggest you use your trial period which most companies offer...this is the onl yway to find out which phone will work in your building...if coverage is very importatnt to you avoid gsm networks...

[Buickman]

I can tell you from experience that Sprint worked good at my old job at Hennipen and Washington, and also worked fine in the Metrodome, cant say about the U campus though. Like Codepyro said, take advantage of the trial periods.

[BillRadio]

Spoon,
You'll have to decide what's more important. Getting a good deal on your calling plan, or getting service where you work. Offering you lots of inlcuded minutes for a low price is the way to take the sting out of having "no service" in some locations. That's incentive enough for some people.

I moved offices in the same building and my cell signal went from working 90% of the time to 50%. No matter how cheap my plan was, I was no happy about missing calls. I regrettably switched carriers, and now paying a few dollars more, but now don't miss ANY calls. The decision, after I made it, was easy.

There is very little chance of improving the signal in your office. Sprint PCS gets very good reviews in MN because they have the largest continous network across the state. But they don't cover all of the state, so check it everywhere you need it during your tryout period.

-Bill

[jab]

I also have Qwest wireless at the U of MN. The buildings here make wireless service difficult. I get full signal on the west side of BSBE and spotty signal on the east side (and of course I work on the east side). I was under the impression that Qwest uses the same towers as Sprint in Minneapolis (this is what a Qwest rep told me.) That would make me think that Sprint would be similar to Qwest here anyway.

[PatP]

Originally posted by: NoSpoon Qwest told me there is a bad spot right where my building is, but I tried an unactivated sprint phone for a day and it appeared to have full signal in my office. Does anyone have advice about getting signals on the University of MN campus (buildings are built to survive a nuclear blast) and in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area in general?

Don't assume that because you have a strong signal on a Sprint phone that you actually have service. The signal strength meter shows how well your phone can "see" the cell tower. It tells you nothing about how well you will be able to send or receive calls. On the Sprint network, just because you have the ability to see a tower has little or nothing to do with the ability to use the phone.

Verizon has worked well for me in Bloomington, downtown, Saint Paul, and Saint Louis Park. I don't know of any calls that I've missed, and I've only had a few calls that I couldn't place or that were cut off.

Keep in mind that my experience is spotty and that your milage may vary, but my luck with Sprint in the Twin Cities hasn't been good.

-PatP

[Thedudeinthebox]

i have friends with sprint in the cities and there has been a tons of times where they have full servise and been unable to make a call. my exgirlfriend works at park jeep and her sprint phone dont work at all in her building. . i think your best bet is to talk with people in the office and see what phones they have and providers and see what works for them. i sell t-mobile and i never not had my phone work anywhere in the cities.

[eagle63]

Sprint PCS gets very good reviews in MN because they have the largest continous network across the state.

I don't think I've met anyone in the TC who likes Sprint. I switched last year to T-Mo and the difference is amazing.

NoSpoon, do you travel a lot? The Qwest plan you're mentioning probably isn't nationwide, whereas the T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T plans you compared it against probably were. I would switch.

[NoSpoon]

I pretty much stay within the state, so travelling coverage is not a concern. T-mobile and verizon look to have better coverage. I'll probably choose one of these plans but I'm going stick with qwest a little longer. Thanks for all the advice.