Kalamazoo / Ann Arbor, MI service

[gthole]

Hi,

I am currently at the end of a 2 year contract with Alltel in Kalamazoo, MI. I am trying to decide whether to renew my contract with Alltel now or switch to another provider because I will be moving to Ann Arbor for college in a few months.

I have done my research. As I understand it, Alltel roams on Verizon wireless on the east side of Michigan (including Ann Arbor,) and Verizon has some of the best wireless coverage in Ann Arbor.

NOW to the questions:

1) Will Alltel refuse to continue my service if I am roaming on Verizon's network for months at a time while in Ann Arbor? (I have heard that if you use over half of your minutes roaming they will - is that just a rumor?)

2) Because Alltel roams on Verizon's network in Ann Arbor, does that mean that my reception with an Alltel phone will be on par with that of a Verizon phone? or is it lower quality because it is roaming on another companies network?

3) Will constant roaming drain a cell phones battery faster?



Thanks in advance
Gavin

[music4praise]

Alltel very very rarely enforces the 50% rule. I wouldn't worry about it at all. In Ann Arbor you will roam on either Sprint or Verizon. You can force your phone to roam on Verizon if necessary. I would stay with Alltel if I were in your shoes. You get more minutes and MyCircle on comparably priced plans. As for the battery, you won't notice much difference. I visit the Detroit area fairly regularly and haven't found it to be a problem.

[Bill Clinton]

Originally Posted by gthole

Hi,

I am currently at the end of a 2 year contract with Alltel in Kalamazoo, MI. I am trying to decide whether to renew my contract with Alltel now or switch to another provider because I will be moving to Ann Arbor for college in a few months.

I have done my research. As I understand it, Alltel roams on Verizon wireless on the east side of Michigan (including Ann Arbor,) and Verizon has some of the best wireless coverage in Ann Arbor.

NOW to the questions:

1) Will Alltel refuse to continue my service if I am roaming on Verizon's network for months at a time while in Ann Arbor? (I have heard that if you use over half of your minutes roaming they will - is that just a rumor?)

2) Because Alltel roams on Verizon's network in Ann Arbor, does that mean that my reception with an Alltel phone will be on par with that of a Verizon phone? or is it lower quality because it is roaming on another companies network?

3) Will constant roaming drain a cell phones battery faster?



Thanks in advance
Gavin

Roaming won't drain your battery any faster than non-roaming calls. Your bettery will drain faster in an area of weak signal, regardless of the carrier bcause the phone has to use more power to hold the signal.

Roaming on Verizon will not mean inferior service because you are not a subscriber of that network.

I would suggest you stay with Alltel because they have better prices than Verizon and you can avoid Verizon's crippled phones and dismal UI.

[strunke]

Nope you should be just fine to stay on alltel. All the concerns listed you don't have to worry about. Your phone will actually go to Sprint first, then if there is no Sprint signal it will switch to verizon. Both are free. When roaming on those networks you receive the equivalent service to an actual customer with Sprint or Verizon. Sprints service in ann arbor is much better then Kalamazoo as well. Then even if they do enforce the "roaming rule" you get out of your contract for free, and you keep the phone you have. So it's really not a big loss in the end. But that will likely not happen at all. There are people that use verizon or sprint 100 percent of the time for the past few years with no issue.