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Adri · 11-19-2003, 1:00 AM

He I'm new to the forum, so you'll have to excuse me. I'm sure this topic has already come about but I'm in a bit of a cellular bind. I'm having trouble getting cut offs in the middle of conversations. Doesn't always happen, but often enough to piss me off and to make matters worse I hate my phone and would like a new one. However I'm not sure if the problem is related to the phone or service. My husband has the exact phone purchased and contracted @ the same time with the same trouble. Unfortunatly my 2yr contract is still up and I am not due for an upgrade. I was concidering changing providers, I live in the Stroudsburg area of P.A .but Work and have family in Bergen County N.J. I had AT&T , hated it!!! Now Verizon which is decent but can I get away with T-Moble or Cingular? Which Type of signal should I look for Tdms or other? I know that most of Verizons connection is 30% analog . I was looking at the new panasonic phones and samsung flip phones Any good? Please respond asap I could really use the help.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

northform · 11-19-2003, 4:51 AM

Verizon doesn't use much analog anymore.

As for TDMA or GSM. I would grab GSM. Carriers aren't rolling out new TDMA towers. ATT's GSM service has way more coverage then their TDMA service. Granted, you don't get TDMA/analog roaming.

The trouble wouldn't be from the phone. The Moto 120c is fine. If it were only one of them, I would look into the phone, but the phone isn't a bad phone in terms of reception. It's actually one of the better phones for reception.

Basically:
Don't replace your phones. It won't help.

LovinIt · 11-19-2003, 7:03 AM

As regards Tmobile, you can check to see if a tower is anywhere near you, which will give you a more concrete clue re potential signal issues:
. . . . http://www.t-mobiletowers.com/
Just pick PA, then enter Stroudsburg for the city. You can leave the other stuff blank.

Incidentally, there IS a difference among phones. Some have a strong radio, others are inherently weak. A weak radio in a strong area will work, but even a strong radio will cause grief in an area carriers avoid. Regrettably, there is no one size fits all, so you'll NEED to grab a phone/plan for 14 days, travel to the spots where you will use it most frequently, then cancel within the trial period if it's a no-go . . . . and try again-- until you're satisfied. There's simply no other way to definitively determine if the radio packed in your cell phone plus the network = a good or lousy combination, given coverage in your preferred area.

Critic · 11-19-2003, 11:20 AM

LovinIt - great link! I'm astounded to see that TMo only has one (ONE!) tower in all of Mercer County, NJ. Now, if only I could find out who they're sharing towers/roaming with around here...

whosurbud · 11-19-2003, 6:49 PM

Can't speak about a 120c, but the 120t i've played with (tdma equivalent) has been horrible.
So was it's cousin, v60t, mainly due to a lack of sufficient transmit power out. Also tends to bounce
around quite a bit more than what I'm used to with other handsets in some areas of weak signal.
The battery seems to not take a charge after a while and needs replacement, of course I never did,
replaced the phone instead. I think mine lasted about three months before I noticed the degraded battery
life. I know talk time would vary depending on signal conditions, etc... what about CDMA?? does it's battery
life/ talk time vary with congestion in the network??? (eg. - does it need to transmit more power to overcome the increased noise due to congestion??)

eg- after a supposed full charge, mine might last a day or two in standby. It'd be a safe bet 120c would use the same battery. Does yours still last long in standby?? If not consider replacing it and see if that eliminates ur dropped calls.

Sometimes I have to wonder if Motorola makes better CDMA phones than they make TDMA phones???
Never had a problem with any comparable Nokia phone (like there is a comparison?).

bobolito · 11-19-2003, 9:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Critic
LovinIt - great link! I'm astounded to see that TMo only has one (ONE!) tower in all of Mercer County, NJ. Now, if only I could find out who they're sharing towers/roaming with around here...

The site indicates that T-Mo <u>owns</u> one tower in Mercer Co. However, that doesn't mean that they only have one cell site in all of Mercer County. Most of their sites are located in someone else's properties such as rooftops, water tanks, or other towers owned by other companies.

Adri · 11-20-2003, 3:06 PM

Thank you all for responding. To those who have Cingular - how do you like your service? Do get good receptions? Please tell me the good, bad & ugly.

PS: Lovinit - how do you like your Samsung?

Critic · 11-20-2003, 5:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: bobolitoThe site indicates that T-Mo <u>owns</u> one tower in Mercer Co. However, that doesn't mean that they only have one cell site in all of Mercer County. Most of their sites are located in someone else's properties such as rooftops, water tanks, or other towers owned by other companies.

Ah. It's a fair cop. I didn't catch the distinction. Thanks for clearing that up.

That said, I'd be curious to know where their other towers are...

njsvrzncdma · 11-28-2003, 5:04 PM

interesting i know of numerous sites and none of them come up...

11-19-2003, 1:00 AM	#1
Adri I have arrived! Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	traveling nightmare He I'm new to the forum, so you'll have to excuse me. I'm sure this topic has already come about but I'm in a bit of a cellular bind. I'm having trouble getting cut offs in the middle of conversations. Doesn't always happen, but often enough to piss me off and to make matters worse I hate my phone and would like a new one. However I'm not sure if the problem is related to the phone or service. My husband has the exact phone purchased and contracted @ the same time with the same trouble. Unfortunatly my 2yr contract is still up and I am not due for an upgrade. I was concidering changing providers, I live in the Stroudsburg area of P.A .but Work and have family in Bergen County N.J. I had AT&T , hated it!!! Now Verizon which is decent but can I get away with T-Moble or Cingular? Which Type of signal should I look for Tdms or other? I know that most of Verizons connection is 30% analog . I was looking at the new panasonic phones and samsung flip phones Any good? Please respond asap I could really use the help.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

11-19-2003, 4:51 AM	#2
northform Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 891 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Cellular Hell Verizon doesn't use much analog anymore. As for TDMA or GSM. I would grab GSM. Carriers aren't rolling out new TDMA towers. ATT's GSM service has way more coverage then their TDMA service. Granted, you don't get TDMA/analog roaming. The trouble wouldn't be from the phone. The Moto 120c is fine. If it were only one of them, I would look into the phone, but the phone isn't a bad phone in terms of reception. It's actually one of the better phones for reception. Basically: Don't replace your phones. It won't help.

11-19-2003, 7:03 AM	#3
LovinIt Fresh Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 29 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Cellular Hell As regards Tmobile, you can check to see if a tower is anywhere near you, which will give you a more concrete clue re potential signal issues: . . . . http://www.t-mobiletowers.com/ Just pick PA, then enter Stroudsburg for the city. You can leave the other stuff blank. Incidentally, there IS a difference among phones. Some have a strong radio, others are inherently weak. A weak radio in a strong area will work, but even a strong radio will cause grief in an area carriers avoid. Regrettably, there is no one size fits all, so you'll NEED to grab a phone/plan for 14 days, travel to the spots where you will use it most frequently, then cancel within the trial period if it's a no-go . . . . and try again-- until you're satisfied. There's simply no other way to definitively determine if the radio packed in your cell phone plus the network = a good or lousy combination, given coverage in your preferred area.

11-19-2003, 11:20 AM	#4
Critic The Digital Ruler Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Princeton NJ Posts: 1,317 Phone(s): Apple iPhone 3G, [Palm Treo 700p-retired], [Moto V710 - recalled] Provider(s): AT&T Devices: Apple iPod Classic 160GB Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Cellular Hell LovinIt - great link! I'm astounded to see that TMo only has one (ONE!) tower in all of Mercer County, NJ. Now, if only I could find out who they're sharing towers/roaming with around here... __________________ The innocent shall suffer. Big time.

11-19-2003, 6:49 PM	#5
whosurbud Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 116 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Cellular Hell Can't speak about a 120c, but the 120t i've played with (tdma equivalent) has been horrible. So was it's cousin, v60t, mainly due to a lack of sufficient transmit power out. Also tends to bounce around quite a bit more than what I'm used to with other handsets in some areas of weak signal. The battery seems to not take a charge after a while and needs replacement, of course I never did, replaced the phone instead. I think mine lasted about three months before I noticed the degraded battery life. I know talk time would vary depending on signal conditions, etc... what about CDMA?? does it's battery life/ talk time vary with congestion in the network??? (eg. - does it need to transmit more power to overcome the increased noise due to congestion??) eg- after a supposed full charge, mine might last a day or two in standby. It'd be a safe bet 120c would use the same battery. Does yours still last long in standby?? If not consider replacing it and see if that eliminates ur dropped calls. Sometimes I have to wonder if Motorola makes better CDMA phones than they make TDMA phones??? Never had a problem with any comparable Nokia phone (like there is a comparison?).

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11-20-2003, 3:06 PM	Original Poster #7
Adri I have arrived! Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Cellular Hell Thank you all for responding. To those who have Cingular - how do you like your service? Do get good receptions? Please tell me the good, bad & ugly. PS: Lovinit - how do you like your Samsung?

11-28-2003, 5:04 PM	#9
njsvrzncdma i cant stop the ringing.. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: JeRsEy Posts: 2,576 Phone(s): LG vx8500, LG vx8100 Provider(s): VERIZON Devices: MP3, GPS, Wireless LAN, TV remote (lol) Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My Auctions	Cellular Hell interesting i know of numerous sites and none of them come up... __________________ "Be fruitful, curious, careful, intelligent, spontanious and wise but never forget to have fun, never forget to remember the good times, and always be true to yourself."

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