Sprint vs. Verizon in Northeast and Central NJ / DC-Metro

[jeffbering]

How is the Sprint reception in NE/Central NJ (Sussex County and Morris County)? I travel back and forth from NJ to DC. How is the Sprint reception in DC? Is Verizon a better carrier for the rural NE area of NJ and the DC-metro area?

How about phones? Which one has the best reception? Don't need major frills.

[dobby10]

I would stay away from Sprint for NE Jersey. I am in Morris County. They don't have the best of coverage. Verizon would be a much better bet.

[IdiOTeQnoLogY]

last time I checked the North East of NJ was far from RURAL lol...........I live there.........in fact it is part of the new york metro area and is what makes NJ the most densely populated state in the country and coverage by sprint is actually very good there...........now in the North West of Jersey morris and sussex counties yes coverage is spotty..........but is being covered (over 100 sites for NJ planned next year [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[jmccrane]

Originally posted by: IdiOTeQnoLogY
last time I checked the North East of NJ was far from RURAL lol...........I live there.........in fact it is part of the new york metro area and is what makes NJ the most densely populated state in the country and coverage by sprint is actually very good there...........now in the North West of Jersey morris and sussex counties yes coverage is spotty..........but is being covered (over 100 sites for NJ planned next year [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Big ups for Sprint...by far they have always been the most aggressive carrier at putting up new towers. It's amazing how far they've come in 6-7 years...even surpassing T-Mobile, which has been around, as smaller regional carriers, for 8-10 years in some cases. Very impressive work by Sprint to get all those towers up on their own (granted, a few affiliates helped). Hey Idiot: any info you can share on whether Sprint has any tower plans for the Philly market? Just curious [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[IdiOTeQnoLogY]

i cant give details but i can say that for the remainder of this year and for 2003 it is again over 100 sites planned for the philly market

[bobolito]

I agree with jmccrane. More sites than any other carrier in less time. They would be much better off though if they put away that self-sufficient philosophy. That's what gives the rest of the CDMA and TDMA carriers better coverage.

[jmccrane]

Originally posted by: bobolito
I agree with jmccrane. More sites than any other carrier in less time. They would be much better off though if they put away that self-sufficient philosophy. That's what gives the rest of the CDMA and TDMA carriers better coverage.

I wish they would use Verizon towers since Verizon allows it's A/C customers to still roam off of some Sprint towers. I know that would be difficult though, since most Sprint phones don't support the CDMA 800 band, which is what Verizon runs on in the Northeast.

A little off-topic, but can anyone give honest opinions overall on the Vision service? I'm really looking at changing to Sprint and I'm a geek when it comes to that stuff. How is it in general? Are more than like 1 or 2 games available without an extra charge? Is there a decent amount of websites? Is AIM coming (and if so, when)? Any honest opinions (good or bad, hopefully GOOD) are appreciated.

[bobolito]

most Sprint phones don't support the CDMA 800 band

For what I've noticed most Sprint phones do support the 800Mhz band but in analog mode only. I believe the hardware for CDMA 800 is already in the phone. They just lock it so it works in analog only at 800Mhz. Therefore, it won't be difficult to software-modify the phone to allow CDMA at 800Mhz. The most difficult part however, is as I said for Sprint to put away their self-sufficient attitude. But then, they would also have to give up their lovely phrase "100% PCS" which means 5 cents to me, but has somehow brainwashed many people.

[jpd]

I am pretty interested with Sprint Vision also.
They are having the Unlimited Sprint Vision even with their 40 dollar plans.
So does that mean that users can surf the limited "net" and check email and stuff?
B/c i know T-mobile charges per a kilo after you go over 2mb i think.
well in anycase sounds like sprint is working really hard to get better coverage in jersey which is mad cool.
But anyone know anything about Somerset County?? are alot of towers coming online over here? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
Bobolito, i know you're a moderator and i wanted to ask you about an idea my friend and i had.
my friend and i were thinking during our break from class that why don't we start like a survey forum about coverage. or is there one already?
like a forum that users of a particular provider can come together and give info on specific regional area coverages instead of trying to guess how good the coverage will be from the maps they show you in the brochures or on the provider's web pages. And they could find their region(state, county, maybe even town) and get the low down on the coverage of a particular provider. not that users would have to give up their information like home address of office address or anything at all. but like info on a really annoying dead spot on a local high way or coverage that is great outside but just goes dead when they step in their house which is in a certain town of a county or something that they notice and stuff.
would make it easier for people to find info on their area and providers in the area.
i mean this would take a lot of feed back from people, but i think people that are on this forum are really helpful and for the most part very honest and willing to share their opinions.
what do you think? just wondering[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[bobolito]

Info as detailed as you are describing is available at http://www.deadcellzones.com. The problem with this is that information can get quickly corrupted as some individuals may erroneously report a dead spot where the service is temporarily down. In the case of dropped calls, it's very hard to tell if the problem is the phone, a defective tower or the building you are in blocking signals. However, I think it is a good idea if properly implemented. Thanks...

[jpd]

thanks bobolito![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
yeah i see what you're saying. it could get really messy if people start posting incorrect info and dropped calls could be due to alot of things that you mentioned.
I went to the site you recommended, but they didn't really have much about new jersey i think.
but can customers tell their provider about dropped calls and dead spots? and will they be able to use that info to patch up their network or something? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] just wondering[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] thanks

[bobolito]

I'm sure people report dead spots to their carriers, but most of the times this information doesn't get past the person you speak with. The installation department usually knows about dead spots as they are the ones who install the towers and do the testing. But there are many factors that prevent new cell installations and it may take longer than desired to install a new site.

[boo99]

I dont what area of Sussex you will be in or go to.....
But

I can say it works in Colesville off Rt 23 well, Rt 94/23 very well......515 had 4 bars but cant make a call for some reason.......(I think theres a tower but not on yet)

If you give me some specific area in Sussex I can tell you......since I have a place there and NYC

Jef[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]