Help! My eldery Mom lives in WMass

[fogtownjohn]

Happy New Year Everyone,

Here’s the deal, I live on the west coast and want to buy my mom a cell phone and service plan. The forums here are very helpful but I am hoping for some advice that might be a bit more specific to her needs. They are:

- She lives in the Springfield area and occasionally travels the Mass Pike and 495 to/from SE Mass.
- She wears a hearing aid.
- She is not technically inclined, but has adapted to a Panasonic, cordless, cell-like phone at home (I would buy the cell phone here/on-line and set it up & ship it to her – we have the same providers here except for Northcoast PCS).

Thanks for your help!

-J


My humble words of advice on phones/service in the SF Bay Area:

Cingular (GSM only) – AKA Suckular is just AWFUL. A few years back Cingular (of Atlanta) bought out PacBell Wireless and proceeded to pour all our money into marketing and nothing back into expansion. As the new customers overwhelmed the system dropped calls, system busy signals, missed messages and delayed voicemails (as in hours) became the norm. BTW this all happens within the San Francisco city limits. I switched, to AT&T.

AT&T (TDMA, GSM/GPRS) – OUTSTANDING! If you can get a Siemens S46 phone, go for it. The S46 is the only TDMA (800/1900), GSM/GPRS multi-band phone that I know of and when you venture out of the big metros and lose GSM, TDMA is there (everywhere). The phone includes Palm type PC synch software that works with Lotus Notes and Outlook, the cable is $29 at the Siemens website and less on EBay.

[northform]

We don't have Northcoast PCS in MA. They never exhisted (except in NYC I believe). In any case, they sold all their licences to Verizon. In western MA you wouldn't want a PCS provider anyway. Don't go with ATT, T-Mobile, or Sprint in western MA. Although the cover Springfield fine, they can drop off a little way outside of the city.

Cingular is extremely good in MA and Verizon is pretty good as well. The reason that you have had a bad experience with Cingular is because they are GSM1900 in CA. 1900 is fine, but it travels less distance than 800 services. In MA, Cingular and Verizon are 800 providers. If you are worried about easyness, I would go with Cingular because TDMA can hand-off to analog networks without dropping calls. ATT doesn't offer TDMA service in Springfiele and their GSM coverage is not great. Verizon and Cingular's netowrks are nearly identical in coverage in MA, but TDMA does have the handoff advantage. T-Mobile is in Springfield, but you won't be able to do TDMA or Analog roaming. Sprint PCS will allow analog roaming, but will charge per minute for it (I think 50¢).

~~~~If she needs a hearing device to be compatable with it you might have to look into analog. Many digital phones cause interfearence with them.~~~~

Basically, either Verizon or Cingular will work. With Cingular you would have to purchase it from their website and have them ship it to her since they use different phones and a different network technology in your area. If you decide on analog you would have to visit a store since they don't continue to have info on that stuff online.

[NokiaUser]

Since I have an elderly mom myself - I compliment you on taking on the "cellular challenge".

For those with hearing aids - Nokia has what they call a "loop set" (see below) - despite what it says about the 8800 - it also works with the Nokia 3360 (which is shown in a picture attached to it) - the 3360 (TDMA) is offered by Cingular in Mass...if you want to see other phones in Mass - go to the Cingular.com site and select "Massachusetts" and click on "Phones"...
---------------
Loop Set LPS-3 $64.99 [http://www.marquel.com/store/LPS-3info.shtml]
LPS-3 Loopset allows hearing aid users to talk on digital mobile phones. The Nokia LPS-1 has a built-in microphone for hands-free operation, and is compatible with Nokia 8800 series and Nokia 8200 series mobile phones, which have an automatic answer function that works with the Nokia Loopset.
"The Loop Set will only work with T-coil equipped hearing aids".
---------------------
I have no idea what a "T-coil" hearing aid is - you have to check that out and see if that is what your mom has.

If I may suggest - I would wait until you come back to Mass for a visit - then go down to the local cellular shop (I would pre-buy the hearing aid loop for a phone that they have in stock, unless they'll reserve one for you - I buy from Marquel.com) and sign up your mom for the cellular account, and then teach her how to use the cellular phone (withthe loop), and then drive around all of her normal places and see that it works OK (reception) - since there is usually a 30 day trial period (and be sure to check on this) you would want to check it out before going back to the coast.

Hope this is of some help - good luck...

[fogtownjohn]

Hey, thanks for your advice, it's helpful. BTW my main issue with Cingular is a lack of confidence in their ability and/or intentions to expand and support their existing ccustomers. I have very few problems with GSM from AT&T and they are relatively new here in terms of GSM. Cingular has always been GSM.

[fogtownjohn]

Hey, Many thanks, great advice!

[northform]

Well, Cingular in your area was made by PacBell. Cingular here is completely different. I have an aunt that swears by it.

[jayc]

Just for clarification... Northcoast has a market in Ohio.

We had a customer with a hearing aid try just about every phone in the store... he ended up with a v60 so you might want to give that one a shot.

Thanks.

[batigolaso]

fog: cingular in CA is GSM. Cingular in most of the rest of the country except for a few spots like the carolinas is TDMA(for now). Their TDMA network is outstanding. I would not have doubts about signing up with their tdma in that area, it's completely different than the GSM network they have in California.

[Airb330]

Verizon would be better. I read somewhere where the technology they use (CDMA, Sprint too) doesn't cause as much interference with hearing aids. CDMA causes less interference in speakers and stuff...so it seems to be true. For that fact, I'd go with CDMA and Verizon.

[NYCDru]

Originally posted by: Airb330
Verizon would be better. I read somewhere where the technology they use (CDMA, Sprint too) doesn't cause as much interference with hearing aids. CDMA causes less interference in speakers and stuff...so it seems to be true. For that fact, I'd go with CDMA and Verizon.

In addition to this on the acessories portion for every verizon phone there are no less thann 3 diferent kinds of headsets/accesories for the heariong impaired.

[fogtownjohn]

Hey, Thanks so much. I just checked out the Verizon website and it is really awesome how they clearly display "Hearing Aid Compatible Accessories". I do not recall seeing such an option displayed on other sites (AT&T, Cingular, T-Mobile). Most sites assume you already own the device. BTW, now that auto-correct is almost everywhere these days, my spelling just keeps getting worse.

Originally posted by: NYCDru

In addition to this on the acessories portion for every verizon phone there are no less thann 3 diferent kinds of headsets/accesories for the heariong impaired.

[phoneman1]

Since we're talking Western Mass here, I'd like to add a more specific question:

Can anyone tell me how strong Verizon coverage is in the Berkshires? We are building a vacation home in Becket and I want to make sure I choose the carrier with the strongest coverage (AT&T TDMA/AMPS is there, but VERY spotty).

[SpineDoc]

I live in Springfield and have to correct a Sprint comment. Sprint coverage in Springfield, and in the surrounding towns is excellent. You will hit some dead spots, but nothing even close to the GSM dead spots you will suffer through. That said, in the Springfield area Verizon is certainly king, although you will pay a premium for them. There is a lot of analog in the outlying areas, thusgiving Verizon one of its strengths. Sprint is definitely second best, but after that no one even comes close to providing decent coverage.

So even though I am a long time Sprint user, I woudl recommend Verizon for your mother.

[northform]

In the more rural areas of MA you should go with Cingular. They are more built out than Verizon and TDMA can handoff to analog (CDMA cannot do that). Verizon's network has big gaps out there (like between 91 and 7 away from the pike and around the Quabbin resovoir).

[cryogenic]

TDMA and GSM phones have been known to cause interference (an atrocious "buzzing") in hearing aids and various other audio equipment. I know when I get my GSM Nokia near a speaker, it emits an audible buzz, so I'd watch out about getting a TDMA phone for her if she wears hearing aids. CDMA phones, on the other hand, do not have this problem. Best bet would be to take her to a Cingular store and try out a couple phones and see if they bother her hearing aid. If they do, go to Verizon, as they're CDMA and won't cause her any trouble.