Best service coverage for NY/NJ

[Ros]

I currently have Sprint and am happy with the service. My plan is costly and I will have to switch to a new one anyway or buy new phones for Vision, so I am thinking of changing providers and also add international covergae which sprint dosen't have.

I need a family plan with no nationwide roaming charges and also International coverage.

TMobile looks like the best right now, but, I have heard their service is not great in NJ and NY.

Any other thoughts, Verizon looks good, except you have to by a seperate phone for international use. Cingular service looks spooty outside of major cities and ATT is very exepensive.

Thanks[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[jmccrane]

T-Mobile is the only reasonable choice for international traveling, but as an alternative you can rent/buy prepaid phones when you go overseas if it's not too often. T-Mobile is fine in NYC, but gets weaker as you move into Central NJ. It's best near NYC and near Philly (Camden, etc.) if you're in NJ. Cingular uses T-Mobile's towers for GSM in north NJ and NY and I wouldn't recommend Cingular since T-Mobile's GSM plans are better.

AT&T isn't terrible in price from my perspective, but I would use TDMA or a phone that lets you do both GSM and TDMA with them because their GSM coverage is weak.

Verizon really is the best choice in NYC and their family plans are solid.

[Sammy]

I continues to amaze me at how many people ask this question. Verizon has hands-down the best overall converage in the NYC area! This won't change. Verizon will not be taking towers out of service. Other carriers may get better, but Verizon will always be ahead of them.

In fact, Verizon usually has the best coverage in most places in the US. t-mobile, cingular and sprint can't touch Verizon's coverage. AT&T's TDMA network comes closest to Verizon, but that is a dead network.

Every carrier will have dead spots, but in NY/NJ verizon has the least. However even though Verizon has the best coverage, they are pricier than the other carriers and their phones are arguably more boring. That is why the other companies are still in business. Oh, people like SIM cards too (me included) so you can have multiple phones and Verizon doesn't have that.

But if you want service just for the coverage, stop asking questions and just get verizon.

Bring on the flames.

[mreg]

I used to be with Sprint in NYC, and thought the coverage was OK. I left Sprint mainly because of their incompetent customer service. I am happy to report that I discovered at Verizon better coverage, call stability, and so far excellent customer service. Dropped calls went from common to rare, I can make calls in areas I could not previoulsy, and I have never waited more that a minute for a telephone rep. Verizon may cost somewhat more per minute, but if that's the price to pay for a better, more dependable, and more responsive and professional carrrier operation, it's a bargain.

[njsvrzncdma]

actually your wrong in that respect cingulars coverage as far as gsm will greatly advance this year its going to be as good as if not better than verizon in the nyc area.

[jmccrane]

Originally posted by: njscngulrgsm
actually your wrong in that respect cingulars coverage as far as gsm will greatly advance this year its going to be as good as if not better than verizon in the nyc area.

Oh, I'm sure most of us will doubt that. Reasons:

T-Mobile/Cingular's combined presence in NYC: 6-8 years (perhaps 10?)
Verizon's presence in NYC: 15+ years
Result: Verizon has A LOT of head start and PLENTY more towers. This shines especially in the harder-to-reach areas for radio signals on the outskirts on NYC and in the 'burbs, and Long Island, etc. There is no way Cingular (or T-Mobile) can catch up in 1 year.

In Philly, both Cingular and Verizon have been around in some incarnation for about 15 years, so they both have the most solid coverage here. Sprint actually is solid here as well because they really focused a lot of initial buildout in SE PA and surrounding areas. AT&T gets help from Cingular to make them seem better than they are on their own, and T-Mobile was Omnipoint here, which wasn't great but was here before Sprint and AT&T were (however T-Mo is not any better than those 2 carriers here). That is not the case in NYC though. The timetables were different there.

[t720]

Go with Verizon or AT&T. Depends on which phones you like better, and which plans you like better. Otherwise, I would consider the coverage pretty much equal, AT&T having a few less spots (but not many) than Verizon. If you are on LI, AT&T is the best (kind of odd, don't you think?). Otherwise...it's up to you and they are close to equal.

[NYCDru]

Originally posted by: Ros
I currently have Sprint and am happy with the service. My plan is costly and I will have to switch to a new one anyway or buy new phones for Vision, so I am thinking of changing providers and also add international covergae which sprint dosen't have. I need a family plan with no nationwide roaming charges and also International coverage. TMobile looks like the best right now, but, I have heard their service is not great in NJ and NY. Any other thoughts, Verizon looks good, except you have to by a seperate phone for international use. Cingular service looks spooty outside of major cities and ATT is very exepensive. Thanks[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Why do you need nation wide coverag?

Ok, better question, where do you travel too and just as important, how do you gwet there? (plane, car, or train)

[njsvrzncdma]

hey i can dream cant i ? it may happen one day. but it is a fact i know for sure Cingulars gsm coverage will greatly advance this year and many of those "dead spots" will dissapear. I can name some spots verizon is no good and cingular has full bars yet im sure you could do vise versa.

[Ros]

In reponse to a previous question. I travel all over the united states, mostly to cities thpugh occasionally outside. I travel to europe on leisure and covergae would be nice for my kids to be able to reach us easily.


I feel that if I don't get something for the hassle of changing 4 phone number and buying new ones then its not worth it, unless its cheaper. SPrint isn't bad, but no where to go with features unless you movw to a Vision plan and Vision phones.

Thanks
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

[cll]

If u are a world traveler I dont think u have too much choice- TMobile is the way to go for international coverage. They will unlock the phone so u can use it in many foreign countries. ATT GSM could be good also but I dont think they are as cooperative with using the phone overseas.

[Codepyro]

i suggest get verizon and then get a gsm phone abroad...you really don'ty ant to use att or any gsm provider abraod because they charge you out of the ___ for minutes....and alot of thier phone won't be compatible with the gsm freq. abroad...your best bet is to get a internation phone i belive its 800/1800 for like 60 dollars from ebay and get prepaid...thats what everyone does when they're travelling prepaid calls are almost 5 times cheaper than if you ruse a service provider...with prepaid you get a sim card and u simply put the sim card into your gsm phoen and it works...on which ever network that country has...with at&t or other provider you need to make sure that att has a roamign agreement with some gsm network in that country...so your best bet is just get a gsm phone(get a prepaid card in the country-you can usually find places at the airport that sell them) and get att tdma or verizon...i personally like verizon...

[njsvrzncdma]

Originally posted by: cll
If u are a world traveler I dont think u have too much choice- TMobile is the way to go for international coverage. They will unlock the phone so u can use it in many foreign countries. ATT GSM could be good also but I dont think they are as cooperative with using the phone overseas.

Cingular will also unlock the phone for you to use overseas. if you have an international plan for 3.99 the overseas rates are much cheaper