Help in Cosatal South and North Carolina

[eputjr]

Recently, I moved back to the Charleston, SC area from Raleigh, NC. My contract ends this month with ATTW and their "wonderful" GSM network. I say that with much sarcasm. I'm going to save all from my rant against this company and their horrible customer service and overall service.

I'm looking for a new provider in my area and looking for any opinions or help. Most of my travels will be ranging from the Savannah, GA area up to Wilmington, NC area as well as west to the Greenville, SC area.

I've heard from others that Cingular is still dropping calls and providing bad service down here and to be honest I really don't want anything to do with ATT anymore and now it seems that Cingular has merged or will merge with them. My GSM down here ocassionaly picks up Cingular now but I rarely get over 2 bars.

Thanks in advance.

Evans

[blsemp]

Originally Posted by eputjr

Recently, I moved back to the Charleston, SC area from Raleigh, NC. My contract ends this month with ATTW and their "wonderful" GSM network. I say that with much sarcasm. I'm going to save all from my rant against this company and their horrible customer service and overall service.

I'm looking for a new provider in my area and looking for any opinions or help. Most of my travels will be ranging from the Savannah, GA area up to Wilmington, NC area as well as west to the Greenville, SC area.

I've heard from others that Cingular is still dropping calls and providing bad service down here and to be honest I really don't want anything to do with ATT anymore and now it seems that Cingular has merged or will merge with them. My GSM down here ocassionaly picks up Cingular now but I rarely get over 2 bars.

Thanks in advance.

Evans

Cingular has good reception in Greenville. My calls don't drop. I have had good luck in Charleston. I vacation in Myrtle beach and at Ocean Isle in NC with good reception on up to Wilmington. I just drive thru Savannah so I can't help you there.

[eputjr]

I used to live in Greenville and had Cingular. No complaints up there. My primary business will be done in Charleston and from what I hear from Cingular users is "Don't use Cingular". The ones I have spoken with are just waiting for the contracts to expire so they can get a more reliable network.

E

[roamer1]

Originally Posted by eputjr

Recently, I moved back to the Charleston, SC area from Raleigh, NC. My contract ends this month with ATTW and their "wonderful" GSM network. I say that with much sarcasm. I'm going to save all from my rant against this company and their horrible customer service and overall service.

I'm looking for a new provider in my area and looking for any opinions or help.

For your situation I'd recommend ALLTEL, unless Myrtle Beach is important to you, then you might want to consider Verizon Wireless. Cingular's OK but is a bit lacking in rural coverage and seems to be having capacity issues in some areas.

-SC

[scottb]

Originally Posted by roamer1

For your situation I'd recommend ALLTEL, unless Myrtle Beach is important to you, then you might want to consider Verizon Wireless. Cingular's OK but is a bit lacking in rural coverage and seems to be having capacity issues in some areas.

-SC

I think you'd be fine on Alltel in Myrtle Beach. My VZW phone roamed on Alltel much of the time when I was in Myrtle Beach.

[NAHokie]

If you're going to travel in the rural areas of SC much I'd go with Verizon. Go with a trimode phone if you're going to travel in the rural areas. I've had phones with Alltel and Suncom in the past but I've switched to Verizon. I've had better luck getting a signal in rural areas than some friends have had with Alltel and Suncom phones.

[august]

Go with Alltel or Verizon.

[jones]

Cingular GSM is strong in the North/south Carolina coast. I was still picking signals even at 10 miles offshore.

[BradQue]

I spend a lot of time in that area, especially Wilmington - Jacksonville, NC, and most of Eastern NC as well as the Greenville-Spartanburg SC areas. I use Verizon and find it pretty consistent in it's ability to connect, even in most of the rural areas as long as I am using a tri-mode phone.

Family members living in the Greenville SC area all use Verizon and also travel the NC-SC coastal areas without experiencing coverage problems. I would guess that Cingular would be another possible choice...T-Mobile does seem to loose some coverage in the upstate portion of SC based on my daughter's experience.

[SQFreak]

Originally Posted by BradQue

I spend a lot of time in that area, especially Wilmington - Jacksonville, NC, and most of Eastern NC as well as the Greenville-Spartanburg SC areas. I use Verizon and find it pretty consistent in it's ability to connect, even in most of the rural areas as long as I am using a tri-mode phone.

Family members living in the Greenville SC area all use Verizon and also travel the NC-SC coastal areas without experiencing coverage problems. I would guess that Cingular would be another possible choice...T-Mobile does seem to loose some coverage in the upstate portion of SC based on my daughter's experience.

T-Mobile uses Cingular (roaming) for coverage for most of the Carolinas, and isn't a choice in Raleigh. (As it is, they only offer Elizabeth City numbers in NC.)

[cellguy1]

Originally Posted by eputjr

Recently, I moved back to the Charleston, SC area from Raleigh, NC. My contract ends this month with ATTW and their "wonderful" GSM network. I say that with much sarcasm. I'm going to save all from my rant against this company and their horrible customer service and overall service.

I'm looking for a new provider in my area and looking for any opinions or help. Most of my travels will be ranging from the Savannah, GA area up to Wilmington, NC area as well as west to the Greenville, SC area.

I've heard from others that Cingular is still dropping calls and providing bad service down here and to be honest I really don't want anything to do with ATT anymore and now it seems that Cingular has merged or will merge with them. My GSM down here ocassionaly picks up Cingular now but I rarely get over 2 bars.

Thanks in advance.

Evans

Suncom does good in the Charleston and Beaufort areas. Nobody can beat subscription wireless!

[Wirelessvet]

I have used SunCom, ALLTEL, and Verizon in Charleston, Myrtle Beach, and Beaufort/Hilton Head. ALLTEL has the best rural coverage (particularly in Bluffton, Hilton Head, and places like Jacksonboro and Walterboro) but they have inconsistent service throughout Charleston and Myrtle Beach in busy areas. Verizon has better coverage along 17N into Myrtle Beach. They have a lot of issues on I26 though. (I hear they are doing a lot to fix this though). I use SunCom b/c of the large amount of minutes I use and their metro coverage. If you get SunCom TDMA you will have excellent rural and major area coverage. If you get SunCom GSM you will have the same major area coverage but give up some rural coverage. SunCom partners with Cingular in some areas as well on GSM so you do have their coverage in Jacksonsboro, 17S, and Bluffton. I never drop calls on the interstates or major areas. Can't speak for the outer banks with SunCom, have not been there in years.

[WirelessBeachBum]

Originally Posted by Wirelessvet

I have used SunCom, ALLTEL, and Verizon in Charleston, Myrtle Beach, and Beaufort/Hilton Head. ALLTEL has the best rural coverage (particularly in Bluffton, Hilton Head, and places like Jacksonboro and Walterboro) but they have inconsistent service throughout Charleston and Myrtle Beach in busy areas. Verizon has better coverage along 17N into Myrtle Beach. They have a lot of issues on I26 though. (I hear they are doing a lot to fix this though). I use SunCom b/c of the large amount of minutes I use and their metro coverage. If you get SunCom TDMA you will have excellent rural and major area coverage. If you get SunCom GSM you will have the same major area coverage but give up some rural coverage. SunCom partners with Cingular in some areas as well on GSM so you do have their coverage in Jacksonsboro, 17S, and Bluffton. I never drop calls on the interstates or major areas. Can't speak for the outer banks with SunCom, have not been there in years.

Verizon's coverage wins hands down in Hilton Head and Bluffton, Jacksonboro is an intersection on 17, and Verizon's coverage only drops for about 1/2 mile, otherwise they have great coverage all the way up and down 17. In Colleton County (Walterboro), Verizon has a very good signal as well, in fact they have the only digital signal at Edisto Beach, and the good signal in Northern Colleton (the other side of 95). I use I26 between Charleston and Columbia and have no problems? Not sure what your talking about there. Suncom does not have excellent rural coverage in this area...for the most part GSM or TDMA providers (or any 1900 MHz carriers do not do well in the low country of South Carolina, there are just too many trees and heavy foliage, and the many different Islands make it a tough land to cover.) Cingular coverage drops out on the Cross Island Parkway on Hilton Head, and Alltel has many problems in the new developments in Bluffton. Sprint PCS probably has the best coverage in Beaufort all the way out to Fripp Island, however this area is managed by Airgate PCS...so many of the better plans are not available (On the other hand Sprint probably has the worst coverage on Hilton Head and Bluffton....Sea Pines is really bad.)

My suggestion is to go with Verizon for Coastal South Carolina.

[vger]

SunCom if you need more minutes for the money but are willing to give up some coverage. Verizon if you need more coverage but are willing to give up minutes.