AT&T Comments

[randun]

I've currently had it with Verizon, and am ready to make a switch. My first choice is AT&T, primarily for good Bluetooth phones. Also, there pending takeover by Cingular should widen their coverage area. I'll be signing up for a shared, nationwide plan. Any comments out there on AT&T? Thanks.

[BillRadio]

You should do a search of AT&T in Forums and newsgroups. You would find AT&T is suffering from some real problems:
-GSM coverage is no where near as good as advertised.
-TDMA coverage is actually getting worse,
-Their customer service has gone downhill enough to make those who DON'T get through to them the happier bunch!
-Their Number Portability transfers have not gone well, they are the leader among complaints to the FCC.

Much of these factors depend on where you will use your phone. I would not count on the Cingular merger/buyout making this situation any better for at least a year. Choose your carrier first, not the phone.

I'm not down on AT&T, and these problems will be fixed, eventually. But if you read everything here that I read, you wouldn't touch AT&T until users return to these groups and exclaim how much better things have gotten. AT&T was the biggest loser of customers of the past 6 months. Even Sprint PCS picked up 1 Million new customers last quarter...yes, many of them from AT&T! These are people voting with their wallets!

-Bill

[Matt]

I would not make any decisions based on a merger that has not been announced. An offer (or offers) are on the table. Cingular is in no way the de facto winner of AT&T. Ohter companies can/will have their say. Even if a merger is announced today, it will be about a year before it is approved and customers can begin to see benefits.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

You don't want AT&T Wireless. They have some problems right now and I haven't really seen a happy AT&T Wireless user in quite some time. Stay away from AT&T.

[bobolito]

That's right. You don't want AT&T Wireless. Not even as your employer! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[randun]

Who would you (or anyone else) recommend? I absolutely must have Bluetooth capability, a shared national plan, with a coverage area that rivals Verizon. The Cingular deal is not driving my decision by any means, but it could only mean an improvement for AT&T's current situation, long-term. Thanks.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

What city/state do you live in and where do you plan on using your phone?

[randun]

Hillsborough, NC. Majority of usage will be local, but nationwide LD needed for business/pleasure travel.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

Cingular Wireless has pretty good coverage in North Carolina. Check there coverage maps carefully though. I'd recommend a GSM Nation Plan through them.

Cingular Wireless

[randun]

I actually did check Cingular out today, and their GSM National plans. They have a few odd querks though, one being having to pay for mobile-to-mobile minutes. That's probably inconsequential in the big picture though. Portability will be key. Thanks for the advice.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

I've heard rumors that Cingular Wireless may be offering 1,000 National MTM minutes on some GSM Nation plans starting Febuary the 1st. You might want to check out there new plans when they come out if you don't like there current ones.

[SQFreak]

Originally posted by: randun Hillsborough, NC. Majority of usage will be local, but nationwide LD needed for business/pleasure travel.

Hillsborough should be OK with Cingular, since that's Triangle area. The Triad is a hellhole for Cingular. My relative in Raleigh with AT&T Wireless TDMA has noticed declining service.

[parthery]

I find it interesting that everyone says AT&T is turning off TDMA and their service is declining. We currently have over 500 users on AT&T throughout the USA and our problems have all been equipment related. We have more coverage problems with our 585 Sprint PCS users then we do with the AT&T users.

Having said that, you are in a tough situation. Unless you go with a GSM One Rate plan, your coverage area in NC is extremely limited. Since you want Bluetooth, you are basically limited to Cingular and AT&T.

Everyone expects there to be changes Feb. 1. Wait and see what comes out and then make a decision.

As for everyone bashing AT&T, take a look at howardforums.com. You will see forums dedicated to bashing every carrier, not just AT&T.

[pakman234]

you definatelt do not want ATT wireless the are by far the worst carrier Ive ever had besides Cingular. ATT constantly dropped calls and calls that wouldnt connect and its all went down hill when Suncom(Telecop) was bought out by ATT. Suncom was decent but when ATT bought it it started t get crappy I spent most of my time roaming and could never get a decent signal from ATT. I switched to VERIZON in September and am very happy I would highly recomend it. I dont know if it is good in your are but it is very excellent everywhere I go especially out where i live which is in the country where ATT and CIngular couldnt even get signal but Verizon can. My advice to you would be to stay away from ATT for now buecause they are definately going threw some "growing pains" going from TDMA to GSM it seems like they woke up and expected GSM to be live but guess what its not! I will never go back to ATT because they are the worst carrier I have ever had and just despise them.

[GoodmanR]

Originally posted by: pakman234 you definatelt do not want ATT wireless the are by far the worst carrier Ive ever had besides Cingular. ATT constantly dropped calls and calls that wouldnt connect and its all went down hill when Suncom(Telecop) was bought out by ATT. Suncom was decent but when ATT bought it it started t get crappy I spent most of my time roaming and could never get a decent signal from ATT. I switched to VERIZON in September and am very happy I would highly recomend it. I dont know if it is good in your are but it is very excellent everywhere I go especially out where i live which is in the country where ATT and CIngular couldnt even get signal but Verizon can. My advice to you would be to stay away from ATT for now buecause they are definately going threw some "growing pains" going from TDMA to GSM it seems like they woke up and expected GSM to be live but guess what its not! I will never go back to ATT because they are the worst carrier I have ever had and just despise them.

that sounds liek good, unbiased advice...

Do whats best for your market, don't listen to someone telling you that Verizon has the best network in NYC, when you live in Atlanta or Miami. I wouldnt sign on with ATT right now because their customer service is just so bad. Cingular is fine, I think their customer service is better than Verizon's, and their coverage does just fine for me.

[randun]

Let me throw a curve into the discussion. I just learned that my employer offers some very good discounts with ALLTEL. I visited their website and the coverage area is impressive, but they list no Bluetooth phones, although they do state that a wider selection of phones can be found in their stores. Any experience with this company out there? Thanks

[tino]

Originally posted by: bobolito That's right. You don't want AT&T Wireless. Not even as your employer! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Bobolito you have hit the nail on the head about working for this sorry company! Not only has service and rates gone down hill so Has Managemant and working for this sorry company...All i can say is Fire Brian Shea! Hey Verizon you want him back?? In the last year AT&T has gone to the lowest of lows to Make any money and shown as a company how they really treat there employees! I know so many people Quitting in Droves due to recent Managerial decisions, extending Store Hrs in March...crazy sat. mandatory meetings at 7:30am! I could go on and on! But i wouldnt recommend anyone to sign up with this company, i actually took all 5 of my family members away from them recently and put them on Verizon, where my personal service is ......I would go with Tmobile if not Verizon, especially since he's looking for Bluetooth Technology....V600 is right around the corner.......and so is My resignation Letter...=)
I feel better....

[ComicalMoodyDan]

T-Mobile doesn't sell service in NC.

[Laaate]

My experience with AT&T GSM was dreadful. Their coverage absolutely sucked compared to T-Mobile, who still has the best US GSM coverage out there.

And the company is pompous. They have some sort of patrician view of itself judging by their pricing plans. Their plans are twice as expensive and offer half the number of minutes as TMobile. That's a steep mountain to overcome when their network pales in comparison to TMobile's GSM coverage.

Someone said it earlier, and it's true, Cingular is the GSM provider for the Carolinas. I'm not sure how that effects you b/c I know that TMobile has roaming agreements w/ Cingular for the Carolinas so as long as you're on a no roaming/no LD plan w/ TMobile, the carrier who's tower you're piggy-backing off of doesn't matter.

--I'm on the Ultra 3-day WKend plan - $79 / 1500 minutes / unlimited 3-day wkend Fri-Sun / nationwide
Compare to AT&T: If roaming is an issue you have to pick Digital One Rate b/c their National Plan punishes you for roaming oddly enough....so 1500 minutes would cost you $149 and you have no nights & wkends
Compare to Cingular: Cingular Nation (not Preferred Nation, that'll screw you just like AT&T's National Plan does) plan would give you 1500 mins & 5000 N&WEmins + rollover for $125

IMO, Cingular is like AT&T Lite b/c they like to perpetrate the same type of tomfoolery, only to a sligthly lighter degree. If you go with either AT&T or Cingular, be sure to opt for the Digital One Rate for AT&T and Cingular Nation if roaming is a big issue for you. TMobile does not have those sort of asteriks by its national plans b/c their national plans are pure national plans. They don't have national plans alongside quasi-national plans. The only negative against TMobile is that they are a pure GSM carrier unlike AT&T and Cingular, who both have the old & ubiquitous analog networks to fall back on.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

Laaate, Cingular Wireless no longer sells the preferred Nation Plans. The plans now are GSM Nation Plans which have no roaming on them period no matter what network you are on. They are truely national plans.

[luckybob343]

Randun

I don't know what your experience was with Verizon, and I realize I'm typing this a good bit after your original post, but AT&T Wireless has some of the worst customer service I've seen in any industry. I had them for over two years, going from when they were a regional SunCom to a National SunCom to part of AT&T Wireless. With every name change, the customer service got worse. In the course of my using their service, they:

- lied about my contract length (I was only with them for two years b/c I believed I was under a second contract. It was only after it had supposedly "run-out" that they told me I never was under the second contract)
- called me a liar (errant calls to numbers I didn't know on my bill were not removed, as I "just as easily could be lying to them")
- lied to me about charges related to my service termination (I was told I could cancel before a certain time and carry a zero balance. I cancelled before that time, they still added charges and took me to collections midway through their dispute process.)

I hope you found something that works, but AT&T would be the last place I would turn.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

Randun, Cingular's new Nation GSM Plans are now up on there website. They now include 1,000 National MTM minutes on plans $39.99 and above. You may want to check the new Cingular Nation GSM Map and new plans with Mobile To Mobile now included.

Cingular Wireless

[roamer1]

Here's my two cents on the whole AT&T situation...

- Their offering more or less the exact same plans with both TDMA and GSM phones is leading to mass customer confusion
- They have had major CS problems, mostly related to GSM accounts and LNP...CS for TDMA accounts has been OK
- I really don't see AT&T TDMA coverage "declining" -- it's simply not expanding or being improved on. This is probably much more noticeable in markets where AT&T is a leading carrier, such as NYC and Denver, than in markets where AT&T is more of an underdog -- for instance, my parents in Chattanooga have AT&T and they've had no complaints at all about service, but they'll probably go "back" to VZW when their contract is up in August [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] , and I have a phone on CallPlus prepaid, which uses AT&T TDMA, and I haven't had any noticeable issues around Atlanta (other than the usual problem areas such as the Druid Hills/Briarcliff/Emory area) or in other native AT&T TDMA areas.

As for the Triangle, if you must have GSM, I recommend Cingular over AT&T simply because AT&T has such limited coverage in NC (most of it's roaming on Cingular!)

-SC

[SQFreak]

Originally posted by: roamer1 Here's my two cents on the whole AT&T situation... - I really don't see AT&T TDMA coverage "declining" -- it's simply not expanding or being improved on. This is probably much more noticeable in markets where AT&T is a leading carrier, such as NYC and Denver, than in markets where AT&T is more of an underdog -- for instance, my parents in Chattanooga have AT&T and they've had no complaints at all about service, but they'll probably go "back" to VZW when their contract is up in August [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] , and I have a phone on CallPlus prepaid, which uses AT&T TDMA, and I haven't had any noticeable issues around Atlanta (other than the usual problem areas such as the Druid Hills/Briarcliff/Emory area) or in other native AT&T TDMA areas. As for the Triangle, if you must have GSM, I recommend Cingular over AT&T simply because AT&T has such limited coverage in NC (most of it's roaming on Cingular!) -SC

I think the issue with AT&T Wireless TDMA is that as more and more spectrum gets dedicated to GSM, only a limited amount of spectrum can be dedicated to the spectrally-inefficient TDMA, so there's less capacity, more call drops, etc.

North Carolina is not the state for GSM, but of any area, the Triangle is the best. Cingular is overall pretty good there, but be careful if you're going to be hanging out around UNC-Chapel Hill, as I've heard there are capacity problems.

[roamer1]

Originally posted by: SQFreak I think the issue with AT&T Wireless TDMA is that as more and more spectrum gets dedicated to GSM, only a limited amount of spectrum can be dedicated to the spectrally-inefficient TDMA, so there's less capacity, more call drops, etc.

True, especially in markets where AT&T has both TDMA and GSM at 1900 (which includes all of the Southeast outside Florida.) I've heard similar complaints about Cingular in Atlanta and other markets where they're running both TDMA and GSM at 850.

In AT&T's 850 markets, so far AT&T is running GSM only at 1900 and not 850 and TDMA issues seem to be more "neglect" of the TDMA network (broken TDMA sites getting lower priority than GSM sites, etc.) more than capacity issues. Things are likely to get worse as AT&T starts running GSM850...

-SC

[ronin]

Originally posted by: SQFreak Originally posted by: randun Hillsborough, NC. Majority of usage will be local, but nationwide LD needed for business/pleasure travel. Hillsborough should be OK with Cingular, since that's Triangle area. The Triad is a hellhole for Cingular. My relative in Raleigh with AT&T Wireless TDMA has noticed declining service.

declining how? i'm on tdma in raleigh and my service has never been a problem even with all the issues att has been experiencing lately. though i am happy with my current service, att's issues will keep me from upgrading to gsm with them when my contract is up. i plan to change carriers, but not sure to which one just yet.