Mom is pulling hair out!

[Aisha]

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

I just spoke with my son and he wonders why Cingluar is not in the mix. He says it's what many of his friends have and their coverage seems quite good in Miami. It also looks like with their new national coverage, he'd be able to use the phone when he's in VT...even if it means sneaking over the border to MA to do it.

Why did I eliminate Cingular again??? I'm losing it......[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

[KrustyVT]

Cingular National plans used to be a good deal - until they removed the Nights/Weekends option.

Now, Cingular National Plans are quite expensive for what you get - $49.99/month only gets you 350 anytime minutes.

Cingular Nation Preferred plans still include nights/weekends, but this plan is GSM only. Obviously not an option for travelling to VT.


-=K=-

[TNDan21]

KrustyVT, Cingular does have the Nation Preferred Plans for their TDMA markets the coverage just varies from the GSM network one's. Check's Cingular's website for details Aisha.

Cingular Wireless

[KrustyVT]

The way I understand it, markets that have both TDMA and GSM coverage have both the "Cingular National" plan as well as the "Cingular Nation Preferred" plan offered.

Choose the National, you get service on their TDMA network, but the monthly rates are expensive and there's no nights/weekends.
Choose the Nation Preferred, you get service on their GSM network, the monthly rates are reasonable, N/W still applies, but the coverage is .. GSM.

So the National is too expensive, the Nation Preferred is too limited in coverage, making Cingular a bad choice in this case.

-=K=-

[TNDan21]

The Nation Preferred Plans on the TDMA side actually include quite a bit of the country it looks about equal to the Verizon AC Plans. As far as the GSM side goes its looks to be no roaming while on a GSM network which does give you more limited coverage. Cingular Nation Preferred plans in both the TDMA and GSM markets come with Night and Weekend Minutes, only the true Nation plans which offer no roaming across the US period come with no night and weekend minutes.

As a example go to Cingular.com, Krusty and compare oh say Kingsport, TN plans to Atlanta, GA that would give you a good idea of the GSM vs TDMA plans.

[cryogenic]

Sounds like he was making the assumption that ALL the nation preferred plans are GSM only, even if you live in a TDMA area, and that's not true.... Cingular's NP plans in the TDMA areas give you a LOT more coverage than the ones in the GSM areas, because it looks to me like the NP plans aren't GAIT-friendly according to the maps. (although they might be, the maps really need to be revised)

[Airb330]

Hey Ive checked out the Cingular Preffered plans for GSM (just entered NYC for fun), and it shows Cingular/TM coverage as the home across the US like I expected, but shows a good portion of IN (etc.) in green, who is that? That is a nice built out network there....and I guess it's not TM, confused me!

[TNDan21]

I don't like the new Cingular Nation Plans at least on the TDMA side, they seem to vary by area and are confusing. You might want to avoid Cingular, Aisha especially if you are new to wireless service.

[cryogenic]

Green on that map is actually future coverage (areas Cingular plans on converting to GSM in the near future)... even though it says it's "Cingular Extend", it's incorrectly labeled, because if green was Cingular Extend there would be more green.

[TNDan21]

Cryogenic, Cingular has fixed the GSM Nation Preferred Map on their site now. The green areas are now showing up as "Future Network Area" instead of roaming.

[parthery]

The Cingular Nation plans are pretty straightforward....

Its the new Cingular Preferred plans that are confusing...for example..coverage is shown in places like Denver, Minneapolis, NYC, etc...but these are all cities where Cingular will be using AT&T. Will the phone actually read "Cingular"? Or does it read "Cingular Extend"? And if it reads "Cingular"...then did Cingular load AT&Ts SOC (2049) has a "Home SOC".

Has anyone deciphered the Cingular IRDB that is sent to Preferred Nation Subscribers?

[RITMarketer]

Removed the night/weekends option? The 3000 night and weekend minutes, or some other option?

(looks over at the wall with the Cingular Nation Plan displayed on it)

Maybe they're pulling it out of markets in order to promote Nation preferred, but it's still readily available here in Upstate NY. Then again, we don't have Nation Preferred for another few weeks, so I guess I'll find out then. But if you get on a plan that has 3000 N&W now, you've got it if it's discontinued.

P

I just got a new GAIT phone with a Cingular Nation Acct. (NOT Nation Preferred) if you CALL cingular customer service (1-866-246-4852) you can usually get one of the CS reps to add the 3000 n/w minutes to your plan. They wont do this in the store, but they did it for me over the phone Oct 1st.