Best Coverage for Jackson, MS area

[cgd]

Hi, I a newbie here from Jackson, MS. I presently have the Cingular GSM Nation plan, but am looking to switch because Cingular's customer service these days leaves something to be desired (IMO). I do travel outside Jackson sometimes, and occasionally out of state. Should I try Sprint, Cellular South, or Alltel? Thanks.

[cryogenic]

Cellular South is a bit too much of a regional carrier if you do a good bit of out of state travelling.... You COULD go with Sprint, but the problem is that even with the $5 roaming option, you'll still be spending a lot of time off-network and therefore losing features (text msging, vision, etc). Alltel would be the way to go in my book. They'll roam on Verizon in AL & TN where there is no Alltel coverage and it'll be included in your plan. If I remember correctly, Alltel bought Centennial Wireless's system down there and converted it to CDMA and I've not heard any real complaints about coverage. For the most part, Alltel is a good carrier. I'd go that route if it was me.

[cgd]

Thanks for the info. I went by their store today and actually got in to see a CSR within a few minutes, unlike Cingular, which has gotten worse than waiting for the doctor (20-30 min. wait on weekdays, nearly an hour on Saturdays). I appreciate the info.

[cryogenic]

I've heard quite a few good things about Alltel's customer service.. Their plans aren't the absolute best deals on earth, but you'll get good coverage and good customer service, so it's worth it in my opinion. Did you decide on anything yet or are you still looking around?

[TNDan21]

ALLTEL is a good choice. They have decent national plans and their local plans are actually very good. I've found their customer service to be quite good and in my area ALLTEL has pretty good coverage. If you aren't happy with Cingular go ahead and try out ALLTEL.

[roamer1]

Originally Posted by cryogenic

Cellular South is a bit too much of a regional carrier if you do a good bit of out of state travelling.... You COULD go with Sprint, but the problem is that even with the $5 roaming option, you'll still be spending a lot of time off-network and therefore losing features (text msging, vision, etc). Alltel would be the way to go in my book. They'll roam on Verizon in AL & TN where there is no Alltel coverage and it'll be included in your plan. If I remember correctly, Alltel bought Centennial Wireless's system down there and converted it to CDMA and I've not heard any real complaints about coverage. For the most part, Alltel is a good carrier. I'd go that route if it was me.

I believe that Jackson is an affiliate market for SPCS...meaning no F&CA.

Cellular South used to offer very good regional and national plans, but they went by the wayside when they switched from TDMA to CDMA -- CellSouth has done very little to get new roaming agreements with VZW and so on on the CDMA side. That said, they do offer a combination of an unlimited plan and buckets of roaming minutes, kinda like SPCS used to (100 mins for $10; otherwise off-net roaming is 29c/min), that might be a great choice for an occasional traveler.

Cingular and ALLTEL (former CenturyTel, not Centennial) are the best choices for heavy travelers.

-SC

[cryogenic]

I always get CenturyTel and Centennial mixed up for some reason... But yes, it seems that if he's not happy with Cingular, Alltel is the way to go.

[mts3]

Cellular South's CDMA service is pretty good in most of Mississippi. I have found a few spots in North Mississippi where it doesn't work. Around Jackson it seems to be very good unless you're way out in the sticks.

We have the unlimited $49.99 plan. Unfortunately they don't include nationwide long distance or roaming, which may turn you off. In fact I think they only offer two plans, a $29.99 one and the unlimited one. Like others said, roaming minutes and long distance minutes can be purchased in increments. I am not sure how their roaming agreements are as we have not been out of their local area in the few months we've had this phone.

My mom does have the same phone/plan (CDMA Nokia 3585i) with Cellular South and travelled through Arkansas & Missouri to Kansas, and her phone worked most of the way. I am not sure who it roamed off of though.

[cryogenic]

Arkansas would have been Alltel for sure since they do cover a large portion of Arkansas. MO and KS I'm not too sure who she would have roamed off. Seems to me, though, that Alltel would be the original poster's best choice if he's going to do any travelling outside of MS on a regular basis. I don't doubt that Cellular South is great in MS, as I've heard this repeatedly. But for going out of state regularly, Alltel would be the best bet as they give free roaming on Verizon & US Cellular (among others) in the southeast. To the original poster, how often and where do you plan on travelling?

[SpaceGhost]

I would go with Alltel myself. I just came through Merdian all the way to Slidell and had great digital coverage.

Centinall is TDMA (southern LA) and GSM in the north.

Also, Alltel is running 7pm mins in a couple of their markets, so expect them to roll that out around christmas ... of course that depends on if its successful.

[jones]

How many signal bars do you have inside your House?
Just make sure you have decent signal inside your House or else it will all be dropped calls and incoming calls going straight to Voice Mail.

[jones]

Press Release Source: Cingular Wireless


Millions in Network Enhancement Initiatives Pay Off in Mississippi; Cingular Wireless completes 75 new cell sites to enhance local network
Tuesday August 31, 9:15 am ET


JACKSON, Miss., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Cingular Wireless announced that it has nearly completed its $100 million 2004 network enhancement plan for Mississippi. As of today, more than 75 percent of the 95 new cell sites scheduled for activation in 2004 have been turned up and are enhancing call quality, multiplying capacity and extending the network's reach across the state.
With 75 new sites on air throughout Mississippi, customers will not only find coverage available in new areas, but will also experience enhanced call quality in key areas including Greenville/Greenwood, Columbus/Starkville, Tupelo and Biloxi.

"Cingular continues to go beyond the big cities and Interstates to provide our customers with an advanced network that gives them the ability to make a call when they want and where they want." said Doyle Warrington, Director of Sales for Cingular Wireless - Mississippi. "Cingular is committed to making its great network even better with ongoing network enhancements that allow us to grow and expand with the communities we serve."

The 75 sites activated so far this year enhance service in the following counties:

North Mississippi
-- Itawamba - enhanced coverage along US 78 and CR 178 at the AL/MS state
line
-- Sunflower - enhanced coverage in and around the Drew area and along
Hwy 49; enhanced service along Hwy 8 and US 49 just west of Ruleville
-- Bolivar - enhanced coverage along Hwy 8 between Minter City and
Ruleville; enhanced service along Hwy 8 in the Pace area; enhanced
coverage in and around Gunnison and along Hwy 1; enhanced coverage in
the northern part of Shelby and along Hwy 61; enhanced service along
Hwy 8 and Hwy 1 in the heart of Rosedale

Central Mississippi
-- Oktibbeha - enhanced coverage along Hwy 12 just southwest of
Starkville; enhanced service along Hwy 25 in the Craig Springs area
-- Choctow - enhanced coverage along Hwy 12 just east of Weir
-- Sharkey - enhanced coverage along US 61 just north of the Sharkey-
Issaquena County line; enhanced service along Hwy 61 just north of the
Nitta Yuma area; enhanced coverage along US 61 and Hwy 14 in the
Rollin Fork area
-- Washington - enhanced coverage along Hwy 1 and Hwy 436 in the Glen
Allan area; enhanced service around Longwood as well as along Hwy 1
-- Noxubee - enhanced coverage in and around Brooksville and along
US Hwy 45
-- Lowndes - enhanced coverage in the Mayhew area and along US Hwy 82 at
the US Hwy 45 exchange; enhanced coverage along Hwy 25 just south of
Starkville

South Mississippi
-- Stone - enhanced coverage along US 49 north of Perry and McHenry
-- Harrison - enhanced coverage along CR 67 in the Success area; enhanced
service along US 49 and Hwy 67 junction in Saucier; enhanced coverage
along Hwy 90 between Long Beach and White Harbor
-- Han**** - enhanced coverage along CR 603 just north of the Kiln area
-- Jackson - enhanced coverage along CR 57; enhanced service along US 90
and along the coastal line; enhanced coverage in and around
Brooksville and along US Hwy 45; and enhanced coverage along US 90 and
I-10 right at the AL/MS state line
-- Callaway - enhanced coverage along CR 57 just south of Vancleave
-- Claiborne - enhanced coverage along US 61 in the downtown Port Gibson
area
-- Covington - enhanced coverage in and around Seminary and along Hwy 49;
enhanced service along Hwy 35 just north of the Lone Star area on
US 84
-- Forrest - enhanced coverage along Hwy 11 and in the Petal and
Hattiesburg area
-- Lamar - enhanced coverage along Hwy 98 and just east of the Oloh area
-- Macon - enhanced coverage in the northern part of Columbia at the
13/35 junction


Having just completed an aggressive GSM upgrade to the Mississippi network, Cingular is moving forward with plans to deliver world-class wireless service to customers throughout the state. GSM, or Global Systems for Mobile Communications, is the world standard for wireless communications. Almost 1 billion people in 200 countries use this technology which delivers a superior network, the widest selection of phones, and advanced data applications, such as faster downloads on games, instant messaging and picture messaging. GPRS is an enhancement for GSM core networks that introduces packet data and provides users with "always-on" connectivity and greater bandwidth and connection speed.

"Network quality is a major criteria for customers who are choosing a wireless provider," said Warrington. "Now that our transition to an advanced voice and data network is complete, we are focusing our resources on increasing coverage, particularly in residential areas and in-building locations across the state."

About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC - News) and BellSouth (NYSE: BLS - News), serves more than 25 million voice and data customers across the United States. A leader in mobile voice and data communications, Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Cingular is the largest provider of GSM services in the United States, and has a 100 percent digital GSM/GPRS footprint across its service area. It also launched the world's first commercial deployment of wireless services using Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology. Cingular also provides corporate e-mail and other advanced data services through its GPRS, EDGE and Mobitex packet data networks. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com .




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Cingular Wireless

[cgd]

Thanks for the input, everyone. Cryo, no, I haven't decided yet. At this point I'll have to eat the cost of early termination with Cingular, which after last week's fiasco on getting a replacement phone, I'm about ready to do on principle alone. I like to vote with my wallet in situations like this, but the kicker is that they'll get plenty of $ from me in any event, esp. if I leave. I'm pretty much a hostage to my contract.

Plus I've been trying to get info on Alltel's coverage, which thankfully y'all have provided. Cingular's coverage is very good here, and I've had little or no trouble with it when travelling. I travel in-state a couple of times a month for work, but can check out a phone from my employer. I travel out of state a few times a year, and this was why I considered Cellular South with their additional travel minutes, since I don't do this ALL the time, and their service is supposed to be good.

I have time to decide, so I'm not gonna do anything in haste.

Thanks again!

[cryogenic]

btw... CQD, take what jones says with a grain of salt. He's by far the biggest Cingular cheerleader on these boards. From what I can tell, it's not so much signal strength that you're having issues with, so I'm not sure why jones busts out with the propaganda about improved coverage. I'm sure you've found this coverage map,but here it is for anyone else that might want to take a look at it. Unfortunately it's not a very good indicator of immediate coverage in MS .
http://www.alltel.com/estore/wireles...om_map_775.gif
and here's a map of the local one for Jackson
http://www.alltel.com/estore/wireles...e_maps/MIS.gif

[jones]

Because it's always VZW Cheerleaders saying VZW is the one w/ the Best Coverage w/ the Best Realiable Network. And it's getting to be Boring.
It's about time Someone, Changes this Tune.
If that's the way you feel, that's exactly others feel who are not VZW Cheerleaders.

[cryogenic]

VZW doesn't have the best coverage everywhere, but around where I live Cingular is mediocre at best and VZW owns everyone. AT&T even has better coverage here than Cingular does. I'm not a cheerleader for any carrier. I have Sprint, but I don't recommend it to everyone as they're far from perfect. I've had Cingular & US Celluar as well. Both of whom were decent. I just recommend whichever carrier will serve a person the best. In this case, given the fact that he's upset with Cingular's customer service and business practices, he's looking to switch carriers. Coverage apparently has not been an issue. Both Alltel and Cellular South have excellent coverage in MS. The deciding factor is probably going to be how much he travels outside of Cellular South's coverage area and whether that will be enough to warrant going with Alltel's national plan. He's already said that staying with Cingular is not really an option.

[jones]

At least they admit they have coverage Holes.

That's why Cingular is adding Cell Sites.

[cryogenic]

Right, but you're missing the point. Cingular's coverage was never the issue here... Your first post about how if he has no signal in his home he won't receive calls and then the subsequent post about how they're adding towers in MS have no bearing on the situation. He's satisfied with Cingular's coverage, but he hates Cingular's customer service and business practices. Cingular is not his best choice here, deal with it. Cingular is not the best thing since sliced bread. No single carrier is best for every person in America. I have yet to see you suggest anything other than Cingular to anyone.

[jones]

Coverage is always an issue.
you just said: Cingular is mediocre at best (Alltel who?)
That's why they adding towers.

[SpaceGhost]

I personally never recommend Cingular. One of the biggest reasons is the amount of complaints they receive. If you check out the badbusinessbureau.com (not to be confused with better business bureau), you'll find they have double the complaints as any other carrier. Two of the major complaints are the bad practices and unwilling to work with customers on their bills.

Besides, roll over minuts is a scam

[cryogenic]

They're mediocre in my area... the original poster even said that coverage in MS is nothing short of excellent. Obviously just having great coverage is not enough for the original poster. Cingular is a good carrier, in all honesty. This poster has decided that he's going to switch. Any input about Cingular is not going to change his decision, most likely. As of yet, you've not answered the original question. The question was basically "Alltel, Sprint, or Cellular South". Your answer was "Cingular". That wasn't one of the options.

[jones]

So you're a Cheerleader for ALLtel?

[cryogenic]

I'm not a cheerleader for anyone. I'm a Sprint customer, but I don't recommend them to everyone who crosses my path. Everyone has different needs for a carrier and I recommend based on that. I would never in a million years recommend Cingular for someone who needs unlimited high-speed data. I wouldn't recommend Sprint for someone who spends most of their time in the rural areas and wants to maintain use of all of their features (Sprint can roam on VZW & Alltel, but loses vision and text msging).