Best So Calif (Valley & LA) Coverage?

[mdstudio]

I live in Santa Clarita and do some driving in the LA/Valley area. I currently have Nextel and am looking to get a cheaper service (I don't use it much) and hopefully better service (I had several dropouts during my last drive home).

I was looking at "Pay as You Go" service between TMobile and Verizon because it would fit my checkbook and my usage needs. After looking at TMobile's coverage in the So CA area (swiss cheese I think someone called it), it seems Verizon looks like the better choice (as far as I can tell from their tiny map). Does anyone have Verizon and like it in these areas?

Also, has anyone had experience with Virgin or some of the lesser known companies? I hadn't considered them because I figured their coverage couldn't be very good -- unless they use other carriers' networks. Could that be true?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

[TNDan21]

Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint PCS network which seems to be good in the markets they serve in California. Be warned though Virgin Mobile can't roam off the Sprint network so if you plan on using them make sure Sprint meets your coverage needs.

[Andy]

I just got back from another trip to southern California and was simply amazed by Verizon coverage there and their quality in urban corridors as well as some rural areas.

[Rasputin]

You can not go wrong with Verizon Coverage, with that being said the T-Mob coverage in Good in the greater LA Area.

[BillRadio]

All of the major carriers have spent big bucks improving coverage in SoCal. For now, Verizon is your best choice for coverage, but is the most expensive prepaid.

To say T-Mobile coverage is like "swiss cheese" is pretty short-sighted. The T-Mobile network is what was once the PacTel network and was regarded as the best in the area until Cingular took over. Now Cingular is moving to the old AT&T network and letting T-Mobile have the current one. It potentially is as good as any in your location, but even better, T-Mobile's prepaid service is among the best, for both cost and service.

There are other choices. Sprint PCS has done a very good job covering L.A. and is still adding sites. Their only prepaid offering is through Virgin which, as mentioned here, does not allow roaming.

Cingular offers an equally good prepaid. Their coverage is slightly more extensive than Sprint's, and their prepaid also doesn't roam, but they have arranged for many of their roaming partners to actually supply Cingular 'native' service.

T-Mobile, Cingular and Virgin offer prepaid service for a little as $8.33 per month. Verizon is more expensive. I suggest you look at Cingular and T-Mobile as they both have better prepaid service and adequate coverage.

Look for detailed prepaid comparisons at:

Cellguru Prepaid Comparison

[jimwayda]

I do not agree that Cingular's coverage in Southern California is more extensive than Sprint's coverage. In fact most of my friends have Cingular and in many locations in the Inland Empire, they borrow my Sprint Phone because they cannot make calls. I previously used Verizon and I would say that the only carrier that has "as good" or "better" service than Sprint in Southern California is Verizon. My company has had a lot of experience with GSM phones in Southern California and they really do not cut the mustard! Our company has gone with Verizon and Sprint to solve these problems. Some of the sales reps have Cingular because they travel internationally, however, when they are at corportate headquarters in Carlsbad, all they do is ***** about the dropped calls and lack of service. The all wish that they could switch back to Verizon. We have about 100 employees with cell phones and therefore our corporate IS group has a lot of experience regarding cell phone service in Southern California.

Regards,

-jim


-jim

Originally Posted by BillRadio

All of the major carriers have spent big bucks improving coverage in SoCal. For now, Verizon is your best choice for coverage, but is the most expensive prepaid.

To say T-Mobile coverage is like "swiss cheese" is pretty short-sighted. The T-Mobile network is what was once the PacTel network and was regarded as the best in the area until Cingular took over. Now Cingular is moving to the old AT&T network and letting T-Mobile have the current one. It potentially is as good as any in your location, but even better, T-Mobile's prepaid service is among the best, for both cost and service.

There are other choices. Sprint PCS has done a very good job covering L.A. and is still adding sites. Their only prepaid offering is through Virgin which, as mentioned here, does not allow roaming.

Cingular offers an equally good prepaid. Their coverage is slightly more extensive than Sprint's, and their prepaid also doesn't roam, but they have arranged for many of their roaming partners to actually supply Cingular 'native' service.

T-Mobile, Cingular and Virgin offer prepaid service for a little as $8.33 per month. Verizon is more expensive. I suggest you look at Cingular and T-Mobile as they both have better prepaid service and adequate coverage.

Look for detailed prepaid comparisons at:

Cellguru Prepaid Comparison

[BillRadio]

Originally Posted by jimwayda

I do not agree that Cingular's coverage in Southern California is more extensive than Sprint's coverage. In fact most of my friends have Cingular and in many locations in the Inland Empire, they borrow my Sprint Phone because they cannot make calls.

Jim, I agree with you, wholeheartedly! To clarify, the Original Poster was considering Virgin prepaid which would not permit the phone to roam off the Sprint network.

While Sprint's network is top-notch in SoCal, Cingular, has a lot of 'native' rural, coverage (including for Prepaid), even though that coverage is provided by roaming carriers.

I will admit, Sprint has service in many locations that Cingular does not, but now that Cingular has 850 MHz available in CA, as do many of their 'roaming' partners, they have a slight advantage. Overall, Cingular's own network needs a LOT of building to be as good as Sprint's in the west.

[larry]

Cingular's going to be spending the next 3+ years building out new cell sites so that they can get their CA/NV network back to being as good as it was when they sold to T-Mobile.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by larry

Cingular's going to be spending the next 3+ years building out new cell sites so that they can get their CA/NV network back to being as good as it was when they sold to T-Mobile.

Agreed. I was talking to someone who has Cingular in San Diego now and they don't like it anymore. t-mobile is the better of the two right now.