Can you recommend good service for San Luis Obispo? I just moved here....

[kirasanna]

I'm fedup with Cingular customer service. I just spent 2 hours on the phone with them and they still couldn't transfer my AT&T line over. I'm considering breaking my contract and going with someone else.... I heard Verizon and T-Mobile have great plans. Looking for a family plan. Anybody using those plans and have some recommendations/feedback on coverage etc.? I'm also interested in any phone recommendations since my Nokia phone got wet and is about to die....

Thanks!

[Andy]

Well a carrier can have great plans but not have adequate coverage, and what good does a phone that doesn't work but has a great plan?
T-Mobile would probably be the cheaper alternative, especially if you can't make good use of Free IN Calling on Verizon.
I'm on a Verizon 4 line Family Share Plan and am very happy with it.
Check out family plans at:

Verizon:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...Family%20Share

T-MOBILE
http://www.t-mobile.com/locator.asp?...lanDetails.asp
And coverage at:
VERIZON:
http://cache.vzw.com/images_b2c/maps..._west/mtnm.gif

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/C...ype=NEWREQUEST

T-MOBILE:
http://www.t-mobile.com/COVERAGE/

[COtech]

For completeness, you should also know of Cellular One of San Luis Obispo. Their web site is here. They are a cellular band operator with TDMA phones.

COtech

[pikamagi]

I'm fedup with Cingular customer service. I just spent 2 hours on the phone with them and they still couldn't transfer my AT&T line over. I'm considering breaking my contract and going with someone else.... I heard Verizon and T-Mobile have great plans. Looking for a family plan. Anybody using those plans and have some recommendations/feedback on coverage etc.? I'm also interested in any phone recommendations since my Nokia phone got wet and is about to die....

Thanks!

I live in SLO. Of the national carriers, Verizon wins hands down in coverage in SLO city and county. Coverage issues (read: lack of coverage) start happening as you travel north on Highway 1 through Cambria.

Cingular/T-Mobile is #2. Both have gaps in coverage in fringe areas (like the Broad & Orcutt area or at the top of the Cal Poly campus).

[kirasanna]

thanks everyone. i appreciate your comments.

[CRC]

I live in SLO. Of the national carriers, Verizon wins hands down in coverage in SLO city and county. Coverage issues (read: lack of coverage) start happening as you travel north on Highway 1 through Cambria.

Cingular/T-Mobile is #2. Both have gaps in coverage in fringe areas (like the Broad & Orcutt area or at the top of the Cal Poly campus).

Pikamagi...My Aunt lives in Grover Beach and a cousin also in Arroyo Grande. Both are on Verizon. My cousin in AG seems to get good reception, but my Aunt in GB seems to have occasional dropped calls, or calls that go to voicemail in her house. Reception over the last 2-years has improved some. Do you get down in GB or AG often? If so, is Verizon still the best bet, or do you know of anyone that has had good reception with T-Mobile or Cingular in any of those two cities. But from what kirasanna has said, I don't think I'll send my Aunt to Cingular. So what about T-Mobile? Thanks in advance! Also, good luck kirasanna on finding a new carrier! Not sure about T-Mobile, but Verizon does well in most part's from what I'm told by my relatives.
Chris

[Fire14]

I'm fedup with Cingular customer service. I just spent 2 hours on the phone with them and they still couldn't transfer my AT&T line over. I'm considering breaking my contract and going with someone else.... I heard Verizon and T-Mobile have great plans. Looking for a family plan. Anybody using those plans and have some recommendations/feedback on coverage etc.? I'm also interested in any phone recommendations since my Nokia phone got wet and is about to die....

Thanks!

Did you tell them you want to go to a family plan? I know the West coast & Northeast they are on a hold for migrating people over from AWE to Cingular to try & prevent network overload problems, but I thought if you wanted to add a line they would migrate you over.
Have you tried going to a corp store to have this done? you may have better luck with them vs CS.

[Rasputin]

Verizon has excellent coverage, after that it is Cingular.

[pikamagi]

Pikamagi...My Aunt lives in Grover Beach and a cousin also in Arroyo Grande. Both are on Verizon. My cousin in AG seems to get good reception, but my Aunt in GB seems to have occasional dropped calls, or calls that go to voicemail in her house. Reception over the last 2-years has improved some. Do you get down in GB or AG often? If so, is Verizon still the best bet, or do you know of anyone that has had good reception with T-Mobile or Cingular in any of those two cities. But from what kirasanna has said, I don't think I'll send my Aunt to Cingular. So what about T-Mobile? Thanks in advance! Also, good luck kirasanna on finding a new carrier! Not sure about T-Mobile, but Verizon does well in most part's from what I'm told by my relatives.
Chris

I don't do much in GB or AG; but the times I've been there, I've had no problems with Verizon.

For specific areas, you should really consider trying out the carriers. I think Verizon is generally pretty awesome coverage wise (and I've been missing it like crazy since I switched to Cingular) around SLO county. I'm sure there are weak/dead spots for every carrier though.

[larry]

I think some of you might be surprised at how much Sprint has improved along the Central Coast and in San Luis Obispo. Coverage was solid on my last trip there two months ago.

[visualist]

Cellular One of SLO has the best local coverage. You can catch a signal just about anywhere in the county, even down on the embarcadero in Morro Bay. However, if you ever go down to Santa Maria (Costco and other big box stores), you will be roaming. C-1 has good coverage at Lopez Lake and in the Oceano Dunes.
In AG and Grover, you can get pretty good coverage with just about anyone. If you head out to the Huasna, Verizon drops off pretty quickly. Believe it or not, T-Mobile gets a better signal.
Bottom line is: If you stay within SLO county and make most of your calls here, C-1 is the only way to go. If you travel at all, almost any other provider will work.
I changed over to T-Mobile because of their reasonable cost for a family plan and their $20/mo. internet service (I didn't have a land line at the time and I couldn't afford the $80/mo. from Verizon). I'm still with T-Mobile and the only place I have really bad coverage is on 166, but everyone drops off there.

[doty]

If anyone needs good Service in Slo County,, Verizon Wireless really has the best. You can argue the Cell 1 fact,, yes they do have good service, but have lost alot after the AT&T Fall out. The only thing they can offer is airtime... No Cameras, Videos, Internet, etc... VERY VERY Old school.
Plus if you travel out of County,, Roaming charges!!

T-Mobile does have better service in some area's than Verizon.

So it really is based on where you use most of your mins at, will depend on which is better.

We have 5 Wireless stores on the Central Coast and offer all the Major Carriers.. Give us a call with any questions, or for a location close to you.

[CellGeek]

Why would anyone want to go with a TDMA provider unless they are the only game in town? TDMA is a antiquated and dead technology. Thanks in advance for the explanation.

-jim

For completeness, you should also know of Cellular One of San Luis Obispo. Their web site is here. They are a cellular band operator with TDMA phones.

COtech