cingular in Washington?

[dolphin72]

My contract with Sprint is up, considering Verizon and Cingular for a family plan. I know Verizon has pretty good singal and coverage in NW. What about Cingular? Does Cingular have the same capacity and drop calls problems in Washinton similar to so. Cal?

[plateauboy]

I've been using Cingular for one and a half years now. From my experience in and around Seattle, coverage is ok and improving for what it was when I first started using them back in September 2001. I've noticed that the home calling area coverage has expanded in Puget Sound, at least from the coverage map online compared to the brochure showing the coverage back in 01. These days, I don't seem to get my calls dropped that much anymore. Sometimes it is still difficult to get a signal inside some buildings, especially inside some of the buildings on the University of Washington campus, but I believe it is getting better. However, I will not be renewing the contract when it expires in September. I think the situation in California is with the shared network with T-Mobile, which I'm sure has been talked about in past posts.

[Sigma]

As far as the other side of the state goes, I use Cingular in the Spokane area, and it hasn't really failed me yet. As with most phones, the reception isn't as well inside some larger buildings, but I've never had a real problem with dropped calls or anything else.

[dolphin72]

Thnx, thats good to know consider Cingular has the better family plan as well as a $5 Canada long distant plan; I call Canada quite often. And the free Siemens A56 which Cing provided looks quite stylish. (don't know the performance though..) I live in Bellingham, extreme NW corner of Wash. I wonder how is Cing's singal outside of Seattle?? such as Bellingham or Everette?? Anybody know??

[budney]

dolphin72 - I would recommend going to Cingular's Web site and checking out the coverage map of Washington. Click here!

[iamjacksnickname]

are you talking about gsm or tdma? i use cingular tdma in florida but have family in bellingham. i had good voice quality and service the last time i was there (the only place i couldn't get a signal was in a basement). my phone said cingular at the time, so i'm assuming i was using their network and not roaming. things may have changed since then, i don't know much about what their doing as far as the gsm migration out there, or have any details about the whole t-mobile arrangement. anyway, don't know how helpful that is, just thought i'd chime in.

[ZaphodB]

Originally posted by: iamjacksnickname
are you talking about gsm or tdma? i use cingular tdma in florida but have family in bellingham. i had good voice quality and service the last time i was there (the only place i couldn't get a signal was in a basement). my phone said cingular at the time, so i'm assuming i was using their network and not roaming. things may have changed since then, i don't know much about what their doing as far as the gsm migration out there, or have any details about the whole t-mobile arrangement. anyway, don't know how helpful that is, just thought i'd chime in.

Cingular are GSM-only in Washington... you were using AT&T's network when you roamed with your TDMA phone.

As for the original question. There is good coverage all along the 5, with the exception of one valley that's south of Bellingham... can't think what exit it is but it's definitely between Bellingham and Seattle. My problems with Cingular come from the fact that my phone at the time (the V3682) insisted on staying with the Canadian signal until six miles south of Blaine on the freeway. (I didn't have the problem northbound... my phone retained a Cingular signal until the split of BC-99 and BC-91.)

I had no voice quality problems. Now, granted, I didn't wander around Bellingham, rushed as I was to get to Sea-Tac... but anyway.

[Chinasaur]

Dolphin,

I just left Sprint last week for Cingular, but I'm in the Tri-Cities market...Richland.

The call quality here is at least 100% better. As long as I'm in the right place (see coverage map)... Outside those areas you'll get zip so factor that into your choice. I went with the SuperHome 1000, got 500 extra anytime and paid $9.99 for 5K N/W minutes..much better than anything Sprint offered me when Iquit.

I get performance superior to Sprint. I don't get the dropped calls, lost signal, line squeals/popping, echoes, etc I got with Sprint. Also, the rollover minutes ($39 and up plans) are nice, and Cingular is cheaper for what you get. I also prefer Cingulars website for detailed info on usage vs Sprints layout.

IMO, Sprint had better software on it's phones than the Nokia/Motorola/Ericson offerings. Samsung is coming out with the S307 for GSM, and if it's as good as my old N200 I will get one.

Best of luck [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]