Help Deciding between SprintPCS and TMobile in Bay Area

[bayareaGuy]

Hi everyone: I think this is a great forum..staying up readig up till wee hours (2:44am!)

I currently have crappy Cingular service and plan to change. Get dropped along parts of 237, on Lawrence Expwy, and countless dead spots. Was going to wait to keep my
phone number but the service IS bad and all those cool new services...

I am deciding between SprintPCS and TMobile.
Some questions:
1) I hear alot of T-Mobile customers are very happy. I know T-Mobile
uses Cingular cell stations. Wouldn't T-Mobile users get same crappy coverage since T-Mobile uses Cingular???? Doesn't make sense..or does it have something to do with phone (I use Cingular with a Nokia 8290<--is this phone that crappy?).

2) Phones seem to play a significant part in coverage.
For Spint, in the forum, it sounds like the Sanyos 5300, 4900, etc are the way to go.
What are good phones for T-Mobile?

3) Has anyone been to Japan? They had camera phones for nearly 2 years now. Can we get a phone there (unlocked of course) and bring it back here to use? I heard the frequency is totally different so it's not possible...?
If we can't use Japanese phones, where can I find info about better phones from other countries that we can buy unlocked and use here (with SprintPCS or T-Mobile service/technology).

Thanks for the info!!!

Sonny

[christof]

Hi--

1) Yes, T-Mobile is piggybacking on Cingular's network in CA/NV. I don't think it's your phone.

2) From what I've heard also, Sanyo's are the best in regard to reception. HOWEVER, I use the Hitachi P300. I attend UC Santa Cruz and can honestly say that this phone has provided me with excellent service on campus. It isn't bulky, it's stylish, it's business-like. If you don't know, we're on top of a hill in Santa Cruz, where there is absoutly no cellular coverage. I've been able to sustain phone calls with 1-2 bars on my phone. Yes, there are definite problems with making calls inside a building, since the network is 1900mhz; however, the minute plan I have (through retention) was well worth it. I'm still able to use my minutes, and I have a cool Vision phone that works pretty well--I hope content improves soon, though.

3) You'll only be able to use foreign phones if they're on GSM networks. With these phones, you're simply able to swap your SIM card ("smart chip") from your current phone to your foreign phone. Please keep in mind, however, that your foreign phone needs to be compatible with your network. There are some phones that aren't compatible. For GSM handsets, you'll need one that runs on 1900mhz (and/or 850mhz in the future). With CDMA networks (VZW and Sprint), you can't do that. You have to use one of the phones that are authorized for the network.

I've used ATT (CellONE) TDMA, Sprint, VZW/GTE, Cingular (PacBELL)... The only carrier I haven't tried is Nextel. VZW has outstanding coverage. ATT TDMA is good, but the technology is getting old, and there really isn't a 3g migration path available for TDMA networks. I hate Cingular. My girlfriend has it, and service is horrible. She uses the phone in San Diego and the Bay Area I can't get through during the unlimited nights and weekends or during commute hours. The network is overloaded with too many subscribers. She misses calls as they go directly to voicemail... It's a great waste of minutes on my cell phone... I generally have to call back, at the most, 5 times in order for my call to go through.

There isn't a good GSM carrier in the Bay Area. ATT might change that once they have their network up and running almost EVERYWHERE. I've heard service is good, but I'd wait another year or two before I jump on. VZW is great. SPRINT is so-so, but their plans (once you go through retention) are outstanding. If you don't place long-distance calls, however, and you plan to only use your phone in the Bay Area, you might want to consider MetroPCS. They're a CDMA carrier... $35/month, no contracts, no fees, no catches: unlimited anytime from anywhere in the Bay Area to anywhere in the Bay Area.
Best of luck. IMHO, stay away from the GSM carriers for a while.

[bayareaGuy]

Christof:

Thanks for the info! Sounds like you have SprintPCS and it's pretty good... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]


Now, my question to any T-Mobile user is:
We all know Cingular stinks. So....how many of you Tmobile users in the Bay area is getting wonderful service, if you are using Cingular network??? That doesn't make sense. If you have a technical explanation, I would be interested.
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

[714tmobile]

Originally posted by: bayareaGuy
Christof:

Thanks for the info! Sounds like you have SprintPCS and it's pretty good... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]


Now, my question to any T-Mobile user is:
We all know Cingular stinks. So....how many of you Tmobile users in the Bay area is getting wonderful service, if you are using Cingular network??? That doesn't make sense. If you have a technical explanation, I would be interested.
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

Can't speak for bay area... but I can say that Cingular/T-Mobile have dumped a ton of money into upgrading their GSM infastructure. Also, T-Mobile was approved for some sites (I read this on a few other threads) that Cingular was denied.

[larry]

That's interesting. I haven't yet seen T-Mobile apply for any sites on their own. It looks to me like Cingular does most of the work and T-Mobile reaps the benefits.

[714tmobile]

Originally posted by: larry
That's interesting. I haven't yet seen T-Mobile apply for any sites on their own. It looks to me like Cingular does most of the work and T-Mobile reaps the benefits.

There was some postings i saw in here a while back that mentioned this, about the zoning they got approved for. I don't know how true it is, but it would seem feasible. I'd love to know if this is all T-mobile money, Cingular money, or a little bit of both.

Either way, they're building and expanding..we'll see what the future holds [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[chubbysworld]

I'd say it depends on the location you're living in specifically in the Bay Area. I live in cellular dead spot for all carriers (only Verizon and Sprint get 1-2 bars) so I immediately ruled out the other carriers, even though T-Mobile's plans were highly attractive. There's no point in having all those minutes if you can't use them...

From my experience, if you get the right phone, Sprint is fine. I'm using the 4900 and it's rare that I can't get a signal. Much, much different from when I used AT&T. Either the 3G network or the phone really made a difference, as there is a clear difference in sound quality and the quantity of dropped calls when I compare my phone (the 4900) to my dad's (an old Touchpoint).

The 4900 is built like a brick, but has all the features you need and you can get it for free AR. Plus their plans aren't too bad, and when you factor in retention plans, they're much more competitive with the "cheap" carriers, i.e. Cingular and T-Mobile. I guess I just don't know too many people who use T-Mobile, but all the people I know who have sprint are pretty satisfied...

Dave

[chefofthefuture]

If you don't like Cingular service around here, DO NOT get T-Mobile. The service is exactly the same.

[milli]

Yeah I totally agree with him. If you are not happy with Cingular service in the bay area then you're not gonna like T-mobile either. T-mobile uses cingular network so as far as signal reception,dead spots,coverage are concerned it's gonna be the same. However earlier complain of cingular users was unable to use their phone even with good reception 'cause of network traffic on weekends and nights.(thanks to unlimited plan) Cingular signed up more number of subscribers than their network could handle. That way T-mobile is better 'cause I heard they get their own bandwidth in cingular network and there aren't many subscribers to clog their bandwidth.

Originally posted by: chefofthefuture
If you don't like Cingular service around here, DO NOT get T-Mobile. The service is exactly the same.