how to handle frequent moves?

[jan99901]

i travel in the course of my work, relocating every three months at least. i travel in the west/northwest, soemtimes to alaska. any suggestions on finding a service that will acommodate this? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

[DCinSEA]

You don't mention your current carrier, or if you are looking for one, but I would say stick with a national carrier like Verizon, Sprint PCS, AT&T, or T Mobile.

Most of them cover most areas in the country, and if they don't, they have roaming agreements to cover you for a while. AT&T doesn't charge you to change your number as you move around, if you want to do that. Can't speak for the others, though.

Good luck!

[xtoddler2]

Sprint its free to change your number if you move. Call and ask for a CSA change. Customer Service Area. It may be the same area, but your city has changed. However, with Number Portability coming into play, less and less mobile phone carriers are able to give a LOCAL CITY number.

Example...

You live in Los Angeles California proper city limits. You ask for a 213 number downtown (most of these are now reserved for businesses only) You would get the next closest thing, 323, and 310 (BOTH are LOCAL numbers), if they are available. Unfortunately, they ran out, and with number portability, your going to get a number in your area, however its a local toll call. So you get a 909 number in Pomona or something. Its a local call for those in THAT area, but not for you. However, its not long distance, so your not totally f**ked because of it.

ATT has coverage in limited areas of Alaska. Anchorage, Janeau, and Barrow..if Im not mistaken. Its TDMA, not GSM. Sprint as far as I know, do not offer coverage in Alaska, but Im not sure. Sprint CLAIMS to have coverage in EVERY MAJOR airport. I think Anchorage is pretty major. They have flights from Japan, China, Korea, Hawaii, Australia, etc, seems major enough. But I dont know if they really offer coverage there. Verizon might. Cingular doesnt. Qwest doesnt. T-Mobile MIGHT. Alaska is a really weird state to get wireless in. They have local wireless carriers as well. Check into some of them, or call another major carrier, and ask about roaming agreements.

[ZaphodB]

Originally posted by: xtoddler2
You live in Los Angeles California proper city limits. You ask for a 213 number downtown (most of these are now reserved for businesses only) You would get the next closest thing, 323, and 310 (BOTH are LOCAL numbers), if they are available. Unfortunately, they ran out, and with number portability, your going to get a number in your area, however its a local toll call. So you get a 909 number in Pomona or something. Its a local call for those in THAT area, but not for you. However, its not long distance, so your not totally f**ked because of it.

What on earth are you talking about?

1. Numbers in the 213 area code are not reserved for businesses - in fact, USC is 213 and thus many USC students have 213 numbers.
2. Not all 310 numbers are local to 213. Not all 310 numbers are local to all 323 numbers.
3. Ran out? Who ran out? I have friends switching all the time and they all manage to get the area codes they want (usually 310, which is the code closest to running out).
4. Why would you get a 909 number? There's 818, 626, 562, and 714 all closer than 909.

ATT has coverage in limited areas of Alaska. Anchorage, Janeau, and Barrow..if Im not mistaken. Its TDMA, not GSM. Sprint as far as I know, do not offer coverage in Alaska, but Im not sure. Sprint CLAIMS to have coverage in EVERY MAJOR airport. I think Anchorage is pretty major. They have flights from Japan, China, Korea, Hawaii, Australia, etc, seems major enough. But I dont know if they really offer coverage there. Verizon might. Cingular doesnt. Qwest doesnt. T-Mobile MIGHT. Alaska is a really weird state to get wireless in. They have local wireless carriers as well. Check into some of them, or call another major carrier, and ask about roaming agreements.

There is no GSM in Alaska.

[ockidd15]

Originally posted by: xtoddler2

ATT has coverage in limited areas of Alaska. Anchorage, Janeau, and Barrow..if Im not mistaken. Its TDMA, not GSM. Sprint as far as I know, do not offer coverage in Alaska, but Im not sure. Sprint CLAIMS to have coverage in EVERY MAJOR airport. I think Anchorage is pretty major. They have flights from Japan, China, Korea, Hawaii, Australia, etc, seems major enough. But I dont know if they really offer coverage there. Verizon might. Cingular doesnt. Qwest doesnt. T-Mobile MIGHT. Alaska is a really weird state to get wireless in. They have local wireless carriers as well. Check into some of them, or call another major carrier, and ask about roaming agreements.

There's quite a bit of "might" in there. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[BikerBandit]

verizon also lets you move your service with no charge. one thing to watch out for from any carrier is to avoid a thrid party vendor to activate your service. alot of them require you to stay in the same area for the legnth of the contract, or they will charge you a termination fee of the contract.. ie car toys, wireless to go, ect. With which ever provider yo choose (hopefull verizon, no bias i promoise) activate you service through a direct store, or at the least make sure that your third party vendor agreement lets you move as often as you need