Cricket Wireless in Utah

[RJB]

Hello I was wondering about Cricket and how reliable their service is I do live in the calling area. I mean if I just got the basic cheapest plan for local calling is it worth it to get I was thinking of just making it my house phone and do they port numbers???

[Andy]

Hey Ryan,
I'm not sure whether or not CricKet ports numbers, but I would think they do. I used to have CricKet service for about 1.5 years, and ported my number out to VZW.
If your house is covered well by CricKet, then it will most likely be reliable. CricKet still has a few holes in their network, but overall, they have a great network where they reach. Strong and reliable. CricKet does, however, have about a half mile radius of no service around my house, that is why I cancelled them.
In the 1.5 years I've had them(their network was new and full of holes), I could see improvements week by week. They did a good job. During my time with CricKet I have not had any capacity/calls rolling straight to voicemail problems. Only carriers I've had that problem with around here were Sprint and T-Mobile.
Hope this helps,
Andy

[BillRadio]

Hello I was wondering about Cricket and how reliable their service is I do live in the calling area.

Be sure to "do the math". Their cheapest plan does not include long distance and some other services cost extra. They are "reliable" enough, but they do have their weak areas. My friends who use it think it is a fair tradeoff.

Just give it a thorough test around town, and at different times of the day. The problem in some neighborhoods is that the kids max out the system each afternoon at 4pm, and you won't experience that until next Jan. 3rd.

Cricket just went through reorganization, so they aren't building cells like they were. Their initial novelty has worn off and some customers have left for other carriers, so they now have fewer capacity problems.

Compare other carriers' plans as well. For $40 Verizon offers 1,000 anytime minutes including service in 5 surrounding states, with LD $5 extra. T-Mobile gives you 3,000 minutes at that price. The average Cricket customer uses 1,100 minutes per month.

They are, however, a good alternative for those without a credit rating.

[RJB]

Well I have Verizon right now and I am getting married soon. The thing is I just wanted to have Cricket for our house phone. So maybe I will look in to it

[Andy]

Bill,
I have never experienced capacity problems with CricKet, neither have my two friends who use them in the S.L. area. Areas around schools, teen hang out places, CricKet has enough sites and capacity.
Of course they have their weak spots, definitely. But in general, where they work they usually work good.
Ryan, I would also look into what bill said about, say, VZW's local plan as a home phone alternative. You know how it will work around town and if you ever leave town you can still take your phone along, where your CricKet phone would be a paperweight.

[BillRadio]

It sounds like he's keeping his Verizon phone and just replacing the land line with a Cricket phone. It'll work just fine for that...IF it works at home. Consider a Cellsocket or similar and you can use your normal phone jacks around the house.

Andy, I understand that Cricket had some good markets, but several of the ones I know about had tremendous capacity issues. They installed rather spartan, single-antenna sites here. They had significant problems initially, but as they added more sites and people abandoned the service, it began to work better.

The 4pm 'rush hour' is still a problem, but if you're at work at that hour and there aren't many residences near your job, you wouldn't be affected.

BTW, the $40/1,000 minute Verizon plan is now available in some markets with free LD.

[agentHibby]

BTW, the $40/1,000 minute Verizon plan is now available in some markets with free LD.

Is that just a flat 1000 anytime or does that have In-Network and/or N&W

[Andy]

It sounds like he's keeping his Verizon phone and just replacing the land line with a Cricket phone. It'll work just fine for that...IF it works at home. Consider a Cellsocket or similar and you can use your normal phone jacks around the house.

Andy, I understand that Cricket had some good markets, but several of the ones I know about had tremendous capacity issues. They installed rather spartan, single-antenna sites here. They had significant problems initially, but as they added more sites and people abandoned the service, it began to work better.

The 4pm 'rush hour' is still a problem, but if you're at work at that hour and there aren't many residences near your job, you wouldn't be affected.

BTW, the $40/1,000 minute Verizon plan is now available in some markets with free LD.

Bill, I had CricKet for over 1.5 years, and I saw their network grow and I saw more and more people sign up with them, most of them teenagers or people with bad credit. When I first signed up with them, their network had some serious coverage gaps; huge areas were not covered, even huge shopping areas that not only require good coverage indoors and out, but also need a lot of capacity. Even when I first signed up with CricKet I never had capacity issues/ calls rolling straight to voicemail. Never. I am not at work in the afternoon, I drive throughout the S.L. Valley during rush hour most days and have never had capacity issues with CricKet. Maybe their S.L. Market is built out well, capacity wise?
You are right, though ,that their cellsites only have a single antenna per sector.
~Andy

[RJB]

What is LD??

[Andy]

Long Distance

[BillRadio]

Is that just a flat 1000 anytime or does that have In-Network and/or N&W

Just 1,000 minutes, but you can add 1,000 N&W and/or 1,000 IN minutes for $10 each.

[RJB]

Long Distance

Thanks