Alltel in Michigan

I have Alltel in the Manistee area and we are still analog. I just called ludington and they said that they should be digital by June. What a bunch of crap the custumers are having to put up with. I got my new cdma phone in September and was told digital should be available by the end of the year (not in Traverse City only). Hopefully it happens really soon. They really should credit us or give us more minutes or something to make up for the problems. Really, what are they doing????


BSilvertab

 

Its finally going to happen! I was told by the end of the month that the CDMA was going to be turned on and I finally believe! I went by one of the towers on my way home and it looked a little different. I got closer and it had the digital reciever/transmitters on it! I also saw a truck at the bottom so they are doing something!

Bsilvertab

 

In all fairness, Digital service is taking a while in some areas due to three things:

1. CenturyTel did not maintain their systems to the standards that Alltel would have like. Alltel has been forced to go in and change out lots of equipment, especially on the analog side, to bring them up to a certain standard.
2. All of Alltel's CDMA towers have a fiber connection. It takes a while to run that much fiber line to every tower.
3. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to do these network upgrades and they do take time to make sure that they have the signal set for blanket coverage. Alltel is spending something like $700 million on their network this year. That is a chunk of money!

Hope I have helped and not sounded too much like an "Alltel Cheerleader."

Brad

 

I understand the problems that they have to overcome from the old Century Tel network but, they really shouldn't have pushed CDMA products when all that was available is analog and TDMA. Believe me, it is HORRID! Plus, no one can give a stright answer at the stores of when things are going to happen. There really should be some kind of compensation.

BSilvertab

 

BSilvertab, earlier this week I emailed ALLTEL customer service asking when they were going to upgrade service in the 49097 area code and here is their answer:

>>I am showing that a CDMA overlay and expansion is currently under way for your specific region. The targeted completion date on this project is August 1st, but delays are common with this sort of project, so it could be several weeks either way. This should, however, give you a good estimate. Thank you for choosing Alltel.<<

Try going to the Alltel website and contacting customer service. It took a couple of days but they got back to me.

Hope this helps.

 

I don't blame you guys for being hacked off....I would be pretty upset too. I've always been an Alltel customer so I've dealt w/ the analog in CenturyTel areas for years. CenturyTel in AR didn't even have TDMA service....they were analog only. The service in these areas are 1000% better w/ CDMA digital and even the ones that have not been overlaid are working better b/c of some fine tuning they have been doing.

My only complaint is that the towers are spaced for 3 watt analog phones, not .6 watt digital phones. If you are on digital, that is fine....if your phone switches to analog....it isn't so good....I'm ready for the overlays to be completed so that they can fill in the holes

Never happy in the world of wireless, are we?

Brad

P.S. I would say that many of the overlays will be turned on before Aug. 1st. I think that is just sort of a safety net for them to fall back on in case they run into problems.

 

Good point. Verizon, Cingular, and SprintPCS roam on CellularOne in N.E. Michigan so roaming traffic from these carriers should not jam up Alltel in N.E. Not sure about AT@T, but GSM phones from Cingular, AT@T, and T-Mobile all roam on NPI Wireless, but Verizon does roam on Altell in N.W. as far as I know.

 

How far North has the overlay gone? I am going to be in the Torch lake/Bellaire area and was hoping it would be covered by CDMA by the 4th of July?

 

I just got two new Alltel V60i phones through the mail and when I looked into the menu I noticed that the PRl was 31 in both of them. Does this make any sense? Do I need to update it?

Also, what is the latest software version for the phone itselt?

 

The latest version of Alltel's PRL is 703. Update via *228 and press Option 2.

The phone software has not changed in like over a year so I'm sure it is fine.


Brad

 

My caller id is not working in Detroit on both of my new phones. I have not used the phones in Alltel's network yet so I don't know if caller id works there, but I was looking forward to using this featire in Detroit. The rep said that caller id was activated on the accounts. Does anyone know why it is not working? It seems like it should work since I have a good digital signal.

 

I can get Voice Mail notification but no caller id or text messages in the Detroit area? Is this something that Alltel is working on. I just assumed that I would have caller id on Verizon's network since they both use CDMA technology.

 

I have never had problems with any of my features when roaming on Verizon. All of Alltel's services should be completely transparent on either network. I would check with customer service and have them reset your account because something is not setup correctly.

Brad

 

Customer service told me that caller id would not work on Verizon's network in Detroit. What is going on here?

 

It really depends on Alltel's roaming agreement with Verizon in that area. Some features may work, some may not. I have verizon and roam on alltel and sprint sometimes. On alltel I can get txt msgs or send them, on sprint I cant send or receive them. In one case I was in Florida roaming on Alltel and my caller ID didnt show any names, quite annoying, but I got txt msgs.

 

Hmmmm....That is strange...My CID has worked in every Verizon market I've traveled to. I guess maybe it doesn't work in all markets.

oh well....maybe it will change soon.

Brad

 

It will probably work in the future. I can live with it for now since I get my voice mail alert.

I have Cheboygan Michigan phone numbers that start with 231-420-XXXX on both phones and it seems like the switch in Cheboygan is always jamed up. I have a 50/50 chance of getting the phones to ring on the first try, even if I am in Detroit. I get fast busy signals or a recording that sais "all circuits are currently busy, please try your call again later, Alltel 244". (This is while calling the phones from another phone) I do eventually get through within a couple minutes of trying. Im sure this has something to do with the fact that Cheboygan is still anolog and that the digital has not been turned on yet, but lucky for them I am pretty understanding and patient or else I would send the phones back before the 15 day trial period. I am a big fan of CDMA and I believe that all of these issues will eventually be resolved as soon as the upgrades are complete. I wonder if the caller id issue has anything to do with the switch in Cheboygan?

If anyone has any information about any of the things that I have said please let me know.

Also, I have heard that Cheboygan is getting possibly two new towers with the upgrade? Any word on where they will be or when they will be built? Downtown Cheboygan has always been so weak that you can't even get a signal inside of the shopping centers. It's unfortunate because people drive up to 30 miles to shop in Cheboygan, and if someone tries to save them a trip by calling them to have them get something else before leaving the store, they can't get calls while in the buildings. I heard that Downtown will get one tower and they might put one somewhere else. It would be cool to find out the details.

 

I'm not sure but I bet that whole switch is up for replacement. Alltel uses Motorola switches and CenturyTel had Nortel switches. I'd bet that some of your problems will be resolved when they replace the switch itself. Alltel is spending a CHUNK of money on upgrades, buildouts and improvements this year so it is likely they will be building new towers there.

I know that old switches do come into play where CID is concerned. If I call a landline phone, my number shows along w/ Wireless Customer for the name. Others that I know have their name listed but my specific block of numbers/prefix is located in a different part of the switch or something like that....I've had multiple trouble tickets on it and still can't get my name to ring thru.

Best of luck CDMA,
Brad

 

I am very impressed because my wireless web and text works while roaming on Verizon in Detroit. Still no caller id there however.

 

My caller id problem must be an issue with the switch in Cheboygan because a friend of mine who is an alltel customer from Houghton Michigan came to vist me in Detroit and his caller id worked fine on Verizon's network in Detroit. The switch in Cheboygan must be old school.

 

CDMA,

Try contacting Alltel via their website...I find that they can fix problems a lot faster than thru other channels. They will likely fix the problem and e-mail you back w/in 48 hours.

Brad

 

Does anyone have any information about the overlay in the western michigan area? I am so frustraded with this company at this point! Promises after promises- all broken! I would love to have the e-mail address of an engineer in charge of the opperation. The last lie was July 1st. It came and went and still no digital. This is to the rediculus point. Well see if they can get their acts together by the end of the month.

No other company would do this,
Bsilvertab

 

I suggest you try writing them from the website....I tend to get better answers from there than from anywhere else I've tried. It usually takes about 2 business days to get a reply but the information is generally accurate.

Brad

 

Bsilvertab, I posted a message on the forum a short time back from CS telling me they expected the overlay to be complete around August. I'm located in the Vicksburg area and coverage is still lacking here but as of a week and a half ago I did notice that Three Rivers is now digital and running well. I share your frustration, but at least I'm seeing some progress. Hope this helps.
Lynn

 

I just came back from Michigan, I was going to get either the a530 or the Vx6000 but no analog scared me so I went with the Vx4400, I landed in Traverse City had good digital coverage, somewhere past the Indian Casino going East out of Traverse City I lost Digital as I went north along Torch lake I picked up only analog, Had analog at Shanty Creek I stay at Cedar Rivers, had only analog in Bellaire, and at my wife's family golf just east of Bellaire I could pick up a digital signal barely. After having a flight cancelled in Traverse City , I went east from Traverse to Grayling and jumped on the 127 to the 10 had great coverage their and into Midland which is Verizon, got lucky and got out of Midland and then got lucky again and got out of Chicago, dang Thunderstorms.

 

Yeah right. I tried contacting them on the web two weeks ago on this matter, but all I've gotten are two automated responses saying the usual automated garbage.