I've been an Alltel user near Raleigh NC for 5 years and literally have never had a problem. The occassional dropped call, but they give you a free minute back anyways. I recently lost my phone-no insurance but it's a long story. I wonder what I should do. I don't really want to sign a contract with anyone but if I don't I either have to pay a big price for a new phone or take my chances on a used phone off ebay or somewhere. My girlfriend has cingular and the service has been OK. She wants me to switch to them because of the free cell to cell feature-though I hear they take your night and weekend minutes first. I can also get 10% off Cingular due to my employer. I travel some for business, mostly in the Southeast and always get great coverage with Alltel. I've heard that national talk is free on Cingular but if you are in an area they don't cover you get no service at all. Just wondering if anyone has had both Cingular and Alltel and can compare them. Also has anyone bought a used and/or remanned phone with any success? I'd appreciate any help or advice. Thanks!
Cingular is good in the Carlinas in cities, but no so great out in the boonies. Alltel or Verizon will be good out in the sticks. If you stay in the city most of the time and don't go into no mans land much you should be fine with Cingular. They should give you 15~30 day trial. If you are not happy they maybe you could wait until her contract is up and she goes to either Alltel or both go to a different providers. Hope Cingular worksout for you.
I would be a little weary of purchasing phones on Ebay or elsewhere but, if you're patient and have the time to wait and look for a while, the occasional deal may arise. I've found the best deals to be either new phones that are a few months old or used phones that have been used very little. New phones that have been on the market for a while will typically sell for less than brand new phones that have just placed on the market. Used phones, on the other hand, can be a rather tricky matter. There's no doubt in my mind that many people who sell their phones on Ebay are selling them simply because they're not happy with them for some reason or another. This is probably a red flag. On the other hand, there are times when you'll find someone who is switching service providers or that they're simply not content with a particular phone. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If they evade some of the most obvious questions, such as lifetime hours of the phone.....or why they're selling it.....or the overall condition.....etc., etc.....then be cautious. One may find, though, that there are some good phones available. Speaking for myself, I've been burned a couple of times, but through a bit of experience, I've found that I've had good luck overall in purchasing phones over the internet.
as of sunday alltel will be offering a promo that will allow you to make your gf's cell # free even though its another carrier check with your local store on or after sunday. also most stores will carry certified phones ask about those they are a little cheaper that full retail. also if your happy with the service why not sign a contract, you will have to anywhere you go
I really would not suggest the switch from Alltel to Cingular, I know from experience #1 I sell cingular service and have previously had them #2 I have had Alltel, comparing those two out of myself and other customers I have talked to we have had several dropped calls with Cingular, looking at it in the aspect of Alltel having a large network and now expanding they will be the best service for you, thats my perspective atleast.
i've had the pleasure of simultaneously having cingular and alltel at the same time, and I must say that Alltel is better(in my opinion). Altough Cingular rolls over each month, the network is busy alot and you will have to attempt to call over and over. The mycircle feature with Alltel is a great asset that you can add 10 friends, any home, cell, or landline #. Alltel's features to me are just better.
use this: http://63.241.153.180/coverageviewer/B2B.html Cingular Street Level coverage map......its pretty good but we're sure that its not accurate because Cingular hasn't published it on their website yet.....its pretty accurate at city and zoomed out.....but the street level itself isn't that good
Our account was bought out from AT&T by Alltel. We have had nothing but trouble since we have been with them-about 1 year. 3/4 of the time we can't get any bars--we have no service--we spent most of our week ends on the phone with tech support. I don't know if it's just the area we are in or Alltel's service is just sorry,but we get to use about 90 minutes a month-thats all we can connect. We have asked them repeatedly to just let us out of our contact if they can't help us. Friday I talked to them and was told by the girl I talked to that Alltel doesn't care if I have service or not--if I have a contact I'm going to stick with it. I had her repeat that twice-that Alltel doesnt care if I have any service--then I emailed Alltel--they said thats not the way they do business and to please call back and let them try to help us--I will call again Monday because I didnt have time to sit on hold Friday for another hour. Anyone else having this trouble?
What kind of phone do you have? If it is a GSM or TDMA phone I reccommend switching to CDMA. Which is what Alltel really uses, the GSM network they bought is for roamers only really. It is possible they took out GSM or TDMA (the two technologies AT&T used before being bought) equipment from the towers near you to replace them with CDMA. That would hurt your service and give you much less coverage. CDMA is really the better technology of those. VZW, Sprint, USCC, Allltel all use that. Cingular and T-Mobile use GSM, nobody uses TDMA anymore as primary service, unless they are a real small local providers and can't afford to upgrade.
The information you got from Strunke in the previous post is more important than it may look on the surface. It is essential to have a CDMA phone to get good service on the Alltel network. A second point to consider is that not all CDMA phones are created equal. Some are better than others in the reception department. Post what phone you are using and we will try to help you sort this out.
I bet we will never here from this guy again. Too bad he does not realize he can probably get help here faster than waiting on hold for Alltel. Too bad they didn't pay $$ more in the call centers, I'd go work for 'em. Wouldn't the first question you would ask this guy is "What model phone do you have?" Da!
