AT&T pissing me off Has anyone noticed AT&T's lack of phones latly? I live in Connecticut and want to stay with AT&T, but wondering if I should switch back to Verizon or another place. It started about 2 months or so back when my T250 phone broke and I called in to get a replacement. It was out of warenty so they said they could give me an upgrade. Since I use the pocketnet (WAP) a lot, I told them I needed a phone with access to that, it seams the only phone they had was the Ericsson 289LX, witch along with the T250 was the only phones you could use when I first signed up. I had passed up the 289LX because of the small screen. After talking it over with them I finaly ordered it (didn't cost me anything but a contract extension). About 2 weeks or so later I find they have now taken the 289LX off their website. Now the 289LX broke on me, and to call in and have it replaced (underwarenty but is going to cost me $10 for shiping). I still hate this phone, the screen is too small and it's not built well (I admit.. I drop the phone a bit). I've been watching their website since my T250 broke waiting for some new phone I can order to replace this POS but found nothing. All their phones don't support pocketnet it seams. It's like they are going bakcwards of everyone and taking pocketnet away after they have addicted me to it. I use the 'net on my phone a lot and it's not a service I'd like to go without. It seams like their phones do support WAP, but after talking with the reps over and over again, it seams they won't setup any phone but the T250 and the 289LX for pocketnet.. and they have disconticued those phones. I know they are going to be putting up GSM and such it looks like... allthough they have no coverage anywhere even close to me, so I'm guessing it's going to be a while before I can even think of it. The phones they have for GSM looks nice, but without coverage it doesn't look good, nor does the 1cent per K charge it looks like they are going to. Now I have unlimited usage on pocketnet. To sum it up, should I stay with AT&T, look for a future of crapy GSM coverage and a per charge on internet service, or jump ship? Has anyone else in Connecticut have these problems? I'm looking at either Verizon or Cingular to jump to. Sprint and Voicestream doesn't seam to have enough coverage (better quality of voice or being able to make the phone call.... I'd rather make the phone call). Thanks
I briefly had AT&T Free 2 Go wireless. I realize it's not the exact service but I had nothing but problems with it. I could never get a signal from an AT&T tower so I was always having to reenter the number I wanted to call. Only once did I get the phone to say "Home" rather than "Roam"(mind you I was in the home calling area the entire time). The time I got it to say Home was in the parking lot of the AT&T Store in Torrington. I tried the phone at home in Simsbury and at school in Storrs and nothing but Roam. Some of my friends in the area have Cingular and Verizon. They seem pretty satisfied with it and from what they've told me the coverage seems to be great(even out here in the boonies of Storrs). I think I'm gonna go with Verizon FreeUp (as cingular's prepaid doesn't allow roaming at all). As far as post paid I think they're both pretty similiar. I've heard nothing but good stuff about them.
As far as web access, I haven't been following Nokia's product line except that I know the upper end 9000-series has it. (A bit "too much" if you know what I mean.) I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think ATT is moving away from PocketNet in favor of GSM/GPRS when it is deployed. So I doubt anyone will be seeing any more PocketNet products. Then, when Edge is overlayed, we'll start see phones with a great deal more functionality that the current Ericsson's on PocketNet. On the positive side, ATT is committed to completing several major markets with GSM before the end of this year. (Okay, now that I've stuck my foot in my mouth, lets see who corrects me. Can you tell I'm getting paranoid?)
You are right Kevin. At&t has gone away from pocketnet and is no longer offering pocketnet service/phones to new customers or customers who are looking to get a new phone. The network is still up to support only existing customers who are currently on pocketnet service. The gsm/gprs overlay is the only data solution available and that is in a limited anount of markets. By the end of the year you should see most markets go through the transition process. As far as new phones, I have heard rumors of up to 25 new handsets/modems/asstd other devices to be released by the end of the year. But that is just a rumor. You can check out the RIM Blackberry 5810 right now. Blackberry Also, the Nokia 8390 does have net access via gprs, not to mention the 2500 name and number memory. Plus you can enhance to a efr codec on all the Nokia GSM phones by keying in a simple code.
I bought a Nokia 8390 off of the internet last month, not realising that ATT had yet to activate GSM here in Boston. Anyway, I went into a retail store downtown, planning on begging them to unlock the darn phone. Anyway, the guys behind the counter were so excited over the phone and told me that they GSM would probably be up by Sept here. Seeing that I'm going back home to Hong Kong for the summer, I've decided not to bother runnign around to find someone to unlock my phone and just simply wait it out... Can anyone verify the date that they gave me?? ~-~-Denise~-~-
It will be up and running by September. They hvae crews in the Boston area right now building the system. Wait til you see the Ericsson T68! It will be a tri-band phone with bluetooth already installed. You can check out and play with an online demo of the phone at the Ericsson site. Hold on... the GSM system WILL be great!
Exact dates, no. But it has been reported that the major markets for ATT will be running GSM before EOY 2002.
