Buffalo/Western New York Region?

Andrew6325,
I'm fom Rochester...depends on your situation. Do you travel much or do you stay mainly in metro BUF? If you travel, do you go overseas, to major cities or rural areas?

Western, NY has all of the big carriers. They all have pros/cons. Whatever suits your needs is what is best for you. We need to have a bit more info on your intended areas of usage before we can help.

 

I just came back from Buffalo and surrounding areas for an extended stay and from Corning NY to Buffalo, from highways to center city and inside buildings I had full digital coverage with my Verizon Cell phone. I never had that with the other providers.

 

If you just want solid coverage I say go with Verizon. They have a great rep in western, ny.

If you want a different technology other than CDMA, and want the flexibility of being able to swap out different phones using SIM cards I like T-Mobile which is GSM. They have a nice footprint if you stay in major cities and works well in BUF too.

 

I have lived in Buffalo all my life. (Actually in Orchard Park, just south of Buffalo.) I have Verizon Wireless currently, and it works awesome! About 2 years ago, my wife had sprint, and it was horrible! It would roam anywhere more than 20 miles outside Buffalo! Im not sure if that has improved any or not. Cingular is ok as far as coverage goes, but I was VERY DISSATISFIED with their customer service! Also, In some areas like in Genesee and Wyoming counties, My sisters Sony Ericson GAIT phone will do some weird stuff! (GO to At&T or T-Mobile, and it will not place or reeceive calls when it says that! - possibly an equiptment problem. My friend had T-Mobile. Its fine in the city or on the interstate, but once you get away from there, the coverage sucks!
My advice is to go with Verizon Wireless. I have traveled across the country with them and have NEVER been dissatisfied with their service.

 

can someone provide recent info on cingular coverage in orchard park?
is it good reception?
also, what frequency does cingular mostly use in the western new york area: is it gsm 850 or gsm 1900?
thnx

 

GSM coverage is great when i was in Buffalo last fall.

 

Both daughters attended UB. Verizon coverage was excellent wherever they went in the region. I had the same positive experiences while visiting.

 

Greetings from UB! I would say that around this area, Verizon has got you covered the best. Sprint is not bad either, i have not found many dead spots. Im pretty sure Cingular uses 850 here, but I could be wrong.

 

Cingular has awesome coverage in buffalo, and also cingular is building up the network in NY like crazy. Towers are going up all over the place. Rochester has gotten quite a few and so is albany. Network integration from the merger is coming to this area soon.

 

And how do you know all this?

 

Verizon is the king of coverage in Western NY and most of Upstate for that matter. Cingular does provide excellent coverage but, in IMO I find that VZW has the edge.

Another advantage I have found for VZW is that when traveling to Canada, I have held a native VZW signal throughout the Niagara Falls area and believe it or not, as far west as St. Catherines, ON. Yes, I have been able to repeat this on several occasions. I have not held a Cingular signal as well in this area, as the Cingular towers do not seem penitrate into Canada as far as VZW.

Anyway, you can't go wrong with either VZW or Cingular. Why not test both and choose the that one works best for you?

 

This is true VZW penetrates into Canada even 5 miles after the Border,
(it must be because this road is parallel to the US Border)
but why VZW has a weak signal at the US Customs where Greyhound Passengers go through Inspection,
i don't know.
Once you cross the Border/Bridge w/ GSM, Fido and Rogers takes Coverage Immediately. You will Not Believe the GSM coverage in Canada Awesome.
Then again Coverage Quality where you Live, play and work
is what matters, since you're the one paying your Bills.

 

Should be fine in Orchard Park, though "Orchard Park" is pretty big area, what part ya talkin about? The Town in general or the Village?

Cingular legacy system is 850.
Cingular Acquired System, Formerly AT&T Wireless is 1900.

 

Just a guess, but he probably lives there? Seeing is believing?

 

Just looking at his name gives me the answer.

 

I'm on the inside and ahve been to buffalo quite a few times in the last year.

 

whosurbud:
thnx for the reply. i mean in the Village of OP.
my daughter will be going to school in Bennington and her grandmother lives in OP.
thnx

 

Some of the coverage by Cingular are
dobson which is a rural carrier in Northwest, NY.
So the coverage is a combination of
Cingular and dobson

 

In the village of OP, should be fine, there's a site with most all major carriers on it right there in center of the village. I think Bennington is in Wyoming Cty, SW of Attica? A Dobson service area, in a spot where the last time I was there had little to no GSM coverage from Dobson. Either that or they had a temporary site problem. That was well over 1 1/2 years ago. I'm sure Dobson would be finished with their GSM overlay by now though. At the time I think they had like one site left to convert to GSM.

 

Dobson covers mostly just the "Southertier", and that sliver of Genesee & Wyoming Cty's where their license is. "Northwestern" NY GSM is dominated by Cingular in Erie & Niagara Cty.
T-Mobile has some GSM as well, but covering mostly where the pops are, not much in the rurals, other than major roads (e.g - I-90, etc), as they haven't been around as long. Unlike Cingular & Verizon, the 2 legacy 850 cellular carriers, both been around for long time.