CA coverage with GSM NEED HELP TODAY!

T-Mobile currently has service covering 200 million people, then add in roaming agreements (with Cingular and a few other small carriers) for another 8-10 million. Check out their website - they cover nearly every major metro area with GSM.

AT&T is still rolling out GSM - they say they will offer it in every area they have TDMA by the end of the year, but IMO, the coverage isn't as large (for now). AT&T GSM will be hampered (GSM only) by the fact they do not have a roaming agreement with T-mobile. I don't know about the int'l rates. T-Mobile has agreements with more carriers though, if that matters.

 

I am with ATT TDMA right now and am moving to T-Mobile. I'm in Northern California, and after considering waiting for the ATT GSM launch here (October?), decided to go with T-Mobile.

1) Coverage: T-Mobile's network in CA is the same as Cingular's, so at least we know their coverage. That network has been around for 5+ years. And since T-Mobile has their own switches, I hope (pray) they won't have the same tie-line problems that Cingular has. AT&T's GSM coverage is so new that who knows what we'll run into at, say, Mammoth or Tahoe, Santa Cruz, etc., and what their timetable is for fixing things.

2) There is no price incentive to go with ATT's GSM plans over their TDMA plans or vice-versa. The pricing is the same. T-Mobile's 1000 minutes plan is the best out there right now, and no question it blows away ATT's offers.

3) ATT GSM has great phones, but their phone selection isn't as good as T-Mobile's in variety of price. AKA, there's no free phone available. If you order your T-Mobile from Amazon.Com today, you can get a FREE Motorola v60g phone (mail in rebates from Amazon and T-Mobile)! (This is what I did, should be here next week).

4) I THINK (I don't know for sure -- someone correct me please) T-Mobile will soon have "always on" GPRS plans for the Sidekick (aka Danger HipTop). If you're interested in adding that sort of thing.

5) I'm a little uneasy about ATT's networks in general after July 4th weekend. In Chicago, my TDMA phone worked about 10% of the time in Chicago proper all weekend, and only worked well way out in the burbs. Not just fast busies either: calls that didn't come through and no voice mail notification for hours, calls would get cut off after 15 seconds and other weird things. I know the networks are different, but when I called customer service, and after messing with my phone for 20 minutes, she finally just said, "Yeah, the Chicago network is messed up right now." Didn't exactly instill a whole lot of confidence in their brand new GSM network.

5) Most importantly, ATT customer service has been getting progressively worse since they bought out SF-CellOne. They used to be, bar none, the BEST. The last few times I have called them, they have been either useless or downright rude to me -- though one apologized after telling me I was wrong about a billing issue and it turned out I was right. Yesterday, I called to ask if my contract was up, tell them about T-Mobile's plan, and asked if they could match that plan at all. She lamely read a few standard plans, straight off of the website that only had about 300 minutes. I just said, "Well, none of those really match up to T-Mobile's plan, so I guess I will go with them, thank you." She says, rudely, "Well, once you get that T-Mobile phone of yours, make sure it doesn't roam on the ATT towers. Because ATT has the majority of towers, you know. So make sure it doesn't say ATT when you're using your phone, or else you'll get charged by us." It was bizarre. Oh, and not a peep of the upcoming GSM network to try to keep me.

Sorry for the long post. To summarize, ATT has TDMA service that works VERY well. I have been a happy customer with them for 3 years. But, in looking at ATT for GSM, I decided they probably aren't going to have their act together for a while and their CS seems to be going down somewhat.

 

If you are getting a GSM only phone, do not, I repeat, do not depend on it, as there is no fallback to analog or other types of digital, and you will be out in the cold in areas with no GSM signal, which at the present in California are:Mendocino County, Lake County, Humboldt County, Del Norte County, Trinity County, Siskiyou County, Modoc County, Lassen County, Plumas County, Sierra County, and Alpine County.

 

From maps and experience, a lot of Route 1, the Sierra, and smaller coastal towns require analog. I also noticed the other day that some sections of 101 south of Salinas might even require analog. Some of the hills on the SF peninsula have areas that won't even connect on analog. I once spoke to a woman who lived up in a cabin, probably only 10-15 miles from my place, where she could barely connect with analog and it depended on sunspots and the tide .

I agree with ILUV that GSM-only phones give you less opportunities to get through around CA, especially if you're going to spend a lot of time in areas like Mendocino. In my experience (see *), when there wasn't a usable TDMA signal, there probably wasn't a usable AMPS signal. So one of those TDMA/GSM combos will probably give you just about as good as it's going to get.

* - Keep in mind that many of these phones with backup analog will suck on analog. Like the 8260. The only time I noticed I had an analog signal and no TDMA, I tried it, but it was really staticy and worthless. If you really want an AMPS phone to get through on in a life and death emergency, there's a Nokia 918 on eBay for 3 bucks. Get that, put it in your glove compartment. Now that all cellular 911 calls are required to go through without activation, you're all set, right? Or better yet, get a CB radio

 

One good note for Northern California, Edge Wireless(AT&T affiliate network, currently operates a TDMA 1900 system)will be overlaying GSM onto all their areas over the next 2 years, which in California includes Mendocino County, Humboldt County, Siskiyou County, Modoc County, and Lassen County. They will officially start selling GSM here in Ukiah, in Mendocino County, next summer, GSM here finally!! They also cover Southern Oregon, Southeastern Idaho, and Southwestern Wyoming, www.edgewireless.com