Looking for Service in the Tri-cities (northeast TN)

Cingular Wireless and SunCom are both generally fine in Kingsport, TN and Gate City, VA. Both are a little weak in Hiltons, VA though. Sprint PCS is just awful in this area IMO. They pretty much die about anytime you go into any building.

I'm in Kingsport, TN and I think you should look into ALLTEL. ALLTEL has the best coverage in the Hiltons, VA area and there rate plans are a bit more attractive then Verizon.

http://www.alltel.com

 

From what I know, Alltell has very good coverage in that area all the way down to Morristown, TN... after that point, you'd be on Verizon's network, but it would be free as long as you were on one of their national plans. Last time I was in Hiltons on Hwy 58, however, my US Cellular phone roamed on Sprint back there as there was no Alltel & no VZW coverage. Mind you, this could have been a very small gap where my phone locked onto a Sprint signal and didn't bother to re-check for another carrier for a few minutes, but I still found it interesting. However, both Alltel & VZW have roaming agreements with Sprint, so if you stay with CDMA, you should be ok there.

 

Unfortunely Sprint PCS charges for off network roaming unless you chose the Free & Clear America option which because we are a affliate area is $10 more per month here instead of the standard $5 like in corp markets.

I've used ALLTEL before in Gate City, Kingsport, and in Hiltons. In all areas it was great except it was kind of weak in Lynn Garden and some of East/West Carters Valley. They however have added a new HUGE tower right in the middle of that weak area and ALLTEL is now fine in that area.

 

I also recommend Alltel... if you don't want to pay a few bucks extra for the Mercedez there's always a Chrysler.

 

Alltel is good. Alltel users roam (for free on any National/Total Freedom plan) on VZW when they leave the Alltel coverage area and enter a VZW coverage area.

 

that's about right. Verizon seems to have the best service in the area. I have used suncom and cingular, but verizon by far out does the service from both those carriers. And i have never personally used alltel but i know that verizon and alltel basically use each others towers with some exceptions in certain areas.

 

ointup: ointup:

Dan claims that Cingular is decent in the tri-cities (not SW VA)... but that's just because he has never had REAL coverage.

:hi:

 

OMG! LOL, I live in the valley! I can tell you that on my end of the valley Cingular and SunCom Wireless are the strongest as they have a tower very close to me and both are on it. ALLTEL is also quite good as they have now have a tower at the beginning of the valley.

Verizon Wireless is kind of weak inside East Carters Valley especially on the Gate City, VA side. It does fine outside but inside you may have some issues picking up a signal. I can't recommend Verizon for the valley. Sprint PCS is just HORRIBLE. Sprint PCS sometimes even has issues picking up a signal outside in the valley on Sprint phones that seem to have more poor RF. So I highly recommend that you avoid Sprint.

As far as the valley goes really the only thing I would have here would be SunCom GSM, Cingular Wireless, or ALLTEL. ALLTEL is going to have the strongest coverage in SW VA. That's where they excel.

Here is what I recommend. If using your phone in Hiltons, VA isn't that important to you and indoor coverage isn't the top priority to you then go ahead and go with Cingular Wireless. If you however want a bit better indoor coverage and more of a useable signal in Hiltons then go with ALLTEL.

Cingular Wireless will work a bit in Hiltons but once you start heading a few miles up that road it just dies out. ALLTEL seems a bit stronger and more reliable in that area.

If you really want Cingular Wireless they do have a 14 day return policy. You can always sign up for them try it out for a week or so and if you don't like them just return the phone and cancel them. You'll get out without a ETF. The only thing you would have to pay would be the activation fee and for the days you had service with them.

 

Actually VZW is one of the better carriers in Gate City, VA now... it's true they weren't a little over a year ago because the area was still analog only.

 

Justin, East Carters Valley Road is right on the TN/VA border. The tower it was pulling a signal from was on the TN side and has been digital for quite some time. The problem is Verizon just doesn't have a tower close enough in the valley to provide good indoor coverage. Maybe they've put a tower up closer in the valley but I doubt it.

Whether you like to admit it or not Verizon Wireless isn't perfect. They have there weak spots just like anybody else does

 

Here's the thing... Alltel & Verizon roam on each other, so it not as big of an issue as it seems... However, it does seem that Alltel has stronger NATIVE coverage in the SW VA area right around the Tri-Cities area. However, one thing I did notice is that VZW is stronger once you get back in the REALLY backwoods area over towards the VA/KY border area. I remember actually getting 4 bars digital signal in Jonesville, VA and somehow managing to pull VZW analog on a Cingular 6340i (though all I could do was "see" the tower and not actually make any calls). Alltel supposedly covers that area as well, but have no clue how well it works as US Cellular always preferred VZW over Alltel. But that far back in the boonies, the ONLY thing you'll get are Verizon & Alltel. That seems to be the case in most of the areas back there, Cingular being ok right in town and then weak in the really really rural areas. Alltel & Verizon seem to alternate back & forth in various areas.

 

FWIW, Cingular recently put ALLTEL's SID 74 (Tri-Cities/SW VA) in the forbidden list in their IRDBs, so now in SW VA Cingular customers will roam on VZW (SID 1749.) Whodathought? This also explains why Cingular customers are now roaming on Commnet (SID 1949) in Mountain City.

(Cingular is also forbidding SID 104 = USCC Knoxville AND SID 4158 = AT&T TN in addition to SID 93 = VZW east TN, and Cingular doesn't permit roaming on AT&T GSM in east TN either, meaning no Cingular or SunCom = no service in east TN, except for Mountain City. Cingular REALLY needs to get a clue when it comes to east TN...they are the best advertising VZW -- and heck, even AT&T -- can get

-SC

 

I use Sprint and I'm happy with it. Contrary to what TNDan21 says, you will not lose your service when you enter just about any building!

Is Verizon better? Yes in the rural areas(but Verizon also costs more), but anywhere that I've been that I consider being part of the Tri-Cities I've got coverage. I remember my phone having a signal in Hiltons, VA at the Carter Fold when we went there several months ago. It was a very weak signal, and I don't remember if I tried to make a call or not, but I did have a signal.

Other carriers may have better coverage for where you plan to be, but Sprint is far from awful in the Tri-Cities. I can use the phone in any room on any floor in my house including the basement and also in the bathrooms. I live in Kingsport near the mall, and I work in Surgoinsville, TN(where my phone also works inside the building).

I've got a friend who has both Sprint and Suncom in Bristol, and while Suncom is better in Russell County, VA(not part of the Tri-Cities) than Sprint, he hasn't gotten rid of Sprint because he travels a lot. The Sprint phone also sounds better than Suncom.

Sprint also has retention offers that can lower your bill when you are out of contract and has the latest phones too. I pay $35.99 for 650 anytime minutes(starting at 8 pm) and I think 2000 nightime minutes(more than I'll ever use so I don't really keep track) plus 500 mobile to mobile minutes. I get nationwide long distance anywhere I have a Sprint signal. I also don't have to pay more for voicemail like Alltel charges for or did anyway. Anyone know of a carrier that has more anytime minutes for less than this?

Anyway, go with whatever carrier will serve you needs best. Alltel and Verizon do have better RURAL coverage than Sprint, but to say that Sprint is awful in the Tri-Cities is not correct.

 

I guess it just depends on where you go nighttrain5 but when I tried Sprint PCS it died in most buildings I went into. For instance it can't pick up a signal in La Caretta's in Kingsport right off of East Stone drive. It also dies inside K-Mart on Stone Drive and wouldn't work inside my house or my mom's. My mom happens to live right off the interstate in one of the most populated parts of Kingsport.

My best friend has Sprint PCS in Kingsport and isn't too happy with it either. She complains about how often it loses signal in certain places. I'll admit that on the road Sprint PCS is generally fine in this area but indoors it is very lacking. They just don't have enough towers in this area to provide decent coverage.

 

Roamer;

Cingular allows AT&T GSM to Roam in East Tennessee, just not the other way, the reason being Cingulars network is twice the size of AT&T, and since East tennessee has been GSM (Cingular) from day one a SID dosen't come into play. A GSM phone looks for a LAC to determine if it's allowed to roam in certai areas. hope this helps.

 

I wonder why they are not using alltel towers. Is there a reason for that or what?

 

It appears to me that the only carriers in East TN on which Cingular can roam are Eloqui (TDMA/AMPS) and Commnet (AMPS). Well, those customers with single-band phones will roam on T-mobile in Chattanooga, but other than that... Cingular doesn't roam for squat, which is lame. Also, SID 4158 is the entire former Suncom AT&T SID for KY, TN, & MS. They're all rolled up under 310-380 for GSM now... does Cingular block that whole MNC or what?

 

Cingular wil roam on itself, Eloqui, SunCom (TDMA anyway), and Commnet in east Tennessee -- no one else. This, of course, is why I rant so much about "Cingular and east Tennessee" and stick with VZW...

As for AT&T, the entire MNC is certainly not blocked, but the LACs for east TN (and Atlanta, New Orleans, etc...) are. Cingular seems to have a strong preference for T-Mobile over AT&T in the South, probably because Cingular and AT&T compete in so many places -- in fact, during my last go-around with Cingular I never once roamed on AT&T GSM.

-SC

 

I know.

The problem is certain areas where there IS AT&T GSM but there is NO Cingular...and such areas do exist (namely US 411 in Polk County, where Cingular customers go without service while customers of AT&T, VZW, USCC, SPCS, T-Mobile, etc. have service -- and Cingular just doesn't seem to care. :rant: )

-SC

 

I'm telling you VZW has a tower in Gate City, VA and it was analog until about 1 1/2 years ago or less.

 

Roamer, That issue on hwy 411 is being worked on right now. look for better coverage with Cingular in September. good luck!

 

Umm... How is Cingular working on the issue in Polk Co? They don't have licenses there, so it's not like they can go throwing up towers..... I suppose it's entirely possible for them to buy the B-side license and throw up GSM850 like they have in Chattanooga. I just can't see that happening, though. AT&T has a license there, so they theoretically could bulid more towers and improve coverage in that area. Cingular would then have to un-block that LAC so they can roam. But again, Cingular really doesn't seem to care about that area, so I'd be completely shocked to see anything done with respect to that area. It's not like that area's going to be a high-profit area.

 

My expectation is that Cingular will be satisfied with the existing ATTWS PCS service operating along US-64, when the consolidation is complete. When I was last there last summer, I detected ATT's PCS TDMA. I wonder how far down the list it is for GSM conversion? It could have been done by now.

COtech

 

If SprintPCS does not have good coverage in the Tri-Cities you may want to look into Cingular. The rollover minutes are attractive.