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NET 10 coverage in Reading, PA?

Discussion in 'Northeastern US Wireless Forum' started by soultattoo, Jan 9, 2008.

  1. soultattoo

    soultattoo New Member

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    Location:
    Reading, PA
    Anyone here live in the Reading area and use NET10?
    I'm with a major carrier right now and hardly use my cell phone so when my contract is up I'm looking into switching to prepaid. NET10 is appealing because of the 10 cents/min. deal. This would be perfect for me, however, I'm leary of making the switch and regreting it. I need to know if the coverage is good for Reading and possibly going outside Reading 60 miles or less.
    Any advice will be appreciated!

    I have used Tracfone in the past and was very happy with the service. Was considering going back but I figured out I'd have to buy a double minutes card (double minutes for the life of the phone) plus buy a 200min. card @ 40.00 to equal 400 min. @ .10min. It just seems more complicated!

    :confused:
     
    #1 soultattoo, Jan 9, 2008
  2. EdwardP

    EdwardP Bronze Senior Member
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    Net10 uses the AT&T and T-Mobile networks, your home carrier would depend on the phone that you buy. If the barcode label on the package has C4, then it will be on AT&T. If it has T5, it will be on T-Mobile.

    T-Mobile provides coverage in Reading, so I would expect AT&T to as well.
     
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    #2 EdwardP, Jan 14, 2008
  3. soultattoo

    soultattoo New Member

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    Thanks a lot for the info. I've used T-mobile in the past and switched to AT&T only because the reception in my house was terrible w/T-mobile. That's why I'm concerned about switching again. I don't use my cell phone much anymore so switching to Net10 seems to be the way to go for me but I was concerned about reception.

    I'll keep that info in mind when choosing my phone. Thanks again!
     
    #3 soultattoo, Jan 15, 2008
  4. EdwardP

    EdwardP Bronze Senior Member
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    Glad to help.

    The probable reason for the T-Mobile reception problem you had, is due to the fact that T-Mobile's network is all 1900 MHz, where AT&T uses 850/1900.

    An all 1900 network, requires twice the number of cell sites in order to cover the same geographical area (compared to an 850 network), but the higher frequenciey tends to have a more difficult time penetrating buildings than the lower frequency.

    I am within line of sight of two T-Mobile cell sites (the closest is less than 1/4 mile away) and even in the cellar, I get full bars on T-Mobile.
     
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    #4 EdwardP, Jan 15, 2008
  5. soultattoo

    soultattoo New Member

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    I see. Well, we have a T-Mobile tower about 2mi. from our house which should be close enough, however, just walking outside my house didn't work for getting reception. I had to walk about 3 blocks outside my neighborhood. I guess I was just in a little pocket that couldn't catch it right. Maybe it had something to do with my phone too. I don't recall anymore which phone it was. The T-Mobile coverage area map does indicate a weak signal where I am but that map wasn't as detailed back then when I first had their service. I've learned to check coverage area maps now, but the one on Net10's website isn't very good so that's why I posted here.

    The info it much appreciated!     :)
     
    #5 soultattoo, Jan 15, 2008
  6. EdwardP

    EdwardP Bronze Senior Member
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    T-Mobile also has a separate web site for coverage which is here.

    I have found their coverage maps to be very conservative. Before they began to offer street-level maps, I had traveled in areas where their old-style maps indicated a one-bar signal, yet the phone displayed full bars in those same areas.

    The local geography also has to do with it, For example, if there are many trees close by, something like that could also weaken a signal.

    If you travel to Canada, you should note that Net10 and TracFone phones are not supposed to work in Canada. There have been anecdotal reports that they used to work in Canada, but no longer. Some have reported that their TracFone service was shut off after using their phone in Canada. T-Mobile To Go (T-Mobile's prepaid service) added international roaming last year and their phones will now roam in Canada on the Rogers network.
     
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    #6 EdwardP, Jan 15, 2008
  7. soultattoo

    soultattoo New Member

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    #7 soultattoo, Jan 15, 2008
  8. EdwardP

    EdwardP Bronze Senior Member
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    Carriers are always expanding their networks. I would expect that T-Mobile would have expanded their network in your area over the past few years.
     
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    #8 EdwardP, Jan 16, 2008
  9. mframe

    mframe Senior Member
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    You said you have good coverage with AT&T (and AT&T's coverage map shows pretty solid, in your area). Net10 and TracFone tend to prefer AT&T's network, when available, so you should be good-to-go with Net10, which will most likely be using that.
     
    #9 mframe, Jan 16, 2008
  10. Matt

    Matt Twin girls!
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    #10 Matt, Jan 17, 2008
  11. SmArTeStChIlD421

    SmArTeStChIlD421 Silver Senior Member
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    holy crap there's someone else on this forum from Reading, PA?!?!?!?!? This is incredible!!!

    yeah well T-Mobile is generally okay most places but look at more like 3 bars on average.......and AT&T is usually great with coverage.......Net10 will be really good for you
     
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    #11 SmArTeStChIlD421, Jan 17, 2008
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