Sound quality comparison

Actually, Power Control is an industry term, as it's defined by 3GPP:

http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/FeatureOrStudyItemFile-50033.htm

Anyway, sorry for splitting hairs

 

Well my below opinions are (Verizon)
lol
actually one of verizons close affilates Vodafone is an overseas wireless providers so in a way you can say that they have; not Verizon litterally but they Verizon does own part of Vodafone.
As to the coverage maps, even though they are not competly correct if you check the maps Verizon still has more coverage.

Oh yeah, nobody rains on my parade

I have used sprint, T-Mobile, Cingular (the worst I had in my opinion), and Alltell; do i need to even mention Verizon? This is the only company I have been 100% satisfied with, even when Verizon was Bell Atlantic Mobile I was very satisfied (I have used each of theese providers 2 years untill changing to the one and only Verizon)

Another point, you have the same great quality on Verizon with 2 bars as you do on Cingular with all 5 bars basically you admitted that itdoes have better quality.http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/images/icons/signal.gif

________________________________________________________________
Verizon, the best cell phone company in MY world (is that betterms. princess?!) http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/images/icons/signal.gif < thats Verizon

 

I will not edit like you said no carrier can have 100% coverage, but verizon has more than anyone else in the us if you will look at the maps you can see this

 

The maps don't really give you an idea of the actual coverage. If you can find a Verzion map that doesn't show it's roaming partners with it, then you can kind of compare them. You can't judge a carrier by it's map. Without roaming partners, I believe that Alltel has the largest native coverage area.

 

I know you're a front man for Verizon so it's probably useless to point this out, but even though you may find this really, really, really hard to believe there are places where other carriers do even better than Verizon, but I'm sure you don't believe that could ever be so it probably should not be pointed out to you since you more than likely think that never could be.

 

It's the other way around, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon.

And good luck trying to use your CDMA Verizon phone on any of Vodafones other networks abroad, since they are 90% GSM/WCDMA

 

That was my thought too.

 

As stated before, you can not go by different carriers online or printed maps, the closest company to actual coverage is T-Mobile, to me Verizon & Cingular are about the same too generalized & vague.

Also as stated every carrier has their strengths & weakness and if you took every carriers roaming ability away, I think Alltel would be #1 not Verizon.

It does seem you are a front man for Verizon as others have said & I can't help but agree, in fact I am sure your in NJ or NYC.

 

If I may add to this: Both Verizon & Cingular show great coverage in my area, however the indoor coverage from my house on my Verizon phone is bare minimum to non-existant. Verizon took over the 1900PCS license from PrimeCo in WI and inspite of their continued improvements, the indoor coverage has not improved in the 4+ years that I have had them.

Just my 2 cents

 

Too many generalizations can be made about QOS (quality of service.) People are constantly telling me that cingulat&t is supposed to have service that trumps T-Mobile but everywhere I go indoor coverage isn't all that hot and T-Mobile's is as good and often times better than what I get with the cingulat&t phone that I have. So what I think this means is that you cannot absolutely say that one or the other trumps the other. Wireless is very variable and can change from one block to the next. So saying that "X" is always superior does not have any basis in reality.

 

Were both right. Power Contol is a common term to decribe a technical process.

 

Yes, AMR-HR does seem a little more problematic than EVRC. However, some factors to take in consideration is RF noise on the network and the quality of the phone. With a good phone and in a good area like NYC/NJ, I find AMR-HR to sound as good and in some cases better than EVRC. However, most of the times EVRC wins.

 

It's all subjective as to what people perceive as better sounding.

 

One company can really never always be better that the others. Cingular has both 1900 and 850, so in the area of question you may be using 1900. So the coverage would be comparable to T mobile in assume that both of the towers are similar in location.

 

Not so. I've used a cingulat&t account with a 1900 only phone and didn't get as good as T-Mobile. I used a dual band phone with both 850 and 1900 and got satisfactory with cingular but not as good as T-Mobile. Among other things that affect reception are where the nearest base station is located. In my case the nearest T-Mobile mast is just four blocks from me. I've not been able to determine where the nearest cingulat&t mast is. As I said previously, there's not absolutes with wireless and that it can vary widley in a small space depending on many factors.

 

You're right about that. I find that T-Mobile (at least in my area) has a cleaner/clearer sound quality than AT&T/Cingular, and to me that's what I call "better" sound quality. However, AT&T/Cingular does sound louder than T-Mobile and that's what some people call "better" sound quality even though it introduces some minor distortion to the overall quality. This is based on my tests using the same exact phone at the same exact locations calling the same phone number. Both networks were using the AMR-HR codec during the tests.

When we switched phones (first used a RAZR, then my Nokia 6131), we all agreed the 6131 sounded better (due to better earpiece) than the RAZR. However, with either phone, I still found T-Mobile to sound slightly better (cleaner with less distortion) than AT&T/Cingular.

 

AMPS - sounds a little muffled, and far off.
CDMA1x - just sounds far off
CDMAIS95 - seems like CDMA 1x just higher pitched
GSM - far off, and it sounds like half-rated codec
TDMA - Sounds loud, and clear

IMO, TDMA sounds the best and sounds closest to a landline. And GSM sounds just like Cingular!

CDMA doesn't sound to good though - maybe just not used to it. And the AMPS is just a little staticy.

 

No carrier can really give you true and complete nationwide coverage without including roaming partners. No carrier comes close- ALLTEL has the largest geographic network, but without roaming partners in the bigger cities they'd be out of luck; Verizon has huge gaps of native coverage in the South and Central U.S., Cingular is lacking somewhat in the Midwest and definitely in the Western U.S., etc. etc. Carriers depend on each other, that is just a fact and no one carrier is BEST for an entire country. Sure, Sprint gives you the largest free roaming coverage area of any carrier, but that does not mean they are the best everywhere. Maybe a GSM carrier has the better network in an area than a CDMA network Sprint roams on...there are just too many variables involved- so "Best Wireless network" or "Fewest Dropped Calls" means nothing to me as an individual user.
~Andy

 

You are right about the phone playing a major role and I guess everything also depends on how well the network is set up. I have never used a Cingular phone on the East Coast, but only in the Western U.S., where they do have some known issues, so that's why I think my observation is probably not 100% true.
I guess consistency wise, I have always found EVRC to do better, even in badly built out markets, but again, that may just be a coincidence, and my own interpretation of what sounds "good".

 

Something else you'll find is that really small phones or phones with small transducers (speakers) will often have less "pleasant" or natural sound than phones that have bigger transducers. My Nokia 6310i has great sound and it all sounds natural to me. A similar call placed on my Nokia 6030 sounds plenty loud but to me sounds a lot harsher to my ears and I attribute that to the 6030 being a smaller handset with a smaller transducer than is in the 6310i. But then again as I said previously people's perceptions of what is "better" sounding is often subjective. To me the benchmark is how it sounds compared to my wired phones. And comparing to wired phones you have to have similar conditions which means you cannot fairly judge the sound while you're outside on a busy street corner or traveling down the highway at 110 km/hr in your Harley-Davidson

 

In my view, like it was said before by many, It is a very subjective issue here and every thing depends on coverage as well as handset. Traveling over seas, using GSM and that is with any phone (in the areas where I travel) the call quality is excellent and is equivalent to land line and this is due to the stronger Tower signal allowed as compared to the US as well as the very strong signal almost any where one goes. If I am to compare this with the US GSM and CDMA, the US systems fail big time on all fronts. But above all we all need to keep in mind that no other country has the restrictions that we have here and if those were equal my bet is the service by any provider (where they have service) will just as good and the only thing one would then worry about is which cell phone to buy.

 

I noticed this when I went to Europe last year. A call to the US from Spain sounded both louder and clearer with no distortion whatsoever on the Vodafone network. I know it has to do with the codec big time (Europe only uses EFR), but even when using the same codec and the same phone here in the states sound quality is still inferior to that of Europe.

 

I agree- sound quality in Europe is superior. Every time i go over there I am amazed at the clarity of the calls. Also, I don't think I have ever had a dropped call there.

 

It does happen.

 

I am from NC actually and Verizon's "roaming parteners" such as US Cellular are not even roaming it is just extended network, the only difference is that you have to dial the area code in those areas of extended network... I think native coverage is absurd i believe anywhere you get a signal is a better way of looking at it. I think the statement that alltel has the best coverage is redicoulous the reason all providers say they have the best coverage is because there is not standardized way of measuring that there needs to be one in place because providers use different methods such as 1 provider counts citys another counts sq. milage of coverage i beleive that cell phone industry would greatly benefit if there was a standardized way of measuring coverage area and we could truly find out who has the best area however the best area is just physical area people opinionate based on their area and how well they have a signal.
I know that the networks are different but its just the fact of the matter

 

Actually not ridiculous at all. They do have the largest network are wise. Extended network is roaming in this context, were not talking about whether you get charged etc. When a carrier makes a claim of largest network it should be there own network not others (which is what alltel's is). Sprint has the largest area wise with roaming partners (it is very close between the top cdma carriers for this title), and call's themselves the most powerful because out of all the carriers nationwide, they hold licenses for the most spectrum (I'm not sure if it is actually built out on, or just licensed for). Verizon says most reliable...why I'm not entirely clear, I would guess because they believe the fewest dropped calls or maybe they think they get theirs up after natural disasters faster.....Cingular, unfortunately says fewest dropped calls nationwide, which is the most deceptive of them all, but whatever......anyway that one I consider the worst claim. T-Mobile says "get more" because they know you can get the most anytime minutes.....

 

Don't forget that T-Mobile and now Sprint are also claiming the fewest dropped calls. I find that just as deceptive.

 

In my opnion when other start making a claim like this, especialy when one has already been making it, it will not sit well with many as they see it as a copy cat thing and will end up dismissing it. In any manner, I think the jusdgment as to who has the best need to be realy made at a point where all are at an equal footing and like was said, this is very subjective as well as every location is diferent than the other and they are not all the same in the majority of the locations.

 

Yes that is true. But no one hits that selling point harder then Cingular/At&t. I laugh every time I see their commercials claiming fewest dropped calls. But either way. They should pick a measure to go by. If they just go by number of dropped calls recorded by the billing system and have somebody look at that that should be enough for now. There is no reasonable way to test it nationwide. Assuming the information from the billing system is honest and the carriers don't try and manipulate it to get the title.

 

That's true. I was thinking about what I said and remembered only one dropped call: That was in Spain on the Airtel-Vodafone network.