Introduction The Welcome Thread !

hello from my toshiba satellite R15 and verizon BroadbandAccess service. this thing rocks! (in dallas at least)

 

Hello to one and all.
It all started as a young (novice) "cell" user with my family. We at first utilized tracfones to keep in touch as the kids and wife went traveling thruout the H.D. of CA.
We soon (two years) realized this was not sufficient. We decided to try AT&T W/GSM and free phones from Samsung----P.U. We reentered the AT&T domain and chose Siemens phones for free as well. Much better but not perfect. In the mean time back at the ranch(work) I was given a Verizon phone to use. Good coverage ---but not in the mountains. Cingular bought AT&T. Family now had Cingular/AT&T. Meanwhile.... Verizon decided not to pursue renewal of contract with my place of work. Work goes with.....AT&T. Cingular buys.....etc. We get camera phones (Motorola) at work, Great cameras poor phones (being nice) I think because of Cing/AT&T.
Lots of complaints at work (going outside to call just doesn't work).
We change phones (cheap Nokias).... no more cameras but a "little" better reception. One good thing .... free to call family(mobile to mobile) 45 mi. away and different area code (it is California). we still have poor reception.
Dilema: We are taking a trip to D.C. and Florida (long story). We cannot use mobile to mobile without fee(roaming and long distance) BIG BUCKS! NEED BETTER PHONE/CAMERA/service for the family(4). HELP! I'm cheap, but not stoopid. I know it will cost. Ideas? I am open to suggestions. I am winded from writing so much. Confused? I am.

I want to be totally up front. I posted this wordy dissertation on the West Coast thread and got no bites. So, I am posting it here.

 

Welcome to WA, as for your question, If you are on a National plan with Cingular/AWE there won't be any roaming or LD charges, and that will include your M2M area as well, so if your on a regional plan then a National plan is the way to go with ANY carrier.

As for DC & FLA, either Cinguar or Verizon are the 2 first choices to go they both have excellent coverage in these area's.
But if your driving from the west coast, Verizon will probobly be your better bet, since there is a larger roaming area with them, but if you are mainly staying on the interstates then it shouldn't matter all that much, another choice with this route would be Sprint, I would stay away from T-Mobile on a road trip like this, because there coverage is the smallest.
I am sure others will add to this to help you make a good decision for your trip.

 

Indeed, add this to the fact that with any CDMA carrier you have analog fallback for remote areas.

Which area of CA are you from?

Welcome to WA from a fellow Californian

 

I am from the fastest growing area in California----the desert. Cheap land,cheap houses for California---everything is relative. The High Desert

I really love the concept of cell phones and all of the technology that we are traveling thru at this time. Unfortunately, the concept is often larger than the performance. Certainly the providers oversell the services and charge accordingly. I'm just trying to get the best I can for the cash I spend.
thanks for your welcome.

 

:clap:I am new to THIS forum, but am very familiar with many types of forums and this one beats them all! Believe me when I tell you, I do a lot of research, A LOT, and I have a tiny report I'd like to share with ya'll...(that's southern for "you guys", I guess) lol..

Been with cellular south for ten years, latest phone "given" to me by the company because I complained so much about my reception in the rural, boondocks of Mississippi, is the Nokia 3585. Great reception! BUT, to keep up with the times and my kids (they're adults), I HAD to get a new camera phone...after exhaustive research, i.e. coverage, plans, phones, etc...I chose CINGULAR, because I get a great deal through the bellsouth bundling they offer...I chose the MOTO v551. Still with me? lol...

Love the MOTO...BUT get lousy reception up here in the woods/hills...so have done another research, took me a week lol, on strengthening my reception because I love the phone so much, I had to find an answer. Went to several cell retail stores, called many cell customer support people, sent emails with questions to many organizations, including one that only deals in cellular towers...got a lot of answers to sort through and now can give ya'll the results of my research and my testings. From all that I read the SIMPLE answer to getting better reception is an EXTERNAL ANTENNA. Now, doesn't that sound expensive? Very inexpensive... This is such an easy answer to everyone's reception problems I don't know why cellular companies do not include them in their packages, or at least sell them with their phones.

I tested my little Wilson ext. ant. on my MOTO...getting 2 or 3 bars INSIDE my aluminum structured home, facing a window of course, and in the car I'm getting more bars. Also tested a SAMSUNG 650, it got better reception in my house and about the same on the road. NOW...upon further research into getting better reception, I ordered a RETRACTABLE antenna for my MOTO...if you will do a little test on your phone, you can see, those "nubby" antennaes that come with most phones, are worthless...unscrew yours take it off and see what happens. NOTHING right? In my case any way, I got the same reception with or without that nubby antenna....now, put on a retractable one, longest I found was 3"...found it on ebay...and watch the bars go up....LOL...and lastly, and most people scream at this one....those little "boosters" that are cheap and sold on TV??? They work on my phone!...So, Now I am a happy camper, I have three options to getting better reception IN my house and around my house that I didn't have before with the MOTO...don't get me wrong, my NOKIA gets reception anywhere I go...but it lacks all the bells and whistles. The plans with cellular south are too high, the phones are too high...so had to go with bellsouth/cingular for best plans and phones for me!...

So off to port my new phone to my new service and my new phone...I believe I am in one of the worse areas for reception and I feel that if this works for me, it would certainly help out a lot of you out there. Last note: I bought everything on ebay...(did I mention I like bargains? lol) and now for the big find...went to Fred's discount yesterday and FOUND a car charger for my phone and one for my g/f's Samsung. It was $5.00....she just got her new phone through Nextel, the charger they gave her was broken, and the one from Fred's was EXACTLY like the one the nextel people SOLD her for $30.00!...

Hope this isn't too long for ya'll...but am excited about the end results and if it helps some of you save time running around looking for answers, this is my honest answer from honest and exhausting research!

May all your days be five bar days!

 

I see, I've only been to the desert portion of CA once and that was Palm Springs. I was born in the Bay Area and we Northern Californians don't always make it down south .

 

I think you are on to something.
What do you know about the theory of an AT&T sim card and phone being used with Cingular service (due to the switch). I've gotten this story from a number of people but others debunk it.

 

Hi: I'm interested in starting in the wireless business, I will appreciate any help or support, where can I go for assistance and or direction ?

Thanks

Gladys

 

cuda2003 -

See our forum on that topic here:
http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27

 

Hi JFB, thanks for the info, I finish reading the threads, I will keep reading the forums, but I wonder if there is any wireless trade show?

 

CTIA has annual shows.

http://www.ctia.org/

 

WA is slower on the weekends so it can take some time to get a reply.

 

Day one Keynote speaker Sean "p diddy" Combs???


Umm....Music on demand?

 

Thank you Matt

 

I just wanted to come in and say Hi to everybody. I am new to this site. I look forward to learning and helping.

 

Welcome to WA optimus. It will be good to have you.

 

Its good to be here. Thank you. Thank you. (takes bow) :lmao:

 

Add multi-SIDS to Samsung 670

Hi,

How do you add multiple SIDs to Samsung 670?

Thanks,
Jenifer

 

Hello! whats up yall

 

I am getting transferred to Daytona Beach area and was wondering what wireless company has best area coverage and nationwide plan.

 

That's hard to answer. What provider do you have now? Test them to see if the coverage is acceptable in all the places you'll be spending time at. If it's not sufficient, try a 30 day trial to see how other providers fare in that area. Also post in the Southern Forum. Gamer03 is from FL, he'll be able to provide some feedback.

 

Well from what I have heard (from my friend) is that Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint (if you don't do a lot of travelling) are the best ones for the Daytona Beach area.

I haven't had any problems with Verizon, but I live on the west coast of Florida.

I would also suggest posting a question like this in either the Cingular or Verizon forum on Howard Forums.

Good luck and welcome to WA.

 

hello everyone. my name is michelle and im new to this site. so hi

 

Welcome to WA Michelle, hope you find answers to your questions & have a good time learning here.

 

Hello!!!

 

Hi! Thanks for the warm welcome!

I have a Nextel Motorola i710. The present four rings is often insufficient for me to respond (I'm using Ringer 3).

Can anyone advise me how to increase the number of times the phone will ring?

 

I'd like to be the first to welcome you to WA!!! Sit back & relax...

Don't know if your aware, but in the User CP section, you can subscribe to carrier-specific gropups, & thats were you'll have the best answers available... Good luck...