Verizon vs. Cingular in NYC & Vicinity

Getting a concensus on this question would truly be a miracle! You can only get opinions here, and the best advice is go for the 30 day free trial with both providers.

But given your need for bluetooth, etc. Cingular sounds the most friendly option for you. I've had 'Cingular' since 1997, it has worked fine in NW CT for me and the times that I've been in NYC and LI. I'm surprised that tmobile is a problem for you in Manhattan, but Cingular will work '30 miles from NYC', better than tmobile. Verizon will be excellent too, but you have to accept the bluetooth limitations for now.

Recently I've heard of poor Cingular service in Manhattan, but others have experienced none. If there is a problem, it is only a hiccup, I certain. I was in Eastern LI this weekend (near Port Jefferson); service was great. Service was also good for me in Nassau county, near the Queens border.

Good luck, welcome to the Forums, and try the 30 day trial...nothing much to lose doing so.

 

I can live with the limitations in exchange for gereat coverage.

I am an NYC native and a VZW customer since 2002. my problems have been very few and Very far in between. Also, suposedly there are wahs to...HACK the v710 so that you can get anything you want on it.

I can't speak for cingular really. My parents have it but they probablywouldn't complain much anyway.

 

I've read about capacity problems in NYC, but I really think people exagerate a bit. I've noticed some pocket trouble areas where call quality can be choppy because of interference, but nothing major. If you happen to live in one of those pocket areas, then it will certainly be a headache for you, so I think viewfly just gave you the best advice ever. Try the service for 30 days and see how it works for you.

I live 15 mins from NYC and I go there all the time and really I have yet to experience the disaster some people talk about. In fact, I was there on Sunday in the Village and with thousands of people at the parade clogging up the network, I had perfect call quality, no system busies at all. One funny thing I noticed was someone right next to me using a Sprint phone just fine until the phone started displaying a message "Looking for service". I was surprised I had no problems at all considering how difficult it is to get a free voice channel while in the middle of a parade. After that, I drove right through the Holland Tunnel with perfect call quality all the way to NJ.

But as stated above, if you want reliable coverage outside the 5 boroughs, then your only options are Cingular and Verizon.

 

Welcome to my domain. Any service will do you well in this area. In my opinion, Verizon sprint and nextel will be your best bets in this area.

 

I have signed up for Cingular when it just started in NYC 2002. Service was decent. Starting May 2005 Cingular went down with a very poor reception in many places where service used to be fine. I am leaving Cingular for Verizon in July. I am fed up with Cingular's tech support as they unable to restore service; and it will be a problem for another year or so. untill they built more capacity.

 

Cingular is said to be haing some capacity and voice issues in the NYC area. A friend of mine traveled there over last weekend and she did have a few system busies while there from what she told me.
I have not heard many complaints about Verizon service after they started using both 800 and 1900 for voice, but their bt phones are crippled(they can be hacked, like NYC said). No carrier is perfect, if you budget allows it, I'd actually try both carriers during their trial period and travel as much as you can to see which one fits you best, or just try whichever of the two sounds more appealing to you; if it doesn't work, try the other one.

 

live on long island work in the city...have both companies...both of em work really good....work really well in the buildings but gotta give verizon the better part they were able to hold better subway convos then my cingular.

 

Are you still using your Motorola c975? If so then THAT IS your problem. That phone can ONLY use HALF of the NYC network. Now. Which version of the Nokia 6230?

 

Yea zhila what gives? Back on June 9th you posted that the new 64K SIM restored your service to pre May levels at home and in NYC. Also as NYDru pointed out back then, your non cingular Moto c975 uses only half of the network (ie 1900). Still having problems? Is your 6230 a euro version too?

 

I just got an email responce from zhila and the motorola is the only phone that works now. This is indicative of a bigger problem probably.

 

Sounds like phone problems then. Both phones should work on 1900, using the same SIM

 

Motorola c975 (1900mhz) allows me manual network selection. Since Cingular took away coverage where i live now i have to use c975 with 310-260 Tmobile. This is why i have to use this phone. I use half of NYc network??but at least i get full network from Tmobile.

My other phone is nokia 6230 850/1900mhz cingular branded. everything was updated by tech suppoprt, I still have very poor reception where i live. Cingular is loosing TM towers in NYC so this is why i lost service where i live. plus Cingular's sim tends to pick on ATT/Cingular towers, and who knows how close blue /orange towers from me now.every call drops. I have very poor reception unless i have a phone with manual network selection C975.

I also have two v180 in my household, and no luck at all. same problems.

 

OUCH!!!. Ok. Your problem makes much more sence now. Have you called and filled trouble tickets? Tryed planet feedback? How many lines do you have?
How high is your aveerage bill?

It may be time to port out.

 

My cousin switched from Verizon to cingular in 2003 and she was happy in the beginning. But about 6 or so months ago both her and her husband started having problems. Busy circuits, fast busy signals, calls going directly to VM. She was told it was the phone (lg1300) so she bought razr for her husband and moto 551 for herself. Nothing changed. Now, she's waiting for end of her contract (July 17) so she can switch back to Verizon.

 

zhlia, it seems like you really lost coverage I guess because tmobile is no longer the preferred signal that your phone locked into. I will be interested to see my coverage next time that I'm in NYC. I haven't been there since April. But until 2 years ago, when I got my first Cing GSM phone, I was roaming just fine on ATT with TDMA service. So one would think that those towers have now been coverted to GSM. And GSM has been the best since then.

The dialogue in this post indicates how truly difficult it it to get a good feeling for coverage. Look at the logic:

1. Jackorhythm posts that Tmobile is terrible in NYC and want to switch.

2. Zhila says everything was decent when Cingular roamed on Tmobile, but now that roaming is not perfered on Tmobile, Cingular is terrible and wants to switch.

Go figure. I always thought, and knew that tmobile was good in NYC. So which is it? If tmoible can't make it there, they can't make it anywhere (sorry for the pun).

I guess that the conclusion is to go with Verizon (seems reasonable to me); but the Cingular/Tmobile combo was good...too bad if Cingular screwed this up. I guess cingular picked up where tmobile was poor, vice versa too. But I have to wonder where the truth is, and only a 30 day trial will answer that question for any indivdual and their needs.

But Manhattan and the boroughs are really flat (it is an island afterall) and small in area. And dispite the tall buildings issue(which really help for antenna placement), it should be pretty easy for Cingular to increase coverage by placing more towers up in a short time...it will not take 2 years to fix this hiccup in such a major market. Certainly easier than a hilly place where I live.

Good luck Jackorhythm and I really appreciate you posting your decision. Come back in 1 month and let us know how you are faring. BT is really nice...I can sit at my pc and exchange videos, still images, Mp3, SMS all using BT and leaving my phone in my pocket!

Best,

 

Yes, Cingular gives you a 30 day trial period, Verizon 15 days.

 

Yes, you pay for service used during the 30 day only. Refunds are made for the phone and prorated monthly service. No questions asked. In 30 days (really 1 week) you should be able to decide.

 

Which phone do you have? I am just curious. Yes it can make a difference.

 

Ok. But even with the 6010 you are looking to switch?

 

Good idea, maybe you're better off with another carrier! If you do switch, however, make sure you make good use of the new carrier's trial period.

 

It should be, but they do often have extra penalties if you break your contract, etc. If you do purchase through 3rd party just be sure to read your contract and fineprint carefully.

 

Read ALL!!!! of the paper they give you VERY carefully before signing. Sometimes there is a minute limit for the phone as well. Almost got caught with this once. But my willingness to get LOUD and LEGAL (the paper said 30 mintues, Don't mess with me on what the CONTRACT said.) kept me out of trouble. Also scared the sales person but you try to screw me I might not be nice.

 

It is out and available.

On Hofo I have sen claims that it comes with OBEX. I have also seen claims that it does not come with it. I have also seen claims that a Seem edit is already out that fixes all it's issues. I unfortunatly do not actualy KNOW anything about it. I will stop into a VZW store today and check it out.