Switching from Tmobile??
I live in Davis, CA and am thinking of switching from Tmobile to Cingular. Honestly I haven't heard many good things about Cingular's reception and having network overloads(Consumer Reports). On Tmobile the circuit never get overloaded(at least when I've gone places). I was just wondering how bad it is? I'm an SBC costumer and therefore can get a discount off my cingular bill. I figured, that compared to Tmobile, cingular might not be so bad. Is it true? Thanks for your help.
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newguy said:Sweet! I've got Batman underwear. We can team up.
I'm an SBC costumer
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Actually, a great deal of T-Mo's coverage in Cali is on Cingular's network. My suggestion is this: Talk to your friends with Cingular, then stop by any Cingular location and have them do a search of the areas you use your phone most frequently. They can see where you might have problems before you commit to a contract.
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I dont think i would...T-mo just bought all of Cingular's towers in cali and nevada. And 10mz of their spectrum
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Manwithastick said:
I dont think i would...T-mo just bought all of Cingular's towers in cali and nevada. And 10mz of their spectrum
they did that because they would have overlapping coverage by taking on ATTWS, and it was part of the deal, that they had to sell any areas that they would control too much spectrum in.
cingular customers will noy see any loss of coverage, only an increase in it.
The mian thing you have to remember is that T-mobile ONLY uses 1900 Mhz, where as Cingular uses BOTH 850 and 1900, so on a national level, you will get better coverage with Cingular by nature, not to mention that we have more towers and roaming agreements for a much larger footprint.
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Cingular has sharing with T-Mo for up to four years on those towers, and gains 10MHz in NY as well... once the buyout is completed and the two networks integrated, it will be a non-issue. No customers from either company will be affected. Looking at it from a customer standpoint, Cingular uses two GSM bands where T-Mo uses one... Cingular has a much larger digital footprint, and offers better value for the money than T-Mo on national plans. While it may be true that T-Mo has a lower cost for comparable minutes, Cingular Nation GSM includes unlimited N&W and unlimited M2M on most price points. While T-Mo is growing fast, they have a long way to go to match Cingular. Adding a second GSM band would help, as would more network infrastructure.
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switching is not a bad idea, depending on where you're located. T-mobile did not buy cingulars towers. They were using a percentage of their sites. Now they have their own. Cingular scratched the relationship because they have acquired AT&T, and will have a wider area of coverage with same technology. If you live in southern cal and need a good deal on a phone, i can hook you up with a 75% off discount on any cingular phone.
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nufsaid -
Not true. Cingular sold the California/Nevada towers to T-Mobile. Cingular exercised an option in the initial agreement with T-Mobile.
https://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=866 »
for the article. Also it might be a good idea to let them know that Cingular uses multiple GSM bands, while T-Mobile only operates on 1900MHz. This could cause some problems if they travel, even within the state.
Not true. Cingular sold the California/Nevada towers to T-Mobile. Cingular exercised an option in the initial agreement with T-Mobile.
https://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=866 »
for the article. Also it might be a good idea to let them know that Cingular uses multiple GSM bands, while T-Mobile only operates on 1900MHz. This could cause some problems if they travel, even within the state.
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Hence my reason for posting the link, NeumZ....lol... says it better than I could.
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Stay with T-Mobile. Cingular has a lot of weird rules about upgrading phones and changing contracts. In my experience T-Mobile is more consumer friendly and offers better service instead of better marketing.
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Like what? The fact that a customer can change rate plans without incurring a charge within the first half of their contract? That our customers get the same deal our new customers do on upgrades? Or are you talking about the fact that a customer can upgrade after 11 months of a one year or 21 months of a two year contract at the current two year contract pricing, and at any time if they want to buy the phone. Doesn't seem weird to me. Better service? What you offer in the posters area IS Cingular's service...minus the 850 coverage. And while I admit on its face T-Mobile might look like the better deal, compare Cingular Nation GSM to their national product point by point, and Cingular still comes out on top. Better plans, larger network, bet...
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Ups !!!! you forgot to mention the useless service Cin-use-lar has ... I have never had any luck with technical support !!! I have the worst and I mean the worst experience with Cin-use-lar service in my life, and I have been using cell phones for the longest time. As a matter of fact I am looking around to get out of Cin-use-lar after I signed up in January... i just about had it ... You are right phones are just technology, network important, but with no service ... YEACK ... you might as well drop even free service.
Just my $.02
Ups !!!! you forgot to mention the useless service Cin-use-lar has ... I have never had any luck with technical support !!! I have the worst and I mean the worst experience with Cin-use-lar service in my life, and I have been using cell phones for the longest time. As a matter of fact I am looking around to get out of Cin-use-lar after I signed up in January... i just about had it ... You are right phones are just technology, network important, but with no service ... YEACK ... you might as well drop even free service.
Just my $.02
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gss-
What part of the country are you in? What rate plan and phone model? While I will agree that there are some folks that have very little knowledge, in my experience this is the exception, not the rule, and exists with every carrier, not just Cingular. I have found that in a lot of cases, visiting a Cingular owned store and explaining your problem to a rep there will get you much farther than a call to customer care.
What part of the country are you in? What rate plan and phone model? While I will agree that there are some folks that have very little knowledge, in my experience this is the exception, not the rule, and exists with every carrier, not just Cingular. I have found that in a lot of cases, visiting a Cingular owned store and explaining your problem to a rep there will get you much farther than a call to customer care.
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I am in the mid west ... I have national plan and a T616.. but the plan does not matter... As I have found in other boards the problem is with the carriers .. they need to make sure they can hand-shake in exchange messages. ATTWS is the best (in my experience so far) and Cin-use-lar the worst. I have had friend who had problems in text messaging with sprint and verizon but those where solved right away ... with Cin-use-lar all you get is ... sorry you are s... out luck!!!!
And this is not the only problem I have had ... I hope it is only me and everybody else has stellar service.. but I am out of here in the next few days!!!
And this is not the only problem I have had ... I hope it is only me and everybody else has stellar service.. but I am out of here in the next few days!!!
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The carrier is only part of the problem, gss... how the equipment functions on the network comes into play as well. The SE 616 is notorious for spotty RF, across all networks that sell it... ATTWS, Cingular and T-Mobile. If a phone cannot receive the signal of the carrier due to poor RF handling, then the equipment becomes more of a problem than the network or carrier. Have you tried any other phones, or spoken to other Cingular customers in your area who have different equipment?
A look at the coverage maps of both ATTWS and Cingular shows almost identical coverage, and both use the same GSM bands... which leaves me wondering why you would have such dramaticly different experiences with the two. Immediately phone choice becomes suspect. ...
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A look at the coverage maps of both ATTWS and Cingular shows almost identical coverage, and both use the same GSM bands... which leaves me wondering why you would have such dramaticly different experiences with the two. Immediately phone choice becomes suspect. ...
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I don't have Reception problems (well it is not the best one and it keeps droping calls) but what I do have is Receiving text messages no matter where I am no matter how strong the signal is from senders who live outside the US like Canada, Australia, Singapore, Germany etc.etc.etc.
And sometimes the messages don't get to my cell phone till three hours later ... again not because of RF reception ...
I called customer service numerous times and all I get is .. well there is nothing we can see on our end !!!!!
Gss
And sometimes the messages don't get to my cell phone till three hours later ... again not because of RF reception ...
I called customer service numerous times and all I get is .. well there is nothing we can see on our end !!!!!
Gss
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I can see now how that could be a problem... the T616 is triband, supporting 800/1800/1900MHz bands. The only thing I can imagine it could be other than a prgramming issue is if the senders are sending from 900MHz... that MIGHT create a problem if the handshake went badly. But you have ME curious now... when I know more you will too.
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phonepimp3376 said:
The only thing I can imagine it could be other than a prgramming issue is if the senders are sending from 900MHz...
I can't see that, phonepimp. Unless the phones are trading text messages directly, (unlikely even without the international element) it would all be handled through carrier-to-carrier transmission.
I would instead tend to look at Cingular's still-developing international text-messaging capability. I think the problem will decrease, and eventually go away, as we continue to make arrangements with other carriers and gain expertise in whatever translation coding is needed to convert their-style messages into our-style messages.
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Cingulars rules aren't confusing it is just that customers want to break them all the time. If you sign a contract, upgrading early is breaking the contract. All other carriers have similar rules.
If you are in a two year contract you can upgrade as early as 21 months, in a one year contract you can upgrade anytime after 11 months. And who lets you CHAANGE contracts?
Contracts are legally binding documents.
Why are these rules weird??
If you are in a two year contract you can upgrade as early as 21 months, in a one year contract you can upgrade anytime after 11 months. And who lets you CHAANGE contracts?
Contracts are legally binding documents.
Why are these rules weird??
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from what i understand, t-mo doesnt have an ounce of spectrum in your area. im 99% sure that you using cingular right now. you might sas well just get a discount.
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Cingular has better plans and coverage, the two most important things to look for in cellular service. The fact that Cingular operates off both 850/1900 Mhz frequencies, free mobile to mobile, and free nights and weekends would be enough to say make the switch. I would especially think that the service in Cali is good (better than west Texas) also. Give it a try, keep your number of course, and you'll have 15 days to decide. I'm not sure what's offered out there with phones but even the cheapest phone will provide you with good service. Ahh...the beauty of GSM. 😎
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