ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Cell phones / What company?

I'm getting real frustrated with dropped calls with my cell phone. I know there are dead areas for service, but is there one that works a little better? I use it for business mostly. I was getting them with AT&T. So I switched to ALL-TEL and they are probably worse. I heard Verizon is the best for not getting as many dropped calls. Although they are more expensive, but thats ok if its better. Any opinions on the best provider?

I personally have and use All-Tel which seems to work well for me. They now offer a walkie/talkie type phone (which I have). I guest that they are trying to complete with Nex-tel. Now there are alot of contractors in my area that use nex-tel and seem to be happy with them.

Have had both Nextel and AT&T. Nextel is great as a two way but in my area the coverage is limited to the metro area only which meant I needed another cell phone for out of town business or travel. Had AT&T... up until a year or so ago and do not have much good to say about them. For the past year I have had Sprint. I burn around a thousand minutes a month from all over town and can think of only a couple dropped calls. I have adjusted my plan several times with Sprint with no problems. I can not say that about AT&T. I will say that if/when you close your account with them get a confirmation number on your account closure... In the last year they have tried to bill me three separate times for service past my closure date and even threatened with the credit bureau....GGrrr.

I personnaly work for one of the phone companies you mentioned. Anyway it depends on who has the most cell sites in any given area. I can promise you there is no provider that can provide 100% coverage and no dropped calls.

Do some research and findout who has the most cell sites in your area. I will give you a hint, not to mention any names but the initials are AllTel.

I think we are in the same area aldav and Alltel works very good for me. Your in Phoneix right? Have you asked them to update the programming in your phone to code for the newest cell towers and update the firmware? Phones have alot to do with dropped calls as well. Ask them to exchange a phone or work you a deal for a new one.

If you are on Sprint and getting dropped calls, you can get money back for them...this may work on other networks as well. Here's an article that tells more:
http://www.moox.ws/misc/sprint.htm

I have Verizon and have had good luck untill recently when I got a new phone. I loose almost every call now. Hopefully I'll get around to replcacing the peice of junk I have now soon. As for nextel I HATE them. The reason for the HATE I have for them are the constant (I mean literaly every day) marketing calls I get from them. Not only are the calls annoying, the callers sound like they have a fifth grade education at best.

We use Nextel. We could get better service and cheaper, but we kind of have to use them. All of our contractors use Nextel and we depend on the Direct Connect (Walkie Talkie feature) to talk to them. It also is very handy to keep in touch with our crews, but the service stinks.

In the Chandler and Tempe area, I probably have about half my calls either cut in and out or drop completely. In Phoenix its ok. Maybe its my phone. I will call ALLTEL

I work in the MIlwaukee area and use Nextel. Have had it for years and it has been very dependable. Almost no dropped calls. My only annoyance is a dead cell area right over my cottage up north. If I walk 150 feet away from my land it works. The walky talkie is so handy when pulling wire etc.
ElectricmanScott, if I ever receive marketing calls on my Nextel system you can be sure that I will be sitting down with someone from Nextell for a little chat not to mention a letter stating that I will be billing them for lost production time. Can't believe the phone industry is talking about letting this happen all across the country.
Ron