Posted by oxmon
I received some confusing or contradicting information about mobile technology and coverage by Cingular, AT&T and T-mobile, the 3 GSM providers in US. Could anybody help to clarify some of them?
1. Some says that Cingular and T-mobile basically share the same GSM towers, so they have exactly the same coverage. But some source says that they only share 1900 GSM in NYC, CA, NV and northern NJ. Which is true? Do they share the same tower in central Jersey (I live in Princeton)?
2. Some says that AT&T uses 850 MHz while Cingular has only 1900, others say the other way round: AT&T use 1900 while Cingular has both 850 and 1900. Which is true? (particularly in NJ?)
3. Some says that AT&T and Cingular have already started sharing towers and the complementary 850 and 1900 bands due to the acquisition, but others say that they haven’t. Which one is true?
4. Some says that as AT&T boasting its GSM America plan, it will install more towers and improve the coverage, other says that there’s not going to be much difference since the 850 and 1900 band are already used. So will there be any improvement?
If you live around central Jersey area and use GSM service, could you share some of your experience with any of these 3 companies?
Posted by rdnymllnsktr
T-Mobile only uses the 1900 band. AT&T WS and Cingular WS both use the 850 and 1900 bands. Now that AT&T WS has their GSM America plan, they DO use the same towers. Hope this helps you. :-)
Posted by RichLok
Both AT&T and Cingular use both bands (depending on where you at) where T-Mo only uses 1900 mhz. If the AT&T purchase by Cingular goes through, you should see a primary 850mhz use by Cingular within 2-4 years.
Posted by rdnymllnsktr
Thank you for restating what I said. Yeesh.
Posted by kimcheeboi
chill! its OK! He also added some stuff about the 850 band.
Yeesh!
Posted by rdnymllnsktr
Kim, not to knock you, but what did he say that I didn't? Cingular WS already DOES use the 850 band.
Posted by amagab
Answer to question 1: T-Mobile and Cingular does share some towers/networks but only on the 1900 band.
Posted by kevinqian
I live in Flemington NJ and have ATT WS so i know what I'm talking about around here.
NJ is divided up into two markets, the northern half belongs to the NYC market, which AT&T has both 850 and 1900 spectrums on GSM. THe southern half of NJ belongs to the Philadelphia market, which AT&T owns only 1900 GSM. However, ever since the cingular and AT&T merger talks, cingular has allowed its 850 GSM roaming to AT&T users in the greater philadelphia market. In the NYC market (north jersey), cingular and tmobile both share 1900 towers and neither has or roams onto AT&T's 850 band. so in short, AT&T is the best so far with both 850 and 1900 GSM in both markets, which encompasses the whole NJ.
and FYI, princeton is in the philly market.
Posted by markprimary
Roaming New Jersey with a UK phone, AT&T appear to the dominate carrier as my phone always connects to the carrier in the area with highest signal strength. Can anyone advise on the best US service provider/carrier for travel in California, Texas and New York?
Posted by oxmon
Thanks all of you for the helpful info, esp. kevinqian.
I signed up 2 trial phones from both AT&T and Cingular. They both work alright within Princeton area. Seem that AT&T was slightly better. So I think I'll sign up for that. (BTW, I used a SE T616 with AT&T and Nokia 3100 with Cingular.)
The 850 band DOES make the difference!
Posted by RichLok
@ rdnymllnsktr: Take whatever is in ur azz out of there... So what if you said it first.. big deal.. Want a cookie for that?
Posted by Blexcroid
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In Houston, I would suggest AT&T. I have Cingular and get lots of drop-outs-- especially if calling to or from one of the 'burbs (Clear Lake, Baytown, Alvin). Cingular had the best plan when Igot my phone, but about 3 weeks later AT&T started offering a better plan and matched the second phone for $10. The worst carrier in Houston area is Verizon, though. Lousy coverage (IMHO) & non-existent customer service, plus no sim cards.
Hope this helps.
_________________
Got Esato? [ This Message was edited by: Blexcroid on 2004-07-27 11:01 ]
Posted by t68iNWO
in texas I would say T-Mobile. I have an att and t-mobile phone (treo 600 [used to have a t616] and t610). T-mobile always get's better service in the major metro areas. in fact, cingular uses t-mobiles network here in Austin. dallas is basically completely saturated with t-mobile and through out the I 35 interstand corridor down to San Antonio. I would have to say T-Mobile is the choice for texas.
Posted by TiNnycUba
hey idk about all those towers and what not i just want to knoe if in hudson/bergen county (northern nj) cingular get good service?
Posted by SimpLyGeE
markprimary, Cingular has best service in California and that's for sure to me. I lived there for 6 and a half years and for 5 years I had Cingular actually formerly known as PacBell. I never did switch carriers or nothing. Only thing that sucks about Cingular is that if for example you are using your free minutes which means mobile to mobile or nights and weekends I can guarantee you that after 120 minutes of talking (2 hours) you will get dropped. It happened to me so many times not just once or twice but every time I would stay on the phone for more than 2 hours.
Posted by Residentevil
Who the hell makes phone calls that last two hours??
Posted by richy240
I've made numerous calls over 2 hours...
I've had very good luck with T-Mobile in Texas. I rarely have dropped calls and I am a somewhat demanding user. I also like T-Mobile's international roaming features too.
They've got good coverage in Denver too, and in the mountains along I-70 and at major ski resorts. I've even been able to get a signal while camping in the middle of nowhere in Colorado.
Posted by knight4led
Just drove cross country with my cingular phone. My brother has an unlocked Samsung with the 900 band and I have a T616, so I figured I may be able to find out if there is any major area where there is only 850 coverage. Almost everywhere that we went, we both got coverage, although occasionally it was on different providers. This isn't a problem as far as I can tell because neither of us get charged for roaming. I am now confident that the 850 band isn't as widespread as we are led to believe in the U.S.
The only exception was on the 80 freeway in Utah near the 76 interchange, no reception there for either phone.