OT - NorCal Cell phone coverage

[Fryboy]

Okay all of you Ncal riders,

Give my your honest opinion on which cell coverage is best. My main concern is reception. I have Cingular and when in the boonies my phone never gets a signal. I have been in the heart of Stonyford with some guy met on the trail. He was able to get a signal deep in the trees and mine wouldn't get anything.

One buddy suggests AT&T digital and to get one of those internal antenae addon deals.

Other friends suggest Verizon. But all my office co-workers say Verizon sucks. What's a guy supposed to do? Any info you could give me would be great ?

Thanks!

Fryboy

[ZEKEDAWG]

Without a doubt and far and beyond get the at& t digital. My friend had it and we compared it with another friend who had verison and the at&t got better reception. We were at the top of trail 30 (stonyford)and there was a head on ant we had to call 911. AT&T was the best. I had verizon for about 2 weeks and it sucked i have the at &t digital know and i is the best, bar none. I was in the trinity alps wilderness two weeks ago and we needed to call 911, someone had a head wound. We were about 5 miles in from the trail head and I wasn't even roaming. I have used the phone half way between almanor and chico at the crest of the sierras and no problems.

GET THE AT & T DIGITAL. You won't be disappointed in the service when you compare it to others. My family plan is about $60, 500 peak 1000 share and unlimited night ane weekend. I wish the night started at 7 pm like some others and I wish when you called other at&t subscribers it didn't count on your minutes but that would just be too perfect.

[novaman64]

Verizon. I have it and love it. When I go snow skiing I am the only one out of my buddies that gets cell reception, and they have ATT....

[CISCO]

I dont know much about Nextel phones, but Javelin has one and the F-ing thing RINGS EVERYWHERE!!!! Moonrocks, Loop 5, BFE in the forest somewhere....doesnt matter. My phone says no service (verizon) and his is ringing off the hook. So Nextel phone...I dont know what the carrier is...Nextel? I know squat about phones really. But his just works.

[Fryboy]

I dont know much about Nextel phones, but Javelin has one and the F-ing thing RINGS EVERYWHERE!!!! Moonrocks, Loop 5, BFE in the forest somewhere....doesnt matter. My phone says no service (verizon) and his is ringing off the hook. So Nextel phone...I dont know what the carrier is...Nextel? I know squat about phones really. But his just works.

I have co-workers that had Nextel and they freakin hated it. The all ended up switching carriers. ?

From my understanding it has a lot to do with the antennae in the cell phones. Some have much more powerful transmitters/receivers then others. I wonder if Javelin has a better phone or antennae booster?

Fryboy

[OldeDude]

I think you're gonna get a different answer from everybody. ?

Right now I have Verizon, and you know those commercials where the guy says, "Can you hear me now?", well I end up saying that a lot with my Verizon service.

[ColdCase]

I think you're gonna get a different answer from everybody. ?

Yup.

Sprint for me. It's the only one I've tried that works at my house. Cingular, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile - tried them all, and all failed near my house (near some hills). The only two I'd recommend would be Sprint and Nextel.

But you're right about the phones & signal strength. Some Nokia phones can lose coverage if you tilt'em funny. Look at the provider coverage areas on the web, then ask them which phone has the best signal strength.

Oh, and I have a phone with all the gadgets - pictures, color, mp3, free 900# calling (oh, wait)... just get a phone that works.

M2¢

[John_Lorenz]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Not NextTooHell

NEEEEEVVVVVVEEEEEERRRRRRR AAAAAGGGGAAAAAIIIINNNNNNN

??? :D

[ZEKEDAWG]

I forgot I have the nokia phone and I do have the booster. Verizon and att have the same basic coverage, they planted all the towers and the other companies roam off them.

I do think it comes down to the phone though and do get the booster. ATT had the offer of free leather pouch, free booster antenna, free in car charger and hands free device. If you have a lot of friends on verizon I might consider that because all the calls between verizon customers are free I think. But I know that with verizon I had to go outside my house to talk, not with ATT. If my part of the world ATT is better. just my .02 though

[matte]

I forgot I have the nokia phone and I do have the booster. Verizon and att have the same basic coverage, they planted all the towers and the other companies roam off them.

I do think it comes down to the phone though and do get the booster. ATT had the offer of free leather pouch, free booster antenna, free in car charger and hands free device. If you have a lot of friends on verizon I might consider that because all the calls between verizon customers are free I think. But I know that with verizon I had to go outside my house to talk, not with ATT. If my part of the world ATT is better. just my .02 though

which model Nokia do you have? We have AT&T and get terrible coverage, but after listening to you guys it sounds like it's the crappy little (Erickson?) phone we have that's to blame.

[Maddog542]

I've had Nextel for 7 years. In the beginning they really sucked (former company paid for it), but now the Nextel coverage is great just about anywhere in Northern California.

The one you want to avoid at all costs is T-Mobile. I just truned one of those off, because you can't use it anywhere without it taking a crap.

[sparkys_02_drz]

i had at & t for a couple of years and they were alright. however, i switched to verizon and it has a lot better coverage than at&t did.

one of the main reasons i switched is cuz where i live ( across from the prison... foxboro, youngsdale, cinnabar area if you know where that is fryboy) i had NO reception whatsoever with at&t and verizon has perfect reception here. whatever works for ya man!