I'm US Cellular and i dont get service in my bedroom. I don't think i can put up with it much longer.
Does anyone know how competitive Cingular is in their Family Plans?
Depends on whether some folks on your plan are under users that you have time left over for rollover minutes into the next month. My parents are on my account and we mentally budgetted time for them which for the most part don't get used and rolled into the next month.
They were competitive for us because their corporate discount was slightly better than Verizons at the time and at my company. I didn't compare undiscounted plans but I think that the rollover minutes was the what convinced us over Verizon. Looking at our phone bills we had ups and downs month to month and did get charged from time to time. Not so much anymore. I believe we have soo many rollover minutes it silly.
The only thing that will get us is roaming or international calls which has been zero.
This "feature" probably isn't useful for families with teenagers...
Everytime I've considered switching (and I've tried a couple of the others; Sprint and T-Mobile) either the service is no better than what I have, or for ones I haven't tried, seems everyone I know who has the "other" service tell me it sucks.
I've yet to hear a universal "X-Brand Cell Service" is great!
Everytime I've considered switching (and I've tried a couple of the others; Sprint and T-Mobile) either the service is no better than what I have, or for ones I haven't tried, seems everyone I know who has the "other" service tell me it sucks.
I've yet to hear a universal "X-Brand Cell Service" is great!
Well here in Philadelphia Verizon is the best............... just incase anyone is wondering!
I very well may get an iPhone, but it won't be for several months so that my current contract with T-Mobile can expire and I can save up to buy one. I'll be able to start saving after I get married in June.
Well I checked the cingular site and it says golly gee we can't believe you are in one of the few places that can't get us. We add more places every day. So I check the map and big chunks of Colorado is in the dark and large portions of the western US. So at this rate I think the sun will burn out first. Sure would have liked to have one.
Only Cingular and T-Mobile have EDGE networks in the US.
The fact that I have T-Mobile and that Apple made this a multi-year exclusive deal irks me to no end. ...but I might switch.
Yeah, but EDGE is 2.5G crap, and the iPhone is supposed to be the icon of the contemporary technical limit. I posted a reply in another topic about how I think the iPhone uses the OMAP 2230. Apple can drop in a 3G OMAP pretty easily. If indeed Apple is using a more cutting edge OMAP (like one from the 3000 series), then changing to 3G/3.5G EVDO is essentially a software fix. It's pretty evident that it's EDGE only because they found Cingular to be the easiest to work with (listen to the keynote for that clue). If the iPhone succeeds (and look at it, it most certainly will) we'll see EVDO models very shortly after launch.
It's pretty evident that it's EDGE only because they found Cingular to be the easiest to work with (listen to the keynote for that clue).
Maybe that's because the rest of the planet (Europe, for example) uses GSM / EDGE and not the other more or less proprietary formats (CDMA)? Apple is smart enough to use the technology that's used in most countries around the globe (instead of being US-centric!) and therefore they will sell more iPhones because of that. Really easy!
Oh, one more thing: why do you think it is a quad-band mobile phone? Certainly not for selling it in the U.S. alone...
Maybe that's because the rest of the planet (Europe, for example) uses GSM / EDGE and not the other more or less proprietary formats (CDMA)? Apple is smart enough to use the technology that's used in most countries around the globe (instead of being US-centric!) and therefore they will sell more iPhones because of that. Really easy!
Oh, one more thing: why do you think it is a quad-band mobile phone? Certainly not for selling it in the U.S. alone...
It would be nice if people who posted about cell phone technology actually had a clue. GSM/EDGE is dated technology. Everyone in the 1st world was supposed to have already gone to 3G by now, which in all cases uses CDMA-based technologies. In the US and Asia, other technologies (CDMA-based 3G) are at least as prevalent as GSM.
GSM and EDGE are higher level protocols. CDMA is, for lack of simpler nomenclature, a type of modulation. What is essentially GSM-3G uses CDMA signalling. Europe uses GSM/EDGE because it's home grown, but at the end of the day GSM/EDGE can't pack nearly as many users per cell as US 3G (EVDO) or US 2G (IS-95), it has much higher signal-to-noise as cells get more filled, and it doesn't deal as well with signal reflections. By modern standards, it's junk technology.
It's a quad band GSM phone because the commodity part they happened to buy, which acts as the cellular baseband, happens to support quad band GSM. Go look at TI's OMAP site: everything is deeply integrated. GSM/EDGE has the one benefit that as older technology, it's cheap, ubiquitous, and easy to implement. This, plus the fact that Cingular was obviously the most receptive ("I agreed without ever seeing the phone"), are key reasons to why the current model is GSM/EDGE. There's really no way that the iPhone won't be upgraded to CDMA, since it will have to be in order for it to be 3G.
Verizon is the best in NYC and out on Long Island for sure. I always have service in, elevators, basements, even some subway stations I can use the phone. I wouldn't switch for anything. My roomate has cingular and HATES it, more the reason to stick it out and see if they come out with other models
Verizon is the best in NYC and out on Long Island for sure. I always have service in, elevators, basements, even some subway stations I can use the phone. I wouldn't switch for anything. My roomate has cingular and HATES it, more the reason to stick it out and see if they come out with other models
Yeah, that's pretty much where I am: 3G or bust. I'll only switch to Cingular if they update their network.
This is my first post here (after lurking for several years ) and I have to say that the Apple's decision of a Cingular/AT&T exclusive for the iPhone ruined one of the most exciting technology announcements (ever!) for me.
I've been a very happy T-Mobile customer for over five years. I have always been thankful for their pricing/plans and great customer service. You can reach someone 24/7, and I have never waited more than a minute to reach a rep (and one that is always here in the US!). They actually want to *help* solve your problem, unlike friends I have who can't even get through to their providers. And T-Mobile provides its unlimited EDGE data plan (including tethering to laptops) with T-Spots WIFI for $30/mo.
The most (and biggest) horror stories I've heard have been with Cingular. They have the second most expensive plans (after Verizon) and every iPhone user will be paying a *steep* price for data (not to mention some of the other 'exclusive' features). Their customer service really stinks, not to mention that their CS department isn't even open late nights or on Sunday! This is the nation's biggest provider?
I really hope that Apple reconsiders and provides an unlocked GSM option for the rest of us (much as Palm did with the Treo). Cingular can stay their 'exclusive' mobile provider for subsidized iPhones, but I don't think I would ever switch to them for the privledge of owning an iPhone.
Comments
Does anyone know how competitive Cingular is in their Family Plans?
I'm US Cellular and i dont get service in my bedroom. I don't think i can put up with it much longer.
Does anyone know how competitive Cingular is in their Family Plans?
Depends on whether some folks on your plan are under users that you have time left over for rollover minutes into the next month. My parents are on my account and we mentally budgetted time for them which for the most part don't get used and rolled into the next month.
They were competitive for us because their corporate discount was slightly better than Verizons at the time and at my company. I didn't compare undiscounted plans but I think that the rollover minutes was the what convinced us over Verizon. Looking at our phone bills we had ups and downs month to month and did get charged from time to time. Not so much anymore. I believe we have soo many rollover minutes it silly.
The only thing that will get us is roaming or international calls which has been zero.
This "feature" probably isn't useful for families with teenagers...
Vinea
Cingular Sucks!
Newsflash: They all suck!
Everytime I've considered switching (and I've tried a couple of the others; Sprint and T-Mobile) either the service is no better than what I have, or for ones I haven't tried, seems everyone I know who has the "other" service tell me it sucks.
I've yet to hear a universal "X-Brand Cell Service" is great!
Newsflash: They all suck!
Everytime I've considered switching (and I've tried a couple of the others; Sprint and T-Mobile) either the service is no better than what I have, or for ones I haven't tried, seems everyone I know who has the "other" service tell me it sucks.
I've yet to hear a universal "X-Brand Cell Service" is great!
Well here in Philadelphia Verizon is the best............... just incase anyone is wondering!
It will be available for Sprint before too long. Verizon, I'm not sure: Verizon is the king of crippling phones.
Only Cingular and T-Mobile have EDGE networks in the US.
The fact that I have T-Mobile and that Apple made this a multi-year exclusive deal irks me to no end. ...but I might switch.
The fact that I have T-Mobile and that Apple made this a multi-year exclusive deal irks me to no end. ...but I might switch.
I second that.
Only Cingular and T-Mobile have EDGE networks in the US.
The fact that I have T-Mobile and that Apple made this a multi-year exclusive deal irks me to no end. ...but I might switch.
Yeah, but EDGE is 2.5G crap, and the iPhone is supposed to be the icon of the contemporary technical limit. I posted a reply in another topic about how I think the iPhone uses the OMAP 2230. Apple can drop in a 3G OMAP pretty easily. If indeed Apple is using a more cutting edge OMAP (like one from the 3000 series), then changing to 3G/3.5G EVDO is essentially a software fix. It's pretty evident that it's EDGE only because they found Cingular to be the easiest to work with (listen to the keynote for that clue). If the iPhone succeeds (and look at it, it most certainly will) we'll see EVDO models very shortly after launch.
I'm sure the iPhone will be half the price and work with Verizon in a couple years.
Remember the Razor that came out a couple years ago? It's down to $20 from Verizon! Prices of cell phones go down faaast!
It's pretty evident that it's EDGE only because they found Cingular to be the easiest to work with (listen to the keynote for that clue).
Maybe that's because the rest of the planet (Europe, for example) uses GSM / EDGE and not the other more or less proprietary formats (CDMA)? Apple is smart enough to use the technology that's used in most countries around the globe (instead of being US-centric!) and therefore they will sell more iPhones because of that. Really easy!
Oh, one more thing: why do you think it is a quad-band mobile phone? Certainly not for selling it in the U.S. alone...
Maybe that's because the rest of the planet (Europe, for example) uses GSM / EDGE and not the other more or less proprietary formats (CDMA)? Apple is smart enough to use the technology that's used in most countries around the globe (instead of being US-centric!) and therefore they will sell more iPhones because of that. Really easy!
Oh, one more thing: why do you think it is a quad-band mobile phone? Certainly not for selling it in the U.S. alone...
It would be nice if people who posted about cell phone technology actually had a clue. GSM/EDGE is dated technology. Everyone in the 1st world was supposed to have already gone to 3G by now, which in all cases uses CDMA-based technologies. In the US and Asia, other technologies (CDMA-based 3G) are at least as prevalent as GSM.
GSM and EDGE are higher level protocols. CDMA is, for lack of simpler nomenclature, a type of modulation. What is essentially GSM-3G uses CDMA signalling. Europe uses GSM/EDGE because it's home grown, but at the end of the day GSM/EDGE can't pack nearly as many users per cell as US 3G (EVDO) or US 2G (IS-95), it has much higher signal-to-noise as cells get more filled, and it doesn't deal as well with signal reflections. By modern standards, it's junk technology.
It's a quad band GSM phone because the commodity part they happened to buy, which acts as the cellular baseband, happens to support quad band GSM. Go look at TI's OMAP site: everything is deeply integrated. GSM/EDGE has the one benefit that as older technology, it's cheap, ubiquitous, and easy to implement. This, plus the fact that Cingular was obviously the most receptive ("I agreed without ever seeing the phone"), are key reasons to why the current model is GSM/EDGE. There's really no way that the iPhone won't be upgraded to CDMA, since it will have to be in order for it to be 3G.
Verizon is the best in NYC and out on Long Island for sure. I always have service in, elevators, basements, even some subway stations I can use the phone. I wouldn't switch for anything. My roomate has cingular and HATES it, more the reason to stick it out and see if they come out with other models
Yeah, that's pretty much where I am: 3G or bust. I'll only switch to Cingular if they update their network.
Does it mean that no iPhone will be available without a contract with Cingular? Is it locked? So if i bring it over to Europe, it wont wotk?
Or the iPhones sold at the Apple Store are unlocked?
If it is locked, why the hell do they do it ? Why do they want to sell 10 units (figure of speech) if they can sell 1000 ?
Txs a lot
Vasco
I've been a very happy T-Mobile customer for over five years. I have always been thankful for their pricing/plans and great customer service. You can reach someone 24/7, and I have never waited more than a minute to reach a rep (and one that is always here in the US!). They actually want to *help* solve your problem, unlike friends I have who can't even get through to their providers. And T-Mobile provides its unlimited EDGE data plan (including tethering to laptops) with T-Spots WIFI for $30/mo.
The most (and biggest) horror stories I've heard have been with Cingular. They have the second most expensive plans (after Verizon) and every iPhone user will be paying a *steep* price for data (not to mention some of the other 'exclusive' features). Their customer service really stinks, not to mention that their CS department isn't even open late nights or on Sunday! This is the nation's biggest provider?
I really hope that Apple reconsiders and provides an unlocked GSM option for the rest of us (much as Palm did with the Treo). Cingular can stay their 'exclusive' mobile provider for subsidized iPhones, but I don't think I would ever switch to them for the privledge of owning an iPhone.