Technology Bad cell phone, bad service, or both?

[Koko]

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As I thankfully approach the end of my contract, my gut reaction is to hurl my current phone at the Verizon rep and find another co. The signal is crappy most everywhere.

My question is this: how does one determine if the poor signal is due to the phone, the service or both? Verizon is supposedly a good co. and given that my current phone is crappy in a number of locations, perhaps it's the pohone not the service. So before I dump them for another co and potentially find myself even more miserable I need to figure this out.

Thoughts?

 

[sunny123]

Sorry to hear about your cell probs Koko. Hear in Canada, signal errors are usually due to the company itself. The phone could be a problem, if the unit itself cannot properly recieve data (try asking Verizon if they could test this for you, by switching the number to a different model). Hope all works out for ya!

😀

 

[Koko]

Sorry to hear about your cell probs Koko. Hear in Canada, signal errors are usually due to the company itself. The phone could be a problem, if the unit itself cannot properly recieve data (try asking Verizon if they could test this for you, by switching the number to a different model). Hope all works out for ya!

😀

Good idea. Now the only problem is finding the time during our leisurely schedule to go down to the store and test it out.

Thanks.

 

[sunny123]

^ no probs. And if they're like "Excuse, but we don't have the time to help you out with your phone reception (because we already got your money)".... THen you raise your voice, and start complaining about the customer service, and demand to speak with the manager. Say you've been experienceing problems with thephone for a while now and would like to be given an alternative choice.

I leanred by not being a pushover in electronic stores, and speaking out (when you know what you are talking about), usually goes in your favour because the manager doesn't want the onlooking customers to leave his/her store.

 

[Koko]

Not an issue. Finding the time is my prob, not dealing with yahoos.

 

[Sessamoid]

Obvious solution is to find a friend who's on the same carrier and compare your reception when you're together.

 

[f_w]

Unfortunately I have had the chance to gather experience with most of the companies one way or another. Verizon had the BEST coverage, but such a crappy customer service that I moved on the moment the cell-number portability came out.

I think I am still missing Telekom

Sprint: was miserable (constantly on analog backup roam for 60c/min)
AT&T: was miserable. Ancient technology, lousy coverage, fraudulent bills.
Verizon: we have a tower on the hospital, so coverage extends into the 3rd subbasement, atrocious customer 'non-service'
Nextel: good building penetration, 900Mhz good coverage along interstates, no coverage in the back-country, professional customer service, only charges outgoing calls against minutes, incoming is free.


Coverage can be very variable for the different carriers. Verizon might be great in one state, and really suck the next over. The verizon network is cobbled together from all the local phone companies who used to own the 'A' analog network. So, if your local phone company sucked at choosing tower sites, the resulting network stinks. If they had first picks, you are fine.

 

[Sessamoid]

Another thing to remember is that Sprint now has a feature called "digital roaming". Sprint and Verizon both use CDMA networks, so they're compatible with each other. Digital Roaming means you can use Verizon towers in addition to the Sprint towers, which covers almost every place I could imagine wanting coverage in the country.

 

[f_w]

I guess sprint is expanding then. In the mid-term they will incorporate the nextel network as well. I wonder when they will buy out verizon making the concentration in the cellphone sector complete.

 

[Koko]

Obvious solution is to find a friend who's on the same carrier and compare your reception when you're together.

Hey, a little credit please. I'm not that much of *****.

None of my friends have Verizon and a different phone to compare with.

Thanks for your vote of confidence in my intellect. 🙂

 

[group_theory]

You probably did this but try updating your phone with the latest "programming" info about tower locations

I think the number is *228 and it should be airtime free

also, I think it is very location dependant. In the northeast, Verizon has good coverage and strong signals in lots of places - and weak signals in areas where other carriers have no signals at all

 

[ItsGavinC]

Cellphones and providers are one of the *worst* experiences people have. The contracts all suck and are hugely overpriced. You can't read the bills when they arrive. Misbilling happens probably on nearly every bill (okay, exxageration but not too bad).

Phones often are crap, service is often crap, charges for ditching a contract will bite you in the rear...on and on and on. 👎

 

[Koko]

You probably did this but try updating your phone with the latest "programming" info about tower locations

I think the number is *228 and it should be airtime free

also, I think it is very location dependant. In the northeast, Verizon has good coverage and strong signals in lots of places - and weak signals in areas where other carriers have no signals at all

Thanks for the suggestion - I had not tried/known about that. We'll see h if it makes a difference.

My frustration stems from the fact that this Verizon phone stinks in the NE where it should not be a problem.

Thanks again. Keeping my fingers crossed...

 

[Koko]

Cellphones and providers are one of the *worst* experiences people have. The contracts all suck and are hugely overpriced. You can't read the bills when they arrive. Misbilling happens probably on nearly every bill (okay, exxageration but not too bad).

Phones often are crap, service is often crap, charges for ditching a contract will bite you in the rear...on and on and on. 👎

All true, and especially annoying when you rely on it for your primary tel.

 

[file014]

The phone makes a huge difference. My wife and I started with Motorola V120C phones. We moved to our current place and the calls always dropped. I whined to Verizon for a year and they did nothing. Then I asked them at the Verizon store which phone gets the best reception. The guy said "Nokia 3589i hands down". So i got one on ebay for $50 and had them activate it instead of my V120C. WOW!!! No more dropped calls. Recently we signed a new plan and the wife wants a new flip phone. The guy said all get good reception now. So she gets an LG VX4500. Well its a POS. Drops calls constantly. I make her return it, so she gets a trimode LG VX3100. It works a little better, but still is junk. SO I made her go reactivate her 3589i. Yeah its not a flip (I dont like them anyway) but what good is a flip phone if it wont make calls at your house? So my suggestion is to get a nice, barely used Nokia 3589i phone from ebay for $50 and have Verizon activate it on your account. ITs about a $10 charge (or free) at the Verizon store and they can transfer your phone book over.

Moral of story...the phone makes a big difference, not just the signal.