Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 13:19:10 -0700
Reply-To: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: a little OT: what is the favorite cell phone plan for
travellers in north california
In-Reply-To: <485c3ee60508051251133a284@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
BenS,
I use a quadband phone which can roam through whatever system I'm in. The
service is via T-Mobile. It even roamed to a local systemin Singapore when I
was there last week. T-Mobile was good enough to give me the unlock code so
I was use a foreign SIM card in the phone. I can even use your old SIM card
in it. You just have to be careful about roaming charges especially if you
are overseas.
Anyway, T-mobile roams through Cingular (now owns AT&T Wireless) when their
GSM network is not available. The bad thing is their signal is pretty weak
in many spots in the Bay Area. Most notably, parts of 101 near Burlingame
and a similar section on 280.
I have used Sprint as well but they are locked into a CDMA system. I just
got off that so I can use my phone in other places. My back-up system is
Cingular. With my T-mobile primary phone, I got the Bay Area and most places
I travel covered.
BenT
On 8/5/05, Ben S <phlogiston420@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> well this isn't really "vanagon" material, but i think the advice of
> this particular community will be very pertinant regarding this topic.
> my cell phone was stolen recently (am i beginning to sound like a
> skipping record yet??) and since my contract just expired with the
> now-defunct at&t wireless, i think it may be time for a change.
>
> i have been a pretty big fan of the at&t TDMA network up until now,
> even as they were pushing everyone towards GSM, i found that the older
> network seemed to have more infrastructure, and thus better coverage
> in less urbanized areas; last time i got a new phone i was living in
> south lake tahoe as a snowboard bum and found their coverage to be the
> best in the mountains. but now i think it may not be the best idea to
> renew a 1 year contract for a system that i'm sure is now only going
> to become more dilapidated and obsolete as time goes on.... i doubt
> anyone will ever repair, let alone install a new TDMA antenna
> anywhere.
>
> so i ask of the other travellers in the vanagon community: what
> wireless plans work the best? i split my time between urban areas
> (oakland and san francisco, where I and my girlfriend live,
> respectively), suburban and industrial areas (hayward and the shipping
> terminals of long beach and oakland, where i work), and
> rural/mountainous areas where i spend most of my free time. so i am
> not just looking for good metro coverage, but good all around
> coverage. i have been told by several people that verizon is the best
> for my needs so i am leaning that way. my gf has sprint PCS which we
> have dubbed sprint POS for it's horrible performance, so i am not
> interested in going that way... but what about cingular's GSM
> network? or tmobile... they are CDMA, right?
>
> also throw in your favorite phone if you reply. i loved my old nokia
> 3560. i have no use for cameras or video mail or any of the other
> silly useless features that pollute all the new phones and contribute
> to their short lifespan and high cost.... i'm looking for a cheap,
> reliable, no frills phone that i can drop a few times.
>
> thanks in advance for any advice...
>
> Ben.
>
--
BenT
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