Cell phone quality ratings in Massachusetts?

[Barry]

There was a site that had unbiased ratings of cell service in the New
Engand area. If any one has the URL please post it.

My AT&T contract is up in August, and I'm looking at what else is out
there. AT&T in the Boston area seems to be very spotty lately
(National network, Nokia 5165), and getting worse.

Thanks in advance,
Barry

[Trey]

Are you talking about GSM or TDMA?

With TDMA, I have talked to people in Milford and IT sounded better then
some of the local landline calls here in CA. and then in other areas,
coverage even with TDMA is not 100%. Then in RI. Salve University has a lot
of dead spots.


"Barry" > wrote in message
...
> There was a site that had unbiased ratings of cell service in the New
> Engand area. If any one has the URL please post it.
>
> My AT&T contract is up in August, and I'm looking at what else is out
> there. AT&T in the Boston area seems to be very spotty lately
> (National network, Nokia 5165), and getting worse.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Barry

[Jim Volstad]

Going from Logan (Boston) to Fort Devens is pretty solid on the GSM side.


"Barry" > wrote in message
...
> There was a site that had unbiased ratings of cell service in the New
> Engand area. If any one has the URL please post it.
>
> My AT&T contract is up in August, and I'm looking at what else is out
> there. AT&T in the Boston area seems to be very spotty lately
> (National network, Nokia 5165), and getting worse.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Barry

[John Cummings]

"Barry" > wrote in message
...
> There was a site that had unbiased ratings of cell service in the New
> Engand area. If any one has the URL please post it.
>
> My AT&T contract is up in August, and I'm looking at what else is out
> there. AT&T in the Boston area seems to be very spotty lately
> (National network, Nokia 5165), and getting worse.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Barry

You must mean David Markson's site.
http://markson.net/cell_phones.htm
John

[Dave Markson]

>There was a site that had unbiased ratings of cell service in the New
>Engand area. If any one has the URL please post it.
>
>My AT&T contract is up in August, and I'm looking at what else is out
>there. AT&T in the Boston area seems to be very spotty lately
>(National network, Nokia 5165), and getting worse.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Barry

Where exactly will you be using the phone 95% of the time?
Most of the providers will be decent in the Boston metro, with each having their
dead spots.

In general, with everything being equal (which of course they aren't), Verizon
and Cingular (TDMA) will provide you with the best coverage. They have been in
operation the longest, their networks are the most mature, and their signals
tends to penetrate buildings better than the PCS carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile
and Sprint PCS.

Verizon's AC plan and Cingular's Super Home plans cover the area very well (with
roaming partners covering most of New England).

I would avoid AT&T GSM and Cingular GSM until the system has been in operation
for a year, all the kinks are worked out, and all the roaming agreements have
been flushed out. Currently there is very little coverage in northern New
England but I expect that to change over the next year. If you like to be on the
bleeding edge of technology, don;t mind the limited coverage, really need all
the extra minutes, and want the kewl phones, then go for it. For the rest of
us, I suggest sitting back and letting others "cut the trails".

I can't give you specific ratings for Boston since I am not there on a daily
basis. You can review my SNH scores on my pages though.

Hope this helps.

--
Dave
Visit my New England Cell Phone Page at
http://markson.net/cell_phones.htm
(to reply take out the "remove" in my e-mail)

[Barry]

I live in South Boston, and work on the in and around the South Shore.
And indoors is the biggest problem. At home I have to go out on the
back porch to use the phone! I've had the service almost a year, and
the last couple of months I seem to be hitting more dead spots than
ever. I've been thinking of going with Verizon or AT&T's GSM. Anyway,
I've got a couple of months to research.

Your site is exactly what I was looking for, thanks.Thanks to John
also for directing me there also.

Barry

On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 01:29:09 GMT, Dave Markson
> wrote:

>>There was a site that had unbiased ratings of cell service in the New
>>Engand area. If any one has the URL please post it.
>>
>>My AT&T contract is up in August, and I'm looking at what else is out
>>there. AT&T in the Boston area seems to be very spotty lately
>>(National network, Nokia 5165), and getting worse.
>>
>>Thanks in advance,
>>Barry
>
>Where exactly will you be using the phone 95% of the time?
>Most of the providers will be decent in the Boston metro, with each having their
>dead spots.
>
>In general, with everything being equal (which of course they aren't), Verizon
>and Cingular (TDMA) will provide you with the best coverage. They have been in
>operation the longest, their networks are the most mature, and their signals
>tends to penetrate buildings better than the PCS carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile
>and Sprint PCS.
>
>Verizon's AC plan and Cingular's Super Home plans cover the area very well (with
>roaming partners covering most of New England).
>
>I would avoid AT&T GSM and Cingular GSM until the system has been in operation
>for a year, all the kinks are worked out, and all the roaming agreements have
>been flushed out. Currently there is very little coverage in northern New
>England but I expect that to change over the next year. If you like to be on the
>bleeding edge of technology, don;t mind the limited coverage, really need all
>the extra minutes, and want the kewl phones, then go for it. For the rest of
>us, I suggest sitting back and letting others "cut the trails".
>
>I can't give you specific ratings for Boston since I am not there on a daily
>basis. You can review my SNH scores on my pages though.
>
>Hope this helps.

[Dave Markson]

>I live in South Boston, and work on the in and around the South Shore.
>And indoors is the biggest problem. At home I have to go out on the
>back porch to use the phone! I've had the service almost a year, and
>the last couple of months I seem to be hitting more dead spots than
>ever. I've been thinking of going with Verizon or AT&T's GSM. Anyway,
>I've got a couple of months to research.

Speaking of AT&T, supposedly they have GSM coverage across their entire
Boston-area network. GSM coverage should be similar, but will not be exactly
the same as their TDMA coverage. In my home, GSM coverage (-100 dBm) is much
worse than TDMA (-83 dBm), most likely because the closest antenna is not
pointed exactly the same as its TDMA counterpart. I am sure there are other
situations where the opposite is true. If TDMA is marginal at your home,
chances are that GSM will not be that much better. Since you currently have
AT&T you may be able to "borrow" a GSM phone and see how well it does at your
home/on your commute/at work.

AT&T has said that they will no longer expand their TDMA network and I've seen
signs of that: GSM goes further north up 93, and further west on Rt 101 out of
Milford, NH (only a few miles though). The AT&T GSM coverage map shows lots
more coverage in western MA, I'm not sure about the south shore.

I've been on the Verizon AC plan for over two years and it has been excellent.
There are many plusses, the biggest minus is that you'll be on analog roam in
the TDMA-only areas (Northern VT/NH/ME, Northwest CT, Northcentral MA). The
good news is that you will still be able to make a call, and it will be covered
in-plan.

>Your site is exactly what I was looking for, thanks.Thanks to John
>also for directing me there also.

Glad it helped!

--
Dave
Visit my New England Cell Phone Page at
http://markson.net/cell_phones.htm
(to reply take out the "remove" in my e-mail)