<html> (Note: this is a post from 2000; a more up to date comparison of cellular carriers can be found at the <a href="http://wirelessnotes.org/cellular-carrier-comparison.html">Wirelessnotes.$ <br><br> <pre> Subject: Re: Sprint versus CellOne Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 07:21:58 -0800 In a recent message, Chris Stone wrote in message <8728r8$sv4$1@agate.berkeley.edu>... >I currently subscribe to Sprint, but the coverage has been very spotty in >the foothills on the East San Francisco Bay, where I place most of my calls. >Is CellOne's coverage better in that area? Any comments on the wisdom of >making this move? Yes....I'm surprised it took you so long! :) (No offense, and I'm not trying to be flippant...) As I have from time to time mentioned in other posts, Sprint is good for what they are -- so incompetent and inept that they HAVE to give you a good deal or you won't use their service ! :) Calls drop regularly everywhere, NYC (Kotchiousko Bridge -- I know I butchered that, it's the I-278 bridge between Brooklyn an Queens); LA (Ventura Freeway/US-101 at Topanga, also on the grade heading into Oxnard, in the Hollywood Hills, and just about any drive of more than 10 minutes), Boston (Milton/Randolph MA-128/I-93 at MA-24 and Ponkapoag Trail (another butcher?)... The point being that Sprint is NOT a good primary cellphone -- it should NEVER be used IMO by someone who needs reliable cellular service with good call delivery, good voice quality (ie, no ability to force analog other than roaming, and their CDMA is the worst of all of them, not that CDMA is anything to write home about; TDMA is a better digital standard audio quality wise), and reliable connections while traveling. Sprint is still building out, and at this stage of it's development is just not the most reliable or anywhere near extensive carrier. This being said, it does have its uses, such as reliable caller ID delivery in it's markets (and in some roaming partners, like AT&T), nice integration with it's roaming partners (better than most B carriers, which is amazing), first incoming minute free with no call delivery charge, no call delivery charges on any call (unlike most A and B carriers who charge you a toll charge to receive a call outside your home area *in addition* to airtime charges), and flat rate pricing while on SPRINT's system... So these are pluses which is why we have a couple of Sprint phones...they are good backups and have advantages while roaming (if you can stand the poor coverage and dropped calls, but it beats getting local service in every market we work in). But in terms of local service in the SF Bay, EITHER GTE or Cell One/SF will do you a lot better in terms of local coverage *on average*, as will Pac*Tel. Note that I saw "on average" -- there may be certain towns (like Piedmont with GTE) where one carrier is better than the other, and where Sprint may have a tower nearby so they will get you at your house on top of the hill or whatever where the other establishment carriers won't. However, generally, GTE and Cell One do a pretty good job of covering the East Bay, and you will have much better average call quality, call completion, and call delivery ratios than you will with Sprint. You can test this out by putting your Sprint phone (if it allowed this) in analog ONLY mode, and then dialing 611 and listening to the "Welcome" recording to see which analog system you are on (ie, either Cell One or GTE, I think Sprint defaults to the "A" first so prob. Cell One). Once you are sure of who you are on, play with their automated menu system while driving around, etc., in areas where you are experiencing problems with Sprint, and see how coverage on that carrier is. If you like it, then you know that it will work well for you, and drop Sprint and sign up with whoever worked well from your tests (a better test is to borrow a friend's phone and test both the A and the B sides extensively where you drive before you sign up for either so you can do some sort of suitable comparison, but even just testing one of the carriers with the Sprint phone in analog mode should help in determining how much better a given carrier is over Sprint. Good Luck! :) -Doug (This post and other cellular/CDPD posts and issues are also available at: http://www.wirelessnotes.org) </pre> </html>