What cell phone carrier do you use and what's the reception like OTW?

[Too Fly]

I'm ready to drop this friggin' Nextel in the toilet. Glad it can't swim... What carriers do you guys use? I'm stuck between Verizon and T-Mobile. Their phones seem pretty comparable to each other and their plans seem to be too. But I hear T-Mobile's customer service dept. is great and that Verizon's is not so great. The deciding factor will be how well they work on the water (shore, 10 miles, 20 miles offshore, etc.) I know Verizon gets good reception in CCB. Any recommendations for T-Mobile?

BTW I'm looking for two phones with a family plan and shared minutes. I'm not going overboard on phone features, etc., so it's down to reception OTW.

TIA,
Paul

[Joey Langan]

I have a verizon and i always have service. The service department isnt the best but they always tell you what you need to know. Dont know about t-mobile.

[FlyFishMich]

VHF works as long as there is another boat in range:)

I have had good luck with Alltel throughout "South County".

[happytuna]

ive got verizon it works most of the places service on phones been np
had t- mobile there rates are better but do'nt work were verizon does for me on land on the water they were about the same to me and i fish up north and south good luck

[irish jig]

cingular/at&t works well for me we will fish out towards nomans and my buddy will have to use my phone to call home because his nextel will not have service.

[FLY FIS]

I fish from shore most of the time and have Verizon. I live near Laconia NH and work in Concord NH. The Concord store is much better than the Laconia store, so they do vary as to the service you get store to store. I have real good luck in some of the remote places I do fish, with Verizon coverage. Also, try the LG phone that looks like the Motorola Razer. The LG has a 2 mega pixel camera and also has a lithium battery, and of course does all the weather radar etc. through the mobile web, or, the get it now program that they have. My son has a Nextel and is great around the city, but thats it.

[ruge13]

I used to have Verizon.... Accross the Bay to Race, Nothing. Boston harbor Nothing as soon as I hit the Graves. North Shore, 1/2 mile out....nada. East, as soon as I cleared monomoy I had nothing. Nauset...forget about it. Buzzards Bay was OK. Rhode island was OK until I cleared Brenton Reef, then nothing. But picked a bar or two around the Block. Eastern CT, no problems until I cleared the Race off Fishers. Hell I never even got service in my house next to Logan Airport.

Then I got Cingular. FAR better IMHO. 80% of the fishing I do I am covered. NWC - Jeffreys no porblems, SWC no problems, BE, BC buoy no problems. Even out by the Hooter. Middle Bank is a little spotty.

[Blackjack]

Verizon on my personal phone, T-Mobile on the blackberry...Verizon wins hands down south of Boston and out to PTown (where I know you will be spending an inordinate amount of time).

[SamRiley]

I have no issues with Nextel OTW though it can be spotty in Boston (#$119)
I think that a lot has to do with the phone itself but I have nothing to back that up.

[Bob Parsons]

I have no issues with Nextel OTW though it can be spotty in Boston (#$119)
I think that a lot has to do with the phone itself but I have nothing to back that up.
How is that nextel under the ice?? :D

[JimW]

Verizon is decent in CCB but I loose it in spots. Nada on the SWC for me using verizon but that could be the phone. I've got a razr, which is nice and compact but maybe not the best radio. When looking at service from different carriers you might want to find out what phone people are using. I had a nokia a ways back that I think would have given me signal on the moon, the moto razr doesn't even come close.

[rodin]

I use TMobile and get pretty good reception throughout Buzzards bay, The Elizabeths and around the Vineyard.

[Too Fly]

Thanks all for the replies.

Most people say the same things which are that Verizon's coverage is great and they have next to no droppped calls. I was warned that they do sometimes come up with random, bogus charges, their customer serv. sucks and their phones are kinda chinsey. T-Mobile seems to have a better reputation for everything mentioned except for their coverage. So I guess it's going to be Verizon. And everyone tells me to stay away from the Razr, Krzr and any other super thin phone from them. The speaker sucks for one and they tend to break easily. I read positive things about the LG EnV and have heard good things too. It's more than I need in a phone, but it's supposed to be built like a tank and weigh considerably less than the previous model.

Amazon.com has great prices on phones when purchased with a plan if anyone is interested.

About Nextel... I've got a lousy i730 right now, which is my third replacement phone on their insurance plan. I called them to complain about: droppped calls (say 50% of the time), no service (again 50% of the time and 80% while in my house), getting voice mails up to two days late and to see about a hybrid phone as a replacement. I was told by a few people that they would probably replace mine with a hybrid cosnidering my problems. Well the guy on the phone tells me that my phone has a lost/stolen serial number, which is the reason for the issues (#$119), and that they can do nothing for me unless I can come up with the original sales receipt. I told him the phone was probably close to two years old, but in good condition and that it was a replacement through the insurance plan. I also stated it was picked-up from Nextel's Charlestown office. Still, he says I need the receipt before they can do anything. BTW, I cancelled their wonderful insurance plan over a year ago and they've been charging for it ever since. I didn't know this as I don't see the statement. The phone is provided through work and the statement goes to my boss (mom). So I ask for a refund for the insurance and he said his hands were tied on that too. I was b*llsh!t and said that when the contract was up I was going to drop them. He apologized and reiterated that he could do nothing without the receipt. He then got quiet and said that my phone was probably a refurbished one. I was p!$$ed about that too. So I continue to complain about the service and he stops me dead in my tracks and says "sir, you'd like to know which phones have expired plans?" I asked "huh? yeah tell me which phones have expired." He cleared his throat and got real quiet again. He reads off the numbers and dates and says that 4 out of 11 phones have expired plans this month and that two are soon to expire. He then says "you have no obligation with the expired phones" and he clears his throat again. I laughed and thanked him for his help. I couldn't believe this guy was hinting that I get as far away fom Sprint/Nextel as possible. So I guess I should say the customer service wasn't all that bad in light of what this guy did. :rolleyes:

Blackjack (B.J. for short),

Important question is how is the service from your house? I'll also be spending an inordinate amount of time there too, primarily the bedroom --127-3-and the living room (where I'll be recouping :-%). Oh and if I don't talk to you before the weekend, have a good time on the Cape. Stock the fridge before you go. I like steak, but Gail knows this already. And brew some iced tea too.

[salamid]

T-mobile works fine on the MA north shore. No problems around the Vineyard.
Take north and inland though and you 'll be borrowing your buddy's verizon.

[bb1]

Does anyone use Sprint around the Cape & Islands?

I have a new Virgin that I will be trying this weekend....I believe it switches between Sprint & Nextel as needed?
(the Nextel pay-as-you-go only does Nextel service)

Virgin Mobile is the #1 pay-as-you-go phone service in the country!

[SAGE9]

Sprint has to be the worst of them all. Even in Boston I would have countless dropped calls. Little to no coverage OTW in Chatham area. This goes back about 2 years though. Got Verizon now.

[bb1]

Don't most Sprint phones now flip between Nextel & Sprint srevice....whichever gets the best reception in a given area?

[Too Fly]

Don't most Sprint phones now flip between Nextel & Sprint srevice....whichever gets the best reception in a given area?

That's what I've heard. And in order to get the same from a Nextel phone, you need to get a hybrid. They wanted $200 for the lesser model. (#$119)

[fisherwoman]

at&t i have fished east and south of the islands . 35miles east of bston light . asfar north as mid maine from all of areas ihave made calls to pittsburg. pa. never had a problem

[bb1]

My Virgin Kyocera phone (the MARBL) is supposed to use both networks (maybe even 3 w/ analog)....$10 on sale at Radio Shack last month.
Sprint doesn't have a pay-as-you-go....Virgin has that concession with them.
And Nextel pay-as-you-go only work on the Nextel network!

18c a minute.....or about $5-6 a month to keep in touch with your buddies....--125-3

Real small phone too.

[north coast]

I'm with ruge on this one, verizon is kaa kaa for me on the water. no service on the water beyond a few miles(north shore). I had no service around the vinyard either. my phone wouldn't even dream of giving me service on stellwagen. big areas of the north shore (including my house) have dead zones. dropped calls, intermittent service at best. guess it depends where you intend to spend most of your time.

[Albiemanmike]

Too Fly,
I am an IT guy during the day and half of my work is buying/setting up cell phones and PDA's. I have moved my biggest client over to all AT&T/Cingular because of their fine service and better than average coverage. I personally have had Cingular for a very long time and have been generally pleased with the service and the phones. Verizon has many issues not the least of which is coverage while on the water. I have a Verizon Palm that I had with me a month or so ago while out in CCB tuna wishing, it was a solid no go while on the water but my Cingular Razr had signal all day even out at SWC. Keep in mind they all SUCK it is just how much they suck that tells them apart. I just purchased a new Palm 750 yesterday from AT&T for work and the experience was very positive, I am initially happy with the phone but have a lot of experience with these phones and my clients. If the signal issue is really important I suggest you get a device that has an external antenna as these seem to have better reception than phones with internal antennas. One other thing is that Verizon is still using CDMA technology and their phones will not work on any other networks but CDMA, most all of the carriers are going GPRS/UMTA GSM and this is just another reason to go with AT&T. Good Luck hope this was helpful.

[bb1]

Your so right Albymanmike, Verizon's network/antenna system uses old/outdated CDMA technology....and they are doing little to change that. CDMA is very limited.

AT&T used to use (even worse) TDMA, but made efforts years ago to change over to GSM (I think), which is the future. Most of Europe uses GSM.


It's so funny when I see dyed-in-the-wool Verizon users....Verizon gives incentives to corporations/employees to drum up business, so they think there getting a good deal.


p.s. If you tried Virgin mobile, you would not think that they "suck"....they are actually nice people....unlike any other phone Co. I know of.

[HatTrick]

I fish the Elizabeths regularly from Westport, MA and T-mobile worked well. I switched to Sprint because of a family plan issue and so far I have not had any problems.

[dudley]

More Bars In More Places
My AT&T doesn't even work at my house!
I have to go down to the bar down the street to use it
....(#$119) Maybe that's what they mean :eek:

[bb1]

Virgin mobile was terrible down the Cape.
(it uses the Sprint network)

I got 4 bars (there best) at Sandwich Marina.

About a mile away at the Stop & Shop I got NO bars.

And a couple miles past that at the camp grounds I got NO signal at all.


The 9 day battery lasted 2....as the phone seems to run down the battery continually searching to connect to a signal........even when your not using the phone!


At least I caught an Albie in the Canal....