[Ansteorra] OT, Cellular coverage at event sites

Thu May 17 20:54:16 PDT 2007

Ask about the insurance that is suppose to cover everything with the 
providers. I have had Alltel for a while
and the insurance was great and not that expensive until I tried to claim on 
it. I was told that I needed to have a "police report" to be able to claim 
about lossing it somewhere. And since I didn't have a police report the 
number would have to stay on my bill and I get charged for it just as if I 
was still using it. Other than that very seldom did I have an area I 
couldn't use - as long as I paid my bill and shut up and sat down.

                                                      Griffin Van Meteren
                                                       Emerald Keep
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Gilbert" <niklas at pbgilbert.net>
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 10:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] OT, Cellular coverage at event sites

> Hi....
>
> Being one that deals with this stuff in my job, I would suggest the
> following....
>
> 1. Don't use T-Mobile.
> Their coverage is spotty and their overall penetration of markets is
> very poor. They do fair in metro areas, but have little coverage in the
> rural areas or off the major highways.
>
> 2. Pick one of the big 3...Verizon, Sprint, Cingular (ATT).
> I use Sprint and have the no roaming charges plan. If you use cellular
> data, they are one of the better ones also... as you can get near T-1
> speeds with them when you are in their data network coverage.
>
> Quiz the vendor very closely on the roaming charges. What some vendors
> call roaming is you using it someplace else other than you local area
> and will tell you there are no roaming charges.
>
> Roaming is when you are on another providers network cause you are out
> of range of your providers network.
>
> The choice of phones is getting better also. The Sanyos are good. Stay
> away from the Mote-Holees (Motorola). LG is another one to avoid.
> Samsung is ok. Check Consumer Reports on the phones. They are a fair
> source of test data.
>
> 3. Get 20% more minutes per month than what you think you will use.
> If you have an overage in your plan, they will stick it to you at the
> rate of as much as 40 cents per minute. That adds up real! fast. The 20%
> extra per month in minutes will be a cheap buffer.
>
> 4. Of all the networks, ATT has by far the largest. But they are still
> trying (and failing in many areas) to merge the ATT GSM network with the
> Cingular GSM network. The problem is they use different infrastructures
> and the switches do not talk to each other. This is a big issue and is
> requiring fork-lift upgrades in a bunch of ATT's markets.
>
> 5. Of the technologies that are used by cellular companies, I personally
> prefer CDMA. ATT, T-Mobile, several Mom-Pop systems use GSM (it's
> cheaper and easier to maintain). The bit sampling rate on GSM is not as
> good as CDMA and thus the audio is not as good. CDMA is used by Sprint
> and Verizon, All-Tel and a few others. Ask the vendors, they should
> know. If they don't, go else where.
>
> As far as customer service goes...they all suck. However, Verzion seems
> to have (IMHO) the best, Sprint next with ATT last.
>
> By all means stay away from Nextel (better known in my circles as "Next
> Try"). Their network only covers the major highways and metro areas and
> is nearly non-existent in the rural and West Texas areas.
>
> Don't believe a single thing that the marketing and ad people say. They
> all drop calls. They (all the providers) are very happy if they achieve
> a 90% call completion rate. That means 90% of their calls go thru, ring
> and someone answers. That does not include how long you talk or that you
> then shortly drop the call.
>
> Some final words of cellular wisdom...
>
> Don't take the free phone. They are free for a reason...their junk.
>
> Get a middle tier phone. And get the insurance. If you loose the phone
> or it gets damage where it won't work, you will have to pay at least
> $150 for what would be for a new customer, the free phone. The
> warranties do not cover dropping them in that ditch of water or leaving
> them on top of your car as you drive away (or for that matter, slamming
> the hood of a truck on a 3 day old Palm Treo 700p...hummmmm).
>
> For $5 to 7 a month, its worth it, especially if you get something like
> a Treo 700 or high end phone.
>
> Be sure they have a 30 day test or try out period with a no cost bail
> out clause and get it in writing. If it does not work where you want it
> to, take it back and try another one.
>
> Shop around on dealers. The company stores do not always have the best
> deals. READ! the fine print. Always remember that if the vendors mouth
> is moving they are most likely lying.
>
> And most of all....preference in cellular providers is like car
> brands.... it's a religious argument.
>
> In Service,
>
> Niklas
>
>
>
>
>
> Mike Gideon wrote:
>> Greetings,
>> I have a rather modern question. I'm considering a different cellular 
>> service. I currently only have a choice of US Cellular (which I have) and 
>> Cellular One/Alltell. T-Mobile is becoming available in our area and 
>> offers some interesting phones and services, but I would like some input 
>> on anyone currently using them and the coverage at event sites across the 
>> kingdom.
>>
>> Thanks for your input.
>>
>> Yours in Service,
>> Michel mac Donnchaid
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
>
>
> -- 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Paul Gilbert, KE5ZW             H.E. Niklas Vasilevich
> niklas at pbgilbert.net      CB,CSM,KGA,OTR,ORH,Crane,AoA
> 512-733-3035 Cellular             Kingdom of Ansteorra
>
>            Society for Creative Anachronism
>
>     Texas Dept. Of Transportation, Radio Operations
>      Austin, Texas                  512-506-5141
>                pgilber at dot.state.tx.us
>
>                "The Eagle has landed"
>  "Sable, a double-headed eagle, a bordure engrailed or"
>
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