ATT Wireless GSM Network

[TuxDave]

Argh... it's that time of the year again, it's time for me to go renew a phone contract and get myself a nifty new phone. But lo and behold, my local ATTWS retailer seems to be trying to phase out all TDMA phones for the 'next generation' GSM phones. How mature is this network? I live in the Bay Area and all comments will be appreciated.

Oh... and one last thing, what do you all think of the Nokia 6200? I think it looks cool for $50.

Nokia 6200

 

[Crimzon]

Don't buy what looks cool, buy what's functional and reliable. Then if you're down to a few phones that're what you need in functionality/realibility/cost, *then* you buy what's "cool".

 

[TuxDave]

Yeah, I know. I try to rely on www.epinions.com (or something that looks like that website) for consumer reviews, and so far they didn't mention any problems with reception, screen quality and battery life. Those are the three that I really try to look for. The last requirement is the 'coolness' factor. But I'm wondering how dependent is reception on the phone. Like if the GSM coverage blows, what good will the phone do.

According to the papers they gave me, they said that if the phone is multi-band, it'll have extended regions, but none of the available phones have that. Dang it... should I switch to Verizon???

 

[HiTek21]

Switch to Tmobile and get a Samsung S105. Great phone with decent service.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I just got a Nokia 6800 fromAT&T, coolness factor of 10

Has pretty good RF sensitivity, but it's a tad big...

 

[rudeguy]

heres the easy way to tell if you will like the coverage. The general rule is anywhere your phone says AT&T right now, the GSM phone will work. I have been on GSM for over a year now and you couldnt convince me to go back to TDMA/CDMA

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: rudeguy
heres the easy way to tell if you will like the coverage. The general rule is anywhere your phone says AT&T right now, the GSM phone will work. I have been on GSM for over a year now and you couldnt convince me to go back to TDMA/CDMA

Not entirely accurate. I get an AT&T signal all over the place here in DC. But even the AT&T CSR told me not to get GSM yet because the coverage is horrible here.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: dabuddha

Originally posted by: rudeguy
heres the easy way to tell if you will like the coverage. The general rule is anywhere your phone says AT&T right now, the GSM phone will work. I have been on GSM for over a year now and you couldnt convince me to go back to TDMA/CDMA

Not entirely accurate. I get an AT&T signal all over the place here in DC. But even the AT&T CSR told me not to get GSM yet because the coverage is horrible here.

the west coast is fully converted...the east coast is the last that they are going to do. NY was already done, but I guess you guys in DC havent been done yet.

(notice I said the "general rule?")

 

[Supahfreak]

Originally posted by: rudeguy

Originally posted by: dabuddha

Originally posted by: rudeguy
heres the easy way to tell if you will like the coverage. The general rule is anywhere your phone says AT&T right now, the GSM phone will work. I have been on GSM for over a year now and you couldnt convince me to go back to TDMA/CDMA

Not entirely accurate. I get an AT&T signal all over the place here in DC. But even the AT&T CSR told me not to get GSM yet because the coverage is horrible here.

the west coast is fully converted...the east coast is the last that they are going to do. NY was already done, but I guess you guys in DC havent been done yet.

(notice I said the "general rule?")

Dont get it if you live in Hawaii, the coverage SUCKS here.

FreAk

 

[MiniGolfIsFun]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Don't do it. Really. I've been using ATT GSM network here for about 9 months now and all i gotta say is that there are times when i just wanna throw my phone against the wall. I have a T68i with it so i don't think it's the phone, but the network is screwy. If you live VERY close to a busy area, you'll get decent coverage....if you live a bit away, forget it. Many times in my own room i have to put it in a designated spot to get coverage. It's like being back in the 80's and having the foil and coat hangers help your tv get reception. Can't even lay my phone down or there's no reception.

Also, there seems to be a lot of times when the phone just changes to "invalid mobile" mode which basically means it's off. So the only thing I can do is just switch it off and on.

And one more....whenever I can't get reception, a lot of people would tell me later that they'd try and call me and they would hear the phone ring and ring and then get into my voicemail like normal, but the phone wouldn't ring on my side at least.

So my advice? Go with verizon. I think i should be too once my contract is up.

 

[gopunk]

really depends on where you are... i'm in seattle and att seems to have good reception and coverage here.

 

[Kelvrick]

GSM service sucks ass in Davis too. Sac area is decent, but Davis sucks monkey balls.

 

[rootaxs]

Originally posted by: MiniGolfIsFun
Don't do it. Really. I've been using ATT GSM network here for about 9 months now and all i gotta say is that there are times when i just wanna throw my phone against the wall. I have a T68i with it so i don't think it's the phone, but the network is screwy.

It's the phone. A lot of people, me included, have had horrible reception problems with the T68i.

Also, to answer the first post. GSM, IMHO, is much more mature outside the US. I've used it for the better part of the past 7-8 years - mostly in Asia. The US is getting better with their GSM offering but i still wish they'd speed things up a little bit.

 

[neutralizer]

How's GSM in San Diego?

 

[TuxDave]

Yeah... that's what I'm worried about. I had a friend in San Jose that really hated the GSM network. But then again, at his home it seemed that all cell phones seemed to get nullified. So I couldn't tell if it was the network or just his home. Thanks everyone!