Does anyone in LA/SoCal have Cingular?

[imported_Tomato]

If so, how is the service/reception? I'm going to drop Sprint and switch to Cingular.

Do you know if it's a GSM (satellite) or TDMA (old system)?

 

[NutBucket]

GSM and stick with Sprint

 

[jmcoreymv]

I live in OC and have tried sprint, cingular and att, and cingular is the best by far.

 

[The Stigenator]

GSM =/= satellite

cingular sucks in LA

 

[MisterYu]

It's GSM. I have them and service for me is good for the most part. A lot better than what they were 2 years ago.

 

[jessicak]

There was this newspaper article out about a month ago that rated the different providers in the SoCal area and cingular had the highest rating followed by verizon and then at&t

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: jessicak
There was this newspaper article out about a month ago that rated the different providers in the SoCal area and cingular had the highest rating followed by verizon and then at&t

Wow. I'm shocked. My gf has Cingular and I'm definitely less then impressed. Meanwhile, nobody can tell I'm on a cell phone (I have Sprint).

 

[boyRacer]

Im with Cingular in LA... hollywood area... its gotten a lot better... no complaints here. If it was a year or two ago... i wouldve cancelled my contract within an hour.

 

[imported_Tomato]

Kinda mixed reviews, but thank you... I don't know if it matters, but I mostly use my cell in the West LA/Santa Monica area. I already dropped Sprint and will be signing up with Cingular soon... hopefully I won't regret it, I'll probably enter into a 2 year agreement. Any suggestions re: phones?

 

[NutBucket]

I blame your crappy LG phone for your bad sprint experience

 

[imported_Tomato]

Originally posted by: NutBucket
I blame your crappy LG phone for your bad sprint experience

LOL... That would make sense, ugh...

*going crazy because I'm still at work*

*takes a break to go took at Cingular phones*

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: Dezign
Kinda mixed reviews, but thank you... I don't know if it matters, but I mostly use my cell in the West LA/Santa Monica area. I already dropped Sprint and will be signing up with Cingular soon... hopefully I won't regret it, I'll probably enter into a 2 year agreement. Any suggestions re: phones?

Never had any problems around that area... and thats with an old crappy nokia 8290... with no external antenna. i think they still drop your call after two hours of talking though...

 

[EvilYoda]

I have no clue, but I did see the Siemens SL55 (SL56 in the States) in Toronto over the weekend, and then realized that Cingular already carries it...I like that phone. Great form factor, good build, but no bluetooth.

I don't know why I interrupted...sorry.

 

[SackOfAllTrades]

I've been with cingular for about 3 years and i've had great reception in OC, Hollywood, Inland Empire, and San Gabriel Valley. The only problem was oddly always at the apartment I lived in, reception would be horrible and my phone would be stragetically placed to get reception. But I have two good friends that have always used Sprint. Sprint, in OC at least, is a piece of crap. Whenever I talked to them over the cells, just the overall sound quality from their phones is pretty bad, both switched after around 4 years with Sprint.

BTW, I have the Nokia 3595 and I think it's a great phone.

 

[DaWhim]

no one refer you to howardforums? all the cellphone questions go there. cingular is not bad, I used my friend's cellphone when I was there

 

[mdbound]

I live in Palms and basically drive all over SoCal. I've had Cingular for about 4 years now, and it used to be REALLY REALLY bad. Now it's a lot better. A lot lot better. I've got great reception in most places and don't have TOO many problems. Though, I'd still consider another service.

Nevertheless, since you already dropped, you should SERIOUSLY consider getting a cingular contract through some place in Rowland Heights or West Covina. Small, little, mom-pop type place. I can refer you if you need. That's where I got my Samsung SGH-S307. I basically got 2000 minutes on a family plan for $10 less than I was paying for 1000 minutes, with one more line than I had before, rollover minutes (of which I have 2000 banked up), and a bunch of new S307's. Excellent phone, TINY, great battery life, great reception, and looks cool too. Don't buy anything from the official cingular stores etc., you'll be paying basically double.

PM me if you have more questions. Again, I love my new phone, great stuff. Picked it over the SL56.

MD.


Edit: I just couldn't help myself: Samsung's Official Web Site. Seriously though, you have to hold it. It's nice.

 

[amnesiac]

Originally posted by: jessicak
There was this newspaper article out about a month ago that rated the different providers in the SoCal area and cingular had the highest rating followed by verizon and then at&t

That's interesting.

I'd like to see that article, because everyone I know in LA absolutely hates Cingular and is switching to Verizon.
Also, Consumer Reports did a survey earlier this year and Verizon won in the LA Metro area by a LANDSLIDE with At&T a distant second, and IIRC Cingular was trailing at the bottom.

 

[brtspears2]

Works fine for me... but then I'm in not so crowded Riverside.

BTW : T-Mobile == Cingular in California.

 

[Corporate Thug]

i had it, sucked like $hit

switched to verizon, best move evar

 

[HiTek21]

Cingular is so so. It has good plans and the roll over minutes, but in some area's it won't get any signal. In the building I work at I use to get 0 - 1 bars of signal where my friend with Verizon got 4. Usually if you're outside without hills and large buildings around you should get good reception. Its strange because in my house i get 4 bars but down the street I only get 1 - 2. This was with several different phones 5190, 3390, 8290 and they all did the same thing. If I were going to choose a phone I'd go with a samsung or siemens. Nokia and Motorola have been going down hill.

Edit: I dunno if Cingular still has problems with busy networks or not but back when I had cingular I had a hard time calling out, It would be busy at peak hours and I couldn't call out, I'd have to redial several times before I could get a call through and sometimes it would get cut off for no reason.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

I have cingular, my brother has spring gsm and my sister has verizion. I am pretty happy with cingular for right now. I looked at the plans on verizon and my plan with cingular for 300/5000 day/nighttime no rollover for 30.00, but I never go over 300 minutes. A comparable plan on verizon was going to cost me 40 bucks. I had the phone when I went to UCLA and now I live in the south bay. I have one place that the phone will drop out. There's a 2 mile road behind the airport called Pershing drive between playa del rey and el segundo. I don't always get good coverage on there. Other than that, it's normally pretty good.

 

[trmiv]

Howard Forums is the best place for your wireless questions. They have forums for each provider, so you will be able to find someone who's posted their experience with Cingular in that area.

BTW, yes Cingular is GSM

Cingular = GSM
T-Mobile = GSM (uses Cingular network in California)
Verizon = CDMA (800 MHz)
AT&T = GSM and TDMA
Nextel = iDEN
Sprint = CDMA (1900 mMHz)

 

[shopbruin]

if you want to make a phone call while visiting the guy at UCLA, GOOD LUCK!

ucla + cingular = craptacular reception

<-- loves her verizon service

i also would highly recommend against signing a two year contract just in case your cell service does suck, and can bail out of it faster.

 

[geckojohn]

Hey, I would recommend getting a different phone with Sprint or switching to Verizon. I just switched to Verizon and i've had awesome coverage throughout CA, including LA area and San Diego. Verizon is a bit more expensive, but their 1000 mobile to mobile deal is pretty good.

But, maybe you can negotiate with Sprint and get a new phone plus a better plan. I hear that Sprint allows you to negotiate with them and soup up ur plan. good luck!

 

[Imported]

Cingular has gotten better down in SoCal. I've been with them for close to 3 years now. As for phones, I'm waiting till the 14th to get the new Motorola V400. I'm hoping that release date sticks.