I need opinions on US Cellular please.

[The Sauce]

I am moving to a part of the country where it is difficult to find good cellular coverage and apparently US Cellular has digital coverage there (I tried Verizon, AT&T, Cellular One, Sprint and a few others...no or poor coverage). I was looking for some input on what people think about US Cellular, or if I should keep looking.

 

[Gravity]

I've heard that they suck. But, I use nextel now so YMMV.

 

[amdskip]

I use them and it works alright. Where are you moving to?

 

[The Sauce]

Originally posted by: amdskip
I use them and it works alright. Where are you moving to?

Rural Vermont.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

Cellular one? US cellular?...there's other companies besides cingular, att, sprint, verizon, tmobile??..oh yeah and that stupid new one that has "where u @?!" as their slogan...

 

[NutBucket]

Hmmm. I want to say US Cellular is just a SprintPCS associate but I don't remember for sure.

 

[The Sauce]

I checked Nextel and T-mobile...no coverage. Looks like it might be US Cellular or nothing.

 

[brxndxn]

I wish I still had US Cellular.. they had antiquated phones and they would never give you a new one - but the service worked perfectly. I switched to Tmobile like a dumbass (because they gave me a $300 phone free) and the service is horrible. Out of the 5 or so companies I've had for cellular service, US Cellular had the clearest signal by far. But, this was in gainesville, FL.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Snatchface

Originally posted by: amdskip
I use them and it works alright. Where are you moving to?

Rural Vermont.

Looks to me like they're reselling Verizon in that area.

 

[DT4K]

I've had US Cellular in Southern Oregon as my only phone service for about a year and a half.
It's the only cell service I've ever used, so I can't compare it to anything else.
But I've been pretty happy with it.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: NutBucket
Hmmm. I want to say US Cellular is just a SprintPCS associate but I don't remember for sure.

I don't think so.
The options where I live were AT&T, Sprint, or US Cellular.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Shanti

Originally posted by: NutBucket
Hmmm. I want to say US Cellular is just a SprintPCS associate but I don't remember for sure.

I don't think so.
The options where I live were AT&T, Sprint, or US Cellular.

The funny thing is, I went to their website and it looks like if I was to get service here in SoCal it'd be ATT TDMA. In the op's area it would be Verizon (based purely on the phones offered)

 

[eLiTeGoodGuy]

US Cellular in Vermont uses an older TDMA system, similar to the ones the older ATT and Suncom service had. I do know there are plans to convert that to the CDMA system but as far as when I do not know. So for now the phones that are up there compared to here it would be older phones. Service and signal quality, it all depends on where your going to be at.

I am a current US Cellular Employee so PM me and I can see if I can help any further

 

[The Sauce]

What does CDMA 800/1900, AMPS 800 mean when referring to cell phones? Is it important for me to have a cell phone with analog capability where I will be living? How do I find out if a cell phone has analog capability (since it does not seem to be listed anywhere in any cell-phone specs)?

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Snatchface
What does CDMA 800/1900, AMPS 800 mean when referring to cell phones? Is it important for me to have a cell phone with analog capability where I will be living? How do I find out if a cell phone has analog capability (since it does not seem to be listed anywhere in any cell-phone specs)?

CDMA 800/1900 is digital. CDMA/TDMA/GSM are considered digital. The number refers to the frequency its operating at. AMPS is analog. Again, the number is the frequency. I would guess you'd want analog if you're living in marginal coverage areas, ie rural areas.

 

[The Sauce]

So any good way to find out if a cell phone supports analog or not? I have looked up several phones and they do not list that anywhere in the specs. I have found out about it accidentally for a few phones via second-hand reviews only...

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Snatchface
So any good way to find out if a cell phone supports analog or not? I have looked up several phones and they do not list that anywhere in the specs. I have found out about it accidentally for a few phones via second-hand reviews only...

If its says dual mode it supports analog. If the spec say AMPS, it supports analog.

 

[Chiboy]

STAY AWAY FROM U.S. CELLULAR IF YOU ARE IN CHICAGO, That is all.

 

[The Sauce]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Unfortunately it looks like US Cellular or nothing. Now I'm trying to decide on a phone...they only have 6 or so to choose from.