Unbelievable!!! AT&T Wireless deal...1000 anytime minutes...

[soflawill]

re vortix on t-mobile

i have t-unmobile, and while the 3k anytime for 49.99 sounds great, the dead zones are horrific. Come the day number portability kicks in, mrs. michael douglas can kiss my *** as i am gone

 

[Solema]

Vortix, I'm surprised that you had a bad experience with Sprint in Cleveland. I live and work in Cleveland and also travel around the country and never have a problem. My entire family and most of my friends converted to Sprint after time when my phone would be the only one that got a signal at gatherings. My boss has AT&T and is switching to Sprint because he drops the call practically every time we talk. Of course I have no idea if he is on GSM or TDMA, so that could be why.

 

[ivwshane]

I'm going to say it again, it's impossible to compare carriers unless the circumstances are the same, as in comparing one carriers service in one area to another carriers service in that same area.

 

[Wiseguy69]

Originally posted by: ivwshane
I'm going to say it again, it's impossible to compare carriers unless the circumstances are the same, as in comparing one carriers service in one area to another carriers service in that same area.

Actually, I disagree... based on what an AT&T service person told me. When I called to complain that my phone lost a signal and could not pick one back up, she explained that I needed to turn my phone off and on again to "recycle" the little mini computer in the phone. It actually worked. Something about GSM phones grabbing a tower and holding onto it even if you leave its area.

Anyway, to the point. When I asked why my coverage was so bad, she explained that with TDMA, all carriers can use each others towers. So you may have an AT&T phone in Cleveland, but use a Verizon tower if the signal is stronger. That doesn't happen with GSM. Each carrier has its own towers and none have reached agreements (or are not allowed to by the FCC) so you are at the mercy of your carrier. When I asked what the hell the benefit of GSM was, she told me that I can take my phone all over the world. Whoopee... I haven't left the country in 8 years and have no plans to so in the future. Oh, I can use a camera on my phone too!... that's why I have a digital camera. GSM sucks.

 

[ivwshane]

Originally posted by: Wiseguy69

Originally posted by: ivwshane
I'm going to say it again, it's impossible to compare carriers unless the circumstances are the same, as in comparing one carriers service in one area to another carriers service in that same area.

Actually, I disagree... based on what an AT&T service person told me. When I called to complain that my phone lost a signal and could not pick one back up, she explained that I needed to turn my phone off and on again to "recycle" the little mini computer in the phone. It actually worked. Something about GSM phones grabbing a tower and holding onto it even if you leave its area.

Anyway, to the point. When I asked why my coverage was so bad, she explained that with TDMA, all carriers can use each others towers. So you may have an AT&T phone in Cleveland, but use a Verizon tower if the signal is stronger. That doesn't happen with GSM. Each carrier has its own towers and none have reached agreements (or are not allowed to by the FCC) so you are at the mercy of your carrier. When I asked what the hell the benefit of GSM was, she told me that I can take my phone all over the world. Whoopee... I haven't left the country in 8 years and have no plans to so in the future. Oh, I can use a camera on my phone too!... that's why I have a digital camera. GSM sucks.

You got fed a huge pile of BS!! It's called a roaming agreement, since tdma is an older standard and therefore been around longer there are more roaming agreements between carriers. GSM has roaming agreements as well but just like tdma they are carrier dependent however since GSM hasn't been around for very long in the US there aren't as many carriers with GSM and therefore there aren't as many roaming agreements. As an exampla, at&t has a huge roaming agreement for alot of northern california with a smaller company called edge wireless, they were predominantly a tdma system but have now started to upgrade their system to GSM, that's why you see a coverage difference between tdma and GSM on at&t's maps. Where edge wireless has launched GSM you will also find at&t has roaming agreements there now and as they continue to update their systems at&t will update their GSM coverage.

 

[icantiwont]

Originally posted by: icecreamman11
It is FREE NATIONWIDE ROAMING like I said...if you don't believe me i''ll e-mail you thepromo.
GSM in general, not just AT&T GSM service, sucks in the united states. It works great in europe and asia, which probably means it'll be as good in the states in the future. I've had Pac Bell/Cingular GSM service for almost 7 years before i just switched and AT&T is better than Cingular, at least in my area.

icecreamman11 can you pm me the promo and any other details you have on this deal? i called 800 number and they had no clue about the promo. since, i'm on a biz acct they said i had to wait until monday to call the biz acct center.

 

[Gibson486]

att might have sucky gsm service, but from time and time again, their signal over powers my tmobile signal and i am not able to use my phone. I just get a message on my phone saying "Emergancy Use Only". I like Tmobile, but it happens at the worst times.

 

[Rumpltzer]

On a related note, I got a flier in the mail yesterday from American Airlines AAdvantage (the frequent flyer program). They're offering a free (after $50 rebate) Nokia 3595 phone and 10,000 miles if you sign up with AT&T Wireless. In addition, you get 1 mile for every "qualified dollar" you spend with AT&T wireless. They throw in a free hands free set and free delivery. Oh, TWO YEAR contract required. That sucks.

The Nokia 3595 is an entry level dual band GSM phone. The offer doesn't specify a plan, but asks that you call the 800 number to talk to them. It's not bad for miles of you're looking to get into an AT&T GSM contract anyway. The two year thing does suck, though.

The offer states that you should call 1 800 449-1672 for more details.


I'm with TMbobile GSM now. I went for the free Samsung S105 last winter (I want a triband for traveling in Asia). I appreciate that TMobile lets me switch my rate plans (three times now) without renewing my contract. Now, you can even do it over the Web without calling them up. I've gone from the 1000 anytime to the 600 anytime with free nights and weekends to the 1000 anytime with free nights and weekends (each for $40 a month, nationwide).

The GSM does suck in the heavy concrete buildings on campus, and there are dead zones around town (Santa Barbara) and in the middle of nowhere, but I do have good service in the office, at home, and in most places. I get free SMS messaging to Asia, and a phone that works overseas just by switching out a SIM card. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[sxr7171]

Originally posted by: vortix
Well....seems like there's a lot of AT&T bashers in here. In my experience, I have had excellent coverage, and very rarely (if ever) drop calls. It is much better than SprintPCS and T-Mobile in my own experience. I'm located in Cleveland, OH, but travel all over the country for work and have never had a problem at all with GSM service. I would recommend it highly over any provider.

They did a major build out of GSM in Cleveland so you get good service there. Their TDMA was also excellent in Cleveland, but as soon as go to Columbus you will see how bad their GSM is (but TDMA is still excellent). The good thing is that they have enabled free Cingular and T-mobile roaming on their local plans, so I'll be giving another try.

 

[Josh]

Tmobile is running a similar promo, they have it available in Cali & Carolinas I believe. However, if you are willing to sacrifice an area code, you can get the deal wherever you live. I live in New Jersey and I called up T-Mobile told 'em I travel a lot and they gave me a 323 (Los Angeles) area code and the promotional plan . I'm a very happy man.

Dunno if it works for ATT

 

[Wiseguy69]

You got fed a huge pile of BS!!

Given my recent experience with AT&T, I'd believe that.

 

[caitlion]

i dont think anyone has mentioned this yet.. sprint is having a promotion right now where you can get 1000 anytime minutes for $39.99/month also. its only the local plan though, so you have to pay for roaming/long distance :-/ it could be good for some people though

edit: its not sprint, its verizon. sorry :-/

 

[Parasitic]

att gsm is all right, and sometimes it depends on what phone you have. Not every phone has the same reception. My C56 is somewhat crappy but I like it for what it is.

 

[vortix]

Originally posted by: Solema
Vortix, I'm surprised that you had a bad experience with Sprint in Cleveland. I live and work in Cleveland and also travel around the country and never have a problem. My entire family and most of my friends converted to Sprint after time when my phone would be the only one that got a signal at gatherings. My boss has AT&T and is switching to Sprint because he drops the call practically every time we talk. Of course I have no idea if he is on GSM or TDMA, so that could be why.

Actually, my Sprint service was OK. AT&T has been better, though (I did drop a few calls here and there with Sprint, but rarely do with AT&T). My worst experience was with T-Mobile. Some areas would get decent reception, but others would be complete dead zones. I could not use it at school or my apartment at all. I actually cancelled within one week because of the problems I had with T-Mobile.

 

[icecreamman11]

what's your e-mail? I will e-mail you the promo...it ends the 30th!

 

[santokki]

I've used AT&T's TDMA service for 2 years now. In So Cal, it's decent. On par with Sprint, better than Cingular or T-Mobile, but not as good as Verizon.

I tried AT&T's GSM service between October 2002 and March 2003. It was horrible. Most of the people that I know that use AT&T GSM service has since switced to Verizon. I'm still under AT&T contract ... so I switched back to TDMA and got a second cell phone (Verizon).

 

[huesmann]

I don't use 1000 minutes in a year!

 

[FunkmasterT]

Originally posted by: serialb
AFAIK this a local plan that means you have to pay for roaming (in California market, at least). I wouldn't get AT&T GSM even it's $5/mo as they still have a long way to go in terms of coverage.

Like the other thread mention, T-mobile is offering the exact same thing for the same price. Plus, their TMO's GPRS service has a more reasonable pricing. Even AT&T uses the 850 band, the coverage can't even come close to what TMO is offering across the US.

Tmo does NOT have a similar plan for the same cost. Their current 1000 anytime for 40/mo doesn't include any offpeak. Plus, AFAIK, Tmo's offpeak means "WEEKENDS ONLY" not NIGHTS & WEEKENDS. Big difference.

I wonder if we could just put in a SoCal zip and get this deal off their site. Most state's large cities are free digital roaming areas, so technically, u don't have to reside in SoCal to take advantage of this offer.

Anyone see any holes in this? Let's hear it.

 

[Josh]

Originally posted by: FunkmasterT

Originally posted by: serialb
AFAIK this a local plan that means you have to pay for roaming (in California market, at least). I wouldn't get AT&T GSM even it's $5/mo as they still have a long way to go in terms of coverage.

Like the other thread mention, T-mobile is offering the exact same thing for the same price. Plus, their TMO's GPRS service has a more reasonable pricing. Even AT&T uses the 850 band, the coverage can't even come close to what TMO is offering across the US.

Tmo does NOT have a similar plan for the same cost. Their current 1000 anytime for 40/mo doesn't include any offpeak. Plus, AFAIK, Tmo's offpeak means "WEEKENDS ONLY" not NIGHTS & WEEKENDS. Big difference.

I wonder if we could just put in a SoCal zip and get this deal off their site. Most state's large cities are free digital roaming areas, so technically, u don't have to reside in SoCal to take advantage of this offer.

Anyone see any holes in this? Let's hear it.

Uhh, I actually live in Jersey and I got the promotional plan, I just have a Cali area code (as I already mentioned above). And, the T-Mobile "off-peak" (at least for this plan) is WEEKEND AND NIGHT minutes. That means 1000 whenever minutes, and unlimited nights (9pm and up) and unlimited weekend minutes. Can't beat it. $40/month.

 

[grandeCC]

AT&T Customer service is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.