Whats the best cell plan/provider?

[Gunnar]

Im giving in, I need a cell phone. Too many missed messages, and the associated hassle.

Question is, who the heck do I go for? I live in the NYC area, and I have a lot of my homeboys in Jersey. I dont expect an extravagant amount of calling to take place, but I need an area to cover at least jersey, NYC and Philly. I DO receive an out of TriState call from time to time (I'd like that not to come out to 20 bucks a call...).

Any idea on who has the best service/ cheapest rates? I personally was thinking AT&T, they have this 19.99 calling plan that looks to cover roughly the area I need. Though I am not sure who is the best out of AT&T, Verizon, Cingular, TMobile, Sprint, or whoever else I left out.

Input much appreciated. Thanks a bunch.

 

[Legendary]

In the NY Area - Verizon has the best coverage.
I use T-mobile and the coverage, IMO, is second to verizon's. Both have good plans.

 

[4Lclovergirl]

This day and age there is pretty much no reason not to get a nationwide plan. They are pretty much the same from all companies. They don't cost much more then a local plan, and it just plain makes life easier, especially if you ever plan on going on a trip you don't need to worry about it. I have Verizon, and actually relaly like the service I get now, better then my ex who had cingular, but he had a little better mins. Although in NY and NJ there is not a lack of cell towers.

 

[calpha]

Rates you'll have to research.

The biggest thing you need to check are availability maps.

Customer Service Wise: I've used Cingular, Alltel, Bellsouth DCS, and SprintPCS, and AT&T (before Mlife). Sprint PCS wins hands down. Their customer service was the best. Although, AT&T was a very very close 2nd.

Good luck. If I were you, I'd pay the extra $ for a phone and not sign a "I'm your customer slave for X months" form.

 

[jw791]

I don't know on the east coast, but here out west, AT&T has the best deal for western state coverage. I'm in AZ but I travel to Cali, Oregon, Colorado, NM, etc...and they have no roaming charges.

Plus, I once saw a verizon advertisement and I called 'em up and whined and they upgraded my calling plan for free

 

[gopunk]

from experience, it is worth the extra money to get a carrier that has the best coverage/service/reception. you can have a cheap plan with tons of minutes but it does you jack sh!t if you can't use them.

fyi, i use verizon... best carrier in seattle

 

[fr]

I like Sprint PCS, but not many other people seem to do.


A professor did a poll of the class, I was the only one.

 

[dhaddox]

Don't worry about getting a 1 year contract. It goes by before you know it, and if you need to, you can always suspend it.

 

[Gunnar]

Just some primetime bumping.

After reading about people's experiences, Im thinking Verizon. But AT&T is definitely offering more varied plans....

 

[kermalou]

verizon all the way

 

[prodigy]

For NYC I would suggest Verizon or T-mobile, I'm using the latter currently.

My g/f, sister, and mother all used to have AT&T before their contracts were up in November and they had lots of dropped calls and poor signal strength. However that was a few months ago so I'm not sure if it's changed.

 

[Mday]

my sister was using T-mobile. we're doing verizon now.

i am from brooklyn, living in hoboken for school.

 

[BuMMiE]

The best plan for your money is US Cellular...I believe the coverage is the worst though. I'd say the best for your money is T-Mobile...especially if you are getting a family plan. T-Mobile Family plan has the best deal by far. TMobile has free nationwide, and if you are on the family plan you can call anyone that has TMobile for free! Anyways, I'm not too sure about the coverage because I don't live in NY. I would have to say that TMobile is the Roy Jones Jr. of Cellular Plans...it isn't the greatest, but it's the best dollar for dollar plan.

 

[przero]

If you travel much, I think Cingular is the way to go. I have used them for 10 years, and their coverage is superb!