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LaGrape wrote to ask about cell phone providers, you know, those companies that put up big towers all over the place and charge you ridiculous amounts of money for charges you didn’t know existed?
We’d like to know which cellphone provider you use. Are you happy with your existing service coverage, customer support, billing and the cost of your service? We want you to create the review of the best provider in the comment section. We will come back and feature your reviews and try to pick a winner for Charlottesville based on what we read in the comments.
So that everyone can evaluate experiences fairly, try to use this format for your comments:
Embark: $35/month for 1500 min, 500 txt, unlimited nights weekends, free roaming. I think….
Now discuss away!
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I have been using Alltel for 4 phones for a number of years- the coverage is great but the prices could always be lower……
Alltel has only one “L” at the end.
Alltel ~$230/month for 4000 min, (3 phones) 300 txt, 300 txt, 750 txt, unlimited nights weekends, national coverage, mycircle – which contains about about 1/3 of my calls.
I said this last year – Alltel has the best coverage in the Central Virginia region, has EVDO, great plans (my circle is brilliant) and while it’s a bit expensive, has proven to have coverage in 99% of places I go. There’s on road in Louisa that hasn’t had it – and that was for about 90 seconds.
I drive around the area more than most – from Madison/Greene to Louisa/Fluvanna to Crozet/Waynesboro etc. and have been pleased since I switched over a year ago – so much so that I finally had the confidence to drop the landline.
But … Cingular/AT&T has the iPhone.
(If you happen to switch to alltel, feel free to drop my number – I think I get 10 bucks or something like that)
Sprint: $55/month, 2000 minutes, 500 txt, unlimited data, free national roaming.
I hate not having high speed wireless internet in Charlottesville, but coverage is good all around. When I travel to outoorsy places, I do find that I lose Sprint coverage.
I had the Sprint SERO plan before, there are ways to get it via backdoor methods posted on Consumerist/Fatwallet/etc (though I think it may be open to everyone now).. the plan was relatively insane:
500 anytime minutes, unlimited text and data (the data being the awesome part) for $30.
Now I’m forced to AT&T though..
I’m okay with AT&T, but I enjoyed thinking I was paying Cingular better. I just don’t recommend Verizon, because the nearest service centers are Hburg, Fburg, or Richmond.
Alltel – $94.99 family plan for three phones, 1000 anytime minute shared. 2 with 7 pm nights, one with 1000 txt, unlimited nights weekends, national coverage, mycircle – which covers about 80% of our calls. Alltel has by far the best service around.
At&T Nation 450 Rollover & 5000 Night/Weekend (includes national roaming) & Unlimited Mobile-To-Mobile Minutes, MEdia basic package and insurance on my Razr – $53
I started out on SunCom. Which became AT&T. Which became Cingular. Which went back to being AT&T (super use of cash, I’m sure). In general, I’m happy with my service. No billing problems, even with the provider name changing every 30 seconds. Reasonable coverage except (and I have no idea why this is) I get zero bars inside at Miller’s on the downtown mall. I know other carriers don’t have that problem, so I find it a bit bizarre to always have to borrow a phone, any time I drink there and need contact with the outside world.
No matter what good deal one gets on Verizon in this area, it is NOT WORTH IT. Wretched, rotten service, not worth the breath to speak the word “Verizon.”
I’ve the the Verizons. 1000 mins + Free night and weekend + 250 text for ~$70/mo. Their coverage is great, except they haven’t made their way into CVille yet, so I have to be routed through the Alltel network (which I’m told is owned by the Verizons). That sometimes makes the phone do the “click……lick…..click….” thing before the receiving end rings when I call other cell phones. Also, since there’s no Verizon towers here, it prevents me from sending video messages, but I rarely try that.
If my phone did the “click…lick…click” thing, I might like it more.
I have verizon and other than not being able to send picture messages, the service has always been perfectly fine. Their customer service is awesome. I have unlimited texts, free nights and weekends, and some amount of minutes that i’ve never been able to exceed. I moved away from home 3 years ago, but i kept my number and my phone on my moms family plan…10 bucks a month. That’s an unbeatable deal.
alltel…1000 minutes shared twixt two phones, pay just north of $80/mo. i had suncomgularat&t for a couple of years then sprint for a couple more before i finally landed at alltel. overall, alltel has had the best coverage, the best cust. service and the best features of all three networks i’ve used. i refuse to get locked into a contract just to get a cheap phone. so the last couple i’ve bought on ebay and done ESN swaps on. each time i expect alltel to give me an earful about not buying “their” phones. but the last time, the rep actually told me he buys his phones on ebay too! they’re surprisingly helpful too. even though i know how to program cell phones, they walked me through the steps for getting each one up and running. the reps in the stores however are always surprised that i know their “secret” programming codes. i guess they’ve never heard of the internet.
Sprint: $35/month for 350 minutes, unlimited nights/weekends, and no texts. It occurs to me that I should probably upgrade, as this was my original plan from way back in 2000, before I texted google ten times a day to check the weather. Sprint’s got good c-ville coverage though.
This is good information. Currently, I’m on Verizon. I’m fairly happy with the coverage, except when driving on 64 near Keswick. My parents have me on their plan for the additional $10, too. It’s a pretty good deal for me, but I think they are going to cut me loose soon. I used to get the web on my phone for $5, but dropped it since it doesn’t work in Cville. Nor can I recieve/send photos, but I almost never want to use that feature anyway.
I use Cingular/AT&T. The only reason I mention this is that there is a dead zone for their service right before Barracks becomes Preston, which always amuses me since that’s not even a half a mile away from their building.
AT&T with some sort of family/rollover plan for around 80 or 90 bucks/month for 2 phones. The phone works really well down here in town, but not so much at the homestead in the wilds of Greene County (literally 20 yards from the Albemarle County line). I heard there was a new tower at 29/33, but it hasn’t been activated yet. Anyone know about this? AT&T/Cingular also has/had miserable coverage in and around Gordonsville/Cismont/Keswick/Shadwell, an area I used to frequent, and their coverage along 33 from G’ville back to 29 is spotty at best. Much happier with them than I was with my former Sprint service and equipment, however.
a friend of mine had sprint a few years ago. he was driving down rio rd. talking on the phone when his called got dropped. he said he was passing right by the big sprint tower behind fashion square mall when it happened! he said his next call was to sprint telling them to go screw. i always thought that was pretty funny.
Does the Sprint SEROS plan come with free roaming?
i’m on at&t and have been since it was suncom (about 8 years). coverage is pretty good throughout charlottesville and other big cities… however, not so good once you get into the sticks a bit. worst dead zone for me is in nelson county between here and wintergreen.
however, 450 anytime, 5000 night/weekend, rollover minutes, unlimited iphone data, 200 texts all for about $60/month after taxes.
Silmo: Yeah.
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/680568/
Embarq = $55/month, two phones, 700 minutes. No night/weekend, no rollover. Not sure about texting. I’ve got cell, landline, and long distance bundled with them. So far, so good on customer service.
i’m with stanley: sprint, $35/month, but 300 minutes (1000 night/weekend and unlimited sprint-to-sprint calls) and 100 texts (which is an extra $5). with insurance, my monthly bill – failing any aberrations or flurries of drunken texting – is usually around $50-$55. their coverage in town is pretty good; i usually only lose it when going to wintergreen (shocking, i know) and in some random parts of culpeper on 29N. it’s funny this thread comes up today, as i was just kvetching to someone that i’ve had more problems using sprint’s website (it’s not nearly as user-friendly as it could be) than their phones. would i recommend it? yes and no. it’s okay, but it suits my needs pretty well. i’ve been with sprint for four point five years and am not likely to switch over any time soon.
AT&T – family plan: 2 phones, 800 anytimes minutes, 200 text messages per phone, unlimited nights and weekends, rollover, free roaming/long distance: ~$90, with taxes, etc….
I got an extra 100 minutes/month added on when I told them I was going to leave at the end of my contract.
Ntelos- hundred bucks, two phones and unlimited txt, pics, internet and nights and weekends. Ntelos is awesome because I get service from Lynchburg to Charlottesville with no outtages (even in good ole nelson county)….
I used to have Tmobile and they sucked as far as coverage goes. Now give me a kiss.
oh and that’s 1600 mins.
Thanks guys! I’m looking to get rid of Boost and get sumpin’ new.
Embarq ends with “q”
I’m surprised more people don’t use nTelos…Waldo on Cvillenews loves it so much and says it’s the cheapest
I can’t wait to send these grotesque pixs of the latest cell tower I’ve got on my camera to you all! Does anyone know about how this happens and plans for the many more that are coming resulting in ugly landscapes???
i know that verizon was planning to start covering the area by the end of 2008, or at least that’s what they said the last time i accidentally drowned my phone (early this fall).
verizon is the devil
Verizon’s attempting to make inroads in
Louisa and
Nelson
I just signed up for the Sprint SEROS plan and I highly recommend it.
500 minutes
Free roaming
Free long distance
Free unlimited texts
Free E-mail
Free Internet
Evenings start at 7
$30 a month