I need a cell phone and service, and getting the right deal has proven suprisingly difficult. Maybe you can help?
My reprieve from being married to a cell phone is nearing it’s end and I have a choice to make. Because of my personality, I have already done some research to determine what’s available that will suite my needs the best. I have found exactly what I want, I just can’t get it. My ideal service plan is as follows:
AT&T Shared GSM National, two lines with 900 shared anytime minutes (from anywhere, to anywhere), two bluetooth equipped phones (Nokia 6820, Motorola T616), unlimited nights and weekends, nights begin at 7pm, unlimited mobile to mobile, $0 setup, and $80 per month.
For my needs, this is absolutely perfect. We already have unlimited free long distance with our IP phone so it’s highly unlikely that we’d ever exceed the 900 minute plan and AT&T has fantastic coverage all over the country. The only problem with this plan is that I can’t buy it. AT&T doesn’t offer “local” coverage in Northern Michigan and willl not sell a service plan for use here.
I have exactly the same problem with T-mobile. They too offer a very similar package but once again, do not offer service here. I’ve checked with the regional cell phone providers in the area (Cellular One, Alltel) and neither offer a calling plan that I want to be limited by for a year. Cingular doesn’t offer service here, so the only option I see is Sprint.
I dislike Sprint for several reasons. The coverage up here is very spotty, I don’t like the phones they offer, their data service is expensive, and I’d have to pay a fair amount more to activate service and buy the phone. With AT&T and T-Mobile, I can get a cheap data plan, free phone & activation, and a good service plan.
Ideas for a solution anyone? Ideally I could get an AT&T plan but as far as I know, I cannot do so without crossing ethical boundaries.
I feel very strongly against all the GSM providers: AT&T, cingular, t-mobile, etc…
Because of the inherent technology behind them. They almost all use identical towers, and just have roaming agreements with one another. With GSM there is no such thing as roaming — you either have service, or you don’t — and considering the fact there are definitely not as many GSM towers as others, thats the pits. I personally use sprint — with their $5/mo unlimited roaming. Sprint has a roaming agreement with Verizon, among others. This means I get the coverage of the entire Sprint network, the entire Verizon network, and others. Sprint has a lot of the ‘cool’ features that geeks like us die for.
Finally — sprint has an undisclosed feature where if you are signed up for any of their picture sending services ($15/mo unlimited) then, because thats essentially sending data — you may purchase a cable for $20 from a place like boxwave.com and dial #777 from your laptop, through the cell, and be online — 115K/sec — its rather speedy, much faster than dialup; I get about 16KB/sec download rate.
Sprint is well aware of users using this, and the only qualm they’ve had is if you do something ridiculous, using well over 300MB/month. I’ve been using this feature myself for almost a year now, connecting hundreds of time, all over the country, and when I traded in my phone the other week, I looked at the info first — said I transfered over 200MB over the life of the phone.
The only sprint negative I can come up with is I’m not sure if they have a bluetooth phone.
sprints customer service is aweful, I had them the last 4 years, very difficult…you can get T-Mobile…about 4 or 5 of my friends up in cadillac have it…they all have Grand Rapids numbers, but supposedly i just heard they can five you a local phone number…but your gonna have to go to a T-mobile dealer, not call them on the phone…either way, you may have a long-distance number, in my opinion its far worth it..cuz its nationwide, bluetooth compatible, all the works….and the coverage is better than Sprint or Nextel, and comparable to All-tell..which is good for our area..
Hi Matt
I finally looked at your website. You are a geek meister! Sure hope you are having fun on the coastal trail. It is my absolute favorite. I want to know all about it when you return. What stretch are you doing? The whole thing is great. Did Jen go with you?
I enjoyed your pictures of Isle Royale, especially the swimming moose. We saw a swimming bear up at Warp Bay one autumn (Coastal Trail.)
I am having a phone cunundrum, too, and will probably end up with Sprint. I think their coverage is better than their maps display.
My fall adventures included a trip to the Dominican Republic. Lovely country, when there isn’t a hurricane. Also, we are now geocaching – great fun and exercise for us and the Jasper dog.
Take care
Shari