Help with picking a NEW Cellular Company

I was looking for any help finding a new cell carrier I live North of Hutchinson, Mn and work on the Western edge of the Twin Cities. I travel from North Dakota to South Dakota, Wisconsin to Lake of the Woods. I am wondering your thoughts on:Cingular, Tmobile, Verizon, Cellular One, Vonage, and etc. I had Midwest Wireless and it just didn’t work. I had alot of dropped calls and poor coverage from Hutch to the Twin Cities. Any help is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks,690reece

ive had the best luck with verizon, and tmobile is pretty good too. i dont know which is better for further up north?

I was with T mobile for around 7 years, and their coverage just doesn’t cut it for the sportman.

I’ve heard good things about cingualr coming around. People liek those roll over min.

Who really needs nextel out of a business?

I just to switched to sprint. They have a great coverage area. No matter where you are, you will get at least a roaming signal for the most part. I liek their new fair and flexible system. A guy can get a decent plan for $40 a month. I have a family plan for 2 people and pay $70 month. I thnk they have the best system from what I hear word of mouth.

We live in the west burbs and have had just about every carrier out there. We do alot of traveling around the state especially North and Verizon has been the best. Sure we lose a call here and there, go through dead spots, ect. But, don’t all cells!! Since we’ve been with Verizon the number of dropped calls has been greatly reduced. I will add, if you do alot of traveling analog roam will be better than digital.

BIRDDOG

I would stay away from Verizon at all cost………

Being in the financial end of things……..I’ve seen LOTS of people have problems with Verizon……..

I got Sprint and so far, so good…..
T-Mobile isn’t too bad either…….

I just checked into Sprint last week! I looked at their Fair and Flexible plan for families…..My contract with Cellularone expires June 17th……I have been looking into the options and opinions of friends that I know. The Sprint name comes up alot!! Sprint also has no roaming for only $5 month more!!

Which is the best of the evils you ask???!

I’ve had Sprint for 7 years…wife and daughter still do. For the last two years I’ve had T-Mobil.

T-Mobil does not have roaming…so the areas that your Sprint phone would roam in…your T mobil is dead.

If your looking for the best coverage, scratch Tmobil

I was happy with Sprints coverage…well, as happy as I can get about a phone…

One thing I’ve found out is, once you select a company, check on line then check a store…then call the company.

Prices change and they don’t have the same deals online, in the stores and over the phone.

PS Folks with contracts? Wanna save some money? Call and ask to cancel your contract…these “sales savers” have the authority to save you some good money.

I’m paying $30. less per month than I was last month with more minutes and net access.

I am using Alltel and pretty happy with them. On the national coverage plan, I can get a signal just about anywhere I go in the U.S. I also have free roaming, free long distance, free mobile to home, and they have many different packages to accomodate how often you use your phone. Also free nights and weekends, with nights starting at 7 p.m. On our plan we get 1000 free mobile-to-mobile minutes. We have 3 phones on the plan right now and will stay with them when the contract is up

I’m in the same boat, however I’ve had Sprint for 2 years and I hate them. You’re good to the north end of Mille Lacs and then its roam ,roam, roam.$$$$$$$. Customer service sucks and you’d be hard pressed to get someone who actually speaks English. My contract is up in 2 weeks and wondering about Cingular!? I even get a 20% discount on my cell plan with Sprint, and I’m still not gonna re-up! Jusyt my 2 cents worth.

I think it really depends on where you live for which company you should go with. For me here in far SE corner of MN Midwest Wireless has the best coverage (the most towers) of any company out there bar none hands down. I am on the Tri State plan no roaming in MN, WI, & IA, I have used it as far as Bemidji and so far and have had no problems. I had AT&T before they merged with Cingular and to put it simply they sucked, I hear that since they merged they are even worse. My sister in law has Sprint and her phone does not work at my house so they would not work for me because Wendy and I just have cell phones now we got rid of the home phone. I think what it all boils down to is to find out which company has the most towers in your home area or where you use your phone the most. Good luck in your search for a new company.

Hastings is terrible for Verizon. If you talk to them, tell them you talked to ME! I live 3 miles from an “Extended Service” tower that would make Red Wing my home area. But because I live in Hastings, they will mot allow me to switch! I use my cell as an office phone. Problem is, I cannot use it in my office! They want me to pay $175 to cancel a phone that I cannot use at home. They say “We don’t guarantee coverage in any house.” I told them it didn’t matter if you were on my friggin’ roof!
I do not like them. I had no issue with Nextel anywhere in my house!

But besides that…they’re ok huh Tuck?

I have my 14 day horror story too…from Verison.

I have Verizon and I Da’ has T-Mobile. Both have been good to us. We spend a lot of time in northern MN and Verizon allows me to call back to the Twin Cities area where her T-Mobile does not! Our experience has been that Verizon offers superior coverage, although it is more expensive!

I don’t have one!!! Don’t have any friends that want to call me. Not important enough to need one. When I leave to go hunting or fishing I say goodbye to my sweetie and I’ll be home when I get there. She knows if the phone rings it’s trouble. I love the simple life.

My wife and I are with Cingular which works fine for us in and around the Twin Cities and Mille Lacs so I’m covered. As for out state Minnesota north and west of the cities, I’ve been told by several people that they are very happy with Cellular 2000, and that they also cover into Dakotas. Again I haven’t ever used Cellular, but you might want to check them out also. I believe they are out of St.Cloud.

Good luck!

I am not sure who your local provider is… but if it is Qwest… they (we) have great package deals… Bill credits to the package price if combining home service with cell service. We resell Sprint’s service… so the coverage is the same. I have the nationwide service… so works great. Whether it be sitting up on a hole in the middle of the big pond or flying down to AZ for vacation (as I did last year) If interested… PM me and I can see about hooking you up.

Summer of 2004 I was up at the Angle Inlet of LOTW…….Even though I was roaming, I was able to use my Sprint phone up there…….Even in places on the water at LOTW, I was able to use my phone……..

My observations with Verizon is that once you are sucked into their contract and you try to get out of it, they will automatically slap a collection on you and your credit report for the full contract. I’ve seen credit reports with collections up to $800 for a Verizon cell phone………

I’ve never seen that with any other cell carrier……

Thanks for all the info.! I think I am leaning towards Cingular or Verizon . I think, from the info I have received from IDAer’s, that these would be the best fit for me. Thanks Again! 690reece

The biggest (most popular) in these parts is AllTell and Cell One. I had Cell One for nine years. All was well for the first 6-7 years. Then they forgot how to credit my (cashed) checks to my account. About every 3-4 months my service would be shut off. A few minutes on the phone explaining life and all would be well again. Then “it” happened. I was hunting alone in a cabin with no land line, and alone. I set it up with the wife that I’d call every night between (whatever time it was) such and such a time. If I didn’t call she was to call my folks and brother in law (they live close to hunting land) and send them looking.

Well I get in from hunting a little late and rush up the road (to get signal) to call home. Guess what? Phone is off. I was HOT! For the last 18 months we had been using bill payer from our bank and Cell One got their payment everytime exactly one day before it was due. Long story short I was told that because Cell One has over 500,000 clients I couldn’t possibly expect them to be mistake free. I had to pay the bill right then and there so I could call home. After calling home I had to hurry and call the folks and Bro In Law to cancel the search and rescue. Then it was back to Cell One to cancel service. That in and of itself is a story that goes on for 6 months. Talk to anyone that has ever dealt with C/O’s customer service and I bet you never sign up with them.

Since then I have had AlTell. They are great. Needed customer service help a couple times and they were great! Also have WAY more coverage area than before. I can now stand in that hunting shack and talk on my cell, others with other services can’t even get a signal on their phones. I have no problem saying AllTell is numero uno!

Try a few carriers. You can try their coverages for a few weeks and if it doesn’t work for you you can cancel and not pay any additional fees. I need to change carriers, something I’d rather not do.

Sprint and Verizon have the most coverage around, I have used Sprint for many years now, and I don’t know of anywhere where I don;t get a signal. And with all of thier packages now with no roaming charges they are tough to beat. I get reception almost everywhere.

I will second sprint. I do not live in the cities, but have been up and around duluth and such with great service. And you can not beat the no roaming charges.