Decaflon

I've had cingular, now at&t, for the past 6 years. I really like their company, have never had any problems with them.

Service is great except....... at my house. Yes, I get service everywhere except the one place I am at the most. I do stay in the middle of nowhere though, and pretty much everyone's service sucks out here, except verizon... who you're leaving.

In case you're wondering, I stay with them because I have a landline phone that I forward my cellphone to while I'm at home, so it's not that big a deal for me.

no verizon has the best coverage. when i lived in DC my girlfriend could get full signal underground in the metro station, while mine (at&t) got nothing.

I have A&T now, and it's ok, but not great. Personally I liked Verizon better, I never had any issues with them.

6 one. half dozen the other.
They're all phone companies that lease and borrow each other's pipes.

I think it depends on where you live. T-mobile is great if you live in Arizona, but Cingular was the only cell phone company that got semi-coverage at the Grand Canyon (I went with my biology class; we had every major company represented).

*shrugs* If you're in a big city, does it even matter?

For years and years now, I've heard about Verizon having the best coverage. But I've only had Cingular/AT&T and I can't really complain. Once upon a time I could but I didn't end up switching. But as the above responses indicate, you might want to get personal opinions on locals in your area--because it will largely vary according to where you'll be the most. Like your home.

Similarily, I have friends who live by the beach (West Coast/Pacific Ocean in Manhattan Beach, Southern California) and actually Cingular/AT&T has better coverage than Verizon in that area.

Alisa's right. This question depends on where you live. Here in DC, Verizon is the king (and the only service available on the Metro). But my new phone (and service) is with ATT/Cingular. Why? Because they've got a special deal for Stanford folks and their network has the best reception in that area.

Does my phone work here in DC? No, it completely sucks. So I'm carrying around two phones until I move. Ridiculous, eh?

If you're from a big city, I suggest going to whatever -ist blog serves you (mine is DCist) and ask them which is best.

I can't say but when I lived in NY for four years I know many of my friends at school switched to Verizon for more coverage. At least at the time - up until May of this year that seemed to be the case.

I always had Verizon.

Verizon and AT&T have virtually identical coverage. One has better in some areas, and vice versa in others. Viewed nationwide they're the same. If you're not travelling much, then go with what is best in your area. If you do travel, flip a coin.

Those are the top two, any other provider in the US has a much smaller network.

I'll put it this way, Sprint has the worse service (both cell and customer), followed by T-Mobile. Cingular/AT&T has the best coverage in Florida and even though they lie about having the least dropped calls.....at least you can make the initial call...lol

i wish they'd make a phone that would be both CDMA and GSM technologies

Well, this whole discussion is personal opinion. I can tell you who uses what technoology and why it's better, and I can tell you how I had better reception with this carrier vs that one. But what it comes down to is your particular area.

I've had T-Mobile, Sprint and now AT&T, with various different phones and manufacturers mixed in there. I can tell you that I've had excellent service on AT&T with my iPhone, but my friend who's got AT&T, lives 30 miles away from me and uses a Samsung would tell you they are terrible. She drops calls constantly - I never do.

There are too man factors to make a blanket statement that one carrier is better than the other. They key is to find one that works well for you, in your area.

I agree a lot with Ryan...I had VZW for 5 years and never had a problem with them at all...I always had service where I was at as I travel quite a bit...

Now I just recently changed to ATT and got an iphone....my friend's husband has an iphone too and she said he never drops calls but on her phone she is always dropping calls...but right now with my iphone sitting in my house I had 2 bars with VZW...with iphone I now have full signal!

I'm with Ryan. There are a lot of factors that go into the cell service, like where you live and the type of phone you have. I've had Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and some other local services. In my experience, Verizon and AT&T have the best coverage in general, but T-Mobile is up there. If you're going to get a Blackberry, and depending on where you live (research around the internet for the best service in your area), then I'd say T-Mobile. However, I think AT&T's data services just dropped in price, so that might be worth it.

No one can answer this question, because no one has lived in every area of the US and tried every cell phone carrier.

When I had Sprint, I hated them, then I loved them. My sister has had AT&T for the past few years and never seems to have a problem. My mom has Verizon and she's always cutting out for me, but not for my sister. That problem occurred when I had Sprint and now that I have AT&T.

T-Mobile has a hot spokeswoman, so I'd go with them if I were you.

Ye gods no. I use Sprint, which has provided the best coverage I've had.

clicknathan,

While it's true that none of us has lived all over the US, many of us do travel all over it for business. That's why I posted what I did earlier. Any given year I'll find myself in 10-15 major US cities, and a couple of smaller ones.

Depends on your location. In Los Angeles, for example, AT&T is far better than Verizon. T-Mobile is just about as good, and Sprint sucks.

In Northern California, I've found Verizon to be more accurate.

Sprint seems to be pretty bad everywhere, and T-Mobile leeches off AT&T's network, so I wouldn't expect either of those to be any better than AT&T or Verizon. Those are the two to watch, it just depends on your location to determine which is better.

My dad's phone (AT&T) works all the way in Mexico dude. lol

All PCS companies have trouble around where I live as well, there are alot of hills, (San Diego, CA) which I believe has something to do with the signal out here.

My phone (AT&T) has little to no trouble staying connected here.

Go iPhone! err AT&T.

Your phone coverage is completely dependant on where you live and personal preference. I've tried many different networks and have found a dramatic difference in reception quality. I think it's just a case of asking friends family and colleagues within your area what they use, and if they are happy with the service.

T-Mobile's service is actually quite hit or miss. My cubical is in a dead zone and I can't get service at my desk. Underground? Fuhget about it. And this is in Metro Boston.

The reason that I like T-Mobile and I doubt I'll be switching anytime is that I've always had very good customer service. Admittedly, I'm not one who uses customer service often, but when I do T-mobile is always a 10 out of 10 for me. Plus I seem to always get a very nice southern based reps who manage to convey their souther hospitality over the phone.

For me, AT&T has been the best in coverage. I've tried Verizon and Nextel, and where I live (Bucks County PA), there's just huge gaps in the service. I didn't intend to be on AT&T, but I bought my wife a Tracfone, and it turned out to be on AT&T service, and I noticed she was able to make calls in many, many places I could not. I don't have a real problem with dropping calls, maybe 2 or 3 a week as I move into a dead zone - but I know the dead zones so I know the call is going to drop. I think that a lot depends on the phone too - the little Nokia 1100 that we got with the Tracfone service just ran circles around the LG and Motorola phones I had. I eventually got a Treo - and it's STILL not as good as the 1100 for holding calls.

Anyway, that's my experience, hope that helps.