Cell phone service

igor2know- Welcome to Able2Know!

There are a lot of variables here. You are in N.C. Where and when are you making most of your calls? Do you make most of you calls during business hours, or nights and weekends?

As far as phones are concerned, just what so you want in a phone? Basic, or with all the bells and whistles? It will make a difference in what phone you will buy. Remember, each bell and whistle adds to your bill. If you don't use a service much, it does not pay to be charged for it.

For instance I use AT&T, which originally was Cingular. Every review that I read gives it a so-so rating. Yet, for me, it works very well. I once switched to Verizon (which is usually at the top of the ratings heap) for about a week, and switched back, as I was not happy with the Verizon call quality in my area.

Ask people what plans they have and whether they get service in the areas you're going to use your phone most. And if signal's an issue, it has seemed to me that higher end phones do a little bit better picking up a weak signal than the cheap ones.

Mine doesn't work in the building I spend most of my time in -- haven't figured out if it's the phone or the provider, though; a lot of people have issues with cell phones in this big concrete building, though.

Another odd thing to watch out for is your proximity to the local cell tower. A friend of mine was very happy with his service until he moved. He found himself only two blocks from the cell tower -- in what's called the "shadow". He couldn't get reception at all from his house; he ended up going to a different carrier!

I've never had any issues using Verizon, at least in my area. I used to have Nextel and when I did, my phone had horrible service. I guess it all depends on where you are though.