Any Cingular People

[PatL]

Hi all I have been with Sprint for about 5 years and am thinking of switching to Cingular. They seem to offer us a better plan and I like their choice of phones. Is there something I need to know about Cingular, over chrages etc. bad CS or anything I am missing. Please I am not trying to start a war just wanting to know some information.

Pat

[eman]

Hi all I have been with Sprint for about 5 years and am thinking of switching to Cingular. They seem to offer us a better plan and I like their choice of phones. Is there something I need to know about Cingular, over chrages etc. bad CS or anything I am missing. Please I am not trying to start a war just wanting to know some information.

Pat
i think you would get better answers going to a cingular forum, where most people will have that provider.....did you try howard fourms????

[mcurtiss1970]

Hi all I have been with Sprint for about 5 years and am thinking of switching to Cingular. They seem to offer us a better plan and I like their choice of phones. Is there something I need to know about Cingular, over chrages etc. bad CS or anything I am missing. Please I am not trying to start a war just wanting to know some information.

Pat
i have it now and love it.

1) rollover really works and is a good thing. people will tell you that if you're rolling over minutes, you're on the wrong plan- i don't buy it. yes, if you're rolling over a TON of minutes, maybe its the wrong plan. overall, it's a plus.

2) wait for a promotional plan. i figured out that i use about 700 minutes a month- nights and weekends included. I started out on the lowest plan with rollover for about 300 minutes plus 5000 nights and weekends. i eventually changed to a 1000 anytime plan for the same price and make out like a bandit on my rollover minutes

3) the phones are great. i like gsm phones better than sprint's i guess. more options that i like. you also have the option with buying ANY GSM phone that's unlocked and has the 850 band (1900 in some cities)- no longer at the mercy of Sprint's phone releases.

4) CS is just fine. i've called them a few times and yet to have a problem. the reps were very nice and communicated very well.

any other questions, post em here. :D

[eman]

mcurtiss,
just curious....do you use sprint also or strictley cingular.

[mcurtiss1970]

mcurtiss,
just curious....do you use sprint also or strictley cingular.
sprint for 4 years...recently switched to cingular

[Montego]

sprint for 4 years...recently switched to cingular

out of curiosity why do you still visit this forum if you no longer use sprint?

[mcurtiss1970]

out of curiosity why do you still visit this forum if you no longer use sprint?
does it matter?

[steb0ne]

does it matter?

I thought he said "just to be curious"?

[mcurtiss1970]

I thought he said "just to be curious"?
not to be rude, but it still doesn't matter.

back for the OP's quandary, I switched because of coverage and nothing else. The benefits I find now are secondary. Make sure you know for certain that any new carrier works were you need it to work.

[FloorMatt]

I think he's waiting for the right thing to happen with Sprint......and he shall rejoin the fold :)

But anyways, only thing I can really say about Cingular is that the online account page is Baaaddddd. mcurtiss.....what do you think of it?

[mcurtiss1970]

I think he's waiting for the right thing to happen with Sprint......and he shall rejoin the fold :)

But anyways, only thing I can really say about Cingular is that the online account page is Baaaddddd. mcurtiss.....what do you think of it?
Cingular's OLAM (online account manager) is ok. just OK. it times out a lot, but has the minimum info needed to monitor by stuff.

I love the fact that under the "upgrade phone" link, i know exactly when my upgrade date comes up and when that date arrives, i can click on it and buy a new phone.

Speaking of which, cingular's upgrade policy seems to be lightyears ahead of sprint's. no confusing 18 month policy. it's simply 11months into a 12 month contract or similar for 2 years.

[KingCoop]

When at home I use my mothers Cingular phone and one thing that I have noticed is that her phone always has a signal. When inside our house my Sprint phone usually has 1 or 2 bars, but her Nokia phone usually has between 6 to 7 bars. I don't know anything else about them because it is my mothers plan.

[mcurtiss1970]

When at home I use my mothers Cingular phone and one thing that I have noticed is that her phone always has a signal. When inside our house my Sprint phone usually has 1 or 2 bars, but her Nokia phone usually has between 6 to 7 bars. I don't know anything else about them because it is my mothers plan.
that happens with me because cingular (in most places) uses 850 while sprint uses 1900. most reports says that 850 has better building penetration.

[eman]

well as far as bars go.....i know i get better reception with one bar on a sprint phone then i do with full bars on a cingular phone.....the one thing i notice with a sprint phone is, as long as you have at least a bar and sometimes even none that your conversation will not break up at all....there is no difference in sound quality with 1 bar or 5......it is crystal clear....with gsm carriers i have found that conversations always break up....people fade in and out.....that is why i will never change to a gsm carrier....the other day, my work phone disconnected me.....something with the line....the first thing i said to myself was......my landline just dropped more calls then my cell line in months.....

[mcurtiss1970]

well as far as bars go.....i know i get better reception with one bar on a sprint phone then i do with full bars on a cingular phone.....the one thing i notice with a sprint phone is, as long as you have at least a bar and sometimes even none that your conversation will not break up at all....there is no difference in sound quality with 1 bar or 5......it is crystal clear....with gsm carriers i have found that conversations always break up....people fade in and out.....that is why i will never change to a gsm carrier....the other day, my work phone disconnected me.....something with the line....the first thing i said to myself was......my landline just dropped more calls then my cell line in months.....
then again, i dropped more calls with Sprint then I have with Cingular. So I don't think it's the technology, but your coverage area.

[skooter]

that happens with me because cingular (in most places) uses 850 while sprint uses 1900. most reports says that 850 has better building penetration.

Also Sprint phones take in account for tower load, i am unsure if cingular phones do. I have found that even if the phone has one bar it still works the same as if it had all the bars, same quality of call. I guess it is just perception.

[eman]

then again, i dropped more calls with Sprint then I have with Cingular. So I don't think it's the technology, but your coverage area.
Im in Ny....so generally all carriers have good coverage here......i can always tell when a cingular customer calls me.....because i will hear like every other word they say....or they say....hello, hello, you there???....hello????...can you hear me....hello????....and then i yell at them....call me from a land line or go buy a sprint phone and call me back....click!!!!!!...haha

[mcurtiss1970]

Im in Ny....so generally all carriers have good coverage here......i can always tell when a cingular customer calls me.....because i will hear like every other word they say....or they say....hello, hello, you there???....hello????...can you hear me....hello????....and then i yell at them....call me from a land line or go buy a sprint phone and call me back....click!!!!!!...haha
NYC? AFAIK, NYC for cingular is all screwy because they co-use towers with t-mobile (or something like that).

[sneak]

that happens with me because cingular (in most places) uses 850 while sprint uses 1900. most reports says that 850 has better building penetration.

Not just reports, but actual science.

The lower the frequency, the larger the wavelength.
The higher the frequency, the shorter the wavelength.

A large wavelength is capable of (pardon me) penetration (stop laughing :hee: ); i.e. works better in-doors.

I'm happy with Cingular. If you use PCS Vision, Cingular may be a no-go though. Edge is nice, but depending on the handset you go with, you may be limited. I am really not impressed with Motorola's browser. Sluggish and slow, offering very few options.

Aside from that, I'm enjoying the GSM life :).

[mcurtiss1970]

I'm happy with Cingular. If you use PCS Vision, Cingular may be a no-go though. Edge is nice, but depending on the handset you go with, you may be limited. I am really not impressed with Motorola's browser. Sluggish and slow, offering very few options.
yeah, if you want fast data now, find a class 10 EDGE device like the Nokia 6230.

[sneak]

We don't carry the 6230 at BBY.. if I could find a new one for $50, I'd buy it, too :).

[vikingjunior]

I have one word ...............MERGER

[bluecoyote]

I'll put it this way:

1) If you use PCS Vision at all, Instant Messaging, or Text Messaging, do not go with Cingular. Cingular's rate plans are horrendous in comparison, and they will not save you any money.

2) Cingular's CS system is horrendous. If you think "Claire" is bad, it's much worse. You will be 5 minutes just in the prompts themselves.

3) Cingular is not a good service if you use picture messaging, unless you have a bluetooth phone (in which you can bypass Cingular's rates.)

4) What phones are you looking at, specifically? Besides Nokia / Series 60 phones (NGage, Nokia 7610, 6600, 6230, etc.) , and the oh-so-sexy RAZR, Most Cingular phones are on par, or even worse, than Sprint phones.

5) Coverage is a mixed bag. Yesterday I was along I-74 with a friend who had a SE T637. He had 4 dropped calls, and had flaky voice quality, so he ended up using my phone, with not a single dropped call (and the Toshiba's excellent sound quality.)

Cingular is also notorious for overloading their towers in South Carolina.

Currently, my dad has Cingular, and is extremely unhappy with his coverage. Part of this is because he has a Sony Ericsson phone (which I'd avoid, since RF is not a strength of theirs), but even my 3650 has problems with Cingular- it's not unlikely for coverage to just drop to nothing (thus dropping your call) , and then try to redial to find out their network is busy.

6) Cingular GPRS pales in reliability to PCS Vision, although neither service is 100% reliable, expect frequent "GPRS Not Available" messages. Cingular GPRS is also much more slow- EDGE only helps for streaming video, IF that.

7) Cingular's "MeDia" isn't PCS Vision. Expect low-graphic or text-only sites. This is due, in part, to their ridiculously high data rates, but it's not nearly as useful as Sprint PCS's Vision portal.

If you're looking for a GSM service provider, I'd advise T-Mobile, unless you're in the Carolinas. Otherwise, I'd stick with Sprint.

[JoMamma]

I'll put it this way:

1) If you use PCS Vision at all, Instant Messaging, or Text Messaging, do not go with Cingular. Cingular's rate plans are horrendous in comparison, and they will not save you any money.

2) Cingular's CS system is horrendous. If you think "Claire" is bad, it's much worse. You will be 5 minutes just in the prompts themselves.

3) Cingular is not a good service if you use picture messaging, unless you have a bluetooth phone (in which you can bypass Cingular's rates.)

4) What phones are you looking at, specifically? Besides Nokia / Series 60 phones (NGage, Nokia 7610, 6600, 6230, etc.) , and the oh-so-sexy RAZR, Most Cingular phones are on par, or even worse, than Sprint phones.

5) Coverage is a mixed bag. Yesterday I was along I-74 with a friend who had a SE T637. He had 4 dropped calls, and had flaky voice quality, so he ended up using my phone, with not a single dropped call. Cingular is notorious for overloading their towers in South Carolina. Currently, my dad has Cingular, and is extremely unhappy with his coverage. Part of this is because he has a Sony Ericsson phone (which I'd avoid, since RF is not a strength of theirs), but even my 3650 has problems with Cingular.

If you're looking for a GSM service provider, I'd advise T-Mobile, unless you're in the Carolinas. Otherwise, I'd stick with Sprint.
(not to flame here but..) for once, i agree completely with blue on this one. GSM's voice quality is dependant on the signal FYI.. sprints can have one bar or even none and still the call is very clear, while if you had one bar with cingular.. it would be choppy and hard to hear... so there IS a reason for them trying to "raise the bar".. call quality.. and to get more customers.. anywhoo.. i would stick with sprint unless your coverage absolutley sucks.

just my 2 cents

[FloorMatt]

Ahh right.........Cingular's CS phone menu system is EHhhh...

After you finally get through the menu, the wait is only 2-3 minutes (usually)

[mcurtiss1970]

i've never had the voice prompt CS issues like bluecoyote. as for his complaints. he's absolutely right on that some of the messaging/data prives are not as good as SPrint's. his evaluation of pictureamil v. MMS is subjective as I prefer Cingular's MMS. I do only pay for 20 MMS's a month though and send morepics to my computer via BT.

just like politics, all coverage is local. to say one carrier's coverage stinks only relates to where that person is located. Cingular is way better for me in CT & MA, though I'm sure other areas the reverse is true. that's why i never recommend a carrier without saying that the first consideration one must use is whetgher a phone works where they need it the most.

[Stin]

I'll put it this way:

1) If you use PCS Vision at all, Instant Messaging, or Text Messaging, do not go with Cingular. Cingular's rate plans are horrendous in comparison, and they will not save you any money.

2) Cingular's CS system is horrendous. If you think "Claire" is bad, it's much worse. You will be 5 minutes just in the prompts themselves.

3) Cingular is not a good service if you use picture messaging, unless you have a bluetooth phone (in which you can bypass Cingular's rates.)

4) What phones are you looking at, specifically? Besides Nokia / Series 60 phones (NGage, Nokia 7610, 6600, 6230, etc.) , and the oh-so-sexy RAZR, Most Cingular phones are on par, or even worse, than Sprint phones.

5) Coverage is a mixed bag. Yesterday I was along I-74 with a friend who had a SE T637. He had 4 dropped calls, and had flaky voice quality, so he ended up using my phone, with not a single dropped call (and the Toshiba's excellent sound quality.)

Cingular is also notorious for overloading their towers in South Carolina.

Currently, my dad has Cingular, and is extremely unhappy with his coverage. Part of this is because he has a Sony Ericsson phone (which I'd avoid, since RF is not a strength of theirs), but even my 3650 has problems with Cingular- it's not unlikely for coverage to just drop to nothing (thus dropping your call) , and then try to redial to find out their network is busy.

6) Cingular GPRS pales in reliability to PCS Vision, although neither service is 100% reliable, expect frequent "GPRS Not Available" messages. Cingular GPRS is also much more slow- EDGE only helps for streaming video, IF that.

7) Cingular's "MeDia" isn't PCS Vision. Expect low-graphic or text-only sites. This is due, in part, to their ridiculously high data rates, but it's not nearly as useful as Sprint PCS's Vision portal.

If you're looking for a GSM service provider, I'd advise T-Mobile, unless you're in the Carolinas. Otherwise, I'd stick with Sprint.

I pretty much agree with what blue said. I have ATT which Cingular took over and for me to switch from what I have now to a Cingular plan it would be more expensive and I would get less. There data plans are horrible. $20 a month for like 3 megs? Or maybe it was 20 I cant remember but whatever it was it wasn't good. No thanks. Like blue said, if you want GSM I would look into T-Mobile due to their better plans. They don't seem to get all the cool phones Cingular gets but they get them eventually. I would keep Sprint though, especially if they release the 5pm nights $10 plan nationwide. That would basically make my plan unlimited because I don't use my phone much in the morning/afternoon.

[fever]

I have Cingular and Sprint for the time being, and while the quality of the call is better with Sprint, I'll drop calls with Sprint that I wouldn't on Cingular. That's not to say it's exactly easy to understand the other person, but sometimes (911) if you can even make a call, it'll save your life. I don't want to have to worry about crawling five feet to get to a window to make a call, when my legs get blown off. Okay, that's a bad example. Yes, their data plans suck, unless you have a PDA, in which case they're passable. However, I have yet to be charged for accessing the web, or my account. It seems that only voluntary surfing, or sending info, gets charged. Messaging in general with Cingular sucks, unless you have Bluetooth. I also get more "Network Unavailable" messages with Sprint, but I understand why, so that's not a big deal. Basically, there are advantages and disadvantages to each, so it really depends on what you want to do. Since I've been with Sprint for almost 6 years, I figured I would try something else.

I'm really looking forward to on-the-fly phone swaps... I know it's easy to change ESN's, but it's not "instant" like a SIM swap...

f

Oh, and we're still here because there's a lot more to this board than Sprint... And it's always good to keep up on the "competition"... Personally, I can't wait until Sprint decides to actually take over, instead of being the hulk behind the door.

[PatL]

I pretty much agree with what blue said. I have ATT which Cingular took over and for me to switch from what I have now to a Cingular plan it would be more expensive and I would get less. There data plans are horrible. $20 a month for like 3 megs? Or maybe it was 20 I cant remember but whatever it was it wasn't good. No thanks. Like blue said, if you want GSM I would look into T-Mobile due to their better plans. They don't seem to get all the cool phones Cingular gets but they get them eventually. I would keep Sprint though, especially if they release the 5pm nights $10 plan nationwide. That would basically make my plan unlimited because I don't use my phone much in the morning/afternoon.

Thnk you all for responding, and even being careful not to flame. I found the information very helpful and think I may just stay with Sprint for the time being unless Cingular comes up with some great offer. I need to get my account with Sprint changed form personal to business, we are a Church and have 5 lines when we started no one around here would sell a business account.

Pat

[CoreyTheGent]

Not just reports, but actual science. A large wavelength is capable of penetration i.e. works better in-doors.That's just a myth, sneak. Grow up. We all know that size doesn't matter. A shorter wavelength can do the trick just fine, it's all about how well it's utilized.

I came to the same conclusion as most: Cingular had better coverage while Sprint had the better call quality.

[Ducati996]

out of curiosity why do you still visit this forum if you no longer use sprint?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Forums like this build a "community". If a forum system can not build up a solid community of users then most likely those users will venture off to another forum where the community is stronger.

The strength of the forum community only add's to the ability of that community to provide feedback and info in which it was intended.

Those communities however often grow more than the original scope of the forums. Once you been a user of a community for a long time and build a social network within the community, it's quite easy to see why people would re-visit the community even though the user has no ties anymore to the intended function of the forums.

In other words ... he may have friends here.

-Reble

[CoreyTheGent]

Couldn't have said it better, Reble.

[bluecoyote]

Also, for those of you who are having problems with dropped calls, switch your phone before you switch providers. Those of you with an N400 or A460 who are having problem swith dropped calls, well, you're using phones that aren't what I'd call champs in the reception department.

[mcurtiss1970]

Also, for those of you who are having problems with dropped calls, switch your phone before you switch providers. Those of you with an N400 or A460 who are having problem swith dropped calls, well, you're using phones that aren't what I'd call champs in the reception department.
that's very true. i went through almost all the purported "Sprint reception hogs" before leaving.

[fever]

Totally. I would never judge Sprint's service on my a460 without taking into account that the one place I shouldn't get a dropped call, my local Sprint store WITH A REPEATER, was where I got my first dropped call in a while. My cingular phone in my pocket was pretty decent on the "bars of near-uselessness", but that doesn't mean anything. I'm not sure if TDMA/GSM equipment is cheaper, and that's why their coverage is better, or if it's solely due to their recent purchase of ATT, but I know why Sprint's call quality is better. The reason is mostly due to TDMA actually working like a REALLY fast walkie-talkie, while CDMA is more like a really fast router on a network of less than 100? computers... (I'm not sure what modern day cells can carry, I know it was 50 connections or so about 1999.) Anyways, Cingular isn't as straightforward about their rebates/sales as Sprint is/can be. Also, don't be hesitant to shop around, you definitely don't have to buy your phone from Cingular, you don't even have to buy a Cingular phone. I got a REALLY good deal from Amazon, otherwise I probably wouldn't be using Cingular right now. Sprint is available from Amazon as well.

f

[budney]

Having switched between Cingular & Sprint a couple of times in the last 2-3 years, and going to rejoin Sprint shortly. It really dose come down to coverage & quality, then maybe price & phones. CS with all carriers can be hit or miss. I first had Sprint a couple of years ago, but ended up going to Cingular because it was much cheaper & coverage was equal to Sprint in SoCal where I lived at the time. When I moved to Bullhead City, AZ I needed to get a local # and thought it would be good to have another carrier as my only phone was the Cingular phone. Port the number over to Cingular after suffering from to many no ring/straight to VM calls. Now that I just moved across the river to Laughlin Cingular's RF in my apartment is pretty bad and their network is starting to get overloaded. It will be nice to use Vision again, much faster then GPRS and the price is much better too. Cingular is getting too expensive for data & their plans are not as competative as they once were.

[Pipster]

Ok...I didn't read all the post's but just wanted to put my .02 in!I've been with Cingular for over a year now and I am still very pleased with it.The Picture messaging is NOT expensive,they offer good plans for that and you don't have to have bluetooth( I don't)I have a nice plan and am sending Pictures to SPRINT users and email addresses as well with ease.The phone selection does seem to be better(just my opinion and although he may kill me for saying this,FloorMatt*hehe*(Die hard Sprint User)Has also said he was impressed with the nice phones Cingulars always coming out with.

It all depends on your personal needs and what you like....Sprint has Pros/Cons and so Does Cingular.This being a sprint forum you're probab;y not going to get alot of people saying good things about Cingular,that's fine and to be expected...this is their forum!But!I do have to say that Cingular isn't all bad like alot of people claim it to be(i'm not saying Sprint is either because i've never tried it)I'm just very happy with My Cingular right now.

Sprint doesn't offer service in my area,but i may give them a try if they ever do(MAY)Then again since i've never had a problem with Cingular,i may not want to Switch.There's my .02,hope it helps!If you have any specific questions concerning Cingular,Please feel free to site PM me Anytime and i'll help with what i can!
-Crystal

[zenyenta]

I figure it just has to do with where you are. I changed to Sprint. We've only had it for about three weeks or so. I love it and I couldn't get a signal from my house with ATT or with Cingular. I also can make calls better with one bar on my Sprint phone than I could with two or three bars on the ATT and Cingular phones. And I just have the free Sprint phone. It works great so far. I was sorry to lose the rollover plan. I liked that, but Sprint's plans have other pluses, so I guess it all evens out.