Sprint vs. Cingular in Tampa

[crazyzoomom]

After a few years of saving money using a pre-paid service we are now thinking about switching to Cingular or Sprint (or possibly verizon). We would appreciate any feedback about the quality of service Sprint offers in the Tampa Bay area and how it compares to Cingular. Thanks so much in advance!

KB

[Holt4381]

After a few years of saving money using a pre-paid service we are now thinking about switching to Cingular or Sprint (or possibly verizon). We would appreciate any feedback about the quality of service Sprint offers in the Tampa Bay area and how it compares to Cingular. Thanks so much in advance!

KB
Go Sprint. Good coverage and cool phones

[dro1984]

Florida is Sprint territory! They have much of the phone system in Florida both Hardline (wireline in home service) and Network cables as well as Cellular.

I've been down in the Keys (Marathon, Key West), up in Orlando, down to Miami, and spent a week durring the Hurricanes in Naples last fall. Sprint's service rocked! It never failed me the whole time! 5 bars strong!

[Jake]

After a few years of saving money using a pre-paid service we are now thinking about switching to Cingular or Sprint (or possibly verizon). We would appreciate any feedback about the quality of service Sprint offers in the Tampa Bay area and how it compares to Cingular. Thanks so much in advance!

KB

I recently switched from Sprint to Cingular and the call quality of cingular is AMAZING compared to sprint. I also love how you can just pop your SIM card into another phone and start using without doing an ESN swap or anything. Although the best thing to do to test your areas coverage is go by each store and get a loner phone to take home for 24 hours and see which gets better reception and call quality. But for me, CINGULAR RULES!

[mcurtiss1970]

check out cingular.howardforums.com for more cingular information.

[a_c_s]

Cingular is GSM and Sprint is CDMA...I travel with both frequently (one is a work phone and one is a personal phone)...in my experience, in areas where I get signals from both, Sprint call clarity is far superior...in areas where I get a weak signal from both, Sprint is also superior...I haven't actually been anywhere that I got a Cingular signal but not a Sprint signal (yet)...the fact that I have a free GSM phone from work and yet pay extra every month to maintain my personal Sprint phone says it all...also, bear in mind that you can't roam to analog (in an emergency) on Cingular, whereas you can with most Sprint phones...

I have friends in Tampa on both services and I've heard good things about both in Tampa specifically...if you travel at all, your call clarity will likely be better with Sprint overall...

take Jake's suggestion and try a loaner phone from each...also look in to plan costs...

[Jake]

...also look in to plan costs...

lol, I forgot to mention that cingulars plans are WAAAAY more expensive, although mainy data is more expensive... so sprint will be cheaper no matter what it just depends on what you will use your phone for and what kind of phone you would like since each companys offer differnt styles for your personal preference.

[sneak]

I don't think Cingular is necessarily more expensive. Yes, you pay for rollover, but imagine if you had to pay extra for F&F at every price point. Then you would find very similar prices. Also, check coverage maps. Metro areas are well covered, but at least where I live, Cingular is actively building towers. Sprint.. not so much.

Just how I see it in the good ol' midwest. Results will differ.

[smartfix]

Hi there

I found sprint to be the best over cingular, 6 of my close friends that used to have cingular are now with sprint, Plus there so much more money in the long run, In fact there is one woman i know now thats trying to get out from cingular
now after 2 months, They keep sending here new phones a joke

From Steve :)

QUOTE=Jake15]lol, I forgot to mention that cingulars plans are WAAAAY more expensive, although mainy data is more expensive... so sprint will be cheaper no matter what it just depends on what you will use your phone for and what kind of phone you would like since each companys offer differnt styles for your personal preference.[/QUOTE]

[mcurtiss1970]

new plans for cingular apparently out on June 1

[a_c_s]

Sprint coverage will also likely be expanding with the pending Nextel merger during the back half of 2005...as for call clarity, all else being equal, I found this info from a document posted in another thread...

"CDMA, or Code Division Multiple Access, differs from GSM and TDMA by its use of spread spectrum techniques for transmitting voice or data over the air. Each call is identified by a unique code, allowing multiple calls to use the same frequency spread. The advantages of CDMA include higher network capacity and immunity from interference by other signals. This translates into benefits such as greater call clarity, security and cloning fraud prevention."

Other than areas where GSM clearly has more towers than CDMA (which is not the case in very much of the USA), the above should hold true...technically speaking, CDMA should have lower dropped call rates and better call clarity...

[Jake]

new plans for cingular apparently out on June 1

Will current Cingular customers be able to switch without paying the ETF?

[mcurtiss1970]

Will current Cingular customers be able to switch without paying the ETF?

AFAIK, you can switch calling plans as much as you want in the first half of your contract without renewing your contract

[Jake]

AFAIK, you can switch calling plans as much as you want in the first half of your contract without renewing your contract

niiiiiiiiiiice! :) ! (oh, btw, I was just wondering how many exchanges do you get at the store? [I'm not taking back my nokia I'm jw])

[dro1984]

The person starting this thread asked about Quality of Service in Tampa. That means call quality and signal strength...
What does number of towers or what sort of system GSM or CDMA have to do with the originator's original question? More towers doesn't necessarly mean better service. It might mean they didn't have enough and have to fix the situation!
The Thread starter wants to know how Sprint is in Tampa, how Cingular is in Tampa and possibly Verizon. They aren't asking about early termination or tower spacing.

I have Sprint PCS. In Tampa Florida it was Fantastic. I had no problems.
Cingular? I don't know. I don't have them for a provider.
Check out the tower map section for Sprint for details:Sprint PCS Tower Maps (http://www.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/coverage/towermaps2.jsp?cityid=24&city=Tampa)

[RadYOacTVe]

I am in Odessa off 54 and I'm on a fringe area. My signal is crappy in my house but I can get by with it. The coverage is excellent tho. I can go almost anywhere with no interuption, except on alligator alley.

My neighbor has ATT and when he calls from his phone he sounds very muffled, on either his or his wife's phone.

On a side note, my wife's verizon service has been real good everywhere mine has, including inside the house.

[jschu22]

I would have to agree with many of the posts here, but you would expect as much given that this is a Sprint forum. The coverage throught the area is great- in 4 years I have not had a consistent problem. By consistent I mean something longer than maybe an hour or so and that has happened maybe twice, one being after a hurricane. I cant speak for Cingular but I havent heard of many complaints so I think that plan choice is probably going to have be the deciding factor. Do keep in mind any mobile to mobile options and how this could effect calls to friends and relatives.

[SprintTampaBay]

[B]I live in Tampa Bay area and my Sprint PCS coverage is great...I even tried it out on back roads in Pasco Polk Lake Sumter and Hernado counties testing the coverage...it was great roamed once for 2 miles...I find the Sanyo MM-7400 with the Fair & Flexable America Plan to be awesome....

I switched to Sprint PCS 2 months ago...after being with Verizon for 7 years...Sprint is making major advancements...

The Pirate... :)

[SprintTampa]

I find Sprint to be better in Tampa Bay than Cingular...and it is alot better through out Central Florida...I travel all over the Tampa Bay area & Central Florida and have great service....the key too having great service with Sprint is making sure your PRL & Firmware is always up to date...all so the Sanyo phones work better on Sprints network than Samsung or LG...