Virtually all of my cell phone calls have been dropped over the past few days. A few have gone through, but there has been so much static on the phone that it is impossible to understand what the other party is saying. My cell phone has become useless.
Today I am looking for another provider.
How does a consumer determine the quality of a cell phone provider’s system?
I can’t answer your question, but I did want to ask whether you’ve spoken to your carrier about the problem. If the problems over the past few days are a relatively new occurence, it’s possible there is some problem with the system or a tower (especially if you tend to make your calls from the same general vicinity). Just a thought.
Honestly, I think it’s all up to you. Are you happy with your provder’s service? Do they have lots of nice things for low price? Is the coverage in your area good? For those services that have free in-network calling, you might want to get what the majority of people you know have so that you can call each other for free at any time.
The current issue of Consumer Reports contains its annual cellphone review. That may give you some information.
Can you hear me now?
Whut? Well, someone had to say it! Ow!, that hurts.
I have talked with my carrier about it. They say that they do not drop very many phone calls and that I need a new phone. I think they are trying to get me to shell out more money for a phone, and to sign me up for another two years of thier service.
Honestly, do you think they would say that, “they are not the best in the business?”
When I asked them, how I could evaluate thier service, they said, “I don’t know.”
And judging from the responses you are giving me, it seems that there is no way of knowing for certain.
I am going to hold off for a few more replys before I inform you who my provider is. If there is no better way of deciding, I am going to go with, “If it walks like a duck…”
Thanks people
Ficer67
Thanks for the Consumer Reports tip Rowrrbazzle. I am going to read that tonight
Ask them if they can provide you a loaner phone for a few days before you shell out for a new one. If this solves the problem, then it is probably not worth the hassle & expense of changing providers. If they offer a “no questions” gaurantee on the phone, then that would serve as well as a loaner.
The difficulty here is that cell phone quality as perceived by the customer is a total system issue. Dropped calls, for example, can be due to a lack of channel availability, dead spot in coverage; poor celphone transmitter, or that giant steel I-beam you’re standing next to. Although you should definitely complain to your carrier, they do have a point that something other than the network may be at fault. Handsets in particular have a lot of bearing on the problem; I haven’t read it, but I’d bet the Consumer Reports article cited above will make that point.
That said, I can say from discussions I’ve had with people in the industry that an overall system dropped-calls rate of 2% is typical (figure is fairly anecdotal, but commonly used). Note that this includes all types of dropped calls (e.g. the guy who thinks his call will stay up after he steps into the elevator), and with the recent deployment of GSM this percentage should drop significantly
I’ve always been satisfied with Verizon.
After checking the Consumer Reports article it also appears Verizon has the best customer satisfaction rating for quality of service.
They also make note that Verizon is normally the best choice for those in major metro areas. For those in other areas the best provider varies.
Just for some anecdotal data, I’ve used most of the major national providers - Singular, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T before they merged with Singular. I never had a real complaint about the quality of any of them - sure some of them would bear a call where another one wouldn’t, but overall in terms of call quality, consistency and reliability, it all seemed to even out for the most part. Of course I always lived or worked in a major area, but I’ve done a fair amount of roaming as well. The only points where one provider ranked above another in my estimation was the price plans they had available.
One thing that might come in handy for you is to look at coverage maps for the service providers. You can often find them online or in brochures at their stores. You can take a look and see if the areas you’re likely to be in are well covered, and make a decision based on that.
About the Coverage Area
At this moment in time, I am using Cingular. Cingular covers most of the state of Louisiana, and all of the Baton Rouge Metro area. You can view the map here.
Despite this, I am trying to make a call (within the areas covered) and it simply will not go through. I have tried this call 6 times. One would think that if the system was adequate, one of those calls would go through. Now right now, I am in my office, but yesterday when I was stuck in traffic, I was trying to make a call, and only two calls went through, and when they did these calls were so full of static, that it was impossible to hear what the other party was saying. Now I know what you guys are saying about calling inside and office, under an I-beam, etc. But you would expect a better ration than say 1 out of 10. And there in lies the question. Where did this 2% dropped calls figure come from? How can I find out how many calls are dropped out of how many are placed?
CCJ are you an engineer for a cell phone provider?