A query with Sprint: Phones according to your area?

Question

I was recently out with my cousin, who is a technician for Cingular. A guy was explaining to him that his phone didn't get any service at his house. He said that he had actually chosen a bad phone for his area. ???? The guy then went on to say that he wasn't informed that there were certain phones for certain areas. My question is, is this the same way with Sprint? What phone would you recommend has the best service for a very rural area? What Sprint phone out there now gives you the most bang for your buck?

Answer 1

You can call sprint and ask them where the nearest tower is to where you are using your phone.

Sometimes it is the network but it can also be the handset. as a general rule phones with external antennas pull a better signal than phone without one.
In my experience Nokia's are better for signal strength. I usually recommend these phone for people on the edge of the tower range.

Now if there isn't a tower with in range the handset makes no difference.

Answer 2

Sprint mostly gets service near the interstate areas, though if there's an interstate nearby sometimes it will reach into a surrounding rural area (such is the case where I live). Cingular doesn't do well in my area though I've heard that it works well for others. In northeast Texas, Alltell works well. If you're looking to buy a cellphone in your area, I advise going to the store (or online) and asking for a map of the service area. That way you can make sure that the phone you're buying will have service in the areas that you frequent. Good luck and happy hunting.

Answer 3

I have a Nextel for work and Cingular for personal use. I find that the Nextel (Sprint) works in more areas than the Cingular, although Cingular's quality is much better. If you find that your Sprint works wherever you go, then stick with it.

What happens is that not all the phone companies have the same reception towers and not in the same place. So, in your area, there might be more Sprint towers than Verizon or any other company and that's why you get good reception with Sprint and not with the others.

Answer 4

Sprint releases upgraded for their phone software fairly often. You can improve your service if you take the phone to a Sprint storefront and ask if there are any updates for it. The technicians can load them, if there are.
Also, you can shut down your phone for 10 minutes and then restart it and it will possibly pick up a new set of towers. Sometimes this does not happen in the most efficient way when you are moving about in your area and you get stuck pulling from a less optimal signal.

Answer 5

I had verizon and had a horrible time with their service. I was told that becuase of my area I needed a phone with an extendable antenna. I don't know why this made such a difference but it did, it seriously added like 3 or 4 bars of reception.

Also, there is something with phones being all digital or tri-mode. It seemed like when I had the tri-mode phone I would be able to make calls without reception or service and it would take away my minutes and never connect. The all digital either worked or they didn't.

If I were you I would call someone at the company they know everything about their service and phone systems and they can explain the difference between all digital and tri-mode phones.

hope this helps!

Answer 6

Hi

I worked for various wireless telecom companies as a wireless engineer for the past 12 years.

In regards to your questions, the best approach one should take when purchasing a wireless phone for rural areas/in-home use is to contact the wireless company (ie Sprint, Cingular, T-Mobile etc...) and ask where is the nearest cell site in relationship to your home. And ask for a coverage map for your area.

This will help you determine which company has better coverage in your area.

It's my opinion that the type of phone you purchase has less to do with quaility of service than signal coverage.

Answer 7

It's the network, most cell phone company's only work in the area where they have towers. You can use any phone that works with the company in any area as long as they have coverage in that area.

Answer 8

What you can do is long onto various cell phone websites and view their maps of coverage area. Then you can make an educated decision about which carrier would be better for your location.

Answer 9

i wouldn't have a sprint phone if it was the only one on the market. they over billed us for months before we got a new service

Answer 10

its not the phone but the network... if there's no network coverage (or limited) in one area, then buy accordingly!!

Check phone websites to obtain coverage maps and mast locations..