vB Easy Archive - Verizon vs. Cingular

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Verizon vs. Cingular
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Posted by: tekstyle

here's what i think of these 2 companies

Verizon:
less selection on phones, crippled bluetooth, locked down, and most phones are very low on features.
service range is good especially in big cities
FREE WAP is hackable and can be done on verizon network and phones.
gives out free phones on newly activated accounts

Cingular:
more selection on phones. works with phones from other countries ( everyone uses SIM cards expect for verizon). Phones are generally higher quality and more updated. fully enabled bluetooth and functionality. phones are less hackable.
Service now is good since they have took over ATT's network. Because it is GSM, the phone works anywhere in the world. service still does not beat that of verizon.
NO FREE WAP. it is impossible on cingular.
they do not give out free phones and if they do, the phones are generally pretty crappy.
their service is similar to that of Tmobile.

is any of this correct? My contract will be over in a month, so i need to make a decision between Verizon or cingular. Please help, I am open to any positive suggestions, opinions and the reasons why you chose them.

Posted by: agent623

I am not too happy with my Cingular service right now, but I wouldn't say that their service is similar to T-Mobile. On a very basic level you are correct.

One bonus on Verizon that I experienced recently is that on Verizon there is minimal sound degradation even with one bar showing on the phone. I was also sending texts with no bars showing (it wasn't saying no service, just no bars) while I was in a tin barn.

I like the phones on Cingular too, they look pretty nice and seem to adopt the "intenna" more often. It really depends on what you like. Since I got the lg8100 on verizon I pretty much leave my gsm razr at home. Although it is chunky, it just really like it for some reason. Seems perfect to me.

Do your friends or family use one of the services more than the other? If both providers are good in your area I would let that decide.

Posted by: NE_Ohio

Well im happy with cingular you might want to use your 15 or 30 day trial period.

Posted by: JakeE

cdma is not as popular in the world, but its out there.

Posted by: tekstyle

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent623

I am not too happy with my Cingular service right now, but I wouldn't say that their service is similar to T-Mobile. On a very basic level you are correct.

One bonus on Verizon that I experienced recently is that on Verizon there is minimal sound degradation even with one bar showing on the phone. I was also sending texts with no bars showing (it wasn't saying no service, just no bars) while I was in a tin barn.

I like the phones on Cingular too, they look pretty nice and seem to adopt the "intenna" more often. It really depends on what you like. Since I got the lg8100 on verizon I pretty much leave my gsm razr at home. Although it is chunky, it just really like it for some reason. Seems perfect to me.

Do your friends or family use one of the services more than the other? If both providers are good in your area I would let that decide.

most people in my area uses verizon. these are mainly the people who switch to a newly activated account every year or 2 to get a new phone. the rest uses cingular and normally keep their phones since they generally keep their sim card and just renew it when the contract ends. around my area, it is easy to get new phones from verizon ( not the store), because there are a lot of local private shops that does it.

Quote:

cdma is not as popular in the world, but its out there.

you are right, and i probably would have to use a phone over seas. so in essence, a verizon phone should be enough for me at least. but where does the benefit of cingular outweights verizon when in the states?

Posted by: Tacamo

First of all it's hard to say that wireless provider X has service similar to y due to various differences in network coverage across the nation. Also I wouln't necessarily lump Cingular with T-Mo primarily for the fact that T-Mo's native network only uses 1900MHz, while some Cingular areas use that, others use 850MHz or both. It really depends on the area. I went from Verizon to Cingular and haven't had any problems. Both providers are very strong here.

As far as free phones they're usually not that great no matter what company you get one from. Yes for Cingular you'd need to get a data plan. The Verizon option of free WAP isn't exactly free since it uses your minutes. Many have gotten into issues with them over tethering their phones to computers too, so beware.

In regards to being able to use phones in foreign countries that's true to a point. As long as the phone is quad band (850, 900, 1800 and 1900) you'll have no problems at all. There are a lot of tri band phones though. Those typically favor international bands over US/North American ones. Other times it's the reverse depending on what market the phone was made for.

Posted by: tekstyle

Thanks Tacamo. since you said that both services are equally strong. and the fact that i mainly want free wap for the yellow pages, and getting directions ( wont be tethering to PC. don't do it now, don't think i ever will). i might just stick with verizon. i just recently saw a commercial on television about the motorola Q coming out for verizon. i'll try to get that.

does verizon have any smartphones with wifi capabilities?

Posted by: agent623

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekstyle

Thanks Tacamo. since you said that both services are equally strong. and the fact that i mainly want free wap for the yellow pages, and getting directions ( wont be tethering to PC. don't do it now, don't think i ever will). i might just stick with verizon. i just recently saw a commercial on television about the motorola Q coming out for verizon. i'll try to get that.

does verizon have any smartphones with wifi capabilities?

If you like the Q I have read (although haven't done any research on it) that you can get one of those wifi cards that fit in a memory card slot for the Q.

Posted by: volboline

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekstyle

service still does not beat that of verizon.
NO FREE WAP. is any of this correct?

where i am Cingular Now has better Coverage than Verizon.

Posted by: tekstyle

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent623

If you like the Q I have read (although haven't done any research on it) that you can get one of those wifi cards that fit in a memory card slot for the Q.

what does this do?? allow me to use wireless internet like on those pda phones or latop computers? if so, another thumbs up on the Q hehe.

Posted by: roygbv

I heard the Q is a piece of crap. Compared to a Blackberry 8700 or the new E61 (which is pretty sweet, been toying with one for the past few days) the Q is a stinkhole. I mean, it uses Windows mobile - if an operating system can't work properly on your computer, why would you expect it to work on a phone?

But, it all depends on your area, where you travel to and from (work, gf, etc), and the majority of your calls to friends (same network? different network?). Get whatever fits you best. Just because I have great service with Cingular doesn't mean you will too.

Posted by: fretster

In my eye, the Q would be worthwhile if it actually adopted some of the design ideals from the RAZR line. Sure it's thin, but made outta cheap plastic; now if it was aluminum, that'd be hot. Right now it just looks like a crap PDA that can also make phone calls. Not to mention it's got Windows on it... *shudder*

Posted by: HiKneeHole

"they do not give out free phones and if they do, the phones are generally pretty crappy.
their service is similar to that of Tmobile."

Service is in no way similar to TMobile, at all. cingular does give out free phones, a lot of them actually, i'll name a few:

nokia6102I
LGc200
Samsung x497
Lg c1500
nokia 6030
Nokia 6061

some are after rebate, some are not, but they give out a lot of free phones with a new or existing 2 year contract. I'll put any of those "free" nokias up against any phone in the market as far as signal strength, battery life, ease of use and durability.

Posted by: Tjash2010

Well if your still looking for an answer...

I would get Cingular. There coverage is alot better then Verizon and I love the fact they use SIM chips. Also there are SOOO many more phones out there you can use because you can use Unlocked phones. Which Verizon wont even allow. Cingular actually has decent prices for data, though not 3g it works. For 14.99 a month you can get 1000 combined Text and MMS messages and 5mb for MediaNet which is more then enough if your checking the weather or news.

Plus if your thinking of the Q dont forget you have to pay at least 79.99 a month because Verizon forces you to bundle your voice plan with data in order to use this phone.

As for the phones. Sure Cingular offers some 'cheaper' free phones that doesnt mean they dont work. Most people who get free phones just want a phone they can talk on. No high end gadget. As I recall Verizon doesnt really have the best selection of free phones either. OH MY DID I MENTION THE HORRIBLE USER INTERFACE! Every single of there phones has the verizon UI and it looks horrible. No customization, RED BARS everyone, and VERY laggy. My Verizon RAZR was the slowest phone I have ever used! Thats the first phone I owned with the Verizon UI and I couldnt stand it. From when you pushed the menu key to get to the menu it would take 5 seconds!!! It was unacceptable. There is NO Cingular UI and every phone comes with the manufactures UI.

Lately I have noticed so many people switching from Verizon to Cingular. Almost all of my family, my friends family and CoWorkers have made the switch from Verizon to Cingular.

I will never go back to Verizon. Cingular all the way!

Posted by: moodyj

+1 good thread
I have had Verizon for a while and am drooling over getting a PDA but Verizon is so damn expensive (at least $80 a month) I am seriously thinking of switching over to Cingular...

but I also have so happily hacked the crap out of my e815 it does so much for what it started out as.... hmmm....

Posted by: linuXshock

moto Q came out for gsm...

Posted by: cowboys93

Link for GSM "Q"???

Posted by: killah21

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuXshock

moto Q came out for gsm...

You ignorant fool, it has yet to come out. It has a time table of late Q4/ early Q1 2007.

Posted by: jagermon

It's really up to how good the service is in your personal travels. Here in Chicagoland you'd think both verizon and cingular would be good however I personally had a very bad experience from them (3 v180s - then a v220, terrible reception as in many call fails and late v-mails, billing errors for the first 4 months, and when I cancelled after a year the rep refused to acknowledge a problem and couldn't see my multiple service tickets).

Your area may be different. Maybe it was the phones (though I had good experiences with moto in the past), maybe my experience is isolated (though others in my area with cingular have reception issues), or maybe cingular just sucks.

Ask around. I was unfortunate with service going to crap after a couple months in back in late '04/early '05.

Posted by: DAM2991

i have noticed when i took out the battery of my samsung a950 i saw a blocked in chip for GSM so maybe this phone will be coming out for cingular and maybe verizon I HOPE will change to GSM

Posted by: sergetheunholy

here in DC metroarea verizon is a lot stronger my previous plan was with verizon and i could use it anywhere my basement, subway, etc. i had reception in places where i have no bars now with cingular to be honest im not too happy with cingular in this area but i make a lot of calls from inside outside it's pretty good didnt have problems with it ill stick with cingular for a while hopefully it will get better

Posted by: miniperez

Ok so here in portland, oregon Verizon sucks! From my experience their coverage is down the tube. I looked some things up and some info says that you need to be a certain distance away from the towers cuz I guess there are dead zones near them.. So I was the "recommened" distance away for "prime" signal. And none of my phones would get reception. Not my V or my RAZR. So once my contract is up in March im switching. Im going to get either Helio (if they are better by March and sprint is great in my area...) or Cingular. But I am happy about one thing. I hacked the hell out of my RAZR so now it does all i want hahah. So yeah I would go with Cingular since verizon sucks.

Posted by: STi_Fanatic

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAM2991

i have noticed when i took out the battery of my samsung a950 i saw a blocked in chip for GSM so maybe this phone will be coming out for cingular and maybe verizon I HOPE will change to GSM

...are you serious? You do realize it would BANKRUPT Verizon to completely change band architechture at this point as a company, right? That's like hoping that a Moto RAZR MAXX will fly through my window and knock me unconsciouss while simultaneously finishing my AP English assignments.

Posted by: miniperez

As much as I would LOVE for Verizon to switch to GSM it will NEVER happen. A move like that would ruin them. They would have to change EVERYTHING about the company. Their towers,phones,infrastructer,bussiness model, anything and everything. That would cost millions. And with Verizon losing customers to Cingular they are already in trouble.

Posted by: Infornography

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagermon

It's really up to how good the service is in your personal travels. Here in Chicagoland you'd think both verizon and cingular would be good however I personally had a very bad experience from them (3 v180s - then a v220, terrible reception as in many call fails and late v-mails, billing errors for the first 4 months, and when I cancelled after a year the rep refused to acknowledge a problem and couldn't see my multiple service tickets).

Your area may be different. Maybe it was the phones (though I had good experiences with moto in the past), maybe my experience is isolated (though others in my area with cingular have reception issues), or maybe cingular just sucks.

Ask around. I was unfortunate with service going to crap after a couple months in back in late '04/early '05.

I'm sorry, but a v180 and a v220? Those are crap phones. I'm sorry you have had to deal with those phones but you get what you pay for. I have NEVER, EVER recommended those phones to a friend or client.

Posted by: matthewc1

Quote:

Originally Posted by miniperez

Ok so here in portland, oregon Verizon sucks! From my experience their coverage is down the tube. I looked some things up and some info says that you need to be a certain distance away from the towers cuz I guess there are dead zones near them.. So I was the "recommened" distance away for "prime" signal. And none of my phones would get reception. Not my V or my RAZR. So once my contract is up in March im switching. Im going to get either Helio (if they are better by March and sprint is great in my area...) or Cingular. But I am happy about one thing. I hacked the hell out of my RAZR so now it does all i want hahah. So yeah I would go with Cingular since verizon sucks.

helio is sprint service.just to let you know.

Posted by: matthewc1

Quote:

Originally Posted by miniperez

As much as I would LOVE for Verizon to switch to GSM it will NEVER happen. A move like that would ruin them. They would have to change EVERYTHING about the company. Their towers,phones,infrastructer,bussiness , anything and everything. That would cost millions. And with Verizon losing customers to Cingular they are already in trouble.

and what about customers going to verizon. plus why would vzw want to change to a system that is going to be changing in a few years anyway. europe is already upgrading.

Posted by: ace587

oh boy another cdma vs gsm thread...

heres my thoughts...

cdma has the best coverage and call quality...

GSM wont go anywhere soon, lots of people are still using old gsm phones, moving people to 3G, 4G will take a while... If Europe will be upgrading, not all europeans will be jumping in the wagon

Posted by: jmac32here

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekstyle

here's what i think of these 2 companies

Verizon:
less selection on phones, crippled bluetooth, locked down, and most phones are very low on features.
service range is good especially in big cities
FREE WAP is hackable and can be done on verizon network and phones.
gives out free phones on newly activated accounts

Cingular:
more selection on phones. works with phones from other countries ( everyone uses SIM cards expect for verizon). Phones are generally higher quality and more updated. fully enabled bluetooth and functionality. phones are less hackable.
Service now is good since they have took over ATT's network. Because it is GSM, the phone works anywhere in the world. service still does not beat that of verizon.
NO FREE WAP. it is impossible on cingular.
they do not give out free phones and if they do, the phones are generally pretty crappy.
their service is similar to that of Tmobile.

is any of this correct? My contract will be over in a month, so i need to make a decision between Verizon or cingular. Please help, I am open to any positive suggestions, opinions and the reasons why you chose them.

Let me RE-hash this a bit to todays standard:
Verizon:
less selection on phones, crippled bluetooth, locked down, and most phones are very low on features, sides BREW is propitiatory and not customizable.
service range is decent in large cities but population coverage shows that they cover 260 Million People (about 86% of the US Population)
FREE WAP is/was hackable (many newer phones block hacks due to the new BREW UI) and can be done on verizon network and phones-but can, and will lead to massave fines. (Read the Terms and Conditions, Verizon Tech reps can access, change, modify anything in your account as the see fit.)
gives out free phones on newly activated accounts

at&t (Formerly Cingular):
more selection on phones. works with phones from other countries ( everyone uses SIM cards expect for verizon). Phones are generally higher quality and more updated. fully enabled bluetooth and functionality. phones can be hacked, but are easily customized-so hacks are hard to find.
Service now is good since they have took over ATT's network. Because it is GSM, the phone works anywhere in the world. Population coverage shows they cover 273 Million people or 90% of the US Population.
NO FREE WAP. it is impossible on cingular-or anywhere really...
Free phones are available and - at least at the Radio Shack store I was in - include the Razr. (might be a limited offer or mail in rebate of some form)

Now some comparison
Verizon covers 260 Million people
at&t covers 273 Million

Verizon covers 13 Million people less than at&t.

at&t offers the second largest coverage in the nation, Next to Sprint/Nextel's 295 Million population coverage. (Which is about 97% of the US Population)

T-Mobile covers 268 Million People nationwide, thats 8 Million more than that of Verizon. (or 88% of the US Population)

As it stands, by the terms of numbers...(these are published on the carriers sites) at&t offers more coverage than that of Verizon. Because at&t offers more coverage than that of T-Mobile, and T-Mobile offers more coverage than that of Verizon. And due to their 5 year head start, Sprint is leading the way-at least coverage wise.

Posted by: bobrb

cingular is the way to go. love my 3G.
my wife has verizon and leaving her messages is voicemail hell though.
cingular voicemail is marginally better.
going to look into other options for voicemail. there's free stuff out there

Posted by: backflip257

Cingular vs. Verizon? Not sure. Go with T-Mobile. Maybe not the greatest selection of phones, but their good ones are great. Two new Sidekicks coming out. Blackberry Pearl... Blackberry Curve???... RAZR of course. Plus they have the myfaves plan and their texting prices are better than both of those companies. Cingular and Verizon have 200 texts for 5 dollars a month, but T-Mobile gives you 400 for the same price.

Posted by: ron808

Cingular or AT&T.

OR look at what network your friends have. Go with it to be more practical when it comes to maximizing the usage of your minutes.

Plus, with AT&T you have rollover minutes.

Posted by: DVS_WiNdz

I've heard Verizon has pretty good service. I've never used them before, but my mom and dad has been using them for 4 years now and they're pretty satisfied.

Posted by: tsmilanich

i know this isnt in your consideration (yet) but sprint is awsome. i have had cingular and it is good but i like sprint alot more, and one of my friends had verizon and switched to sprint and he also likes it much better. also sprints internet is cheap and blows any other carrier out of the water. also since sprint has sero you can get 500 mins unlimited txt and unlimited web, what a deal so if the coverage is good in your area i would get it

Posted by: bigroy

Ive had both in the past six months left verizon for cingular and in my humble opinion here in the midwest verizon has the best coverage period but their phone selection and their tactics leave alot to be desired, att has a much broader phone selction cheaper plans for voice and data and their phones are not crippled at all why I switched all in all for the general phone user verizon or att would be a great choice.

Posted by: A2r0n

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigroy

Ive had both in the past six months left verizon for cingular and in my humble opinion here in the midwest verizon has the best coverage period but their phone selection and their tactics leave alot to be desired, att has a much broader phone selction cheaper plans for voice and data and their phones are not crippled at all why I switched all in all for the general phone user verizon or att would be a great choice.

I completely agree. I walk by a Verizon kiosk in the mall and they have a handful of phones. Then I walk into the ATT/Cingular store and phones are along both the right and left side of the store. I was planning on switching to Verizon after my contract is up, but I have changed my mind. I am sticking with ATT/Cingular.

Posted by: alxbrewer

I've had Verizon for several years. Their call in support was always great. The stores and kiosk had some of the worst service I've ever seen. But the reception has always been great, using a LG6100 and traveled a lot, including across country. No problem. But. . . my contract is up today and I am switching to Cingular/ATT. Went to the local Verizon store and poor selection of phones and rude "customer service" reps. Went down to the Cingular store (about 3 doors down) and they were good. My wife has been with Cingular, so got the family plan and media pak and saved $$$. Got the razr V3xx, don't know a thing about it, but enjoying playing internet. Stopping the Verizon service at 1201am the23rd.

Posted by: simrn

Cingular is the best of all
www.FreebieSMS.co.uk

Posted by: zephxiii

My v3xx rocks. I used to be on CDMA for 1.5 years, i have switched to GSM with ATT and will never look back, the handsets are so much better.

Posted by: nemesis91101

Wirelessly posted (LGE-VX8700/1.0 UP.Browser/6.2.3.2 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

Ok well if you are a big texter go with verizon cuz cingular doesnt have an unlimited txt plan. One of my friends is cing and no one wants to txt him not even me. Also verizon has the cool phones hell the 8700 is thinner and faster than a razor. Razors slow down when they have too much crap on them i seen it happen. Another thing is cing doesnt repair your phone if it messes up my friend took his there and they didnt wanna fix now go to a verizon store and they got soldering guns back in the service dept. Bottom line all my friend that are or were cing are now verizon and going to move to verizon soon as the contract is up

Posted by: nemesis91101

Wirelessly posted (LGE-VX8700/1.0 UP.Browser/6.2.3.2 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

Also give verizon some crap excuse and you got a new phone for free. I would since i did that what the old choc four times til i got the 8700 lol

Posted by: zephxiii

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemesis91101

Wirelessly posted (LGE-VX8700/1.0 UP.Browser/6.2.3.2 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

Ok well if you are a big texter go with verizon cuz cingular doesnt have an unlimited txt plan. One of my friends is cing and no one wants to txt him not even me. Also verizon has the cool phones hell the 8700 is thinner and faster than a razor. Razors slow down when they have too much crap on them i seen it happen. Another thing is cing doesnt repair your phone if it messes up my friend took his there and they didnt wanna fix now go to a verizon store and they got soldering guns back in the service dept. Bottom line all my friend that are or were cing are now verizon and going to move to verizon soon as the contract is up

Wow talk about misinformation lol. Cingular does have unlimited text messaging, and it includes MMS, SMS, and IM. They also have a nice mediamax with 1500 messages package that seems to work well for most.

Also what RAZRs are you talking about? V3's? Yea those suck and are very old devices from 2004, but the v3xx isn't, its a million times better. I've got my v3xx loaded way down and its not slow at all, its fast as hell, and does..just about everything. Even ATT's RAZR2 will bet better than verizons...

Verizon cooler phones? You mean phones that would have been cool if it weren't for their crappy software. I'd take a W810i or v3xx over any verizon phone (regular).

Posted by: edward42579

Man this thread is old! Anyway for those who still look, I would consider the minor things that are really not that minor.

- Are there any penalties with your carrier when you change rate plans or features?
- How clear is your reception?
- When youre on the phone and someone calls you can they tell when you are on the phone? I call people sometimes and when they are on the phone it beeps while ringing. I would hate to be screening someones call and they actually know that I had the phone with me.
- Can you get off the interstate and use your phone?
- Does your phone have a sim card to store all your numbers in case you drop it in water for example? Or can you buy a buddies phone/unlocked phone and pop your sim card in it and use it??
- Does your phone have daily updates or do you have to punch in a code/go to a store to have it updated?
- Can you use your phone in Jamaica? Sweden? Ireland? Australia? I have.
- Do you remember the last time you dropped a call? I dont!
- Do you have so many rollover minutes that you never have to worry about what time you talk or how many minutes you have left? Oops I guess you know now who I have!!