Cingular screws over AT&T Free2Go customers after merger

[russell]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"googled" <googled@blah.com> wrote in message
news:1115414028.40469a9b71446581c753e6ac01a7fc4d@bubbanews...
>
> "Jonathan Kamens" <jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us> wrote in message
> news:d5g6qh$5b9$1@jik.kamens.brookline.ma.us...
>> Before Cingular merged with AT&T wireless, subscribers to the
>> AT&T wireless "Free2Go" prepaid calling plan could keep a
>> prepaid account active by paying only $10 every 90 days.
>> This was perfect for my wife, who rarely uses her cell phone
>> but occasionally finds it useful to have one.
>>
>> After the merger, I can't add $10 to the account at all, $15
>> expires in 30 days rather than 90 days, and I have to add at
>> least $25 to the account to keep it active for 90 days.
>>
>> In short, after the merger the prepaid account costs 150% more
>> than it did before the merger.
>>
>> I see other postings about this, but I don't see anything
>> which makes it perfectly clear just how badly they've screwed
>> over occasional users with this change. Outrageous!
>>
>> Yes, sir, these mega-mergers sure do benefit the consumer! If
>> you believe that, I've got some nice land in Florida I'd like
>> to sell you.
>
> Cheapest prepaid cell service for infrequent or emergency calling is
> Beyond
> Wireless at http://www.gobeyondwireless.com/ . All you need is a TDMA
> phone
> thats works on the old ATT network. Only have to use one minute every 60
> days to keep phone alive. $10.00 get 80 minutes (0.125/min).
>
> Downsides are local numbers in only seven states, on network coverage is
> only old ATT TDMA network and roaming costs 4 times the on network rate. I
> have had service since January, 2005 with no problems using the phone
> around
> the country (only used 15 minutes airtime).
>
>

Yes, the original poster should have no trouble (once the ESN is released)
switching to Beyond Wireless. I have 4 cell-phones on their service and
average a total of $5 per month on them. And they don't even have a local
area code for me! Love their customer service and prices.

Russell

 

[stevet]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

It's true, Beyond Wireless now apparently wants *only* Nokia phones.
Nothing else. So, I am apparently out of luck with BW, too, because I
have an Ericsson phone. I was told this over the weekend and
double-checked this a.m. The BW rep confirmed they won't activate
Ericssons anymore, even the AT&T branded TDMA Ericssons.
"But...but...it worked on AT&T Free2Go network and it's a tri-mode
TDMA," I protested. "Why wouldn't it work on BW?"
"We are using AT&T network but we are switching to Cingular towers,"
she replied.
So, that seems to be that.
Fortunately, I found a stash of old Free2Go $10 phone cards good for
90-day renewal in a rundown drug store in a bad part of town. Cingular
is committed to honor them for until they are all used up. So, I
bought myself another year @ $40. I'll deal with the problem again
then....

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

The Real Bev wrote:
> "Steven M. Scharf" wrote:
>
>>Steve wrote:
>>
>>
>>>scharf.steven@gmail.com wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>The best option for prepaid is now CallPlus. You only have to buy $10
>>>>every 90 days ($3.33/month).
>>>>See "http://callpluswireless.com/html/cpw_faqs.html" (they have a
>>>>terrible web site, and it is very difficult to figure out how to
>>>>activate; you have to call them, and it takes just a few minutes).
>>>
>>>Or try http://www.pharosint.com/CallPlus_pins_buy.html
>>
>>You're better off calling directly to the phone number on
>>"http://callpluswireless.com/html/cpw_faqs.html" because
>>there is no fee for activating a phone, and they do it right
>>away, versus Pharos's requirement to do things by snail-mail.
>
>
> Only the first time, and it only took a few days. The guy clearly sent the
> package the same or the next day.

Activation is free if you call Locus directly. You get activated while
you wait, and don't pay anything.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Russell wrote:

> Yes, the original poster should have no trouble (once the ESN is released)
> switching to Beyond Wireless. I have 4 cell-phones on their service and
> average a total of $5 per month on them. And they don't even have a local
> area code for me! Love their customer service and prices.

Do they let you sign up if you're not in one of the states that they
list? If so, when you're in an area that they don't cover, are you
roaming, or are you okay as long as you're on the AT&T/Cingular TDMA
network?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Russell wrote:

> I found Tracfone was way to expensive for my needs: I have Beyond Wireless
> (http://www.gobeyondwireless.com). I have 4 cell-phones on their service
> and average a total of $5 per month on them. And they don't even have a
> local area code for me (they don't have them in all markets) and I still
> love their customer service and prices.
>
> Russell

Tracfone's per minute rates are okay, but the minimum's are way too
high; I'd get a family plan instead of Tracfone.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Stanley Reynolds wrote:

>>Seems strange that the merger would help TDMA signals, since
>>Cingular was all GSM, which is what AT&T was switching to. Now,
>>if you were an AT&T GSM customer, I could see how the addition
>>of Cingular's towers would help.
>>
>
> Guess it depends where you are but both AT&TW and Cingular provide TDMA
> coverage here (centeral Alabama) before and after the merger. GSM coverage
> still lags behind TDMA here. I guess you can assume that AMPS and TDMA
> coverage would suffer as GSM is added but I've seen little evidence of it,
> would expect the problems would be in large markets where spectrum is
> limited and use is high. Note a dual band handset is needed in many
> locations where Cingular and AT&TW use different bands. Note my best
> coverage at home and most used phone is Cingular 800Mhz TDMA, I also have
> other phones I use :

Cingular was all GSM only in the western region where they took over the
Pacific Bell Network, and AT&T was TDMA/AMPS. Elsewhere in the country,
Cingular was all TDMA (though they briefly had a small CDMA section of
network).

In California, AT&T (now Cingular) TDMA coverage is superior to GSM
coverage, but GSM coverage is improving. The merger helped Cingular a
lot more in California/Nevada because Cingular was 1900 Mhz only (the
old Pacific Bell Wireless network) and was extremely bad. With the
merger, Cingular got AT&T's valuable 800 Mhz bandwidth (800 Mhz provides
much better coverage, especially indoors), and now offers GSM on 800Mhz,
and is selling their 1900 Mhz bandwidth to T-Mobile. TDMA coverage is
still fine, and better than GSM coverage in many areas. However in dense
areas, which had overlapping TDMA coverage, TDMA is being pared down to
the minimum number of towers to provide full geographic coverage, which
is resulting in more dead spots.

I think that you still get AMPS roaming on CallPlus, which is something
you can't get on GSM networks unless you buy one of two GAIT phones that
support TDMA, GSM, and AMPS, and Cingular in California made you go
through hoops to purchase one (not publicized, and the stores knew
nothing about them). AMPS is a big help in rural areas. I was up on the
north coast of California and could only get AMPS (if you see call
boxes, you know that their is AMPS coverage). In Yosemite, you can often
pick up an AMPS signal from the outside of the park.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

On Tue, 10 May 2005 15:13:25 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf"
<scharf.steven@linkearth.net> wrote:

>
>In California, AT&T (now Cingular) TDMA coverage is superior to GSM
>coverage, but GSM coverage is improving. The merger helped Cingular a
>lot more in California/Nevada because Cingular was 1900 Mhz only (the
>old Pacific Bell Wireless network) and was extremely bad. With the
>merger, Cingular got AT&T's valuable 800 Mhz bandwidth (800 Mhz provides
>much better coverage, especially indoors), and now offers GSM on 800Mhz,
>and is selling their 1900 Mhz bandwidth to T-Mobile. TDMA coverage is
>still fine, and better than GSM coverage in many areas. However in dense
>areas, which had overlapping TDMA coverage, TDMA is being pared down to
>the minimum number of towers to provide full geographic coverage, which
>is resulting in more dead spots.

Any idea how GSM coverage is now in the Palm Springs area? It used to
be pretty marginal when I would visit and go to areas outside the town
cores like Rancho Mirage.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Andrew White wrote:

> You sure give FTC a lot of credit. It almost sounds like you believe
> their goal is to protect consumers! You can't be that naive, can you?

Maybe he's thinking that he's not in the Bush era.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Steven M. Scharf wrote:
> Russell wrote:

> Do they let you sign up if you're not in one of the states that they
> list? If so, when you're in an area that they don't cover, are you
> roaming, or are you okay as long as you're on the AT&T/Cingular TDMA
> network?

I'll answer my own question. The answer is that you can sign up for
Beyond Wireless, no matter where you live, using one of their area
codes. However you will be roaming for every call, at 4x the cost, so it
will be about 57 cents per minute on the cheapest card. I think that
they are using some other TDMA network other than AT&T, hence the
roaming when you are on AT&T.

You get 35 minutes when you sign up (no credit card needed). So you
actually can have an emergency phone for about 18 months, at no cost, as
long as you make one call every 60 days (2 months/4 minutes * 35
minutes). It's great for an emergency phone, but for an occasional use
phone, CallPlus is a better deal.

Beware that activating your own phone with Beyond Wireless isn't easy.
You call and call, just to get through, then they put you on hold, and
you get disconnected a few times. But I did activate, with a 352 area
code, with no problem.

Beyond Wireless will only activate Nokia TDMA phones. I asked about a
Motorola phone, and they didn't want to do it.

CallPlus will cost you $3.33/month minimum.

What amazes me is just how good the Cingular/AT&T TDMA network still is.
While GSM in the SF Bay Area has a lot of dead spots (including in urban
parts of Silicon Valley), I have experienced no such TDMA problems.
There are lots of TDMA phones available, probably most people have some
laying around, or know someone who changed to GSM (like my mother, who
now has terrible coverage on her GSM phone in Georgia!).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Does anyone know of a prepaid phone provider that allows you to keep
minutes from expiring and service from being cancelled for 6 months?

 

[george]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

In article <qf6ge.487$OU1.91@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.n
et>, scharf.steven@linkearth.net says...


> I'll answer my own question. The answer is that you can
> sign up for Beyond Wireless, no matter where you live,
> using one of their area codes. However you will be
> roaming for every call, at 4x the cost, so it will be
> about 57 cents per minute on the cheapest card. I think
> that they are using some other TDMA network other than
> AT&T, hence the roaming when you are on AT&T.

Steven, this is directly contrary to what's on their
website, where all of the dark green areas of the map (the
old AT&T Wireless TDMA network) are on network, regardless
of your phone number, and incur no roaming charges. Did you
ask them about this?

In another message you said you activated a phone with
Beyond, but it comes up "roaming" where you are. Was this
phone formerly an AT&T Wireless TDMA phone or a Cingular
TDMA phone? Would it come up "roaming" if you were in the home
area of your phone number?

Sorry, but I'm confused about this.

 

[george]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

In article <v1Wfe.296$r7.49@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.ne
t>, scharf.steven@linkearth.net says...

> You're better off calling directly to the phone number
> on "http://callpluswireless.com/html/cpw_faqs.html"
> because there is no fee for activating a phone, and they
> do it right away, versus Pharos's requirement to do
> things by snail-mail.

> In fact you get 50 minutes for 90 days, for free, when
> you activate directly.

Are you saying you can go in with a used phone (AT&T TDMA),
and Callpluswireless will activate it for you and give you
50 minutes, with no payment at all?

By the way, I notcied on their site that while the refill
table does list the $10 card, when you actually go to buy
time, it's not one of the pull-down options.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Steven M. Scharf wrote:
>
> Beyond Wireless,....I think that
> they are using some other TDMA network other than AT&T,

The coverage map shown on the Beyond Wireless website:
http://gobeyond2.chainreactionweb.com/catalog/coverage.html
is rather skimpy compared to the old AT&T TDMA coverage.
>
> Beyond Wireless..It's great for an emergency phone, but for an
occasional use
> phone, CallPlus is a better deal.

I think BW is a better deal than CP if one lives in the area covered by
BW. The minutes are cheaper, and they never expire, so the minimum
cost for BW is about 15 cents every two months vs. $3.33 for CP. With
BW, one can get airtime instantly online, vs. waiting 4 hours or more
for an email from CP or Pharos.

> Beware that activating your own phone with Beyond Wireless isn't
easy.

I've never had a problem getting right through to BW with six phones
that I activated with them (all Nokias). But I've always called around
9 a.m. eastern time.

Lena

 

[russell]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Steven M. Scharf" <scharf.steven@linkearth.net> wrote in message
news:qf6ge.487$OU1.91@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Steven M. Scharf wrote:
>> Russell wrote:
>
>> Do they let you sign up if you're not in one of the states that they
>> list? If so, when you're in an area that they don't cover, are you
>> roaming, or are you okay as long as you're on the AT&T/Cingular TDMA
>> network?
>
> I'll answer my own question. The answer is that you can sign up for Beyond
> Wireless, no matter where you live, using one of their area codes. However
> you will be roaming for every call, at 4x the cost, so it will be about 57
> cents per minute on the cheapest card. I think that they are using some
> other TDMA network other than AT&T, hence the roaming when you are on
> AT&T.
>

Not true. I've signed up for their service (which they don't offer in my
area code) and I don't roam as long as I'm on the AT&T network. They use
the AT&T network - now Cingular blue. I've had them for some time using 4
phones - I've no connection with them otherwise.

> You get 35 minutes when you sign up (no credit card needed). So you
> actually can have an emergency phone for about 18 months, at no cost, as
> long as you make one call every 60 days (2 months/4 minutes * 35 minutes).
> It's great for an emergency phone, but for an occasional use phone,
> CallPlus is a better deal.
>

Not true about CallPlus being a better deal.

> Beware that activating your own phone with Beyond Wireless isn't easy. You
> call and call, just to get through, then they put you on hold, and you get
> disconnected a few times. But I did activate, with a 352 area code, with
> no problem.
>

I've never had a problem calling them to activate - I can only speak of my
experience.

> Beyond Wireless will only activate Nokia TDMA phones. I asked about a
> Motorola phone, and they didn't want to do it.
>
> CallPlus will cost you $3.33/month minimum.

BW - same network; pennies a month in cost!

>
> What amazes me is just how good the Cingular/AT&T TDMA network still is.
> While GSM in the SF Bay Area has a lot of dead spots (including in urban
> parts of Silicon Valley), I have experienced no such TDMA problems. There
> are lots of TDMA phones available, probably most people have some laying
> around, or know someone who changed to GSM (like my mother, who now has
> terrible coverage on her GSM phone in Georgia!).
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Andrew White" <nospamers@allowed.at.all.net> wrote in message
news:fgh281tihed7757a7lrt85o4g1h97u2t6k@4ax.com...
> Does anyone know of a prepaid phone provider that allows you to keep
> minutes from expiring and service from being cancelled for 6 months?

7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless.

20 cents per minute - including domestic, long distance and on-network
roaming.

"7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless refill cards are available in various
dominations ($25, $50, $75 and $100) AND only at participating 7-Eleven
stores. When customers add additional minutes within 365 days, unused
minutes will carry forward to the new balance, another market-leading
feature. The starter package also includes 50 minutes of free nationwide
airtime (a $10 value)."

They have both TDMA and GSM phones. Apparently you MUST buy a phone, they
will not activate an existing GSM or TDMA phone that you may own.

 

[russell]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Russell" <russell7702REMOVE@THISearthlink.net> wrote in message
news:wGmge.922$wM2.860@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...
>
> "Steven M. Scharf" <scharf.steven@linkearth.net> wrote in message
> news:qf6ge.487$OU1.91@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>> Steven M. Scharf wrote:
>>> Russell wrote:
>>
>>> Do they let you sign up if you're not in one of the states that they
>>> list? If so, when you're in an area that they don't cover, are you
>>> roaming, or are you okay as long as you're on the AT&T/Cingular TDMA
>>> network?
>>
>> I'll answer my own question. The answer is that you can sign up for
>> Beyond Wireless, no matter where you live, using one of their area codes.
>> However you will be roaming for every call, at 4x the cost, so it will be
>> about 57 cents per minute on the cheapest card. I think that they are
>> using some other TDMA network other than AT&T, hence the roaming when you
>> are on AT&T.
>>
>
> Not true. I've signed up for their service (which they don't offer in my
> area code) and I don't roam as long as I'm on the AT&T network. They use
> the AT&T network - now Cingular blue. I've had them for some time using 4
> phones - I've no connection with them otherwise.
>
>> You get 35 minutes when you sign up (no credit card needed). So you
>> actually can have an emergency phone for about 18 months, at no cost, as
>> long as you make one call every 60 days (2 months/4 minutes * 35
>> minutes). It's great for an emergency phone, but for an occasional use
>> phone, CallPlus is a better deal.
>>
>
> Not true about CallPlus being a better deal.
>
>> Beware that activating your own phone with Beyond Wireless isn't easy.
>> You call and call, just to get through, then they put you on hold, and
>> you get disconnected a few times. But I did activate, with a 352 area
>> code, with no problem.
>>
>
> I've never had a problem calling them to activate - I can only speak of my
> experience.
>
>> Beyond Wireless will only activate Nokia TDMA phones. I asked about a
>> Motorola phone, and they didn't want to do it.
>>
>>

After seeing what I felt statements like the above about only activating
Nokia phones (just doesn't make technical sense to me) I emailed Beyond
Wireless tech support with a quote from this thread. I've always got
excellent tech support from them - quite frankly their email tech support
has been the most knowledgable and to the point of any company that I've
dealt with in the past 25+ years. This is their response:

--- start pasted response from Beyond Wireless ---
This is completely untrue. I am disturbed to learn that one or more of our
customer service representatives is/are representing this as factual
information. This can be attributed to rapid growth and new customer
service representatives still learning our ways. This will most certainly
be addressed. We will activate ANY phone that is capable of being used on
our service. This means ANY TDMA phone that was formerly active with AT&T
or any TDMA phone that is not locked to another network. Therefore, even if
the phone was used with, say, Cingular, it still may be capable of being
activated with us, providing that it is not locked to Cingular. There are
no plans in the works to switch to Cingular towers. That does not mean that
we will never use Cingular towers. However, if we ever do gain the use of
Cingular towers, we would not lose the use of AT&T towers, since Cingular
owns them now.

Also, in regards to our phone system: Because of rapid growth we have had to
install a new phone system to handle the volume of calls. It has not been
fully configured yet, and this is why customers are experiencing less than
desired results with it. Our representatives are still learning the system;
and in addition, the phone technician is here continuing with the
configuration as I type. Once it is complete, I'm confident that customers
will find it just as friendly as any other. We do apologize for this, and
ask that customers keep this in mind when calling our support line.

--- end pasted response from Beyond Wireless ---

Do note I have no connection (except as a customer) with this company. I
found out about them at http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm.
However, I really appreciate their plan as it meets our needs very well and
would like them to thrive - hence my posts.

Russell

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Russell" <russell7702REMOVE@THISearthlink.net> wrote in message
news:wGmge.922$wM2.860@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...

> Not true. I've signed up for their service (which they don't offer in my
> area code) and I don't roam as long as I'm on the AT&T network. They use
> the AT&T network - now Cingular blue. I've had them for some time using 4
> phones - I've no connection with them otherwise.

You're correct, their customer service person didn't know what she was
talking about. The fact that my phone says "Roam" did not mean that I was
being charged 4x the minutes; I tried some calls and I was only charged at
the 1x rate.

> Not true about CallPlus being a better deal.

Correct. I based the earlier statement on the CSR's statement that if the
phone said "Roam" I would be charged 4x. Maybe the problem is that the phone
is a Cellular One phone (Cellular One in the SF Bay Area was taken over by
AT&T).

> I've never had a problem calling them to activate - I can only speak of my
> experience.

Something was wrong with their phone system yesterday. They'd put me on
hold, and after about three minutes the system would disconnect.

 

[rod]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Hopefully they will start activating GSM before the TDMA network is turned
off. These rates that don't expire would be a good thing with GSM.


"Russell" <russell7702REMOVE@THISearthlink.net> wrote in message
news:Z4yge.1444$wM2.1232@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...
>
> "Russell" <russell7702REMOVE@THISearthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:wGmge.922$wM2.860@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> >
> > "Steven M. Scharf" <scharf.steven@linkearth.net> wrote in message
> > news:qf6ge.487$OU1.91@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> >> Steven M. Scharf wrote:
> >>> Russell wrote:
> >>
> >>> Do they let you sign up if you're not in one of the states that they
> >>> list? If so, when you're in an area that they don't cover, are you
> >>> roaming, or are you okay as long as you're on the AT&T/Cingular TDMA
> >>> network?
> >>
> >> I'll answer my own question. The answer is that you can sign up for
> >> Beyond Wireless, no matter where you live, using one of their area
codes.
> >> However you will be roaming for every call, at 4x the cost, so it will
be
> >> about 57 cents per minute on the cheapest card. I think that they are
> >> using some other TDMA network other than AT&T, hence the roaming when
you
> >> are on AT&T.
> >>
> >
> > Not true. I've signed up for their service (which they don't offer in
my
> > area code) and I don't roam as long as I'm on the AT&T network. They
use
> > the AT&T network - now Cingular blue. I've had them for some time using
4
> > phones - I've no connection with them otherwise.
> >
> >> You get 35 minutes when you sign up (no credit card needed). So you
> >> actually can have an emergency phone for about 18 months, at no cost,
as
> >> long as you make one call every 60 days (2 months/4 minutes * 35
> >> minutes). It's great for an emergency phone, but for an occasional use
> >> phone, CallPlus is a better deal.
> >>
> >
> > Not true about CallPlus being a better deal.
> >
> >> Beware that activating your own phone with Beyond Wireless isn't easy.
> >> You call and call, just to get through, then they put you on hold, and
> >> you get disconnected a few times. But I did activate, with a 352 area
> >> code, with no problem.
> >>
> >
> > I've never had a problem calling them to activate - I can only speak of
my
> > experience.
> >
> >> Beyond Wireless will only activate Nokia TDMA phones. I asked about a
> >> Motorola phone, and they didn't want to do it.
> >>
> >>
>
> After seeing what I felt statements like the above about only activating
> Nokia phones (just doesn't make technical sense to me) I emailed Beyond
> Wireless tech support with a quote from this thread. I've always got
> excellent tech support from them - quite frankly their email tech support
> has been the most knowledgable and to the point of any company that I've
> dealt with in the past 25+ years. This is their response:
>
> --- start pasted response from Beyond Wireless ---
> This is completely untrue. I am disturbed to learn that one or more of
our
> customer service representatives is/are representing this as factual
> information. This can be attributed to rapid growth and new customer
> service representatives still learning our ways. This will most certainly
> be addressed. We will activate ANY phone that is capable of being used on
> our service. This means ANY TDMA phone that was formerly active with AT&T
> or any TDMA phone that is not locked to another network. Therefore, even
if
> the phone was used with, say, Cingular, it still may be capable of being
> activated with us, providing that it is not locked to Cingular. There are
> no plans in the works to switch to Cingular towers. That does not mean
that
> we will never use Cingular towers. However, if we ever do gain the use of
> Cingular towers, we would not lose the use of AT&T towers, since Cingular
> owns them now.
>
> Also, in regards to our phone system: Because of rapid growth we have had
to
> install a new phone system to handle the volume of calls. It has not been
> fully configured yet, and this is why customers are experiencing less than
> desired results with it. Our representatives are still learning the
system;
> and in addition, the phone technician is here continuing with the
> configuration as I type. Once it is complete, I'm confident that
customers
> will find it just as friendly as any other. We do apologize for this, and
> ask that customers keep this in mind when calling our support line.
>
> --- end pasted response from Beyond Wireless ---
>
> Do note I have no connection (except as a customer) with this company. I
> found out about them at http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm.
> However, I really appreciate their plan as it meets our needs very well
and
> would like them to thrive - hence my posts.
>
> Russell
>
>

 

[stevet]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Russell:
Thanks for posting the tech support e-mail from Beyond Wireless. I
hoped that this would be the case. However, I just want to clariy the
followiing. I, too, was assured by e-mail tech support at BW that it
would be possible to activate my TDMA tri-mode AT&T-branded Ericsson
700 which I have used on AT&T for three years. However, when I called
the 800 number to try and activate, the woman on the phone steadfastly
maintained that "no Ericsson phones can be activated." I explained to
her all the details of this phone, the obvious (to you and me)
technical facts of the matter, AND the fact that I had an e-mail from a
tech support person, whose name I mentioned, assuring me that this
phone could be activated. I asked her if she could at least *try* to
activate this phone but she was adamant that they had been instructed
not to accept any phones except Nokia. On Monday I called back and
asked to speak to someone in charge. A woman who identified herself as
"experienced in the subject" listened to my story. As soon as I
uttered the word "Ericsson" she began repeating "NOPE ... Not any
more...Not any more." The impression I got was that this represented
some recent change in policy and that apparently the tech support
person who e-mailed me wasn't up to speed. This woman also very flatly
refused to even try to activate it ("There's no point" she said). She
was very friendly and polite about it all but she was also very firm in
asserting that Beyond Wireless would not activate any Ericsson phone.
Since you can only activate via the 800 number, if the 800 number
operators are firmly united in this opinion, then you are out of luck
at BW w/any phone except Nokia... no matter what e-mail tech support
may tell you. Since I had found some more of those $10 free2go cards
w/90 day exp., I decided to just stay with Cingular until the dust
settles on this and then re-visit the issue in 9 months.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Rod" <cellular-dude@sprintpcs.com> wrote in message
news:l9Age.1029$sb5.58@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
> Hopefully they will start activating GSM before the TDMA network is turned
> off. These rates that don't expire would be a good thing with GSM.

7-11 Speak-Out has a 1 year expiration, with a $25 air-time card, on
Speak-Out. But you must buy a phone from them, they won't sell just a SIM
card. It is 20 cents per minute.

The problem is that in many areas the GSM coverage is pretty bad, i.e. the
SF Bay Area, or non-existent. You also don't get AMPS back-up on GSM, which
you get with TDMA. For a phone that you want to be able to use only for
urgent matters, you want it to work in as wide an area as possible, which
means having AMPS coverage.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"SteveT" <stevejoin@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1115909106.730908.180780@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Russell:
> Thanks for posting the tech support e-mail from Beyond Wireless. I
> hoped that this would be the case. However, I just want to clariy the
> followiing. I, too, was assured by e-mail tech support at BW

While their rates are good, their operators are clueless, and their
activation procedure leaves something to be desired.

I'm not sure how a TDMA phone "knows" if it is "Home" or "Roaming," but it
appears to be related to the IRDB (intercarrier roaming database) programmed
into the phone at the time of purchase. I don't know if it's like CDMA,
where you periodically are supposed to download new PRLs (preferred roaming
lists), but I've never seen an option for such a download on a TDMA phone.

What is the reason that they only sell into certain markets? Do they have an
agreement with AT&T that they are only allowed to sell into these markets?
It isn't a roaming issue apparently.

In terms of phones, I know that on some international prepaid GSM networks,
only a few specific models of phones actually work. This is because when you
place a call, it is diverted to the carrier's switch, the phone number
you're calling is called by the switch, and you are called back. This is
because in most countries, you don't pay for incoming calls, so they are in
essence placing two free calls, one back to you, one to whomever you are
calling, and then connecting you together. So the GSM phone needs to be
capable of being programmed to call one number, no matter which number you
enter, and then transmit the number you want to call as data.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

> I'm not sure how a TDMA phone "knows" if it is "Home" or "Roaming," but it
> appears to be related to the IRDB (intercarrier roaming database)
programmed
> into the phone at the time of purchase. I don't know if it's like CDMA,
> where you periodically are supposed to download new PRLs (preferred
roaming
> lists), but I've never seen an option for such a download on a TDMA phone.

"What is a SID?

A system identification, or SID, is a unique identification code transmitted
by the carrier in its overhead signal. This SID number is also programmed
into the wireless phone to designate your home market. The phone compares
the numbers to determine if you are roaming or not. In 800 MHz cellular, an
even-numbered SID indicates a B system while an odd-numbered SID indicates
an A system." (quote from random web site)

IRDB is downloaded when CS / Carrier pushes a update OTA it can also be
uploaded via a cable with software and a PC.

This happens if you request an update for CS or then the Carrier want's to,
unlike CDMA where the user has some control over the update.

The phone number, sid, and soc are part of the NAM programming seperate from
the IRDB.

The SOC (system operator code) is what is often locked on a TDMA phone.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Stanley Reynolds" <nospam_stanley_reynolds@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:HmMge.23755$RG2.5179@bignews5.bellsouth.net...
> > I'm not sure how a TDMA phone "knows" if it is "Home" or "Roaming," but
it
> > appears to be related to the IRDB (intercarrier roaming database)
> programmed
> > into the phone at the time of purchase. I don't know if it's like CDMA,
> > where you periodically are supposed to download new PRLs (preferred
> roaming
> > lists), but I've never seen an option for such a download on a TDMA
phone.
>
> "What is a SID?
>
> A system identification, or SID, is a unique identification code
transmitted
> by the carrier in its overhead signal. This SID number is also programmed
> into the wireless phone to designate your home market.

So the phone I have must have an old SID programmed into it, which doesn't
match the AT&T SID, since the AT&T TDMA network is used by Beyond Wireless.
This is possible, I guess, since it was once a Cellular One phone, but it
operated properly on the AT&T network when AT&T bought Cellular One in may
area.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Steven M. Scharf" <scharf.steven@linkearth.net> wrote in message
news:FtNge.1600

> So the phone I have must have an old SID programmed into it, which doesn't
> match the AT&T SID, since the AT&T TDMA network is used by Beyond
Wireless.
> This is possible, I guess, since it was once a Cellular One phone, but it
> operated properly on the AT&T network when AT&T bought Cellular One in may
> area.

Wow, the e-mail support at beyond wireless is awesome. They e-mailed me
instructions on how to fix the "Roam" problem and it worked fine, and reads
"Home."

 

[russell]

Archived from groups: misc.consumers,alt.cellular,alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Steven M. Scharf" <scharf.steven@linkearth.net> wrote in message
news:X_Pge.211$E_3.188@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> "Steven M. Scharf" <scharf.steven@linkearth.net> wrote in message
> news:FtNge.1600
>
>> So the phone I have must have an old SID programmed into it, which
>> doesn't
>> match the AT&T SID, since the AT&T TDMA network is used by Beyond
> Wireless.
>> This is possible, I guess, since it was once a Cellular One phone, but it
>> operated properly on the AT&T network when AT&T bought Cellular One in
>> may
>> area.
>
> Wow, the e-mail support at beyond wireless is awesome. They e-mailed me
> instructions on how to fix the "Roam" problem and it worked fine, and
> reads
> "Home."
>
>

That is my impression too. I've dealt a lot with e-mail support and it's
second to none.

Russell