# Cell phone COs service



## h2ofwlr (Feb 6, 2004)

So who do you have? Are you happy with their coverage area (able to get a signal outstate/rural)? Dropped calls? Price?

These are the big 4 as I can tell for the upper midwest coverage: Verizon, TMobile, Singular, Sprint

I'm am seriously thinking of changing service, so looking for recomendations.

I want a reasonable price plan, very good service coverage area (Mn SD ND), no dropped calls, etc...

And I bet others are also considering it soon too. So please post up your experience with who you are with.
__________________


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## sierra03 (Jan 27, 2005)

I had verizon, you paid more for better coverage. I switched to cell one, soon to be alltell. It was cheaper for me, but when i get out of town, no reception.


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## JBB (Feb 9, 2005)

Had Verizon since they were Airtouch. Got it in 1996 been really happy. Need an externaly antenna in some places in western ND. In those areas the people who live there say it does not matter, No towers no coverage. I have travelled a lot in the last 5 years. All over the US. I have the plan where I have no roam or long distance in the US. Have tried Cell 1 for 60 days not near as good as Verizon all over the state.
After almost 10 years Verizon is my choice. But go in to the dealer and tell them that you are comparing services and you want a 30 trial. Have both services at the same time and see which one gives you the best coverage for where you travel. If one service does not want to play I would wonder why. Good luck.


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## stevepike (Sep 14, 2002)

Cell One/Alltel. I had Verizon a few years back, then switched to Cell One, now Alltel, and got much better coverage immediately. Very rarely do I get dropped calls. This is mainly in South Central ND. I do frequently travel to NE and SE ND and hunted around Killdeer Mountains with good coverage also. 
This is also with just a handheld, not a bag phone (which they are trying to phase out). Other questions would be has anyone used one of the signal boosters they sell? Was it worth the money and did it increase your range significantly?


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## NDJ (Jun 11, 2002)

isn't there a deal where you can pay cellular one extra & use verizions towers???


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## Ranger_Compact (Nov 2, 2005)

I have Cell One, and I live in Fargo, my service is okay when I go hunting in the area around Michigan, Petersburg, Lakota-near Devil's Lake if you are not familiar with that area. There are certain areas in the houses that I cannot talk in, but certain areas are just fine. Also, it's just my coverage plan which is probably the cheapest, but right when I get out of Moorhead, I am roaming. So no cell phone at the lakes for this girl! If you go with Cell One, and don't get a flip phone, you _need_ to get the internet connection taken off the plan. It's called "Hello To Fun", but I like to call it "Hell, No Fun!" You see, here's the deal...the keyguard button doesn't protect the internet button, so if you accidentally bump the WEB button when it is on keyguard, it will charge you up the wazoo for internet time, which can*not* be taken off your bill--learned that one the hard way! I had a charge of $37.00 that Cell One would not reimburse me for, but the guy behind me in line, had over $500.00 in internet charges, because he accidentally hit the internet button before he went to bed one night. Poor guy!!! He didn't get his money back either, they only gave him about $200.00 in credit to pay his next bill. Pathetic, maybe you shouldn't go with Cell One, unless they have a really good plan going on right now. My boyfriend has Verizon, his plan is good, but he has bad service or something. Sometimes he gets my text messages hours or even a day after I send them, same goes with voicemail. So if you have a nervous or worried wife or girlfriend that needs to know where you are and what you're doing all the time, don't go with Verizon! I'm a paranoid girlfriend myself, and I hate his Verizon service. My boyfriend's old roommate had Cell One, and he couldn't get service in the dorms when they lived there, he had to stick his head out the window in order to get calls or call people, which is really bad because they lived on the 8th floor, so it's not like there is tons of steel in the way of the wave thingys. Good luck with whatever you decide, cell phones suck, who invented them anyways? Sometimes I miss the days when people couldn't track you down in seconds, yet what would I do if I couldn't keep tabs on my boyfriend 24/7?


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Guys I have been through the cell phone issues, and mainly it boils down to towers and your phone. I sat this fall south of Jamestown hunting with friends. We all have the same carrier Cell One. I could not raise a signal to save my soul, yet the other two had full bars. Difference was the phone.


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## Springer (Dec 21, 2004)

If you want service buy a 3 watt converter for your car. Then you will have plenty of power. All of these hand held phones only have about 0.5-0.8 watts of power.

Personally I like Verizon they have been putting up more towers in the rural areas in North and South Dakota, They also just bought out Cell 2000 so that should help out in northern Minn.


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## BenelliBlaster (Mar 17, 2002)

I have been using Cellone for about 6-7 years now. I have lived in a lot of places around ND and am fairly happy with my service. I use to have a verison phone for work and really didn't care much for it. 
Cellone is currently changing over to Alltel wireless. Alltell has a contract with Verison to use their towers. So if there is a tower in ND you will be able to make a call from it. I also like it because now I can go to the cities and make calls the whole way without roaming.

but like Ron said the main thing comes down to the phone. If you get a free one with a plan do you really thing it is worth a darn??? You get what you pay for with phones at least that is what I have noticed from my personal experiences.


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## maple lake duck slayer (Sep 25, 2003)

I have Nextel(Sprint) and have been relatively happy. I can get servce almost all over MN. I also had service the whole time while driving to Appleton, Wis the other weekend. Last spring while in ND I had service between Fargo and Grand Forks, and once we hit Petersburg, I didn't have service no more, but my friend, who had Sprint, had service the whole time. I'm still waiting for Sprint to combine towers with Nextel so I can get better coverage. Anybody know when this is supposed to take place?


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Cellphones...they only work when you don't want to be bothered, and NEVER work when you absolutely need them to. :******:

My last one rests in pieces along the banks of the Sheyenne River. Cellphone+Rock shoreline+constant disconnect+temper = "Message F-A, the number you are trying to call is no longer in service" :lol:


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

Cellphone+Rock shoreline+constant disconnect+temper = "Message F-A, the number you are trying to call is no longer in service" :lol:[/quote]Or the message"all lines are busy now,please try again at a later time".Have any of the companies improved service in Barnes county?


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

I have seen a huge improvement in coverage since Alltel bought CellularOne (and I started a new contract). Almost double the available towers without roaming. Now if we can get someone to put up some towers between Bell Foursche and Bowman (pergatory) It'll be almost great. I bemoan the loss of the old bag phone, but analog is sooooo last week. Lost Call. Burl


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## h2ofwlr (Feb 6, 2004)

In digging into the actual phones, there are very few tri-mode phones available to buy any more. Most are digital now, and when there is still only analog service in some areas-you are screwed then to get a signal.

I used to have a GE Star, only one of 2 phones that were availble and it was a vehicle mounted phone. They were $2800 for the phone itself and $.50 a minute 20 years ago. I bought mine for $400 from a guy that racked up $1,000+ in airtime in 1 months time and the phone sat for a year, 19 years ago. (remember this is 1986 dollars) I helped save 3 differrent lives as I called 911 on 3 bad accidents back when hardly anybody had a C phone, otherwise they would have DOA from trauma/blood loss. Now I see the accident happen and call it in, and 2 others are also calling it in...

Oh how the times have changed... Mostly for the better in emergencies.


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## Springer (Dec 21, 2004)

Here is a little FYI any cell phone that can power up has 911 service so if you have an old phone and just want to leave it in the car for emergency purposes or if you only have one phone and the wife or kids don't this is also a good thing to do.


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## Ranger_Compact (Nov 2, 2005)

Springer said:


> Here is a little FYI any cell phone that can power up has 911 service so if you have an old phone and just want to leave it in the car for emergency purposes or if you only have one phone and the wife or kids don't this is also a good thing to do.


If you have more old cell phones laying around than you don't need, donate them to the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, they try to get enough to give them to the women who don't have cell phones and are in constant danger with their husband/boyfriend/stalker.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I use Verizon and have been very happy with it. I travel all over the country and all over ND and it's pretty rare that I don't have some type of a connection. Their data service is getting GREAT and it's been more reliable in rural areas then my phone service. Nothing like surfing Nodak on the way home from trips to help pass the time...

With that being said, in my experience the phone makes a difference too. Since I've been with Verizon I've had 4 phones and the same areas that are flaky with one phone are fine with another. I currently use the Treo 650 and it's perfect for what I use it for......but now I see they have a Treo 700 out now so I might have to look for an excuse for an upgrade.


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## ND_RC (Jan 6, 2005)

I also have Verizon and have been happy with it.

Only dead spot I found is in the town of Wing. CellOne has the same problem.


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

Field Hunter has cell one.When you call him,his responce is ussually"yip glup blip...beep beep beep".


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## Bigdog (Aug 13, 2003)

I had AT&T, now Cingular and have had no problems in MN or NoDak with reception. Upgraded to a newer Nokia phone recently and it improved my reception by about 2 bars over the old phone.


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