Trying to get a new plan for my parents so it's for 2 people. Preferrably I want it for 4 people so our whole family can share it. Our parents so really use it for casual talk, mostly emergency type things. As for the rest of us we don't really use it all that much either. And we live in San Francisco.
Want best cellphone service plan
- Thread starter Viperx116
- Start date
Pancake Rabbit
CAGiversary!
Have some friends come over and check how well their service is in your area, go with whatever provider gets the most bars in your area.
Unless you leave California often coverage shouldn't be a problem. I'd say make your decision based on phones/price/customer service.
Cingular's the only provider I've had extensive experience with. They have good family plans, but their customer service is ass and they aren't too reliable. I get a lot of "Network Busy" errors with them here in Seattle, and I average about 1 dropped call for every 10-15 hours of talk time (signal strength randomly drops to zero, but then picks back up). The only reason I stayed with Cingular is because it's what all my family has, so the mobile-to-mobile is nice. The only reason my family has it is because a lot of my mom's side work for AT&T, so get discounts.
I recently went snowboarding at Steven's Pass and I lost service completely, while the girl I went with (serviced by Verizon) had zero bars but wasn't out of network, and was still able to recieve incoming calls (although they dropped often). The info desk attendent said T-Mobile was the only provider with a tower near-by. I don't know if things like that are important to you, but they are to me. When I'm in the middle of nowhere, especially in a dangerous environment like a mountain, I feel a lot more secure knowing I have a working phone. If you or your family have any hobbies that involve extended periods of time in not-so-populated areas, you might want to check coverage maps to make sure you won't be boned when you need your phone most.
Cingular's the only provider I've had extensive experience with. They have good family plans, but their customer service is ass and they aren't too reliable. I get a lot of "Network Busy" errors with them here in Seattle, and I average about 1 dropped call for every 10-15 hours of talk time (signal strength randomly drops to zero, but then picks back up). The only reason I stayed with Cingular is because it's what all my family has, so the mobile-to-mobile is nice. The only reason my family has it is because a lot of my mom's side work for AT&T, so get discounts.
I recently went snowboarding at Steven's Pass and I lost service completely, while the girl I went with (serviced by Verizon) had zero bars but wasn't out of network, and was still able to recieve incoming calls (although they dropped often). The info desk attendent said T-Mobile was the only provider with a tower near-by. I don't know if things like that are important to you, but they are to me. When I'm in the middle of nowhere, especially in a dangerous environment like a mountain, I feel a lot more secure knowing I have a working phone. If you or your family have any hobbies that involve extended periods of time in not-so-populated areas, you might want to check coverage maps to make sure you won't be boned when you need your phone most.
bread's done