Cell phones: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now...
ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now...
by SouthBayJay - 10/19/07 2:16 PMI have had Cingular service since 1996, and it always worked well. Ever since ATT took over Cingular, my cell service has deteriorated. Whereas, I used to be able to get a full signal in my house, my phone now only shows one bar, at best. Furthermore, even outdoors, around my neighborhood, I still often get NO signal!
Even the changes to the voicemail system suck-it used to automatically tell you the time the message was left. Not any more.
So, I am seriously considering ditching ATT... has anybody else here has had similar problems?
Also, if you are in the SF Bay area, which cell phone service would you recommend?
Are you still using
by PudgyOne - 10/19/07 2:25 PM In reply to: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now... by SouthBayJaythe same phone from 1996?
Maybe the phone is slowly failing.
Did you compare your signal with someone else with ATT?
I had a different carrier and had my phone sitting next to my wife's phone. Her phone had one bar when my phone had three. They are still using the same towers, unless they added more. I know when I go into the local Home Depot store, the metal blocks the signal. Certain stores are hard to get a signal, while inside. I would compare it before getting too worked up about this.
Rick
Using a Nokia 8290, about 2 years old...
by SouthBayJay - 10/19/07 3:38 PM In reply to: Are you still using by PudgyOneIt still gets a good signal around town, although the carrier switches between AT&T and Voicestream (it used to show Cingular, sometimes, too). It was right around the time that the carrier switching started that I first started having problems. Also, it seems to be worse during the day, and during commute hours, than at night.
Most of my incoming calls get routed straight to voicemail, which is a problem, since the new voicemail system doesn't record the time of the call. I can't even remember the last time I was able to make a clear call, that didn't get dropped...
I am hoping that this is just a temporary problem, that maybe AT&T is upgrading the network, or something, but I am about at the end of my rope with AT&T. The people who now staff the local AT&T shop are totally useless...
you need a new phone...
by crackberry - 10/19/07 10:29 PM In reply to: Using a Nokia 8290, about 2 years old... by SouthBayJaythe phone you are using is a phone that only supports the 1900 band. at&t uses 850 in your area. after the purchase of at&t wireless they switched to 850 but the original network they built with t-mobile in that area was 1900...
phone
by birdmantd - 10/19/07 6:41 PM In reply to: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now... by SouthBayJayI am going to go out on a limb, are you using an analog phone still? Coverage for analog phones is being slowly phased out nationwide and by 2008 it will be completely gone.
I am so glad I could escape ATT
by chipsan1 - 10/20/07 1:10 AM In reply to: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now... by SouthBayJayLousy, cheesy "customer service," hard to find someone who is knowledgeable. Verizon was a breath of fresh air in comparison. Not at all happy with V's blatant huckster attitude about music and V-cast, in fact it's an absolute pain in the ass, but at least in calling them a person answers reasonably quickly, they don't put on some limp excuse about "unusually high call volume" (when you hear that on a Tues or Weds mid-morning, you know they just laid off half the call staff, the cheap ********). And Verizon people try to own your problem and fix it, whereas ATT/Cingular just wish you would go away.
Huh?
by BLikens1619 - 10/20/07 12:09 PM In reply to: I am so glad I could escape ATT by chipsan1I don't know what everyone is talking about lousing service. The only thing I would have to complain about is sometimes it takes a little while to get through to CS but once there, Att has handled any and all issues that I have had. I've never had any issues with signal strength or anything of that nature. I have chatted with Att techs and they have told me that they are updating their network and that I might periodically switch between EDGE and GPRS. I live on the East coast in Delaware and have been happy with Cingular/Att since i've had service 3 years ago. CDMA SUCKS!!! GO GSM!!!
The only place in Delaware that I noticed no signal
by PudgyOne - 10/21/07 7:39 PM In reply to: Huh? by BLikens1619was inside Grotto's Pizza in Rehoboth Beach.
Other than that, I never had any problems with Cingular/ATT. Service is great.
Rick
uh yea
by RomeoProcor - 10/20/07 9:35 AM In reply to: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now... by SouthBayJayI live in the SF Bay Area and its true when they first merged my coverage at my house went from 3-4 bars to 0-2 bars. Now my coverage is full bar mostly all the time with some spottiness in buildings. It must be your phone or you still have At&t TDMA which has like 1-2 bars (i have an old TDMA phone also)
Its quite possbile its your phone...
by jgvillan - 10/20/07 12:24 PM In reply to: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now... by SouthBayJayOf course that this is assuming that you had your phone since 1996. However, i do agree with the other responder, that if your cell is still the TDMA signal, then you may wish to upgrade to a more modern GSM type phone. I first signed up with Cingular during the TDMA/GSM transition years, and first got a TDMA motorola V60. I live in Bay Area as well, where TDMA had terrible service like you wouldn't believe. Even just stepping out of the house for a phone call didn't help. However, I went back to Cingular to complain, and was advised to change my phone to the new GSM (at the time). When I did, the service is like night and day. GSM had more signal in more places than TDMA did.
Now, if you had a first generation GSM and it's not giving the service you had before, you may consider replacing it with a newer GSM phone. AT&T/Cingular serves the 850/1900 Mhz band, however, if your phone only has those 'tri-band' type where the 850 Mhz band is not available, you may need to get a phone that has the 850 installed. I went through that with my old Moto V360 where it didn't have 850 and didn't have service in certain areas. Especially when I went to the east coast.
Hope that this helps and good luck.
ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now...
by allencho - 10/20/07 2:25 PM In reply to: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now... by SouthBayJayIt is Cingular that took over AT&T.
Yes and No
by birdmantd - 10/20/07 2:54 PM In reply to: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now... by allenchoIn 2004, Cingular bought At&t Wireless (no relation to At&t landline). In 2006 Southwestern Bell (SBC) bought At&t landline (and previously owned 60% of Cingular) which renamed itself from SBC to the new At&t. At the end of 2006, the new At&t bought Bellsouth and gained 100% ownership of Cingular. At the begining of 2007, the new At&t started to rebrand Cingular under the name At&t.
This is not the original At&t wireless but is technically At&t mobility now. I know that is a lot to take in at one time but it is what it is.
AT&T Mobility sucks
by erikclark - 6/9/08 10:46 AM In reply to: ATT takeover of Cingular: Service sucks now... by SouthBayJayEven worse than their converage is their all but non-existant customer service. I have never had so much trouble with a company before. You cannot even get any answers about how to complain. This company is the worst. I have the same service since 1998 (PacBell then SBC Global then Cingular and now AT&T). AT&T is the worst!!!!!!!!
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
