Just switched to T-Mobile because I needed a GSM phone that would be compatible with overseas networks - even though I knew that GSM coverage out here in Plainview was marginal. I live about a half mile northwest of Plainview and, according to T-mobiles reception map, I am in an area that ranks about a one out of five on their coverage scale, what they list as "fair". 50% of the time I will get no bars on my phone and the rest of the time maybe one or two, doesn't seem to matter if I'm inside or outside. If I am getting reception, once the call is placed the reception meter jumps up to four or five and will then generally hold the call. I've heard that once you are connected, a tower will "tell" the phone to boost its power output to hold the call, don't know if this is true or not. At any rate, calls here at the house are definately hit or miss. I find if I am on the south side of town, calls are a little easier to make and I believe that is because I'm closer to their tower, which supposedly is near Dover. Downtown Plainview can be sporadic. Once in a great while I will pick up the Cingular network which must come from their NE Rochester tower, however the reception then seems to be no better. On the road the phone gets good reception and call quality as long I'm in a major city or on a major road. That seems to be the dirty little secret of GSM, once you are off the beaten path the coverage is NOWHERE near as widespread as a CDMA network, (Verizon, Midwest Wireless, etc.). I was with Midwest Wireless before switching, using an LG VX440 and got good reception almost anywhere, especially out and around rural Minnesota, I found very few locations where I couldnt make a call, switching to analog automatically when digital got spotty. In other outstate areas around the country, Utah and Montana for example, I was getting calls while a friend with GSM had no reception at all. If you live out near Plainview and especially areas northeast of here, where GSM drops off to nothing, I would definately get hooked up with a CDMA network, unless you really need a GSM phone for some reason, as I do. So far, I cant complain about T-Mobiles customer service, they have been very friendly and mostly helpful, but you will still wade through a menu and then have to hold most of the time. I preferred Midwest Wireless, where a real person here in Minnesota would answer right away and help you then and there. They were always helpful, knowledgable and polite.
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