We have very poor reception with Verizon. When I renewed the plan I was told the 8300 would improve the weak signal I had with our old phone. It didn't. Inside the house it's useless, outside is a little better but nothing to write home about. I know we have a house phone but it's still annoying. Overall coverage is good though, satisfied outside my home area.

poor or no reception

Two miles North of the GSP I get little or no Verizon cell service. If a call does come through, it "drops" shortly after "Hello." It does not work inside my house. I have complained since moving south 2 years ago, and still no improvement! I don't come close to using my 400 minutes. Time to switch when my agreement is up.

The bars in this area vary between 3 and 5. I have never dropped any calls and always receive all my calls. I couldn't be happier with Cingular's service these days. I got Cingular after the merger and have had nothing but pleasant experiences. They work everywhere Verizon does and doesn't. Easily the best provider out there.

Signal goes up and down - just like my bank balance! Cingular has many, many excuses - high volume of calling, etc. But when you need to make a call and cannot or are on the line and the call is dropped - none of the excuses cut it. Like other carriers, Cingular has oversold. Its' system cannot handle volume. And that is WRONG!