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Byron Trantham
01-24-2006, 12:17 PM
Does anyone know anything about cell towers? In a given area, do companies share towers or do they actually install separate towers for each company? The reason I ask is cell performance for the company I use - it sucks! A friend has a cell phone form the competing company and seems to be a bit better but not dramatically better. Our local newspaper did an informal test of cell signals around our area and determined that the "other company" did a little better. I can't come to grips with changing companies if the result is marginally better. Informed customers want to know.:D

Keel McDonald
01-24-2006, 12:30 PM
Don't know about your area, but in East TN, I once used Cingular, and was less than satisfied. I now use Verizon and am fully satisfied. They seem to cover much more area.

Dan Oelke
01-24-2006, 1:08 PM
Best advice I can give is to ask around with friends who they have and how their coverage is in areas you will be in.

Many (most?) cell phone towers are used by more than one provider. This is because nobody wants a cell tower in their backyard or view. So, when towns give permission to build one, it is usually with the condition that they open it to other providers.

That being said - you might get very different signal strength from the same tower, because each provider's antennas are at a different height, and use different frequencies, and probably different transmission strengths, depending on where their other towers are. The people who operate these towers are always changing how the antennas are configured, and with what power levels, etc. This is to help fill in dead-spots based on complaints, and because when they add a new tower they have to reduce the power on the surrounding towers so that they don't interfer with one another.

Good luck in your search for a better provider - that is something I plan doing myself soon.

Doug Jones
01-24-2006, 1:23 PM
My guess is separate towers or maybe same tower just separate dishes. Its a competition thing.
Would McDonalds share with Burger King their special sauce recipe.

Mike Evertsen
01-24-2006, 1:31 PM
different cell company's work better than others. cell company's also can block competitors. A campground we go to in WI. my cingular phone worked great the next year another company installed a tower in the area and when we up there my phone was useless. The locals that had other cell phone their signal strength was almost nothing not a bunch of happy cell phone users up there

Doug Jones from Oregon
01-24-2006, 2:23 PM
Funny you should ask this today!

There is a crew of about 15 guys (typical 1 or 2 doing work), installing cell antennas on the perimeter of the water tower on my property, right next to another cell phone providers antennas.

I'm excited about this cuz it is another $1200 a month rent paid to me and maybe now I'll two choice of cell service that will work in the shop.

Doug

Jim Becker
01-24-2006, 2:35 PM
This is actually even more complicated...you can have individual towers for each provider in an area, shared towers with separate equipment for each provider and even agreements with other providers to carry connections when your provider doesn't have their own facilities--even when they are competing for customers. There are also generally two transmission technology systems in use in the US (not counting some of Nextel's stuff...); CDMA (Verizon, Sprint, etc) and GSM (Cingular and T-Mobile...as well as the rest of the world excluding Japan). Additionally, an improperly adjusted output signal from the equipment supporting the tower for your provider/technology can screw up your coverage at a given location.

Geography also has an effect. Our house is in the shadow of the hill/"mountain" where all the major cell providers SHARE a single, large "multi-tenant" tower. Poor or no service in our house for CDMA (Verizon) and GSM (Cingular); poor to not-quite-ok service in the driveway. 5-bars 1000' in either direction down the major road. Nextel sorta works better as their tower location is different...or at least it seems so when contractors using it are on-site. (I use GSM from Cingular and will continue to do so because of my International travel for business)

Your choice of provider should be based on the area you normally need coverage and the quality of said coverage...as well as your personal roaming needs.

Byron Trantham
01-24-2006, 2:38 PM
Don't know about your area, but in East TN, I once used Cingular, and was less than satisfied. I now use Verizon and am fully satisfied. They seem to cover much more area.

Keel,
You hit right on the head. That's the two companies in question with the same results as yours. Thanks.

Doug Jones from Oregon
01-24-2006, 5:24 PM
These are the same two companies that are renting space on the water tower...as of now, I like cingular best because they are paying the most rent! But, I use Verizon because it works in the shop.

Doug

Michael Gibbons
01-24-2006, 5:52 PM
Having a satellite phone would be the ticket. Too bad they are so much money. 1500.00 for the phone (top-of-the-line), 30.00 per monthfee, 50.00 activation charge, 1.50 per minute, reach anywhere in the world,
PRICELESS. I NEED ONE.

Scott Coffelt
01-24-2006, 6:26 PM
It can also be impacted by the degree coverage of the individual antennas on a tower. You'll see some that are designed to be 120 degree and there are three on a tower, if they are not adjusted correctly, you can have a blind spot, there is also a chance of holes where one tower just doesn't quite reach anothers area. Then add to the number of calls going on in a given sector, when you get more rural you can get less coverage due to costs associated with equipment, too many variables.

As mentioned above, many carriers are collocating on a tower. Often these towers are owned by tower owners, not the carrier itself. Some share links or coverage through roaming agreements and tower shares.

As far as perfromance, it can also be the phone itself. I have fairly new phone, live in a city with plenty of coverage and still can get poor performance or low bars. I didn't have this problem with my other phone. I recently got a Blackberry as well and my coverage is much better. I should be getting a new phone within the next few weeks and will be able to scrap the POS I now use (not the BB). My job requires me to test a variety of devices, so it get to carry a couple models in my briefcase.

So if you have bad coverage, check around with others in the area and see if they get better coverage, it may be a time to switch carriers.

Frank Guerin
01-24-2006, 7:31 PM
I don't have one but I'm getting me a water tower.

Norman Hitt
01-24-2006, 7:36 PM
[QUOTE=Scott Coffelt]My job requires me to test a variety of devices, so it get to carry a couple models in my briefcase.

QUOTE]

Can You Hear Me Now?????????????;) :D :D

Robert Mickley
01-25-2006, 8:38 AM
I'm in the same situation as Jim is. I live on the side of the hill and the tower is just over the top of the hill. :rolleyes: I'm currently with Sprint. It works here when it wants to. Cellular One phone didn't work here.

Now what I have learned is that its just as important to have a quality phone.
When I first moved here we where still with Cellular One. We had a basic phone and it was garbage. Went phone shopping and ended up with sprint. Marginally better. Went round and round with them over the phones not working. I went through 4 phones before actually downgrading to a cheaper nokia phone. The first 3 phones had all the goodies at the time. Camera, Internet. Wifes cheap nokia had none of this and it worked better all the time.

Now the kicker was A friend of mine who owns his own trucking company visited for a few days. His One verizon phone and his air card for the laptop worked any where he wanted them to while he was here. His backup phone worked but not quite as well. Even inside, and I live in a trailer. which is a killer for any kind of cordless stuff.

buy a good quality phone. I'm talking $300-$400, no matter what carrier you go with. If you travel stay away from Cellular one. They are franchised and if you get out of your area you can not access your account from stores not belonging to your franchise.

I've narrowed my next choices down to Alltell, which is what the cousin uses and his phone works pretty well here and Verizon.

Keel McDonald
01-25-2006, 12:28 PM
Byron

It's about time I was right about something! Usually I just think I'm right.


Keel,
You hit right on the head. That's the two companies in question with the same results as yours. Thanks.

Scott Coffelt
01-25-2006, 1:41 PM
[QUOTE=Scott Coffelt]My job requires me to test a variety of devices, so it get to carry a couple models in my briefcase.

QUOTE]

Can You Hear Me Now?????????????;) :D :D
Nope, wrong network. Though I would like to run over that guy with my truck.

Jim Becker
01-25-2006, 1:59 PM
Having a satellite phone would be the ticket. Too bad they are so much money. 1500.00 for the phone (top-of-the-line), 30.00 per monthfee, 50.00 activation charge, 1.50 per minute, reach anywhere in the world,

Unfortunately, the reality is that the sat phones really don't work "anywhere" in the world...but they do work in much of it. Ching...ching...!
-------

The folks that mentioned phone quality are also very correct. The good news is that even the more expensive phones are not necessarily "expensive" if a plan committment is involved. Do check the reviews, however...every model is different. My Motorola V551 has been wonderful; my previous phone, a Motorola V600 was not...when it comes to coverage and signal reception which is what counts on the bottom line. Both cost about the same in relative dollars and are otherwise very similar phones. (Same accessories including my car kits)