Cingular Coverage
 

Hi Folks. Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. My buddies and I had a great time and even hopped in the lake after about an hour of stacking fire wood. It was "brisk" but refreshing.

I had a question about cell phone coverage in the wolfeboro/tuftonboro area. I am connected to Cingular. This used to be the old AT&T and when I had AT&T I had perfect coverage in Wolfeboro, tuftonboro, and out on the lake. Since the switch was made, I have absolutely no service in any of those places. I have also switched phones and feel that this phone might not be as good at picking up signal. I was curious if it is my phone I should be irritated at or if it is the service. Does anyone else have cingular service and how is your coverage.

I know there was a thread a few months ago about GSM coverage but I am not exactly sure what that is. Any help would be appreciated.

I always turn my phone off while at the lake, but it's nice to know that it is there if I want or need it.

GSM in Tuftonboro/Wolfeboro
 

I have been a Cingular customere for a while, and made the switch to the GSM network a year or so ago (I am down in the Philadelphia area - not far from you). The GSM coverage is great down here, as it is along most Interstate corridors. But, unlike the old CDMA service, the GSM was practically non-existant in the Lakes region (other than pockets of good service on the western side in the Gilford area). Nothing on the east north of Epsom circle.

Anyway, this spring I went up and was surprised to have a few bars of Cingular service in Tuftonboro and Wolfeboro. I assumed that this was a result of the merger with AT&T. However, I just received my bill and noticed that all of out-of-area calls were listed as originating in Burlington, VT, Keene, NH and other points. So, perhaps I was getting signal from those areas (doubtful), or the lack of leaves allowed me to tap an otherwise unavailable signal. Regardless, I will be sure to check the GSM coverage again when I head back up later this month and again in August. I was VERY relieved to get a signal in the area.

your old phone was probably a TDMA dual band phone so you got the tdma or analog signal at the lake, when you got your new phone you went to GSM which uses different antennas and does not have the ability to use the old TDMA or analog tower. Cingular forgets to tell people this and almost everyone I know has worse signal with their new phone than they did with the old one. GSM is great if your in an area saturated with cells but once you get outside the main population bases the service is poor. Verizon and Sprint use CDMA technology and have had years to build towers so I have kept Verizon because they are the only ones that give me signals all over the lakes and mountains and even my new phone can grab an analog signal up in the boonies where there are no digital towers.

I believe the thread you are referring to I posted an answer to your question. To summarize: I have had AT&T for years & had great coverage all over the north country including all around the lake & further north in North Conway. When I needed a new phone a few months ago, they tried to sell me a new plan but when I asked about coverage they admitted that my old plan was better for these areas because now they are building their own network & towers & they do not share towers like they did before the merger.

So I had a choice of 2 phones to stay with my old plan & get the same coverage I had or to go with a new plan & lose most of the coverage north of Concord. I stayed with the old plan, bought a new phone that works with the old plan & still get great coverage anywhere around the lake & ski country further north.

Someday when they have their own towers covering all those dead spots then maybe I will switch.

Grant,

I have an AT&T/Cingular GSM phone. I haven't been able to get even a hint of a signal in Wolfeboro or the eastern side of New Durham for the past few weeks. Must have just been sun spots when you were up before.

If you are in a diving bell, or a steel or metal building ( including aluminium )l you could have a problem with cell phone reception... Other than that, veriZon works for me, No Problem anywhere here so far... and I have been around, so to speak. :)

Smoke Signals
 

trfour -- My old Verizon worked FLAWLESSLY throughout the region. It's the GSM digital service that hasn't been built out in the region. But I DID have some decent service in the area in mid May.

Merrymeeting -- Sun spots might not be so far-fetched! I was actually wondering if it had anything to do the lack of leaves on trees, the lack of "other" traffic (pre-summer population levels), etc. Who knows. I'll find out soon enough. But, for what it's worth, my signal was not good in Wolfeboro, but it was there. Quantum leap over last year.