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easywind · 11-24-2016, 09:06 PM

Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving.
I have a phone problem and all I ask are young people who baffle me with technology and don't answer my question and the phone companies do everything by the internet so I can't speak with them.
Going to lay out what I can.
First of all I live in Manhattan and have an office in the interior of my apartment. I had 2 phones, one with time warner and one with Metro PCS, the Metro phone was a LG 350 and it basically worked fine. I got angry at time warner and slammed the phone shut and cracked the screen. I replaced it with a LG 450 and dropped time warner. I can not make certain calls from my apartment and those I can make people tell me there is a huge amount of static. I will be going on the road soon for 4/5 months but I have only a short time to rescue my phone number which I've had for 44 years.
I am willing to spend 300 or more to get a simple phone ( I don't text or take pictures) the phone is for calls
Couple of questions, can anyone tell me is it the phone company that is not allowing me to make calls and bringing me static or would it be the phone or a combination.
I had a smart phone for 6 weeks but I could not learn how to make calls or answer the phone.
Any suggestion or thought would be much appreciated. I'm kind of at my wits end.
Thank you all.

**CLIFFTALL** · 11-25-2016, 04:26 AM

How do they work outside of your apartment ? I've lived in Manhattan and those fire proof buildings can play havoc with a signal.

twinboat · 11-25-2016, 04:50 AM

Get an AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or another nationwide provider.

Metro PCS is probably going to give you limited service outside of major cities.

Even a pay as you go phone from Verizon should give you good service.

ModestMonk · 11-25-2016, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by easywind

Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving.
I have a phone problem and all I ask are young people who baffle me with technology and don't answer my question and the phone companies do everything by the internet so I can't speak with them.
Going to lay out what I can.
First of all I live in Manhattan and have an office in the interior of my apartment. I had 2 phones, one with time warner and one with Metro PCS, the Metro phone was a LG 350 and it basically worked fine. I got angry at time warner and slammed the phone shut and cracked the screen. I replaced it with a LG 450 and dropped time warner. I can not make certain calls from my apartment and those I can make people tell me there is a huge amount of static. I will be going on the road soon for 4/5 months but I have only a short time to rescue my phone number which I've had for 44 years.
I am willing to spend 300 or more to get a simple phone ( I don't text or take pictures) the phone is for calls
Couple of questions, can anyone tell me is it the phone company that is not allowing me to make calls and bringing me static or would it be the phone or a combination.
I had a smart phone for 6 weeks but I could not learn how to make calls or answer the phone.
Any suggestion or thought would be much appreciated. I'm kind of at my wits end.
Thank you all.

I don't have direct personal knowledge but my son who lives in New York City had nothing but trouble with Metro PCS. Same level of service or disruption of service that you are experiencing. He had an extremely difficult time with their customer service. He finally switched over to Verizon. Things improved, although when you think about it for so many tall buildings it's like driving through a mountain range. But his service overall is far superior now.

I live in one of the most rural areas of New York, 10 years ago nobody had service worthy of honorable mention up here. However right now nobody can touch Verizon's quality of service. Some companies are claiming that their networks are within 1% of Verizon, however marketing always seems to precede reality.

MRUSA14 · 11-25-2016, 06:21 AM

Traveling throughout America there are only two providers I would choose for good service in most places: Verizon and ATT. The rest of them are cheaper because their networks are not as extensive. All carriers have gaps in coverage but the two mentioned have the best overall coverage, with Verizon having a slight edge over ATT but costing more. In any given location however, one may be better than the other. The only real way to know is to try them out. The coverage maps and listings that the carriers publish are only accurate in a general sense. My area is shown as having good coverage, but one side of my house gets a good signal and the other side of the house is poor.

Hit_the_Rhod · 11-25-2016, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

Traveling throughout America there are only two providers I would choose for good service in most places: Verizon and ATT. The rest of them are cheaper because their networks are not as extensive. All carriers have gaps in coverage but the two mentioned have the best overall coverage, with Verizon having a slight edge over ATT but costing more. In any given location however, one may be better than the other. The only real way to know is to try them out. The coverage maps and listings that the carriers publish are only accurate in a general sense. My area is shown as having good coverage, but one side of my house gets a good signal and the other side of the house is poor.

Best advice yet! Verizon or ATnT. I will agree with the statement that Verizon has better coverage overall, but ATnT works well where we live, and as stated, is a little cheaper. Plus we use the mobile hot spot on our phones for internet access for the computer. ATnT worked well driving from KY to WA this summer except for in the middle of nowhere, where only a Satellite phone would have signal!

vsheetz · 11-25-2016, 07:14 AM

My experiences from traveling mostly in the West are best coverage is Verizon, close then is AT&T, then T-MOBILE not as good, and Sprint lagging last. That said I am currently with MetroPCS (T-MOBILE) for combination of coverage/price/services. I also have a pay as you go hotspot device on Verizon should there be a must have need for computer access where T-MOBILE is lacking coverage.

easywind · 11-25-2016, 10:20 PM

Thank you everyone, I got a new phone wit AT&T and service is 300% better although I still can't get reception where my computer is and I need to move about 5 feet from the interior toward the wall, plan was cheap $25 a month, just for calls but that's all I need. I also am having RCN install a phone with my old number which should allow me to use the phone near my computer desk.
Also the phone works everywhere else, at least today and it was very overcast all day.
Thanks again all.

wa8yxm · 11-26-2016, 07:51 AM

The key is indeed how well it works OUTSIDE the apartment.

Many of the newer phones are not as sensistive (on the radio side) than older models due to the proliferation of Cell Towers being greater. However INSIDE the house.. That may be a problem as another change is the frequency they use (The Radio Frequency) and the higher frequencies may not penetrate walls as well as the lower ones. Since I deal in Radio things daily on many frequencies I get to figure this all out by experiment.

Now there are several ways to address this.

First. You can get a better antenna for the phone. There are two companies with nearly identical names.. They even have identical models, only one is for CBers and the other for Cell phones (Wilson I think) they are friendly toward each other and if you connect to the wrong web site it will give you a link to the right one (That's friendly).

There are other copanies now as well

You can (if rules allow) put an antenna outside your appartment, perhaps on a patio railing or balcony railing,, This may get a much stronger signal (Start by walking aroudn with the phone)... Then you run coax (They supply some) into the house. And here are the steps

Step one A 2nd antenna inside (this is called a passive repeater)
Step two-A: Clip on the phone (you can go straght here) this too is a passive repeater

2B Very rare these days, Some phones may have External ANT connectors, Again Very Rare these days

Step 3: Active Repeater.. This is one or two electronic boxes.. one is outside (or connected to the outside antenna) the other inside Basically the Inside box is a "Mini-Cell Tower)

Oh and one other option, IF it's in an apartment I like this option best and highly recommend you try it

Mini-cell

This is a small box with a Cell antenna either on or in it and the ability to connect to your house Interenet either by Cat-5 or Wi-Fi.. It is a very low power Cell "tower" inside your apartment.. Short range. Cost is aroudn 100 dollars.. Talk to your Cell provider or if they are a reseller to their cellular provider

SIDE NOTE

Others near you who also have the same carrier may benefit.

WagonMaster · 11-26-2016, 08:23 AM

" live in one of the most rural areas of New York, 10 years ago nobody had service worthy of honorable mention up here. However right now nobody can touch Verizon's quality of service. Some companies are claiming that their networks are within 1% of Verizon, however marketing always seems to precede reality."

I saw that "within 1%" ad for Sprint and chuckled. They say "within 1% reliability" not total coverage. I guess if you're within the coverage of their signal they are within 1% reliable. LOL

Sounds like you got good advice and solved your problem.

arboldt · 11-26-2016, 01:12 PM

It's been over 45 years since we lived in a major city, but I suspect the buildings and congestion are big contributors to your static. Definitely take the advice on trying your cell phone outside the building -- outside the City if you can. That should tell you something.
We lived in west Michigan for 25 years, and had several carriers. Metro PCS and T-Mobile both had large areas with no coverage, although generally where we were and went it was tolerable.
Once we went full-time, those coverage gaps were no longer tolerable. DW has Verizon, and I have a reseller of AT&T (so I recommend PureTalk), However, on our journeys as full-timers across I-80 and I-84 (Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and central Oregon) much of the time DW had signal (Verizon) and I didn't (At&T). We suspect we'll find areas where I have signal and she doesn't, but we haven't found it yet.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 11-27-2016, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by easywind

I will be going on the road soon for 4/5 months but I have only a short time to rescue my phone number which I've had for 44 years.

Happy to hear that the OP (Original Poster) got a better phone.

For those who might want to "park"* an existing telephone number, we did just that by moving our land line number to Google Voice (GV). Then, we put the number on "busy," with a forward to e-mail. What this does is transcribe any calls to that number to e-mail, immediately forwarded to the linked Gmail account (which we monitor with our cell phones). We give that number to all our non-emergency business accounts (think Amazon, etc.).

There are other advantages to using GV to "park"* a telephone number. If anyone's interested in the details, either start another thread or send me a private message.

__________________
Mark
2008 Holiday Rambler Admiral 30PDD (Ford F53 chassis)
2009 Honda Fit Sport

* A "parked" number can be moved again to another phone line, including cellular or landline.

dverstra · 11-27-2016, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by l1v3fr33ord1

Happy to hear that the OP (Original Poster) got a better phone.

For those who might want to "park"* an existing telephone number, we did just that by moving our land line number to Google Voice (GV). Then, we put the number on "busy," with a forward to e-mail. What this does is transcribe any calls to that number to e-mail, immediately forwarded to the linked Gmail account (which we monitor with our cell phones). We give that number to all our non-emergency business accounts (think Amazon, etc.).

There are other advantages to using GV to "park"* a telephone number. If anyone's interested in the details, either start another thread or send me a private message.

__________________
Mark
2008 Holiday Rambler Admiral 30PDD (Ford F53 chassis)
2009 Honda Fit Sport

* A "parked" number can be moved again to another phone line, including cellular or landline.

X2 We converted the landline over to Google Voice a while ago and have a "free" phone.
Here is a link to get someone started
Google Voice: A step-by-step primer on ditching your landline while keeping your number | ZDNet

YC1 · 11-27-2016, 06:54 AM

I was the largest volume service agent in Northern Calif for Sprint/Nextel.

I have had a number since the beginning and have always kept a phone on their system. We have all of our phones on Verizon now that I am retired.

Coverage was always better with Verizon. AT&T would be my second pick for coverage.

Add an in vehicle amp and you will have great coverage. We have traveled almost all of the 48 states now and rarely lose coverage.