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Question for Springfield types

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Illinois

What are your experiences with either Sprint PCS or Cingular Wireless in the Springfield area? I’m looking at switching carriers and the phone I want only uses those two services.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 9:15 am

Comments

I had Sprint when I lived there and it was fine downtown and even in the Capitol Complex, although sometimes you had to go by a window, but it was completely useless on the fairgrounds and it was spotty on the west side. I went the whole fair without a cell phone. FWIW

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 9:27 am
Rich, my wife and I have had both. We liked Sprint very much, but they closed the stores that supported them. We were told that Radio Shack and Best Buy would be our contacts, but we all know that this kind of thing doesn’t work as well. We stayed with Sprint until they closed the last store.

We went to Cingular last year and went with their family plan. It has turned out great. We use the store on North Dirksen, and the guys have been first-rate. At that time, my mom lived in Homewood, my sister lives in Crown Point Indiana, and my wife and I are in Springfield. These calls are free. Weekends are free.

We also saved by cutting back on SBC and using Cingular most of the time. We have roll over minutes, and right now, we could consider going with a cheaper Cingular plan since we haven’t been using up our minutes among the four of us. The total bill for these four cell phones is about $100.

Sprint was great, but no longer support Springpatch like they should. Cingular has come through.
(SBC stands for “Send Blagojevich Cash”.)

Comment by Vanilla World Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 9:36 am
I’ve had Cingular for almost 5 years and have had very decent reception in Springfield and elsewhere in Central IL..Cingular does suck in most of Indiana and NY state though.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 9:37 am
Cingular Wireless coverage and service is decent today. I have had them when they were US Celluar and never had a problem. Hope it stays this way. But it is owned by SBC.

Comment by Milton Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 9:46 am
Good question Rich. I had Cingular for three years, it was good, but not great in the Capitol bldg. I have Verizon now and think its much better actually, plus the phone model matters.

You need a camera phone so you can post pics.

Also, if any of our telecom friends are reading this: Can you PLEASE fix that drop-off zone on I-55 between Bloomington and Pontiac? Service in that area is awful. Thanks!

Comment by Hubert Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 9:54 am
Rich, I’ve had Sprint for the last 6 years and even though they no longer have service stores in Capcity, the cellular and customer sevice provide to me has been supurb. I work on the Fairgrounds and have not experienced the problem that anonymous expressed.

The downside, if you are traveling outside of large municipalities or 10 to 20 miles either side of an Interstate, you may find service disappointing.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 10:10 am
Cingular, baby.

Service is great — had it for 6 years and really no significant problems. Plus they just acquired AT&T Wirless which will enhance the network….

Comment by Jeff Tweedy Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 10:33 am
I have to echo the remarks made by others here - because Sprint no longer has a local presence in Springfield, you’re best served by avoiding that carrier.

As a former AT&T Wireless customer who was migrated to Cingular when the companies combined - I can tell you Cingular’s “enhanced network” hasn’t improved service quality in Springfield one bit, especially inside the Capitol building!

Verizon Wireless is probably the way to go. They have an excellent national network - great coverage across Central Illinois and they’re great in Chicago too.

Verizon’s offering great promotion packages right now - you can get some excellent deals! Getting ready to make that switch myself.

Comment by Tom DeLay's Mom Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 11:01 am
I have a friend with Cingular who can’t stop complaining about the service, especially the weak signals at his home a mile from the Capitol. I’ve got Sprint and I’ve never had any major problems. Occasionally, I’ll lose a signal in the mall, but that’s about it.

On a tangential note, as long as we’re sending messages to SBC types, what’s with this every-year renewal for DSL? Every other contract (lease, cell phone, etc.) I’ve ever signed for a year or more automatically goes month-to-month once the year’s over. But SBC keeps trapping you into another year. I can see why they do it the first year (they’re offering you free DSL equipment), but there is absolutely NO reason why they have to jack you for $40+ a month instead of the regular $26 if you decide not to sign up for a third complete year of DSL service. Erg. There oughtta be a law!

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 11:17 am
I’m a cingular user who can never get good signal at home. Anyone else wonder if SBC puts something in the regular phone lines to interfere with cell service, forcing customers to maintain both home phones and cell phones? I’ve heard from lots of folks whose cell phones don’t work as well from home, and it kind of begs the conspiracy question.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 11:25 am
The best reason NOT to sign-up with Cingular Wireless? They’re owned by the SBC Monolith that’s made a name for itself raising rates and providing bad service.

Go with any other provider besides Cingular - hell, use carrier pigeons if you have to!!

SBC might stand for “Send Blagojevich Cash” but it also stands for “Sodomized By Cowboys.”

Comment by Stu Merkel Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 12:01 pm
Cingular works fine in Capcity BUT>>>> be careful of the phone you choose. I had an Erickson which was appalling for reception.
I now have a motorola and haven’t had a problem since.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 2:48 pm
My girlfriend has Cingular, and it works great for her here in Springfield. She’s never had any troubles no matter where she went.

I do feel the need to put in a plug for US Cellular because I’ve had nothing but impeccable service from them. They work in many of the remote places I end up in around here and have superb service when I need it.

Comment by Drew Hibbard Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 3:08 pm
Rich, I’m a Chicago guy down on session days. I ahve a Sprint PCS. It’s great in Chicago, Springfield and the drive down.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 4:57 pm
Rich– I have Sprint on a Treo (now 650). Was very spotty– UNTIL about half-way through last session, when the service dramatically improved. It’s great now in the statehouse– at least the public parts where I go (on the rail, in Stratton)– though service is spotty underground (in the Stratton cafeteria) and nonexistant in the tunnel (though that’s to be expected, right?).

Sprint works well wherever I got in Springfield– which, granted, isn’t that extensive (no fairgrounds for me), and most of the drive down. As a bonus, I can use my bluetooth-enabled powerbook to wirelessly connect to the internet ($10/mo for unlimited data through Sprint).

Now I wish it worked a little better at home…

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 22, 05 @ 8:42 pm
Cingular good

Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Apr 23, 05 @ 10:50 am
The Jackson clan is involved with Cingular.

Everyone hates SBC, bills are too high, slamming, bad service errors.
But at least BilL Daley made money.
And Rod thinks they will help him for President.

Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Apr 23, 05 @ 11:58 am
I use US Cellular and have been all over the state and never had any issues with them. They caome in crystal clear in the Springfield area.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 26, 05 @ 10:28 am