Xerithane's Journal: Voice over IP?

So, in our new apartment our cellphones work better as a marital aid than a communication device (not that I'm aware of any of that sort of usage, just saying it's more functional in any capacity other than it's intended design.)

So, we need to get a home phoneline, and I'm looking at voice over IP. Or calling AT&T and telling them they need to get a signal in this neighborhood, which you know, is right in downtown. How can I not have cell reception in this block. It literally is a block, where we happen to live... I can go down one block in either direction and be at least at 75%... Even if I go to the roof, I get a great signal. I'm not really going to walk to the roof just to make a phone call. My friend has TMobile, and my contract is up for grabs, but my phone is locked. Still have the womans contract which is going to expire in about 10 months. Woo.

So, what are your experiences with VoIP and what provider is good? Most likely be used to call to Japan, because other than that, I don't think I want to talk to people.

A tip abotut contracts

[ramdac]

I work at a major cellphone company and have had some dealings with contracts. I'm not a lawyer nor do I have extensive knowledge of the law but I can offer you this tip:

That contract isn't worth the paper it was printed on if you can't get service. There are laws protecting the consumer from being locked into service with a company for certain reasons. One of those is lack of service. If you cannot get service while at your residence, you can get out of that contract.

You can call customer service and quite easily get out of your contract.

AT&T and Seattle

[ces]

I have the same problem at my house except the dead spot seems to be about a 2 block radius from my house.

For whatever reason AT&T WS seems to have huge coverage issues in the Seattle area which is sort of ironic considering they have their headquarters and the bulk of their operations in the Seattle metro area.

The two things I was told by AT&T customer service that might allow me to use my phone from home are:
1) Switching to the new GSM network (I'm on the older TDMA one).
2) Buying a newer phone (I have c. 1999 Nokia)

If you do switch, everyone tells me that Verizon has the best coverage in Washington of any celluar carrier. T-Mobile seems to be well liked by people I know who have it. Sprint's customer service sucks but as long as you don't have any problems they are fine. Everyone seems to think Cingular sucks on almost every count. Qwest is useless for anyone who needs roaming. I don't know much about Nextel other than being told they are expensive.

Re:AT&T and Seattle

[Xerithane]

That's funny, I have a new Panasonic GU87. It's GSM, and it sucks monkey balls. My friend had a Sony-Ericsson (one of the bigger screen phones, not the T68) and was doing just fine.

If I were to switch, I'm not sure who I would switch too. I will most likely call AT&T tomorrow and say that unless they can deliver service, I'll accept them breaching the service contract on the second line and we'll move to somewhere else.

Re:AT&T and Seattle

[JVert]

T-mobile has one of the best pocketpc phones as far as formfactor. But they dont support SD-IO so you dont get an expansion card for 802.11 or bluetooth. Sprint has a phone with SD-IO but known for a less functional form factor. The ultimate system would be a smartphone with VOIP so when you get home your smartphone logs into your network and all your cell calls are forwarded to your VOIP system (or stops forwarding them to your cell phone).

I sent you a vonage referrel.

[RevMike]

If you use it we'll both get a free month of service.

I have two vonage lines, and I'm extremely satisfied. As for international calls, 6 cents a minute to Tokyo isn't bad.

Building structure?

[zedmelon]

I have a Kyocera 2135. Not all that new, but it's been pretty satisfactory in the reception department. A friend told me that he heard/read my make/model was one of the highest rated phones for getting signal.

But in the office building where I worked before I got laid off, the reception was pretty bad, even though it was literally 100 feet off the I-25 strip where EVERYone's phone gets reception. I'd be sitting at my desk and suddenly have voice mail but no missed call. I could go outside and get grea

Re:Building structure?

[Xerithane]

We'll try that when the womans friends get back from winter vacation. Then there will be about a dozen cell phones over during any given week, and we can figure it out. I really like my phone, and will have to unlock it before switching to another GSM provider. I truly think that the fault lies in AT&Ts structure, not in the phone.