Rachel ([info]virtualrosie) wrote in [info]mitmit,
@ 2005-06-24 21:47:00
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Cell Phone Service @ MIT
What cell phone service provider(s) do you recommend for the MIT campus? I'm considering Cingular right now but I have no idea what kind of service it gets around MIT.

I used Verizon for the last two semesters and while I had good service on most of campus, a significant amount of the calls I made or received were mysteriously lost in the middle of the call. I have also had terrible luck with dead spots in my dorm (McCormick) and in my dorm room. Good service is really important to me because I use my cell phone as my primary phone.

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[info]wolfpilot06
2005-06-25 06:26 am UTC (link)
I use T-Mobile, which works pretty damn well in the Boston area for me. Not so much at home, but Boston is A-OK.

**Wolf**

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[info]tunape
2005-06-25 12:03 pm UTC (link)
I don't know about cingular, but don't use sprint! the signal gets lots in the tons of buildings. I heard AT&T is even worst.

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[info]psaindon
2005-06-25 01:01 pm UTC (link)
CIngurlar is pretty horrible around campus, and many parts of boston. MIT has a lot of cell dead zones. T-Mobile people seem to be the best off, though even they drop calls here and there.

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[info]marissav
2005-06-25 05:40 pm UTC (link)
I had AT&T for two years, and it didn't work very well on campus, though it did work in my dorm (Baker) freshman year. Sophomore year I moved to East Campus, and I didn't get reception there at all. I have since switched to Verizon, and I can walk through the infinite without losing reception, though reception still isn't great in my room (I think maybe Cingular works better in EC). I bet verizon would be fine in McCormick.

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[info]dolphin949
2005-06-25 05:50 pm UTC (link)
verison works nicely for me. i've had the occasional my phone isnt ringing! but its only sometimes in EC. usually good.

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[info]mryn
2005-06-25 06:06 pm UTC (link)
Sprint was great for me until last summer, when it decided to ignore incoming calls on West Campus (ie, I'd look at the phone, it would claim to have great reception, it could dial out, but if I called it, the phone didn't ring or in any other way register the incoming call). I switched to Verizon and it's been great - I can keep talking all the way through the Infinite without flakiness and I haven't yet encountered any dead spots besides the tomb that is Laverde's. My boyfriend has AT&T (now Cingular) and it's TERRIBLE, although I think he's on their older CDMA network, not the newer GSM. He's about to switch to Verizon.
T-Mobile seems good within Boston, but I know it was the one carrier with zero signal anywhere around my undergrad campus (Wellesley), and I've heard similar complaints for T-Mobile in other suburban spots.
If you're a grad student (or staff/faculty), you qualify for a 15% discount on Verizon service, including existing plans not set up through the MIT-Verizon deal. I think there's also a Sprint deal which may include undergrads.

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[info]iamtimslife
2005-06-25 08:20 pm UTC (link)
I've never had a problem with Verizon anywhere in Massachusetts. Occasionally my signal goes dead while walking through the infinite, but that's to be expected while walking through a concrete box.

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[info]phyrosfire
2005-06-26 05:12 am UTC (link)
*shrug* I'm fine with AT&T/Cingular. I get fine reception in EC, and the only real dead zone i've experienced is on one small section of the infinite a bit past lobby 10. My opinion is we're in a metro area, so you're going to have good service no matter where you are, and every carrier is bound to have its own deadzones in different places.

I found that i'm most likely to recieve calls during the hours when I'm in my room. I'd say rather than asking which carrier has the best service on campus in general (where everyone has generally good service due to our proximity to Boston metro area), ask people specifically on your hall which providers work well on your hall, and which providers give you problems on your hall.

Otherwise, I'd make my choice based on the best deal/most features I could find from a carrier.

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[info]phyrosfire
2005-06-26 05:19 am UTC (link)
for clarification, i use AT&T/Cingular's GSM network, not CDMA. I'm pretty sure other carriers offer GSM by now, but incase they don't, keep in mind that GSM is pretty much the standard used in europe and asia, so if you have any plans on travelling there, all you gotta do is pay $20 more for a GSM "Worldphone" as opposed to a standard GSM phone and your phone will work overseas.

as for T-Mobile, I live in some suburbs of new york. I'm sure T-Mobile is fine in a metro area, but back in high school, I used to use it and it was TERRIBLE. If you plan on going outside of the boston metro area with any regularity, from my experience i'd suggest not to go for t-mobile.

Sorry for the run-ons. Its past my bedtime and i had a few beers this evening.

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[info]skor
2005-06-26 05:32 pm UTC (link)
Zero problems with Verizon for 4 years here

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