Good Prices, Some Features missing
Written: Feb 12 '02
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Pros: Best price, Nokia phones available, able to change plans
Cons: Missing features, Roaming issues
The Bottom Line: Not for 23322 or 23457 zips. Otherwise, go get a SunCom phone.
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| dthatcher's Full Review: SunCom Mobile Phone Service in Newport News/Norfol... |
I got my first SunCom phone in Mar '00. It was a Nokia 6160i, and I had signed up for one of their unlimited plans (which they no longer offer).
As far as quality of service, no dropped calls, at all. Voices are nice and clear, as long as you are in a digital area and your phone registers a halfway decent signal (50% or better).
Of course, when you're in the middle of nowhere your phone will switch to Analog mode, so you can make calls, but you will get charged for Roaming of course unless you have their SunCom USA plan, or are in a region covered by one of their SuperStates plans.
Of course they have voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, conference calling, text messaging, etc., etc...
I have researched and researched and SunCom does have the best price (as of 2/12/02) and the quality is there, too. My cost per month is high because I use our phones in place of land phones so I have to have plan with tons of *ANYTIME* minutes...
Now for the cons.
1) Feature not available to block anonymous callers
2) You must pay for *2-way* text messaging but SunCom states that it cannot guarantee that it will work
3) Name does not come over on the Caller ID, just the number (of course if that number is in your phones number list the phone will display the name you entered)
4) When maintaining a call traveling out of a digital area to an analog area, the call is unceremonously dropped, EVEN THOUGH the phones they sell are technically capable of the transition
5) When maintaining a call traveling out of an analog are to a digital area, the call does not transfer to the digital network, meaning you rack up roaming charges in the middle of town, EVEN THOUGH the phones they sell are capable of this transition
6) There are no Family Plans that feature more than 1800 anytime minutes. If you use your cell phones in place of regular phones like I do, you need a 2500 anytime minute plan for the whole family.
7) When a plan does not allow roaming calls at all, this caveat is tucked away in the fine print of their literature.
8) Coverage at the fringe edges of digital areas is very bad due to the fact that the phone will always use the digital network if any signal exists at all.
9) The customer service rep can't tell you how many minutes you have used in the current month
Conclusion: Per #8, if you live or spend lots of time in S. Great Bridge, Hickory, Pungo, basically 23322 or 23457 zips forget about SunCom. Their coverage area is a nice little fork extending down US 17 and the new Chesapeake Bypass and they have no plans to fill in the gaps. Inexcuseable in my opinion. In these areas, look at Verizon.
Otherwise, don't look anywhere else.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 180/mo
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Epinions.com ID:
dthatcher
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Reviews written: 2
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