I'm a habitual cell phone switcher. I change phones or carriers at least once a year, either because I'm not satisfied with the service I'm using or I just want a new phone. I've been using Nextel since August 2001 (though I'm naturally on my second phone), and I've been reasonably happy with the overall quality of the service. After two bouts with Cellular One (now Cingular) and one with Sprint PCS, Nextel's service is the best I've tried.

The best of Nextel:

1. Great national coverage
2. Clear phone calls, few dropped calls
3. Good international calling rates (from the U.S.)
4. International coverage with the i2000plus phone
5. Bills are relatively easy to understand
6. Nextel Web site is user-friendly
7. SIM chip makes switching phones easy
8. Direct connect feature

The worst of Nextel:

1. Proprietary network means you can't roam
2. Expensive compared to other carriers
3. Web browser is virtually impossible to navigate
4. No reliable way to tell how many minutes you've used
5. Signal is terrible inside some buildings

Signal and Call Quality
I use Nextel primarily in Boston, but travel regularly within the U.S. and have periodically taken my i2000 phone overseas. Coverage seems to have improved steadily in both the Boston area and in other areas that I frequent (San Jose, CA; New York; Ft. Lauderdale; Orlando).

Service is also very good along the Interstates, but can be spotty if you get far from a city or major highway. I've noticed that if I take the train from Boston to New York, there are a lot of dead spots in the "backwoods" of Connecticut (and I thought it was all suburban sprawl). Nextel's major shortcoming is that I get a poor signal in my apartment (but weather permitting, I can sit outside in the yard and talk). However, I was impressed recently when I traveled to Middle-of-Nowhere, Ohio - roughly halfway between Columbus and Pittsburgh - and still had a signal some distance from I-70.

Service Plans and Cost
Nextel is definitely on the expensive side. I pay $60/month for 400 peak minutes with free nights & weekends (though it was originally just the 400 until I complained to Nextel when I saw a better offer). Overage is $0.35/minute, as I noted glumly when I recently opened my October bill of $115. There are a number of other service plans, and Nextel has recently expanded its nights/weekends plans so there are more inexpensive options.

Nextel appears to offer among the lowest overseas calling rates - that is, the rates for calling abroad from the U.S. You can get better rates with discount calling cards or even from wireline carriers, but $0.40/minute isn't bad for quick calls to Europe (though it's nice if you can expense it).

However, if you have an i2000plus and use it overseas, be prepared to pay, pay and then pay some more. I traveled to Europe last fall and took my phone with me. When I returned, I discovered that Nextel had raised the rates from $0.99/minute (incoming and outgoing) to $1.29. You definitely want to expense that! It's probably cheaper to buy a prepaid phone in Europe for $50 or $60 if you travel there regularly.

My i90c phone has a built-in Web browser, but the extra $10/month to use it hardly seems worth it. I've tried periodically to locate a restaurant or look up a phone number that isn't in my address book. Entering names and browsing is so slow - mostly because of all the steps required - that it's better to save the $10/month and spend some of it on the $1.19 information calls when you really need to look something up. A wireless PDA (or even one synchronized using AvantGo) is a much better option for getting Web content in a small form factor.

I don't use the Direct Connect feature (2-way radio), but it
seems useful if you need to communicate quickly with someone in your calling area. Direct Connect is limited to geographic areas such as New England, so you can't use it to contact Nextel users who are outside of that area. You also can't use it when you travel outside of that area.

Nextel also just added a very interesting a possibly quite handy feature that allows you to e-mail a voice message from your phone. It costs $5/month, but you can record a voicemail and deliver it to someone's e-mail address.

One other note about the phones: all the phones are Motorolas. Not all of them are great phones, but Nextel has a good selection of phones. It's also easy to switch phones without losing information since the SIM card that stores your address book can be moved from phone to phone.

Customer Service
I've had reasonably good luck with Nextel's customer service. None of the carriers have what I would call good customer service, but Nextel has certainly been better than Sprint. As I mentioned above, they added free night & weekend minutes to my plan as soon as I called to complain that new customers were getting better deals.

The billing statements are reasonably clear. The Web site is also convenient. I always pay my bill online, and can view or print copies of past statements if I need them.

One major drawback, though: there's no way to check your usage during the month to see if you're close to your allotted minutes. Other carriers, including Sprint, offer this feature on their Web sites. Nextel can't even tell you if you call customer service.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 70