The Way to Go In San Francisco
Written: Aug 19 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great coverage (HWY 101, Silicon Valley, SF city & suburbs); no long distance fees.
Cons: HWY 280 Spotty Coverage
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| tom's Full Review: AT&T Mobile Phone Service in San Francisco/San Jos... |
Like many newcomers to San Francisco, I was shocked and horrified to find that AT&T does not provide service in the Bay Area -- after a year of good experience with the AT&T Digital One Rate, my main goal was to find a plan that replicated the AT&T service that I had enjoyed. Let me assure you that I've found what I was looking for in the Cellular One California Plan.
There are two ways to evaluate this plan: the pricing structure and the signal coverage. The plan gets my approval in both areas.
Pricing Structure: you get a solid 600 minutes of talk time each month, calculated in one-minute increments. The best feature is that there are no long distance charges -- I spend most of my minutes calling Seattle, New York, and Boston. You also get all the standard services such as voice mail and caller ID for no extra cost. These services mirror the AT&T One Rate, only it's $10 a month cheaper.
Coverage: Above and beyond the calling plan, the real reason to get Cellular One in the Bay Area is because it has the best coverage, bar none. Ask Sprint or GTE customers and they'll tell you horror stories of dropped calls throughout downtown and terrible signals the moment you step inside a building. One of my good friends made the mistake of getting GTE, and as a consequence I never call him because it's such a chore to listen to his fuzzy voice. With Cellular One, I'm almost always at "5 bars" of signal, and most buildings and malls downtown have terrific coverage as well. Highway 101 is lined with signal towers to the point where most people I'm talking to have no idea that I'm on the phone. The only weak points in the service are on 280 between 92 and Daly City -- the hills block out the signal for 10 to 20 second periods a handful of times through that stretch.
The California plan comes in a couple of sizes -- find the one that matches the number of minutes that you need. Remember that it'll cost you $0.25 per minute as soon as you go beyond your monthly minutes, so it's a good idea to err on the side of caution when you're choosing a plan; you don't want to have to worry about each and every minute all month just because you skimped and chose the cheapest plan.
Phone choice: I got the Nokia 6160 with my plan -- personally I think it's the clear choice: durable, portable, and a great battery life. You can also get the StarTAC series phones with the California Plan, but unless you absolutely must have the smallest phone available, I'd recommend that you opt for the Nokia -- the StarTAC models that I've seen tend to be flimsy and have much poorer reception than the Nokia.
With all that Cellular One's California Plan has going for it, it's not the best plan for everyone. If you're travelling outside of the state and want to use your phone, you'll be billed through the roof with the California Plan. Don't get confused: you can call anywhere in the country for free as long as you are located in California. But the moment you cross a state border, you'll get hit with huge fees. Consider this if you often travel on business or go to Lake Tahoe. If this is your situation, you should look at the GTE America Choice plans -- those offer "local" calling no matter where you are in the country. You can also get a cheaper version of the GTE plan that only covers territory West of the Mississippi.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tom
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Member: Tom Fallows
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 150 members
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