Mediocre on a Good Day...
Written: Dec 22 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Local Coverage: |
 |
|
| Plan Flexibility: |
|
|
| Customer Service: |
|
|
|
Pros: Restricted Service
Cons: Lots of Minutes
|
|
|
| caconti's Full Review: AT&T Mobile Phone Service in Washington/Baltimore |
You Can Call Me, Call Me Anytime…
I finally gave into my worst yuppie urges about two months ago. After missing a few two many happy hours and dinner parties, I decided that I needed a cell phone to call for directions or for a cab in case of emergency. I immediately logged online to check out all of the options, looking for something that provided the best number of minutes for the most reasonable price, and found myself directed to SimplyWireless.com, AT&T’s online cell phone/service emporium.
Everything on the site looked good to me, so I bought myself a high-end Ericsson web-enabled phone, and signed up for a year of Regional Advantage service.
Now that I’m locked into a year of this service, all the faults are starting to really stick in my craw. What’s so bad about AT&T’s DC cell phone service? Read and learn…
The Plan
The AT&T plan that I finally choose to sign with was Regional Advantage, for its generous long distance program and its claim that I could call without roaming charges on about 80% of the East Coast. Being that I live and travel mainly between DC and Connecticut, this seemed like the perfect choice for me.
The plan offered 120 anytime minutes, good for local or long distance calls, as well as a bonus 500 minutes good for calling on evenings and weekends (after 8pm on weekdays). The plan also includes free PocketNet service, more on that later, as well as unlimited text messaging received through an att.net email address. All that for $29.99 a month seemed like a great deal…
The Downsides
1.Reception-First and foremost, reception can be an issue, though in general the service is consistently pretty good (3 to 4 bars out of 5 on my phone). Service issues tend to occur during busy times or in the center of the city, but that can be a big weakness for those of us who make the majority of our calls that way. As such, I offer a caveat to all users that this is not a fault-proof system.
Add to this the ubiquitous “drop during busy hours” issue, and you have an emergency phone that’s of no use if you need help between 5 and 7pm.
2.Non-existent Internet-With my powerful web-enabled Ericsson phone, I’ve been excited by the opportunity to use my cell phone for the occasional emergency bit of Internet reference, be it looking up a phone number or finding a good local restaurant.
The bad news is that I have yet to successfully connect to the wireless internet when I need to, and AT&T tells me that everything is fine on their end. Well, to be perfectly blunt I don’t believe them, and friends with similar difficulties have convinced me that this is a widespread access issue.
3.Regional Reach-While the Regional Advantage plan claims to empower me to make calls from Richmond to Boston without roaming charges, that’s simply not true. The loophole is coverage gaps, gaping spots all over the East Coast where the AT&T system just doesn’t reach by itself. Ironically enough, those gaps include my usual stops in both Connecticut and Delaware, rendering the phone all but useless in those areas. Most disappointing…
The Upsides
1.Relatively Generous Minutes-Though it might not sound like it, 620 minutes a month is a lot of long distance. In fact, I’ve started using my cell phone for almost all of my long distance calls, which has reduced my land line bill by about 70% per month. That’s a nice little advantage.
2.Accurate Billing-I know that a lot of friends have had trouble with inaccurate billing and questionable charges on their cell phone bills, but AT&T is nothing if not careful. All of my bills have been right on target, which gives me healthy peace of mind.
A Brief Rant on Obligations
Why is it that cellular phone service is one of the few service out there today where can be strong-armed into selling your soul for a year in exchange for a not-so-moderate monthly fee? The bottom line is that cellular contracts themselves are some of the most ridiculous capitalist garbage that’s ever been forced on the American people. I suggest a mass revolution, but we silly gits will probably just keep paying out the nose…
The Final Verdict
While it does have its upsides, I simply cannot recommend AT&T’s cellular phone service in the Washington D.C. Metro area. With restricted service and a slightly deceptive Regional Advantage program, it just doesn’t offer anything to which I would want to attach myself for a year…
To let me know if you enjoyed this review, drop me a short message on my Ericsson by writing to 2404603594@mobile.att.net
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 29.99
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
caconti
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Christian Conti
Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 636
Trusted by: 481 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.