Simple Solution for Nextel Users Concerned About No Roaming
When you had Tracfone, did you have a CDMA version or a GSM version?
Cellular Phone said:
I won't do the call forwarding if out of network, but what I'll do is use my tracfone to call my number and access voicemail and call people back. Plus before I travel I'll let people who call me most know that I will be out of range of the towers, but with a back up phone.
When you had Tracfone, did you have a CDMA version or a GSM version?
CDMA version. The GSM versions had poor coverage back then.
T-Mobile's native network is tiny, and Sprint's CDMA network is slightly smaller than it's iDEN network.
So if you are like most people and live in a region serviced by all the major carriers, Nextel is just as good as its competition in terms of coverage.
Cellular Phone said:
The other companies' native networks pretty much cover the same areas as Nextel. Only AT&T and Verizon have a larger native network than Nextel, but AT&T's native network doesn't cover the western states as much as Nextel.
T-Mobile's native network is tiny, and Sprint's CDMA network is slightly smaller than it's iDEN network.
So if you are like most people and live in a region serviced by all the major carriers, Nextel is just as good as its competition in terms of coverage.
I agree. A backup phone was something I used maybe less than 1% of the time. Still, some folks worry about that 1%.
Right you are. The only thing saving the big carriers is that they roam onto each other's networks, which effctively does provide more coverage. But when you just look at each carrier's NATIVE network coverage area, Nextel looks pretty darn good.
Nextel looks especially impressive considering that at its peak, Nextel only had 16 million customers, whereas back in 2005 (before the merger) Verizon and Sprint each had at least double the customers that Nextel did. So on a "per customer" basis, Nextel's coverage was actually twice as impressive as Sprint's or Verizon's (although since the Nextel debacle with Sprint and Verizon's continu...
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Nextel's network is actually pretty good. Texting does a take a bit longer because you have to download the message, but I don't text much, so it's all good.
Also, when I take the bus/train, I notice how I am the only Nextel user in the pack, which means in my area, my network is not as crowded as other networks. Although, I know that Boost Mobile caused the iDEN network to become flooded with people because of their unlimited plans. But now they offer CDMA phones on Sprint's CDMA side, so it's easing up the burden on iDEN.
Overall, I really like...
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