Verizon is the only carrier that has a chance at my house in San Ramon. Also, I was in the Santa Cruz Mountains the other week of highway 9 and I had full bars all the time, while people with T-mobile were sol and cingular was around 2 bars.

Verizon definately will win anywhere in northern cal for reception, however it's a different story other places. It's hard to believe but T-Mobile has actually pretty damn good reception in So Cal and the east coast.

 

Verizon ftw. Still the best coverage by a long shot in the bay area IMHO. Phones are meh but with the Q and chocolate (if thats your thing) they are looking better.

 

I'd say go with T-Mobile or Cingular. Cingular (and old AT&T) has been really good lately. Reception pretty much everywhere in the bay. It just depends what kind of phone you get and if it has good RF or not.

T-Mobile was okay everywhere other than San Francisco-Sunset and Daly City. I couldn't get any reception or signal in my own home so I had to ditch it and go back to Cingular. Although Cingular didn't have the phone I liked (SK2), I've managed to live it with since I bought an unlocked/unbranded phone off eBay. MUCH BETTER!

 

This is my advice, choosing the right handset/phone makes a big difference. Try a friends phone for a day or two before switching to see which works better in the areas you go and need it to work.

Nokia so far is a good handset. Everyone has their opinion and you will go crazy if you need to decide by listening to all of us.

Try all the carriers if you can via friends etc. and get a plan that suits you period. I can lend you a Nokia handset with Cingular service plan for a couple days FREE if that helps you out. PM me.

my 2 cents

gino

 

been with verizon since 1999.

switched over to tmobile just recently (3 month ago?)

same monthly, twice as much minutes.

coverage quality is about the same for me (i go between san francisco and san mateo).

oh, got a slvr with contract for free, 1 year only, too.

 

T-Mobile blows. both my ex gf and my current gf used them. their coverage sux. I have sprint now and they used to be good. But their coverage got worse after the merger with Nextel, but not nearly as bad as tmobile. if you like dropped calls and dead zones then go with tmobile.