Who's your cellular phone provider?

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

Now I'm at a loss. How can be Verizon? We opened with a Verizon account and are now paying Cingular. If there's still a Verizon, how come we're not with them any longer? What's the scoop. Das wai hawd dis kine. Start with one account and it get sold to someone else. Just about as bad as charge cards and mortgage notes.

Btw, reception was bad when it was Verizon and is still bad with Cingular. How you figah sometimes get 4 bars and sometimes get 1 all in the same place? (scratching my ass and head at the same time).

[alohatim]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

Verizon. (I think--that's who I signed up with)

On Kauai, seems to have much better coverage than my friends who have other services. The only two places that I seem to lose signal is Kalihiwai Valley and out in Haena.

Tim

[helen]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

I was able to make a call on Sunday from Mana. I can't remember my dad's cell service but I sort of remember when he and I went to Kokee this past December he couldn't use his phone service.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

What does everybody think about laws that would bar people from using their cell phones while driving?

Absolutely! I'm seeing way too many people who can't talk on the phone and drive safely at the same time. Fast/slow on the freeway, weaving in and out and not going anywhere, near misses at crosswalks, no go on green, no stop on red or at stop signs, flipping the bird when other drivers honk their horns at them for driving like a doodoo head. Bad enough got plenty knuckleheads doing this without the aid of a cell phone. "One of these days, POW!...right to the moon."

What's so hard about telling the caller, "Eh, I driving. I'll call you when I get to work." or wait till you get to the darned market to call home and get that shopping list that you forgot....gunfunnit. We did that before cell phones, we can do it again.

As for phones in primary and secondary schools, fuggetaboudit. Besides, what the heck is a school buddy doing calling a pal while in class? Where's that buddy calling from? Same with text messaging. Should be listening to the teacher or reading the class text book only. Get a call or text message in class?......confiscate the phone and a D- for the day.

[helen]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

Right now using cell phones while driving on military bases (which includes to my knowledge Pearl Harbor, Hickam and Schofield Barracks) is a no-no and if you are caught doing it you can't re-enter the base for 30 days.

[Linkmeister]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

We're now looking into prepaid cellphones. We saw an ad for TracFone, so I looked them up on the web. It looks like a good deal, but when you check them out at Amazon (for the telephones) you see an awful lot of negative feedback about their customer service and their unit charges, particularly if you travel through a lot of different zip codes during your day. helen, I'm wondering if you've had any trouble like that?

T-Mobile has one big advantage for me: they've got a store in the same shopping center I go to daily, so if I needed new minutes I could get them easily.

Our thought process goes like this: We only need one instrument, so none of the "buy one, get a second one free" deals is required. We just don't see a need for a monthly plan for an emergency-only phone. And we don't need all the latest bells and whistles; just a telephone, thank you very much.

Anybody got any ideas/suggestions about prepaid plans? Of the big guys, I think T-Mobile, Verizon, and Cingular all offer them here; the smaller brokers (they buy up huge lots of minutes and allocate them to their customers) like TracFone and Virgin and Let'sTalk are also here, but I wonder if there are strings in the small print.

[Miulang]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

I use TracFone because I only use the phone for outbound emergency calls. It costs about $20 every 3 months to get a half hour of air time, which I never use up. I have the phone "homed" to a Hawai'i number because that's where I use it most (our house up in Kula doesn't have a phone because no one lives there full time). Roughly $7/mo is a small price to pay to have access to a phone in an emergency. The minutes you don't use "roll over" every month, as long as you keep your account up to date. You can buy more airtime and add to your phone on their website or via phone (it's easier to do it on their website, because the code you have to punch in is cumbersome).

Miulang

[lurkah]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

I use TracFone

How's the signal quality when you need it?

[Miulang]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

How's the signal quality when you need it?

It does very well up here on the Mainland; even around Boeing Field where there is a notorious hole in coverage because of the other RFs around Boeing Field. I had only one connection fade out on me travelling I-5 going through downtown Seattle, which is pretty good, considering all the tall buildings down there. I've used it down in Oregon too, in the Willamette Valley when we went on a vineyard tour one weekend and didn't have problems with coverage there, either. Next time we go up to Mt. Rainier, I'll try calling somebody from up there.

In Hawai'i, I've used it to call from Kula to Wailuku, Kihei and Kahului, and from Honolulu International Airport to Maui with no probs. I've also used it to call from Seattle to Maui with no probs, San Francisco to Maui with no probs, North Carolina to Maui with no probs, Kissimee to Maui and Palm Springs to Maui with no probs (oh yeah, and from Las Vegas, too!)

Miulang

[helen]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

Like I said eariler I stumbled across TracFone at Wal-Mart. They had a couple of other brands as well but it was the price of the phone itself that lead me to get TracFone (at $20 for the phone). I didn't need much bells and whistles with the phone service, but I like the text messaging features and rates.

[Linkmeister]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

See, here's one of the reviews I saw for TracFone which gave me pause:

WATCH OUT FOR THE TERMS OF SERVICE. This phone is only for use IN YOUR HOME ZIPCODE. Notice I did not say "area code" but ZIPCODE. I was driving around the metropolitan area where I lived, and I noticed the minutes were being eaten up at a roaming rate with just about every call I made. When I asked why this was going on, I was shuffled around the ESL Customer service agents for OVER AN HOUR, and offered an additional phone number, then they finally told me that the calls will be charged at roaming rate whenever I am out of my home zipcode. My zipcode, since its in a major metropolitan area is _SMALL_. I found this to be rather insane. ALSO, this zipcode detail is NO WHERE in the literature that comes with the phone, it is no where on their website, and it is NOT in their terms of service.
Enjoy the service if you don't travel much, but if you do much driving around at all, find something else.

That's from a Nov 2005 customer review at Amazon.

I don't know if I want something to use up my minutes just for calling outside the zip code I designate when I bought the thing.

But Miulang and Helen, your experience seems to indicate that doesn't happen, right?

To quote Frank DeLima, "I am so confused!"

[helen]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

There have been two or three times that my phone says "Roaming" even when I am on Oahu, but it is temporary thing.

At this point in time I spent $90 for my TracFone service which breaks down as follows

• $20 for the phone
• $20 for a 60 unit card (the same time I brought the phone)
• $20 for a 60 unit card (picked up a week later)
• $30 for a 120 unit card (picked up a week after the 2nd 60 unit card)

So far I got 120 units left on my phone between now and the end of July.

I really don't know what TracFone service was like 4 to 5 months ago. The only weird thing for me is that my phone is in the 360 area code but I get the impression that Miulang's TracFone service is in the 808 area code?

[i-hungry]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

Anyone has Cingular? How is the reception and cost? I might switch subscribers.

[Dale]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

I get Sprint, and I wish it was better, but I no can leave. Aya! Humbug dat!!!

[Altivec]

Re: Who's your cellular phone provider?

Right now using cell phones while driving on military bases (which includes to my knowledge Pearl Harbor, Hickam and Schofield Barracks) is a no-no and if you are caught doing it you can't re-enter the base for 30 days.

Navy, Airforce, Marines, and Coast Guard will allow you to use cell phones, but you need a hands free set.

Army installations (Schofield, Tripler, Fort Shafter) do not allow any cell phone usage while driving.