Mobile Phone Coverage in Puerto Rico

[Nelson Atwell]

My fiancee is leaving Sprint PCS, because their service pretty much sucks. She is tired of dropped calls and rude customer service personnel. Besides fixing those issues, she is trying to get free calling from the States to Puerto Rico. Sprint provides this at no additional charge. Does anyone here have a plan they use to call Puerto Rico? She is also interested in whether there is good coverage in Santa Isabel for when she visits her family. If you have a good service, please provide some details.



Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I have Verizon. For a while, I was flying into Puerto Rico and all over Mexico for some time. It cost a flat fee of $14.00 a month on top of my existing bill for unlimited calls, no roaming charge. Service was near perfect with few dead spots.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Unfortunately, Verizon doesn't offer service in OKC.

 

[Chops]

Sprint owns the network in PR, and I don't think there are any other stateside carriers that own a network there. At best they would be roaming agreements.



If you really think Sprint is that bad, try some other carriers then with their antiquated technology and moronic CSR's.

 

[Jay Coombs]

Cingular includes puerto rico in allover network plan starting at 39.99. on top of that there are cingular store there too. perfect service in puerto rico with cingular.

 

[MJ L]

I left Sprint for Verizon myself last year. Best move I have made in a while as far as cellphones are concerned. I had dropped call problems all the time with Sprint and that was in my own home... I recently purchased a new phone fron Verizon that was regularly $450...but was sold to me for less than 1/2 the retail price. Can't beat that!

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

I switched from T-Mobile to Sprint. What a mistake that was. I get the worse coverage in Canada. Now, I'm stuck with them and I can't afford to buy myself out of the two year contract I have with them. And, check your bill each monthly closely. Sprint was charging me for services I never agreed or signed up for. Each month I make them do an adjustment for their poor service.

 

[MJ L]

Copy that Seattle!



I noticed that Sprint was charging me for frivoulous items as well. Wow, I thought I was the only one receiving bad service from Sprint.

 

[Tom Schindler]

If you really think Sprint is that bad, try some other carriers then with their antiquated technology and moronic CSR's.

Chops, why do you claim Sprint has the newest technology and everyone else has antiquated technology. This isn't the first time you said this.



It is known that with Sprint, once you venture a few miles off the interstates, you lose your signal. This can be proven by checking out Sprints pathetic coverage area. With other carriers such as Verizon and Cingular, you rarely get a dropped call and you are hardly ever in a roaming area. Sprint is full of holes, always in roaming, unless you live in the middle of the city and never venture far from it.



I am just not buying the the statement the Sprint is superior to everyone else. Spring sucks and I had a choice between Sprint or no phone...I will go without a phone.





Tom





Tom

 

[Evan P]

It is known that with Sprint, once you venture a few miles off the interstates, you lose your signal. This can be proven by checking out Sprints pathetic coverage area. With other carriers such as Verizon and Cingular, you rarely get a dropped call and you are hardly ever in a roaming area. Sprint is full of holes, always in roaming, unless you live in the middle of the city and never venture far from it.

Oh I strongly disagree with that paragraph. It sounds like you've been buying into VZW and Cingular's bogus commercials a bit too much. Unfortunately, I'll have to delve into specifics when I return home.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Sprint coverage map (Dark green and orange are the only locations where the network exists. The rest is roaming or no service)



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Chops]

Caymen,

Sprint utilizes CDMA technology.

Vz utilizes CDMA technology.



There are a couple others that are built on a CDMA platform also, but many more that don't.

Why I bring it up? Because, I am a Sr. RF Design Engineer, specializing in CDMA. I could and can easily go off career path wise in the other platforms (my company builds ALL technologies) but I prefer CDMA. I have designed literally hundreds and hundreds of tower sites from Virginia to Key West. If you've traveled I-95, you've talked on stuff I might have had a hand in regardless of your carrier.

You asked, now you know. Obviously I have a professional opinion about carriers. You have a subjective opinion about carriers, and that is fine, it doesn't matter to me at all.....It would be the same scenario if I were challenging you on Tig vs Mig vs Arc vs using gas, it wouldn't matter one bit to you what my opinion is? I'll answer, Of course not.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Chops,



If Sprint owns the CDMA network in Puerto Rico, why does Cingular get a better coverage area? Look at the maps I posted above.

 

[Chops]

Nelson I'll inquire about that.

PR is very mountainous, and many sites would have to have microwave backhaul which gets expensive.

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

All I know I was in Alaska and Canada and had no coverage. My wife has Cingular and she had great coverage.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Oh I strongly disagree with that paragraph. It sounds like you've been buying into VZW and Cingular's bogus commercials a bit too much.

Actually, I know this first hand. "Hey Tom, can I use your phone to call home. My Sprint phone doesn't work here". Business travel took me into many different places. 9 times out of 10, my phone worked. My buddies Sprint phone didn't. He and I go boat ing at Salt Fork State Park in Ohio. I can be in the boat talking on my phome. His doesn't get a signal and if it does, he is roaming. I am local.



Sprint does not have a good coverage area. A few miles off the main roads and he has nothing.





Tom

 

[Tom Schindler]

Sprint utilizes CDMA technology.

Vz utilizes CDMA technology.

T-Mobile utilizes GSM

Cingular utilizes GSM



Advantages of GSM

GSM is mature, this maturity means a more stable network with robust features.

Less signal deterioration inside buildings.

Ability to use repeaters

Talktime is generally higher in GSM phones due to pulse nature of transmission.

The availability of Subscriber Identity Modules allows to users to switch networks and handsets at will.

GSM covers virtually all parts of world so international roaming is not a problem.

GSM is an open standard, therefore operators do not need to pay royalties to utilize it.

<HR>

Disadvantages of GSM

Pulse nature of transmission interferes with some electronics, especially certain audio amplifiers.

<HR>

Advantages of CDMA

Capacity is CDMA's biggest asset. It can accommodate more users per MHz of bandwidth than any other technology.

CDMA consumes less power and covers large areas so cell size in CDMA is larger.

CDMA is able to produce a reasonable call with lower signal levels.

CDMA uses Soft Handoff, reducing the likelihood of dropped calls.

CDMA's variable rate voice coders reduce the rate being transmitted when speaker is not talking, which allows the channel to be packed more efficiently.

Has a well-defined path to higher data rates.

<HR>

Disadvantages of CDMA

Breathing of base stations, where coverage area shrinks under load.

Most technologies are patented and must be licensed from Qualcomm.

<HR>



I can take my Cellphone to Europe, pull my SIM card, buy one in Europe and put it in my phone and it works. Most of the world use GSM. CDMA has it's advantages, but I would not say it is better. Calling area matters most for Cell Phone users.



Having a flat tire on a deserted road in Pennsylvania and picking up your phone to call for help doesn't do any good if your "superior" CDMA system doesn't cover the area.



My "inferior" GSM phone works. For me, that is important if my fiancé, mother, sister, father, or any other loved ones can pick up their phone and get the help they need.





Tom

 

[Evan P]

Roaming blah, blah, blah. If anything, Sprint's coverage map is more honest, if not a bit more confusing as it shows where the roaming areas are. That Cingular map that Nelson posted is not all native coverage and if you go to VZW's site, that map with all the red coverage isn't all native either...ditto for T-mo. If you want to get a better of idea of the native networks, check out the respective comapany's pre-pay maps. What is more important in regards to Sprint's map though, is the white areas where no coverage exists. Those areas are few and far between (according to the map). Since Sprint's plans have free roaming who cares if you're roaming in the middle of the lake while your bud might have native coverage ? Additionally, both Sprint and Verizon have ways for you to utilize your service abroad. Perhaps not quite as simple as swapping a SIM card, but it can be done.



Bottom line, I think is that believe it or not, all of these companies have problems in various areas of the country. Use what works for you in your neck of the woods.

 

[Chops]

LOL originally we were talking about PR and now Europe...OK Tom off a tangent we go, I am glad you did your research on the technologies, I won't get in a debate which is better because that debate can never be won.

There are also other layers involved of QOS (Quality of Service) and QOE (Quality of Experience). You value having a signal, any signal, in other words you don't care what type of service you get, what scrambled vocoder rate, how much voice delay, noise, frame error rate, lost packets, throughput rate, etc, as long as you have antenna bars on your phone you're happy. My standards are at different level as QOS is priority. It all comes down to preference and perception.



BTY Breathing base stations were an early design myth, it never occurred. There is so much capacity built in now the bottleneck is the backhaul, which can be said for all technologies.



Nelson I will try to find out today who has PR covered.



SST last time I checked, I had good coverage deep inside The Music Experience, at James Hendrix' grave, at the Fish Market, and at Snoqualmie West. What more can you ask for??:lol::lol:

 

[Tom Schindler]

This town right here.



<A HREF="http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=&city=Johnsonburg&state=PA&zipcode=&country=US&location=Oy2TTslRyztAVb3Kn8gnM1BKpY1jnEzt5E0bIaYEjS4O3GfCnV9wpNirQEbkgdMkE4mVQGx%2f7tuHcAVUGQfCFyuvIo%2fSSf7KTEabbNS8Z2c%3d&ambiguity=1">Johnsonburg, PA</A>



and this area.



<A HREF="http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&latitude=AvtGMEvVq4E%3d&longitude=dFT%2bNq5%2bsSk%3d&name=Salt%20Fork%20State%20Park&country=US&address=Us%2d22&city=Lore%20City&state=OH&zipcode=43755&phone=&spurl=0&&q=Salt%20Fork%20State%20Park&qc=Parks">Salt Fork State Park</A>



Both of those area's are covered by Verizon and Cingular, but not Sprint. Both those area's are important to me because I spend time in both of those area's.



I give up Chops, you win. I guess when looking for a cell phone carrier, only look at the quality of the technology they use and do not EVER look at the calling area. Afterall, it is better to need to call to get help, but have no service, then to call on inferior technology and get the help you need.



Thank goodness, I have PLENTY of roll over minutes when I get that wise individual that uses Sprint and its superior CDMA technology, to borrow my phone because they do not have coverage.





Tom



PS, Chops. You are the one that originally changed the subject in the first place. Don't blame me. I change that. You won the argument, it is my fault.