Can you REALLY hear me now? (Farmington, Las Vegas: sales, house, to buy)

[hogfarmer]

Hi guys,

Need your help. Need to take up a new cell phone contract, but before we do, we'd really appreciate your help on which service really works the best for Central/Southern NM. The mountains are a real challenge, and we'd love to know your experience (rather than some sales office coverage chart which may or may not be right.)

I know for sure that AT&T, which uses a GSM system, is really spotty in Ruidoso and the area. In fact, the only decent signal we got was from the top of the Swiss Chalet! (Oh, yes, if we did happen to point 1 arm east, 1 leg south, and wear an aluminum foil hat we kind of got a signal down on Meecham-but don't move!!) I assume T-Mobile, which is also GSM based, is about the same. How about Verizon?

Along that lines, do any of the carriers have anything good for Wifi home/H.S. internet service? I know Verizon advertizes this, but is it any good? Probably most use in 'Zozo, as that's where we're looking to buy a house right now.

Sorry to bug you and really appreciate your thoughts.

[chilegal]

I know we can get a good signal with verizon in Carazozo. And when you can get a good signal for phone you can also use the internet connection. We use their wifi all over the country - except in Timberon.. and that may change within a year. Much depends on if the signal is blocked by a mountain.

[Zoidberg]

I do believe it's all about the phone, not the service. (Some services tend to sell better phones, thus the perceptions of better service).

So, if you have a GSM phone branded AT&T, it will work the same with a GSM tower no matter whose tower it is (assuming towers are of equal quality). Your mileage may vary for different types of signals (Sprint PCS vs. AT&T 3G vs. xx). Before you dump your service for iffy coverage, dump your phone if your neighbors don't have any trouble.

[brendiej]

I have AT&T and have soooo many dropped calls. I am sending it to be "looked at" by AT&T. Who knows what that will do?
On the other hand, I am the only person in my house who has phone problems, so maybe Zoidberg is right and it is the phone and not the service.
My husband has Sprint and has more dropped calls and very poor service. That makes me feel a little bit better!!
If you figure out the answer, do us all a favor in NM and let us know what phone and what service is best for our geography!

[Cathy4017]

I have found that the phone really does make a huge difference.

I started my service in 1995 with an analog 3-watt bag phone, Motorola, outside antenna.

Then I had to eventually go to a digital...so I chose a Nokia. I had numerous dropped calls, bad signals, scratchy reception, et al...in both Texas and NM.

I trashed that piece of garbage, and went to a Motorola flip phone...and have had service all over West Texas, Central Texas, Southern, Central and Northern NM. The service went from Cellular One to Alltel....and will soon be Verizon. I've never changed carriers voluntarily, because I've had so few problems other than the one crappy phone I ditched.

I lost service at Sipapu (in the mountains north of Las Vegas), but knew that no service was available. My service is/was otherwise good all the way from El Paso to Farmington.

[hopeful transplant]

We have Verizon up here in Raton - get great coverage and always have lots of 'bars'. My hubby travels from here to East Texas, to Southern AZ, etc. and we haven't had any problems at all. The ONLY place that I can honestly say I don't get coverage is the Raton Pass - I usually can't get a signal until I reach Trinidad. I only wish they had a plan that covered somewhere between the 700 minutes and 1400 - they need one in between those two levels.

[hogfarmer]

Thanks for all the valuable input. We have several phones, as I travel a lot internationally (and need GSM service) and we didn't notice a whole lot of performance difference between the high dollar HTC Windows phone and the low price Motorola L7. It seems like the GSM is more subject to the terrain challenges than the TDMA or other systems. So maybe a Verizon plan with a GSM world phone might be the best option. Thanks again!

[6 FOOT 3]

When i traveled to albuquerque the back way my Verizon Phone has bars from albuquerque all the way to alamogordo via I-25 to U.S. 380 to U.S. 54 including down to el paso.

[highdesertmutz]

T Mobile stinks