Cell phone service in Wake Forest Area (Raleigh, Franklin: month-to-month, house)

[byebyenortheast]

I know this was posted about a year ago; but, I'm looking for recent opinions...

Which cell phone carrier seems to be the most reliable in the Wake Forest/North Raleigh area?

I've had some customer service issues with Verizon; but the service has been reliable. I would appreciate other opinions now that my contract is up and I'm a free agent.

[Desdemona123]

Originally Posted by byebyenortheast

I know this was posted about a year ago; but, I'm looking for recent opinions...

Which cell phone carrier seems to be the most reliable in the Wake Forest/North Raleigh area?

I've had some customer service issues with Verizon; but the service has been reliable. I would appreciate other opinions now that my contract is up and I'm a free agent.

We have Sprint and have no issues. We cancelled our landline so we do depend on our cells for everything.

[Tryingtofigureitout]

I have had Alltell for work for many years and rarely had any issue. Alltel has the most broadband coverage for the state. If your mainly around Wake Forest and Raleigh, than Sprint should be ok. We like Alltel due to the "my circle" option.

[Desdemona123]

Originally Posted by Tryingtofigureitout

I have had Alltell for work for many years and rarely had any issue. Alltel has the most broadband coverage for the state. If your mainly around Wake Forest and Raleigh, than Sprint should be ok. We like Alltel due to the "my circle" option.

Our neighbors have alltel and they can't want for their contract to end. It just must be where you use them specifically, though if you have old phones, they might not work well on any network.

[UNCMetsGal]

I live about 5 minutes from Wake Forest and I am with Cingular/AT&T and love them. I had Sprint once, and there were nothing but issues with them, but that was over 5 years ago, and it may have changed. I had Alltel about 10 years ago, and was pleased with them.

Anecdotally, we're leaving this area (but staying in-state), and I actually called Cingular/AT&T today, and was able to get a new phone number (no change to my account, no new sim card, no new contract, completely free of charge!). They were able to do this for both our phones in about 2 minutes. I found that to be a pretty cool customer service feature!

Good Luck!

[Queen Mommy]

I live off the 98 in Wake Forest and can't get any reception in my neighborhood or in my house (unless of course I stand in the laundry room with my arm extended straight up - but then I can't hear what the caller is saying - and yes, it has come to that). Cingular/AT&T is my provider. My coverage is very spotty up and down the 98 (seems like whenever I come close to one of the electric towers I lose the signal), but fairly strong once I get to the 1. I think you've got a positive and a negative for just about each provider now -- not much help!

[Tryingtofigureitout]

My dad use to drive from Raleigh to Newport and could stay on a business call the entire time.

[centralct]

I live in WF and use Virgin Mobile. Have had no problems anywhere around Raleigh. They use the Sprint network and there are month-to-month contracts. I am happy to be out from under the 2 year contracts.

[Trevor92]

Originally Posted by byebyenortheast

I've had some customer service issues with Verizon; but the service has been reliable. I would appreciate other opinions now that my contract is up and I'm a free agent.

A lot of it depends on what you consider important in a carrier and the exact location that you'll be in. Even within Wake Forest, I've found some poor spots with At&t, some with Verizon, and some with Alltel. They use different towers in some places (and in others they're all stacked on the same pole) so each carrier has its own spots where you'll be between towers and the signal will be a little weaker than others. So if you try a carrier, remember that they all have at least 15 days in which you can return it if you're not happy. Also, don't get the free phone, most of the time they're what the salesman will push to make the sale, but they also tear up more often down the road and don't get a signal as well because they're made cheaper.

If customer service and coverage are your two most important factors, in Wake Forest and North Raleigh I would go with alltel from the 3 I've tried as they seem to do the best in my opinion. At&t's coverage just seems a little weaker once you get on 98 going toward Franklin County as I think somebody else mentioned. It also drops in signal more when you're inside in places without windows like Wal-Mart or Food Lion. If you switch from Verizon to At&t you'll probably notice a little drop in coverage overall. At&t also seems like it requires a couple bars to make a call, whereas I can make a call on 1 or even no bars on alltel or Verizon so inside it makes a difference. I've never used Sprint but I do know most people I know with them usually complain about the customer service. If you switch from Verizon to alltel, I would bet you'd be satisfied with the switch. The coverage, in my experience has been very good, overall I would say a little better than Verizon for WF and N Raleigh. The plans are a little better with more anytime minutes and the unlimited calling to 10 numbers on some plans. They're probably not a bad choice to try the 15 day trial with. Their policies also seem a little more customer friendly, they're not as sneaky about extending your contract for simple plan changes... Or so the T.K. commercial makes me think! ... lol so hopefully you wouldn't have any customer service issues with them.