best cell phone reception SW Durham? (Wilmington, Chapel Hill: chapel, house, neighborhood)

[RGodwin]

We just moved to SW Durham from Wilmington and are having a terrible time with our Cingular/AT&T cell phone reception. What's the best cell phone service for this area? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[hula]

I've got Verizon and it does fine, except sometimes inside buildings and then I have to go outside to get better reception. I thought my last phone was bad (Motorola) and now I have an LG, which is better, but it still occurs from time to time.

[sneezecake]

My Verizon shows only a couple bars but I have never had a dropped call that I can remember within SW Durham specifically. There is a dead spot out by Hillsborough, but that's not really the problem you're asking about

[Nickc121]

Yup. Verizon should be a good bet

[Calvitts]

We have Verizon. Occasionally inside our house (SW Durham off Grandale Road) we have spotty coverage, but overall I would say our service and reception are very good.

Also with Verizon, after you move to this area, you can update your cell phones with 919 cell phone numbers without affecting your contract.

Hope this and my fellow posters have helped you!

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by RGodwin

We just moved to SW Durham from Wilmington and are having a terrible time with our Cingular/AT&T cell phone reception. What's the best cell phone service for this area? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I think it literally depends on where you live in SW Durham. We have AT&T, works great in our home (Herndon Rd area). But if we are at any of Fairfield Friends homes AT&T does not work. No bars inside at all. We have to walk to the mailbox.... sometimes the middle of the road. BTW, Fairfield is less than a mile from our home so it's really weird that AT&T does not work as well there.

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by RGodwin

We just moved to SW Durham from Wilmington and are having a terrible time with our Cingular/AT&T cell phone reception. What's the best cell phone service for this area? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I'm in SW Durham (Garrett & Old Chapel Hill) on AT&T and I don't seem to have a problem for the most part. In my home I get one or two bars. Outside I get 3 and if I go to Sam's, Target Walmart I have 5 bars. I also think that it depends on your phone. I had a Treo 650 when I moved here and I couldn't get a signal inside of my home. Once I upgraded to a Treo 750 my signal was better indoors and outdoors.

[funkybutt]

We've been having a lot of trouble lately, too. We just moved to HVF and we have to walk outside every time we want to talk on the phone. I called Verizon today and they had me soft boot my phone (turn it off, take out the battery for a few seconds, then turn on the phone). I was finally able to make a call inside the house (HURRAY!), but we'll see if it lasts.

[durhammom]

You may want to check with folks who live in your neighborhood if you plan to use your cell at home a lot. While PDXMOM mentioned having trouble with AT&T in Fairfield I have also heard that Verizon has a huge problem there too. (To the point where Verizon is letting people out of their contracts.........) So it may be somewhat neighborhood dependent.

[RGodwin]

Thanks everyone. Great advice. We will ask our neighbors about their cell phone service and see about upgrading our phones (they are old).