Cell Phone Providers

When I moved here both my boyfriend and I had verizon service.   We quickly changed to alltel because we got terrible reception in our apartment ( We live near Northgate mall) even after we updated our phones to the new cell tower network. I can't attest to reception in Durham as a whole but it didn't seem promising seeing as I was getting dropped calls and no service inside city limits.  

As for alltel - no complaints.  They're cheaper than verizon, and the coverage has been outstanding.  My reception has never been below 3 bars in the triangle area and I usually have full reception on campus (indoor or outdoor). 

Also my boyfriend went home to Upstate a few weeks ago and was able to get decent reception.  This is really impressive seeing as most people there are verizon customers (just about the only cell company that has decent coverage) and he was getting comparable if not better reception.

No problems were reported with Verizon or Alltel in Sanford (though that doesn't necessarily mean those carriers never have problems in that building).  In general, Verizon and Alltel service is good throughout most of the campus.  A few people did report problems with AT&T/Cingular in Sanford.

How is the Verizon and Alltel service in the Sanford building and in Duke Forest/American Village (where I'll be living)?

Thanks for the info, digging around I also found this from the OIT website for the minutes of a Sept 20, 2007 meeting: (http://www.oit.duke.edu/itac/minutes/2007/70920minutes.html)

"OIT plans an opportunistic build out in order to use Duke dollars wisely. Alltel and Verizon have contributed significantly. Duke OIT plans to guarantee 95% coverage 95% of the time.

When the project is complete, there should be Verizon, Alltel and Congular/AT&T access throughout the Duke campus. Duke accesses these three wireless service providers via directional antennas located on the top of the Telecom building and Duke hospital.

... 

Bob responded that Duke is going live with upgraded Cingular/AT&T coverage in a few days. Once this is done there would be equivalent access to all three Duke wireless partners."

 So maybe things are fixed by now, or are at least being worked on to get Alltel, Verizon and AT&T coverage improved in Duke buildings. I am guessing one of those three would still be a better bet than T-Mobile at this time, anyway.

For what it is worth, T-Mobile bought Suncom, which is why I was picking up those towers and is how they plan to expand into Durham. Given that and my experience with the Suncom towers already, I doubt it will get much better any time soon. 

I don't have any information on GSRB. 

Every response received about French stated that AT&T/Cingular does not work at all in that building. 

Problems with AT&T/Cingular, Sprint, and Verizon were reported in Nan Duke.  

Again, this information is from last year, so it's possible that some of these problems might be fixed.  I would suspect that the problems in Nan Duke are least likely to have been addressed, since the plan as of last year was to wait until older buildings were remodeled to replace or add new wiring. 

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the help, though looking at the "discount" wireless plans they do not seem to be all that discounted, in fact they seem to be slightly higher than the other plans I was looking at.

I will likely be working in one or more of the following buildings in the West Campus: French, Nanaduke, or GSRB, most likely.

Any more specific information for those areas would be much appreciated.

Thanks! 

I can't really speak to coverage throughout Durham, but GPSC did a survey about on campus coverage last year.

The carriers that work best on campus are by far Alltel and Verizon.  This is largely because these are the carriers used for Duke's discount wireless plans (see this page for info), and buildings such as the hospital are wired specifically for these networks to make sure that these phones work well.

More problems were reported with Verizon service than with Alltel - Alltel appears to work well pretty much everywhere on campus.  AT&T/Cingular has the most service holes, and does not work at all in certain buildings or areas of campus.  If you know where on campus you will be working, I can let you know whether problems have been reported there with specific carriers.

(Note: this data is from last year, and it is possible that some of the holes reported have been fixed, as Duke has been working to improve coverage by adding new wiring to some buildings.) 

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I meant decent in terms of being able to use it for a weekend visit. I did notice that I lost reception in more areas then I would like for living there. I am planning on changing providers before I move.

Does anyone have information on AT&T? 

I have had Sprint with good coverage and service for the past 10 years. No complaints. It works fine and dandy on Campus and Tri-Area. Also, Cheapest rates available.

I have t-mobile too.  I wouldn't agree that it works well in Durham.  I don't get much reception- I get none at school and other areas in Durham, and like you said, when I do have reception it's suncom.  I never get my voicemail inbox, I always have to enter my password, which is kind of annoying.

I am interested in opinions on this as well. I have T-mobile now, and while during my last two visits to Durham I had decent coverage, it was through Suncom (AT&T) towers and I was unable to easily check my voicemail. T-mobile says they are expanding and will be in Durham soon, but they do not cover the area yet.