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Old 11-21-2013, 07:13 PM   #1
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Consumer's Cellular

DW is looking at our current cell phone plan, with Sprint. After over 10,000 miles of travel this year we are less than impressed. We have 9 months to go on our current contract and are considering Verizon. She did some looking at Consumer's Cellular and wondered if anyone had tried it. According to what she read they use other people's towers and offer service throughout the country, on AT&T and other's towers. Anyone try this and any ideas pro or con about this. We will be traveling the east coast this summer and heading toward Colorado, NM, and Texas next fall and winter.

Thanks,
Jim
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Old 11-21-2013, 09:39 PM   #2
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I remember a thread on the old forum concerning cell phone plans and there a few very negative comments about Consumers Cellular, such as "stay away from it". Maybe you can do a search for the thread.
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Old 11-22-2013, 06:16 AM   #3
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The Janet package wanted to try it but research shhowed it to be a bad deal and lots of problems. to top it off it is AARP phone of choice
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Old 11-22-2013, 06:29 AM   #4
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Sadly, AARP has really gone to the dark side in the last few years. From what I have read, they will sponsor anything for an exchange of $$$.
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Old 11-22-2013, 06:36 AM   #5
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I've been all over the country with Verizon for the last thirteen years and encountered few areas without service. I'm well satisfied with their service.
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Old 11-22-2013, 07:30 AM   #6
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Russ do you have a data plan as well as phone?
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Old 11-22-2013, 09:07 AM   #7
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I have AT&T with the data plan, pricey I guess but it works. Very seldom are we without service. My son drive a big rig and is all over the country with AT&T and seldom looses service. Just out viewpoints...
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Old 11-22-2013, 02:29 PM   #8
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Russ do you have a data plan as well as phone?
No data plan, just basic talk $40/month. This is my only phone and serves my needs well.
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Old 11-22-2013, 02:46 PM   #9
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We switched to Consumer two months ago and so far have no problems from IN to TX. We pay $15 less for two phones with text & data than we paid for one phone with talk only on ATT. No contract either. We do have 200 less minutes now, but can go back to the 450 minutes for an additional $6. All other things are equal.
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Old 01-04-2014, 06:38 AM   #10
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Tator447
I know this responce is a bit late, but here goes.
1) All cellular carriers share cell sites.
2) The largest concentration of towers are in high populated areas and along major highways.
3) When you make a cell phone call the signal does NOT travel from tower to tower. The signal travels from your cell phone to the tower closest to you ACROSS THE OLD MA BELL NETWORK ( NOW verLIEzon ) through their switching network (central offices) to the tower closest to the cell phone number you are calling, and then to that cell phone.
4) You can experience a dead zone no matter what carrier you use. My wife has verLIEzon and can NOT use the phone in our house.She has to go outside to even get one bar.
5) I just got a Consumer Cellular phone one month ago. So far I am very pleased with it. I also can NOT get a signal in my house, but my phone works every bit as good as my wifes if I step outside.
6) The main difference is with Consumer Cell you only pay for what you use, and NO contract.

PS...Customer service for Consumer Cellular American, for verLIEzon somewhere overseas. You pick who you would rather deal with.
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Old 01-05-2014, 08:28 AM   #11
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Verizon all the way. Go on line and search for Consumer Cellular reviews.....This will very likely steer you in the right direction.
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Old 01-05-2014, 09:26 AM   #12
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It makes a difference on where you live and in the case of this thread where you travel. I have Verizon. I can only use it at home in the winter after all the leaves fall. For awhile I had an AT&T work phone. I had to drive 20 miles south or 10 mile north before it got signal. I would routinely compare signal strength between the two. Verizon always seemed to have the best for me. It is very rural here.
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Old 01-05-2014, 09:33 AM   #13
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We spend about 3to 4 weeks in the fall in the Chequamegon NF. The coverage is just about non existent. We've had three different carriers since we have been up there.
I finally broke down and bought a Wilson phone booster.
End of problem. We now have a signal just about all over.
Not only up there in the forest, but every where we have traveled in the US.
Present carrier is Verizon.
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Old 01-05-2014, 09:48 AM   #14
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Loyd, Do you have the kind that attaches to your phone or one of the home/small office ones? I have thought about getting one of those for awhile now.
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Old 01-05-2014, 10:25 AM   #15
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While we were traveling this past summer, we had very little reception with Sprint. If we saw other campers on their phone, we asked what the service was. 85% were on Verizon. We could not use our Sprint phones at home but since we changed to Verizon, we are always able to use them. We also got MiFi so we could use our laptop on the road. Very interested in that phone booster as some of the forests (even at home) have some really tall trees.
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Old 01-05-2014, 10:52 AM   #16
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Loyd, Do you have the kind that attaches to your phone or one of the home/small office ones? I have thought about getting one of those for awhile now.

This the one we have.
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/sto...obile-wireless

Some times we wished we had got the one with the cradle, but we concerned about what might be radiating from it into our hand.
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Old 01-05-2014, 01:44 PM   #17
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This the one we have.
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/sto...obile-wireless

Some times we wished we had got the one with the cradle, but we concerned about what might be radiating from it into our hand.
Our property has minimal signal strength and the new house is 100% steel. So, I installed a Wilson dual band amplifier, it works great, better signal inside than outside the house. However outside antenna and inside antenna must be located about 50 ft apart. But I recently installed another Wilson system in a friend's RV, don't remember the kit, but it was intended to boost wireless signals in vehicles like ambulances. Outside antenna is attached to the roof ladder on the back of the fifth wheel. Inside antenna is just below on the rear wall, facing the front of the RV. Works great everywhere then have traveled in the past six months.
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Old 01-05-2014, 02:17 PM   #18
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Thanks, Lloyd & Larry I am going to have to get a couple of those units, one for the house and one for the truck.
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Old 01-05-2014, 02:49 PM   #19
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Thanks Loyd.
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Old 01-05-2014, 05:29 PM   #20
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Thanks, Lloyd. If your friend would provide his information, that would be great. This is valuable for all of us. But, shhhh, don't tell the kids because we kinda liked being off line when we wanted to be. Ha Ha.
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