<p>Is there a preferred cell phone network for Tulane/New Orleans? We have Verizon here and am wondering if a change is needed. Thanks.</p>
<p>We were told by current students that both Verizon and AT&T do the job.</p>
<p>DS says Verizon is much better (he has AT&T)</p>
<p>We have Verizon and it has been highly reliable, good signal.</p>
<p>Is it a better idea to get a cell phone at home (with Verizon), or to wait and get one in NO, or does it matter? (obviously a question from the cell phone-challenged)</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>Makes no difference. Verizon’s plans make it cheaper to add your child to your plan, so I assume that is what your are doing. Probably easier to do it at your leisure this summer.</p>
<p>Does your child not have a cell phone already?</p>
<p>We actually only have a prepaid, no cell phone works at our house, we’re only in an area it works about twice a week. We’re wondering about getting D a Straight Talk phone from Walmart which uses the Verizon network. (Yes, you can say “boonies”, that is indeed where we live.)</p>
<p>Call me old-fashioned, but do most people keep their number when they get to Tulane? </p>
<p>I would have thought that a local number with a NOLA area code was pretty much automatic. Or have free long distance cell phone plans made the local area code obsolete?</p>
<p>Most plans make the area code issue obsolete. I imagine the extreme majority of students retain their number from home.</p>
<p>What do international students need to do to get an American cell phone?</p>
<p>I’ll bet one of these people could help:</p>
<p>[Tulane</a> University - Office of International Students & Scholars, Center for Global Education](<a href=“http://global.tulane.edu/oiss/about.html]Tulane”>http://global.tulane.edu/oiss/about.html)</p>
<p>All the international students I know got an American cell phone here in New Orleans.</p>
<p>T mobile looks like the most economical plan for me but I heard it is not reliable in the NO area. Another option is AT &T. I have been using “pay as you go” but more talking and texting minutes make sense now. Verizon seems to be popular but it’s a more expensive plan than T mobile or At&T. Any input would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I have been reading the comments on this subject for 2 years and you seem to have it right. Verizon most reliable, AT&T next, T mobile not so much. You have to balance the cost vs. these factors. Not sure if this latest “glitch” in the iPhone that was reported will influence your thinking. Doesn’t really have anything to do with performance per se, just how strong the phone “thinks” the signal is.</p>
<p>that’s perfect. Verizon works great</p>
<p>S2 will be using AT&T (iPhone 4 user, got to love the video phone capabilities). We used our AT&T phones while traveling all over the city and had no problems. AT&T is GSM while Verizon is CDMA, which penetrates some buildings a little better, but does not allow one to engage in simultaneous voice and Internet communication (if asked for a movie time, one has to hang-up, check and call back, whereas on AT&T, one can check and continue talking). So there are trade-offs for each.</p>