<p>We have T-mobile and while my daughter was at orientation, her service was "sketchy" at best. </p>
<p>The T-mobile cust svc person said my daughter could try linking to the wireless service at FSU but I don't think her dorm has wireless....anyway, T-mobile stated we could get out of our contract because of service issues.</p>
<p>So what has your experience been with other providers... AT&T? Verizon? Sprint?</p>
<p>ATT is the way to go in Tallahassee.</p>
<p>I’m going to have to get a new cell phone carrier when I start at FSU in August because my present cell company (Metro PCS) doesn’t cover Tallahassee for at least another 8 months when they are supposed to get their towers operating. I’m thinking of getting Straight Talk because it is only $45/mo. for unlimited calling/texting/web use. I’d like an Iphone, but I am on a tight budget! My family has 5 cell phones on a unlimited plan with Metro for $125/mo. plus tax, but it doesn’t carry Tallahassee now. </p>
<p>For the new service, should I get a local Tallahassee phone number if I’m going to be a full time student at FSU, or should I get a local number for my home town in central Florida? I figured it would make more sense to get Tallahassee #, but if anyone knows of a reason I shouldn’t and instead get # for hometown, please let me know. Thanks!</p>
<p>Verizon is excellent. We switched from Sprint to Verizon and find Verizon has better coverage. Verizon is also the current sponsor of FSU.
See: <a href=“https://its.fsu.edu/Communications/Cellular-Services-Equipment/Verizon-Wireless[/url]”>https://its.fsu.edu/Communications/Cellular-Services-Equipment/Verizon-Wireless</a></p>
<p>Due to the fact many, many students bring out of Tallahassee cell phone numbers I don’t think the non-850 area code numbers are an issue any longer.</p>
<p>Oh, yes…since I had two daughters at FSU for me (as a father) coverage and reliability were of paramount importance. A downside to Verizon is the Apple iPhone is not yet available as a Verizon product (only on AT&T as of the date of this post) but the rumors are the iPhone will be available on Verizon by the end of 2010. Verizon also costs about $20 more per month than a comparable Sprint 4-user family smartphone plan.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>See also: <a href=“Two New iPhones Coming; One May Be Aimed at Verizon - WSJ”>Two New iPhones Coming; One May Be Aimed at Verizon - WSJ;
<p>For my daughter Sprint did not work very well for her, in her dorm for the summer. We thought we would have to get a new provider. But in her dorm (Wildwood) for the fall Sprint worked fine. There were many people trying to call into Wildwood that were having trouble. Their calls were being dropped, they had different providers</p>
<p>I have AT&T… Their customer service is terrible, but their cell service is unbeatable.</p>
<p>AT&T, I’ve had abslutely no problems any of the times I’ve gone up to Tallahasse. In fact, during preview my friend had to borrow my phone because his metro pcs phone didn’t work up there, a current student who just graduated reccomended switching to AT&T.</p>
<p>MetroPcs doesn’t work now in Tallahassee unless you pay extra for roaming. You can though use a Metro phone for texting in Tallahassee for no extra fees by setting phone to roam mode and not just receiving MetroPcs service. If you’re going to Tallahassee for just a couple of days with a Metro phone, throw a few dollars on your account for roaming so you’ll at least have a lifeline phone and you can also send/receive all the texts you want for no extra charges. A rep in a Metro shop yesterday told me Metro is supposed to be in Tallahassee in about 8 months.</p>
<p>I’m seriously considering getting the Straight Talk cell service when I start college at FSU in Aug. It’s $30 or $45/mo. depending on which plan you choose. Straight Talk uses the Verizon network tower system.</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> To Straight Talk](<a href=“http://www.straighttalk.com/]Welcome”>http://www.straighttalk.com/)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your replies!</p>
<p>I’m somewhat leaning towards AT&T only because most of my daughter’s friends carry this service and she’ll be using her cell ph more frequently to keep in touch with them.</p>
<p>Verizon seems to have better coverage so it’s a toss-up between these 2 services.</p>
<p>I’m a verizon customer, and have been for a number of years. Never had any problems with them. I enjoy the free customer to customer talking. Not to mention if you use internet with your phone, verizon is a much better choice. Yes, AT&T does have a faster 3G network, but it has MUCH less coverage than Verizon does. By slower, I mean maybe a second or two extra for a webpage.</p>
<p>ATT has great family plans. Unlimited texts for up to 5 for $30 a month is great. And minutes to other ATT cell phones are free 24/7. We have been able to share 700 minutes between four for years due to the free ATT shared minutes, with rollover minutes to spare. ATT coverage may be less if you travel the US. But must of Florida has great coverage. And Tallahassee has no ATT issues EXCEPT in the stadium on game day. But I have no use for my phone then anyway. So for our needs, ATT has served us well.</p>
<p>Metro PCS is absolute garbage in my opinion.</p>
<p>The rumor is the new Med1s are to receive iPhones…</p>
<p>Well now T-mobile is saying we can’t cancel the contract because I’m the account holder and my daughter is only the end user and since I’m not the one moving - no can do.</p>
<p>I hate the thought of not being able to call her when she’s in her dorm and getting another ph for her is not in our budget currently…I guess there’s always skype.</p>
<p>Not to beat it to death, but maybe try a service like the Straight Talk that you can buy at any Wal-Mart. You can buy a phone and a months service for as little as $50 with no contract requirement. If you don’t like the phone or service, just throw it away. You can get 1000 minutes/mo., 1000 texts/mo., and use the web to message on Facebook for $30/mo. If you need a smartphone, or if you like getting clubbed to death like a baby seal with contract hassles and exorbitant fees…get AT&T or Verizon. </p>
<p>[Welcome</a> To Straight Talk](<a href=“http://www.straighttalk.com/]Welcome”>http://www.straighttalk.com/)</p>
<p>What about boost mobile???</p>
<p>I bought a Straight Talk phone at Wal-Mart the other day, and it works just fine on campus. The Samsung phone I got is a GSM phone (has AT&T sim card) and works on the AT&T network–Straight Talk just started offering GSM phones the last 2 weeks. You can still get CDMA phones from Straight Talk at Wal-Mart too that work on the Verizon network, so folks have a choice. The rates now are same for either GSM or CDMA–$30 or $45/mo. depending on service plan selected. I tried the Straight Talk sim card in some other AT&T phones I have…didn’t work with them…would have been nice if $30/mo. Straight Talk service worked on I-Phone!</p>