Question

<p>What is the best cell phone plan to have on campus? I am currently on my family's plan with Cingular- does anyone know how well that would work in South Bend? Would it be worth it to switch to another carrier?</p>

<p>I'm answering in general terms as I am Cingular customer. They list South Bend as full coverage area.<br>
Answering as a parent with 2 kids in college, both out-of-state and in 2 different states, I kept our family plan and made sure I have enough minutes to cover everything. When I see the bill, it's obvious that everyone keeps their home plans and numbers. I see phone calls "to" New Jersey, Colorado, New Hampshire, etc., but that is to someone down the hall or across campus.
Unless service turns out to be horrible, I don't think it pays to switch. You might have to pay a fee to cancel current contract and start a new contract.</p>

<p>Cingular is the best out here from what I have found. Cell phone reception, as you probably know, is horrible on South Quad. However, they keep saying that they are going to put in antennas this summer (I am not sure though, they have said this before). So far, the only one who has signed on is Cingular so when I switch this summer I am probably switching to them. I have Verizon right now and I can tell you that I can't even get a signal in my room; it is awful! In theory they all should be fine next year, but Cingular seems to work the best (though still spotty) on South Quad.</p>

<p>Another Cingular family here. The only place we sometimes lose a signal is on I-80 when we're driving between South Bend and Chicago, but it doesn't happen that often. Other that that, it's worked great.</p>

<p>Not sure if you have access to Alltel, but my son has awfully good reception everywhere on campus except in the elevator in his dorm!</p>

<p>We kept the family plan and added free roaming. We've had Alltel for five years and I really like their customer service. The folks in the stores give me free stuff half the time I walk in there.</p>

<p>Thanks, everyone. It's good to know that Cingular works fairly well. All I remember is driving down to ND and getting cut off every 5 minutes (on I-80, as smcmom mentioned). And now I am totally jealous of docmom- Alltel sounds really good- Cingular customer service is not so good...especially after they combined with AT&T and my family lost all of those "loyal customer" benefits...oh well. Thanks again!</p>

<p>does anyone know anything about sprint?</p>

<p>Does anyone know what the most prevelant service is on campus, not just the best coverage? Most plans nowadays have free in-calling, and I want to get the one that gives me the best odds of having to call people that are in-network, as opposed to calling "long distance" (because of area codes) to people down the hall.</p>

<p>so verizon doesnt work that well on campus? my experience during my visit, is if it did work, i only got one bar. not too good. but i wasnt sure if this was the norm.</p>

<p>Verizon is probably the most prevalent I would guess. Verizon is great on north quad, I always have five bars there, but on South (where I live) and West it is awful. I can't get reception in my room at all, not even if I set the phone by my window. Again, hopefully fixed next year, but so far Cingular is the only one who has signed on to the upgrades (though the others are expected to) so they are the only one that we know should be strong next year.</p>