Comments on: Finding the best cell phone carrier

By: Juan Fernandez

Juan Fernandez — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 05:07:49 +0000

The best phone I have ever had is the Intercept from Sprint. We had t mobile and some of their phones like the G-1 and blackberry pearls but nothing compares to that phone! Also t mobile is more expensive than sprint. Me and my wife became brokers for different phone carriers and cable services and we save so much money! We can compare prices of different phone plans and cable plans and pick the best one that works for us and our family and saves us money. If you interested in saving some money or having us do some research for you let me know.

By: dave

dave — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:58:23 +0000

This app would have to come from a full-service retailer offering calling plans from a majority of the major carriers. And they won’t do something like this unless there’s a competitive force driving them to do so.

Maybe from Best Buy? Or ?

By: Mickey A

Mickey A — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:37:00 +0000

Thanks for the updates on the apps. I’m getting the 4G EVO when it’s finally released with Sprint. Haven’t been this excited about a phone in a long time. I also use Clear 4g here in Vegas with my laptop. (I also have a computer with a few screens in my mini-van ….kids can play games while we’re traveling around from the back seat, stream movies, watch live TV, etc via the high speed connection. Clear works traveling around as well).

My only fear with the EVO is jerks will try and drive while wring e-mails, etc. I wish the cell phone companies that make this high speed technology could create software that could figure out when someone is texting or writing an email once 4G hits while driving vs sitting down in the back seat. If the communications are on – off in a manner that suggests the person is driving, it could automatically turn the device off or make the person type a one minute message that couldn’t be accomplished unless they stopped or pulled over, then ask them again if they started the on-off typing. Now that would be technology that could save lives!

By: Scott M. Stolz

Scott M. Stolz — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:09:27 +0000

In the Android Market there is an app called “No Signal Alert” that notifies you and logs every time you lose signal. I don’t think it sends the log to a database on the internet, but if something like this was tied to a internet database (where it was optional to upload your data, of course), all sorts of interesting aggregate data would emerge, such as where the dead zones are and which provider has more of them.

By: Jaanus

Jaanus — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:53:53 +0000

Well, having worked in a network operators network planning and optimization team I can tell you that there are some tools out there, but most of them cost a fortune.

http://www.anite.com/nemo-networkmeasurement.html?Itemid=436 and
http://www.ascom.com/en/index/group/company/divisions/network-testing-home.htm

The phones with the measurement software are in the $20k-$30k range + the computer software to analyze the data.

Drive testing to benchmark networks is loads of fun, but to really understand which network is better (there are also several ways of defining that btw) you need to understand much more then signal strength for example (w)cdma networks like 3G (AT&T and T-Mobile) and evdo (Verizon) signal quality (ec/no) is much more important than signal strength (rxlev) and very strong signal but lots of interference (due to too many cells overlapping for example) can make the network unusable.

By: Grant Hammond

Grant Hammond — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:40:14 +0000

What’s next after cell phones? It seems like this industry is ready for a paradigm shift. This sounds stupid, but I’ve always wondered why simple phone operations weren’t integrated into something that we wear or have with us at all times anyway like our watch. I’m not looking for a PDA watch, just a simple dial and answer. I’m ready for my Rolex G-watch now.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:02:52 +0000

One thing you did not mention was the “quality” of a phone call! After all, isn’t that the purpose of a phone? All of the apps and other bells and whistles are just that.

By: Phil Luyer

Phil Luyer — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:47:42 +0000

I once had some casual work for a phone carrier here in Australia, that is known as “drive testing”. What that consists of, is pretty much what you describe, except that the gear used fills the rear of a station wagon and probably costs as much as a house…

It had 4 phones from memory, 3 of them were assigned to carriers and just tried to make a phone call and keep it open for as long as possible, while transferring data that was checked for accuracy back at base. The other constantly scanned signal strength for the 3 carriers in the area we were testing.

By: Philippe

Philippe — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:24:18 +0000

Hi Matt,
Sensorly is indeed doing exactly what you are looking for and more, including WiFi. As other people mentionned, it is not a perfect description of network quality but it will show you the average number of bars a phone will display and from our testing, that doesn’t tend to vary that much. We’ll be adding more metrics with time.

We are now confident we can build a business without making consumers pay for the Android maps and have thus removed the zoom limit : all available maps are and will stay free starting in the version released this week and that’s where we’re going. Maps are now available in US, CA, UK, AU, NZ and FR. We roll out new countries every month.
We’ll have CDMA maps up and running by April.
Right now the coverage on the Tmobile US map is amazing considering it started on January 30th of this year !

We also have been working on privacy issues and have a strong principle : Sensorly will not be an enabler for phone profiling. Phones are not identified by their MSISDN, IMEI or even their android hardware id so there is no way to track whose phone reported what. Take a look at our privacy policy.

We’re also confident that the value we provide is sufficient for people to contribute to the service and have thus made “passive scans” that will start scanning opportunistically completely optional and configurable : on/off, battery discharge limits, no wifi scans, etc…

By: Christi Milligan

Christi Milligan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:31:11 +0000

Great idea, Matt. But wouldn’t it be even better if instead we had actual phones that could access the strongest signal no matter where we were in the world? Then at the end of the month, our monthly fees got divided up between the carriers who actually provided us with the quality of service we are paying for? We could forget choosing a carrier and being locked into a two year contract. Instead, we pay full price for our phones and we get access to the best quality network throughout the entire month, time of day, or location.

Network providers could finally stop trying to figure out how to get more customers or how to belittle their competitors. Instead, they could focus all their efforts on improving their networks which is WHAT this country needs! If they aren’t making enough money in San Francisco because their network isn’t strong enough, well, then they know exactly where they need to beef up with their network.

This is the ONLY solution that is going to improve the cell service in the US. It should not be up to the customer to figure out which network works best in the areas they travel. That is the job of the networks. They need to start doing their job so the cell phone user who pays for the cell phone and the service will get what they are paying for. Seems like a no-brainer, huh? But it is probably just a pipe dream (literally) unfortunately here in the US!