Question about Nextel
- Thread starter tec1959
- Start date
DannyD
Veteran Expediter
This is one of those things where people are going to have vastly different experiences.
I haven't used the walkie talkie feature much. But as far as Nextel as a whole, I'm actually suprised when the phone rings in my own home. I live in a fairly populated city, so I'm not out in the sticks. Usually it goes to voicemail & then a few minutes later the voicemail rings & I get the call I just missed 10 min ago while I was right there by the phone.
My luck w/ Nextel, & Sprint b4 that, has not been good. The service is flat our brutal. At least in my case it has been. Our company wants us to have Nextel, & I got it when I signed on w/ em. Since I don't do any of the walkie talkie stuff or use the feature that lets ya POD your delivery straight from the phone, I'm gonna go to Cingular as soon as my contract expires.
I can't tell ya how many times I've been in Kentucky, Wisconsin or where have ya with my old company, & I'll call up dispatch after waiting half a day wondering if anything is going on, only to have em tell me "We called ya 2 hours ago & ya didn't answer". Uggggggggh!!!!!
The next post might be from a Nextel Die Hard. Ya just never know. For me though, Sprint/Nextel is gone as soon as my contract is up. I'm not leaving now cuz now I don't get to many calls on my cell. I pretty much only call out on it. With local deliveries, I'm going to talk to dispatch often enough anyway that my cell isn't going to cost me a major run.
If ya go w/ em good luck to ya,
Danny
I haven't used the walkie talkie feature much. But as far as Nextel as a whole, I'm actually suprised when the phone rings in my own home. I live in a fairly populated city, so I'm not out in the sticks. Usually it goes to voicemail & then a few minutes later the voicemail rings & I get the call I just missed 10 min ago while I was right there by the phone.
My luck w/ Nextel, & Sprint b4 that, has not been good. The service is flat our brutal. At least in my case it has been. Our company wants us to have Nextel, & I got it when I signed on w/ em. Since I don't do any of the walkie talkie stuff or use the feature that lets ya POD your delivery straight from the phone, I'm gonna go to Cingular as soon as my contract expires.
I can't tell ya how many times I've been in Kentucky, Wisconsin or where have ya with my old company, & I'll call up dispatch after waiting half a day wondering if anything is going on, only to have em tell me "We called ya 2 hours ago & ya didn't answer". Uggggggggh!!!!!
The next post might be from a Nextel Die Hard. Ya just never know. For me though, Sprint/Nextel is gone as soon as my contract is up. I'm not leaving now cuz now I don't get to many calls on my cell. I pretty much only call out on it. With local deliveries, I'm going to talk to dispatch often enough anyway that my cell isn't going to cost me a major run.
If ya go w/ em good luck to ya,
Danny
Jefferson3000
Expert Expediter
I've used a Nextel phone since '98. I've had my OWN contract w/ Nextel since 2002. My field is Florida. Nextel has worked well there, with only a few drop points throughout the state. However, I have noticed a severe drop in service level since the hurricanes of two years ago here. It sucked for a bit. I'm not sure that it has fully recovered here. I know they have done considerable repairs. Every local and regional freight company uses it here. It's kind of hard to find an acceptable alternative.
Drive Safe!
Jeff
Drive Safe!
Jeff
themagicoen
Expert Expediter
On the note of phone not ringing my Cingular does that all the time. Don't forget Cingalur has a unwriting policy if you rome too much your given the boot. If you want to be reachable evreywhere get your self a verzion and cingular, i haven't been in 1 spot that I haven't had service with both phones on me. T-mobile is the worst, no coverage anywhere.
i use nextel here in hampton roads area of va and as long as you stay away from back woods and out of nc etc it's ok, hopeful when sprint and nextel get everything tograther it will be agreat system they have been give by uncle sam about 5 years to get the system to work or there going to alot of legal problems i think
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
ive been with alltel for many many years,use their total freedom plan,they dont offer it in their lit. anymore
when i found out a little over a year ago that fedex cc drivers get a 23% discount at sprint,i went to them,got two walkie talkie phones,and lowered my minuets with alltel,kept them cause wasn't sure about sprint,ive done away with the walkie talkie feature,as long as your talking sprint to sprint,why pay the extra 5 bucks for a feature you really dont need
now heres the best thing in the industry
alltel circle of friends,you put the 10 people you call the most in your circle,and for 59.95/month you can call these numbers all day and night,and since dispatch is in my circle,you can put me on hold all day,i did change from total freedon to national freedom plan,900 minuets,but since ive been in the circle,ive not paid for any extra time
i still have the sprit,as many of my friends have sprint,sprint to sprint as you know is unlimited,took tthose minuets to 900 also
alltel offers fedex discount,but as of right now,drivers cant get it,they told me you need the fedex email account
hope i was some help
nightcreacher
ooida 263839
E6613
fed ex cc since 1984
steve gilbert
when i found out a little over a year ago that fedex cc drivers get a 23% discount at sprint,i went to them,got two walkie talkie phones,and lowered my minuets with alltel,kept them cause wasn't sure about sprint,ive done away with the walkie talkie feature,as long as your talking sprint to sprint,why pay the extra 5 bucks for a feature you really dont need
now heres the best thing in the industry
alltel circle of friends,you put the 10 people you call the most in your circle,and for 59.95/month you can call these numbers all day and night,and since dispatch is in my circle,you can put me on hold all day,i did change from total freedon to national freedom plan,900 minuets,but since ive been in the circle,ive not paid for any extra time
i still have the sprit,as many of my friends have sprint,sprint to sprint as you know is unlimited,took tthose minuets to 900 also
alltel offers fedex discount,but as of right now,drivers cant get it,they told me you need the fedex email account
hope i was some help
nightcreacher
ooida 263839
E6613
fed ex cc since 1984
steve gilbert
Tennesseahawk
Veteran Expediter
The owner I run for has Nextel. Just about every time I call, I get "The Nextel customer you are trying to call cannot be reached" crap. Doesn't help if I'm having an emergency.
I have Sprint, and won't change. They are absolutely the best, in my mind. My wife and I visit family in Canada, and we get incoming calls there. Not that often am I out of a service area. And, when I am, about 3/4 of the time I get a roaming call. Very rarely do I not get the call.
I have Sprint, and won't change. They are absolutely the best, in my mind. My wife and I visit family in Canada, and we get incoming calls there. Not that often am I out of a service area. And, when I am, about 3/4 of the time I get a roaming call. Very rarely do I not get the call.
TJ959
Veteran Expediter
My company uses NEXTEL for a dispatch tool. I'm surprised at how well it works but it still isn't close to being reliable. I also have an Alltel that I use for all my personal calls and probably 25% of my communication with my company. Sometimes even when the signal is strong some voices are undecipherable. I give up and use the Alltel. I liked the Verizon coverage better but their billing was always a little off.
I've had Nextel for about 6 yrs, left Sprint because I was very unhappy with their customer service; just my luck they bought out Nextel. But so far the customer service has been ok, just this week they made an adjustment to my bill of over $100. I personally love the walkie talkie feature and is the main reason I pay more for Nextel. Now the down side: when I get out west I may go 300 miles with no signal (no roaming feature). Most the way across MO, NE and SD I have no signal, but if you look at their coverage map they show that area as no signal. Not much trouble east of the Mississippi or in an major city.
Diane and I do not have Nextel but consider our walkie-talkies to be indespensable tools. We use "real" walkie talkies so if we find ourselves without a cell-phone signal we can still communicate (within range, of course). As these low-cost walkie talkies grow in popularity, the bands are filling up with chatter. For that reason, we'll be upgrading to Motorola business band radios in the future.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Phil
I am wondering about two things;
what is a real walkie talkie?
What do you mean you will be upgrading to Motorola business band radios?
Business band radios are not usually licensed nation wide and the licensing if I remember is not cheap. Installing and servicing these radios is also not cheap and sometimes has a limited use, especially with radios like Spectra UHF radios - i.e. 900Mhz or cp100 handie talkie. Oh there are strict restrictions in some areas, like NYC and Wash DC. you could use some sort of business trunked system but than you are limited to the coverage of the repeaters and the last time I had to pay the bill for a trunked subscription it ran $400 a month for three radios.
Now if you are talking to General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and commerical grade Motorola handie talkies, thats a different story. Pretty much a Family Radio Service (FRS) radio is a good choice due to its ablility to work almost anywhere and don't need the $80 license.
I am wondering about two things;
what is a real walkie talkie?
What do you mean you will be upgrading to Motorola business band radios?
Business band radios are not usually licensed nation wide and the licensing if I remember is not cheap. Installing and servicing these radios is also not cheap and sometimes has a limited use, especially with radios like Spectra UHF radios - i.e. 900Mhz or cp100 handie talkie. Oh there are strict restrictions in some areas, like NYC and Wash DC. you could use some sort of business trunked system but than you are limited to the coverage of the repeaters and the last time I had to pay the bill for a trunked subscription it ran $400 a month for three radios.
Now if you are talking to General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and commerical grade Motorola handie talkies, thats a different story. Pretty much a Family Radio Service (FRS) radio is a good choice due to its ablility to work almost anywhere and don't need the $80 license.