NexTel Coverage in OKC Metro

Status
Not open for further replies.

Gilligan

Member
Database Admin
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
2,136
Location
Hagerstown, MD
Hey guys. I know this is not really a scanning question, but it is radio-related and something many of you may know about. How is the NexTel coverage here in the OKC metro? I've been thinking about switching to their service because of the walkie-talkie feature and I want to get an idea how good it is first. I never roam much farther than Moore (south) or NW Expressway (north), and rarely go on the east side of town. How is the coverage? I'm mainly interested in 1) No service, 2) Busy signals, and 3) Dropped calls. I would use the walkie-talkie as much as the phone, which is why I'm concerned. Thanks for any input on this. By the way, I have done my homework and searched this kind of info out already, and there's not much to read regarding customer feedback. Thanks.
 

dbestfirefighter

Dozer
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Messages
274
Location
Oklahoma
Dont do it..........Service sucks, Customer support sucks, Billing sucks, Calling plans suck. About the only good thing is you get a Malaysiaroto phone, but other companies carry them as well. Run, Run as fast as you can...JM2C
 

Firecop203

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Messages
43
Location
Blanchard Oklahoma
What dbest said. We were issued Nextels a few months ago and they have been nothing but trouble. We can't wait to get rid of them. We hope that the powers that be listen to us and get something else.
 

tiawah466

Member
Joined
May 7, 2005
Messages
307
Location
CLAREMORE,OK
You might look into speed talk from US cellular. It works pretty much the same. I don't know about coverage where you are at but it works great in the Tulsa area
 

Gilligan

Member
Database Admin
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
2,136
Location
Hagerstown, MD
tiawah466 said:
You might look into speed talk from US cellular. It works pretty much the same. I don't know about coverage where you are at but it works great in the Tulsa area
I actually have US Cellular and I love it. The coverage is great and customer service is even pretty good. But I don't have a walkie-talkie phone. Something to consider...I could probably get one off ebay pretty cheap.
 

freqscout

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2006
Messages
700
Ever seen the lag time for the US Cellular walkie-talkie function? You can spit out a 15 second transmission and then be looking at the guy you just sent it to. You can tell him in person and then he will get the message and you will come through loud and clear, just 15-30 seconds later. It is bizarre to see in person as a radio user because it isn't immediate like radio. Dunno if Sprixtel is any different. The store and forward process, it's wonderful....
 

Gilligan

Member
Database Admin
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
2,136
Location
Hagerstown, MD
Are you saying that it actually records your message and plays it back on their side? No real-time for US Cellular?
 

iamhere300

Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2004
Messages
1,346
Location
Chappell Hill TX
That lag time varies, and Nextel can have it too. It is not a store and forward as
we know it, it is just lag time for the message to work its way through
the system.
 

KD5WLX

Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
Messages
275
Location
Tulsa
Realize how it works, and you'll realize the delay. Key up on the W5IAS link system, and listen to yourself on a different repeater and you'll drive yourself nuts due to the "echo effect" - basically, even at "light speed" it takes time for the signal to go from Tulsa to Mannford (input) back to Tulsa (link) to Mounds (output) and back to me in Tulsa. The delay varies based on which machine you're transmitting to, and which one you're hearing.

Now do this with a PHONE - Nextel is not a nation-wide UHF radio. It's a UHF radio to the nearest cell site, then a phone call to the cell site nearest the "other" Nextel user, then a UHF radio again. And it's all done digital rather than analog, so any "weak signals" get buffered instead of getting scratchy, but that adds to the latency. Then you throw in the "real" transit time as well, and you get the delay.

I suspect that much of the digital over phone lines is done with some form of IP packets, making the latency even more problematic during high use times. Anyone on here know whether my suspicion is correct?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top