Switching from CSpire

[Bulldawg56]

I’ve been a CSpire customer for almost 30 years, ever since they were Cellular South and maybe the best cellular provider in Mississippi. That has changed drastically in the past few years. CSpire is about to force me to find another provider. I can’t be on the phone for over 2 minutes without the person on the other line saying “you’re breaking up” or “I only heard half of what you said” no matter where I’m at. It always happens at the worst time when I’m on the phone with a client trying to explain something in detail. I’m also sick of the internet not working on my phone whenever I’m in a well-populated area and my phone says I have 3 to 5 bars of service. Whenever it does work, it is excruciatingly slow. It has only been getting worse and worse. Now I’m even starting to have no service in places that I used to always have service. There were always places you would expect to drop a call, but now it can happen anywhere at any time it seems. It’s very frustrating, and I’m beyond sick of it. CSpire seems to only be focused on their fiber now. I know I’ve seen another thread on this before, but what are your opinions on who is currently the best cellular provider for someone who lives in east Mississippi?

 

[Wesson Bulldog]

Same here. Have been with Csouth/Cspire for 30 years and they are worse than ever.

 

[garddog]

Depends on where in east mississippi. Meridian to Starkville, CSpire is still the best option. ATT is second best.

 

[HWY51dog]

Same here. Had it forever but had to change to Verizon. It started interfering with business. I’m in Northwest MS.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Same here. Had it forever but had to change to Verizon. It started interfering with business. I’m in Northwest MS.

All of them have some really bad holes in their service in NW MS. It’s pretty frustrating that most of the north half of Hernando has one maybe two power bars on ATT service. I have one bar sitting in my house right now.

 

[8dog]

I really think ATT is getting worse. More and more places that get little or no reception. Like in the middle of metro Jackson. I know it’s gotten worse at my house.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

Do Mint Mobile. I pay 16 bucks a month for 12 months prepaid and coverage is good.

 

[PBRME]

Do Mint Mobile. I pay 16 bucks a month and coverage is good.

I’ve thought about swapping to Mint because ATT is becoming Comcast with their pricing. Just concerned about coverage.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

I’ve thought about swapping to Mint because ATT is becoming Comcast with their pricing. Just concerned about coverage.

One thing with Mint is you can only send group texts of up to 10 people. At least the last time I tried.

 

[vhdawg]

Do Mint Mobile. I pay 16 bucks a month for 12 months prepaid and coverage is good.

Yall realize if you're discussing service then Mint Mobile is just T-Mobile's network.....all those MVNOs like Mint and Straight Talk and whatever other ones are operating off TMO or Verizon or AT&T's networks....there's not a whole other network that's better.

Now if you're talking price then MVNO away by all means but if you're discussing service with an MVNO you're talking about one of the big three.

 

[The Peeper]

I’ve been a CSpire customer for almost 30 years, ever since they were Cellular South and maybe the best cellular provider in Mississippi. That has changed drastically in the past few years. CSpire is about to force me to find another provider. I can’t be on the phone for over 2 minutes without the person on the other line saying “you’re breaking up” or “I only heard half of what you said” no matter where I’m at. It always happens at the worst time when I’m on the phone with a client trying to explain something in detail. I’m also sick of the internet not working on my phone whenever I’m in a well-populated area and my phone says I have 3 to 5 bars of service. Whenever it does work, it is excruciatingly slow. It has only been getting worse and worse. Now I’m even starting to have no service in places that I used to always have service. There were always places you would expect to drop a call, but now it can happen anywhere at any time it seems. It’s very frustrating, and I’m beyond sick of it. CSpire seems to only be focused on their fiber now. I know I’ve seen another thread on this before, but what are your opinions on who is currently the best cellular provider for someone who lives in east Mississippi?

Same song different verse for me. I had been a customer starting in about '96 until about '15. I traveled the entire state as a salesman and never had issues until about the final year. What mainly drove me to change was my kids traveling on church trips a lot and every time they left the state they had to borrow a phone, call me and tell me theirs wasn't working. Then I'd have to call CSpire customer service and tell them, they'd inevitably ask me a question about a setting I couldn't answer and I'd have to call the kids on one of their friends phones, get the answer about their phone and SOMETIMES we could get it to work but mostly not. I said screw it and went to att and have had zero issues at all, never had to call customer service once. CSpire blamed it on certain phones having certain bands that they worked on and some they wouldn't. Funny how att phones have never once had that issue. The only time I have any issues at all w/ att is on game days at MSU and every year they promise improvements but it never happens

 

[patdog]

One thing with Mint is you can only send group texts of up to 10 people. At least the last time I tried.

You get what you pay for with the discount carriers. Your internet connection speeds will be throttled & if a tower gets too busy, it’s the discount carrier calls that get dropped. Of course, that’s what CSpire users have always had every time they leave their service territory.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

Yall realize if you're discussing service then Mint Mobile is just T-Mobile's network.....all those MVNOs like Mint and Straight Talk and whatever other ones are operating off TMO or Verizon or AT&T's networks....there's not a whole other network that's better.

Now if you're talking price then MVNO away by all means but if you're discussing service with an MVNO you're talking about one of the big three.

There's not 44 dollars difference per month.Thats the difference I was paying when I had Verizon. Yes the MVNOs are a compromise but it's a high value compromise.

 

[The Fatboy]

Curious what phone you have? Device is just as important as the carrier.

 

[ronpolk]

I have AT&T and it works generally everywhere I go. It does seem more expensive though than other places.

I do have Cspire internet and it’s great. But I also know that Cspire sold all of their towers a few years back, so that could be an issue.

 

[She Mate Me]

I have AT&T and it works generally everywhere I go. It does seem more expensive though than other places.

I do have Cspire internet and it’s great. But I also know that Cspire sold all of their towers a few years back, so that could be an issue.

I have used most of them and find ATT to be better overall coverage wise, and much better where I usually am.

If you think it's too expensive, look at their prepaid plans. Pretty cheap, especially if your needs are limited.

 

[kired]

Someone smarter than me - how is it possible to have problems with regular voice calls in 2024? I can understand not having 5g internet everywhere but dropping calls? Surely to god the coverage is 100x better than it was 10 years ago.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

I have AT&T service (company phone) since the last 90's except for about 18 months 2008/2009 when we switched to CSPIRE only because we wanted to do business with a company based in Mississippi. I travel for work often to the west coast, Chicago, Atlanta, & Dallas primarily. CSPIRE was a nightmare when I was travelling. There were even 2-3 spots between Jackson where service was regularly interrupted. I have never had any issues with AT&T service.

 

[Bulldawg56]

Depends on where in east mississippi. Meridian to Starkville, CSpire is still the best option. ATT is second best.

That's my problem. I live in the Golden Triangle and have to go to the Meridian area occasionally. I'm going to try updating my phone and seeing if that helps before I switch since it's been a couple of years since I've had the "latest and greatest."

 

[Maroon13]

I really think ATT is getting worse. More and more places that get little or no reception. Like in the middle of metro Jackson. I know it’s gotten worse at my house.

Yeah I have ATT and I agree with you.

However my phone is so old that it operates on LTE. So I'm thinking it is my phone not picking up all ATT has to offer ..... 5G.

Maybe I need a new phone.

 

[Bulldawg56]

Curious what phone you have? Device is just as important as the carrier.

That's a good point. I have an iPhone that's at least 3 years old, so I could probably use an update. I lost count on which was the latest and greatest when they skipped 9.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I’ve been a CSpire customer for almost 30 years, ever since they were Cellular South and maybe the best cellular provider in Mississippi. That has changed drastically in the past few years. CSpire is about to force me to find another provider. I can’t be on the phone for over 2 minutes without the person on the other line saying “you’re breaking up” or “I only heard half of what you said” no matter where I’m at. It always happens at the worst time when I’m on the phone with a client trying to explain something in detail. I’m also sick of the internet not working on my phone whenever I’m in a well-populated area and my phone says I have 3 to 5 bars of service. Whenever it does work, it is excruciatingly slow. It has only been getting worse and worse. Now I’m even starting to have no service in places that I used to always have service. There were always places you would expect to drop a call, but now it can happen anywhere at any time it seems. It’s very frustrating, and I’m beyond sick of it. CSpire seems to only be focused on their fiber now. I know I’ve seen another thread on this before, but what are your opinions on who is currently the best cellular provider for someone who lives in east Mississippi?

I went Verizon. It’s solid so far. About 3 years post Ceasefire

 

[thatsbaseball]

Been a C-Spire customer since they started in 1988. I traveled (and lived) the central and south delta during those days and they were the only ones with any coverage in the area back then. There wasn't an over abundance of towers (understatement) at that time but we had bag phones and didn't need as many. I guess I've just been lucky but I've traveled all over the country since then and never had any major problems with C-Spire.

 

[patdog]

Someone smarter than me - how is it possible to have problems with regular voice calls in 2024? I can understand not having 5g internet everywhere but dropping calls? Surely to god the coverage is 100x better than it was 10 years ago.

My understanding is neither the phone sellers or the service providers care much about voice calls. All they care about is internet & WiFi connection.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

I left cspire for mobile service about 11 years ago after traveling and data coverage being garbage. Did a few years with Verizon then ATT and then back to Verizon. Verizon by the best as far as coverage and billing and customer service. I did start getting throttled back by Verizon in busy areas a few years ago and was told I had to upgrade when I already had an older version of unlimited. That was dirty. Most recently I've had issue with tower closer to us losing power when we did and it would go out for service which is concerning in an emergency. But I still like Verizon over att and cspire. Att customer service is terrible and billing was all over the place month to month.

 

[skipperDawg]

Cricket = $60 month unlimited talk test internet , you pay for new device or add to your current device

BYW
ATT owns cricket

 

[The Peeper]

I have used most of them and find ATT to be better overall coverage wise, and much better where I usually am.

If you think it's too expensive, look at their prepaid plans. Pretty cheap, especially if your needs are limited.

Or Cricket is their best MVNO from what I hear, check them out too. They will provide you with a test phone for a week to see if their service meets your needs. I've thought often about switching but never have, just stuck with ATT

 

[onewoof]

Been a C-Spire customer since they started in 1988. I traveled (and lived) the central and south delta during those days and they were the only ones with any coverage in the area back then. There wasn't an over abundance of towers (understatement) at that time but we had bag phones and didn't need as many. I guess I've just been lucky but I've traveled all over the country since then and never had any major problems with C-Spire.

I have traveled as over the States and into Europe. Can't even recall the number of times I've had coverage and ATT, Verizon and T-Mobile didn't. C Spire works fine everywhere for me and I'm happy to support a local employer, non public company. Just saw where they have same day delivery like Amazon. And they actually TRY to help you instead sending your call over to someone 9000 miles away. Like mentioned, if your phone is older than 3-4 years you're rolling the dice on coverage for many reasons your mileage will vary.

 

[dawgstudent]

I think I'm about to switch to Xfinity for mobile service in a few months. I don't have problems with them for TV and internet at my house.

 

[We Men]

I'm thinking about going with T-Mobile. Can anybody give some good advice/opinions on T-Mobile?

 

[She Mate Me]

I'm thinking about going with T-Mobile. Can anybody give some good advice/opinions on T-Mobile?

My short experience with them and possibly unfounded belief is that their coverage is very weak in rural MS. Especially compared to ATT.

 

[Dawgbite]

I have Verizon and it’s definitely gotten worse the past few years. My brother has ATT and he breaks up constantly on calls. It seems to be everyones service has declined. I was told by someone in the industry, no idea how factual this is but, up until a few years ago the government mandated that carriers allow competitors call to “ roam” on each others towers. The mandate expired a few years ago and each carrier cut off the competitors calls on their towers in favor of their own streaming and internet traffic. it sure explains a lot.

 

[She Mate Me]

I have Verizon and it’s definitely gotten worse the past few years. My brother has ATT and he breaks up constantly on calls. It seems to be everyones service has declined. I was told by someone in the industry, no idea how factual this is but, up until a few years ago the government mandated that carriers allow competitors call to “ roam” on each others towers. The mandate expired a few years ago and each carrier cut off the competitors calls on their towers in favor of their own streaming and internet traffic. it sure explains a lot.

I don't know shizizzle about the technicals of it, but a tremendous amount of data is now flowing through those towers. And it is constantly increasing. It seems like that has to cause some overall issues.

 

[DeeEE!]

I think I'm about to switch to Xfinity for mobile service in a few months. I don't have problems with them for TV and internet at my house.

Don’t do it

 

[DeeEE!]

iPhone 15 Pro with no coverage issues. Just the normal stuff like everyone else. The 5G plus speeds are about 700-800 down. Not bad for 5G.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

I wish Verizon would fix the hole on Goodman Road around Academy Sports/Target. The funny thing is they have one of their stores in that area. Go into Hobby Lobby and you can't make a call. I think they do it so I can't call my wife while I'm in Academy and she is in Hobby Lobby.

 

[JackShephard]

I went Verizon. It’s solid so far. About 3 years post Ceasefire

See, I'm the opposite. I left C-Spire for Verizon almost 3 years ago, and I'm about to switch back. Verizon coverage has been awful for us the entire time. We spend most of our time between Hattiesburg and the Coast. It's ok in either of those areas, but poor (at best) anywhere in-between. We even had problems with it in Louisiana and Texas on a recent trip.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

See, I'm the opposite. I left C-Spire for Verizon almost 3 years ago, and I'm about to switch back. Verizon coverage has been awful for us the entire time. We spend most of our time between Hattiesburg and the Coast. It's ok in either of those areas, but poor (at best) anywhere in-between. We even had problems with it in Louisiana and Texas on a recent trip.

There are places in MS that CSpire has coverage and Verizon struggles. Same with ATT vs either. However, if you travel out of state at all CSpire is impossible. My wife has CSpire, I have Verizon. So if I'm with her, I can lean on CSpire in state, otherwise, nearly everywhere we go, she's not happy about her service and I'm just fine. Honestly, other than a few dead spots, I don't suffer too much in state.

 

[GloryDawg]

I have had Cspire since 2005. I am not changing. The only time we had issues was when we were traveling through Navajo Nation in Arizona. My wife and both kids lost connection. I never did. I had it the whole time. Kind of crazy. The only difference is I had Samsung, and they have iPhone.

 

[Anon1697564126]

One thing with Mint is you can only send group texts of up to 10 people. At least the last time I tried.

that's all I could do with C-spire too. I now have Mint and I downloaded an app, GroupMe, and we are able to send to 23 people at once. Just checked and the limit is 5,000 people in a group chat.