Cell phone experts...
 

I posted this on the lounge but got no real responses. I'm wondering whether T Mobil and Cingular use the same "network" for regular monthly customers as they do for pay as you go customers. Asking b/c I wonder whether the reception on pay as you go is the same and also whether the phones needed are different. Tia.

I'm certainly no expert, but I have a little familiarity with the industry. Prepaid phones work on the same network as the regular customers. It's just a different billing system.

T-Mobil and Cingular/AT&T use GSM technology, while Verizon, Sprint and most smaller carriers use CDMA. A CDMA phone cannot rome onto a GSM network, or vice-versa. This doesn't matter so much in urban areas or along interstate highways, where there is good tower coverage for both systems. But when you get into an area where there are more CDMA carriers than GSM, your reception on T-Mobil or Cingular will suffer.

This is my limited understanding. Hope it helps.

I don't know about Cingular, but on T-Mobile, prepaid phones get more limited coverage than those with a contract.

You can find the respective coverage maps on their website.

rkkwan, Cingular shows coverage maps for various plans. What they don't show is what/where the differences are. When you just look at the US, they all look the same. One of the reasons for my question.

You've confirmed by fears with the T Mobile coverage info. Wonder if it's the same on Cingular.

The coverage should be the same, there is a map posted on the website - I have a pre-paid T-mobile.

And I didn't reply there as I've just come back from Mexico :)