Apartment Hunting in Durham

U.S.A. North Carolina

Published

Hello everyone,

I will be moving to Durham from Atlanta after my graduation in June to begin work at Duke. I keep hearing that Durham is a terrible place to live (per crime). I was wondering if some areas are better than others...anyone recommend a particular apartment community? Oh and I wouldn't mind a roomate either! :) Thanks in advance for your help.....

A.E

This may seem like an off the subject question, but now that I have found an apartment, I am trying to find a cell phone company. Unfortunately, my current company does not have any service in NC. Any suggestions for cell phone companys that get good reception in Durham? (i don't want to sign a 2 yr contract only to find that I only get reception when I stand on the kitchen sink!)

Thanks!

Katie

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Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
This may seem like an off the subject question, but now that I have found an apartment, I am trying to find a cell phone company. Unfortunately, my current company does not have any service in NC. Any suggestions for cell phone companys that get good reception in Durham? (i don't want to sign a 2 yr contract only to find that I only get reception when I stand on the kitchen sink!)

Thanks!

Katie

It totally depends on where you plan to live. Most of my friends and I have Sprint, which has good service in most parts of the area, but there's a spotty area right near my apartment (interestingly, it was partially caused by a very close friend of mine who petitioned to keep a cell phone tower out of his neighborhood- his group won, then he moved! :rolleyes:). ATT is good in chapel hill, but apparently not great in northern durham. Some people like verizon, but i can't attest to their coverage in the vicinity of Duke.

one thing I can say difinitively is that alltel is kinda crappy in many parts of the state, including south durham. had to use them throughout school (they were the only company with service where I lived AND where i went to school), and i hated them. constant dropped calls.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
This may seem like an off the subject question, but now that I have found an apartment, I am trying to find a cell phone company. Unfortunately, my current company does not have any service in NC. Any suggestions for cell phone companys that get good reception in Durham? (i don't want to sign a 2 yr contract only to find that I only get reception when I stand on the kitchen sink!)

Thanks!

Katie

Hi Katie,

Who do you currently have as your provider? I have the exact same problem. I am with T-Mobile right now and they don't have any service in North Carolina but I am NOT switching mobile carriers. I'd rather not have a cell phone than go to any other company...T-Mobile is the best out there and I have a great package for an awesome price. Anyway I discovered that every time I drove to Durham (from Atlanta) for my interview and when I went apartment hunting, on the way my phone will go from displaying T-mobile to Suncom, Cingular...pretty much any service that was available in that area. I found it interesting. Also, as soon as I left my home region, my minutes stopped counting. It didn't matter how much I talked in Durham, when I checked my minutes it was the same as the last time I used it in Atlanta. I finally called T-mobile a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to find out if they would require me to leave their service since I was going to a place that they were unavailable. They said absolutely not. They have partnerships with other cell phone companies so I pick up whatever service is available; the only problem was that those companies were not very good with reporting minutes back to them...I don't know what could sound better than that....The only downside (which is not to me) is that I cannot get a local (Durham) number. People will have to be calling me long distance but if they have free long distance on their plan like T-mobile offers, it shouldn't be a problem.

Now if you don't have T-Mobile, make sure your plan has free long distance and free nation wide roaming. Then call customer service and find out if they have partnerships with other cell phone companies. That way if you love your provider as much as I do mine, you won't have to switch.

By the way, while in Durham, the service I picked up most was Cingular :)

Hope this helps...

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I currently have US Cellular which does not even get service in the southern states... sounds like cell service is a pain in the butt down there... I think Cingular and Sprint may be my best choices- I'll just have to knock on wood and hope it all works out!! Thanks!

Katie

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This may seem like an off the subject question, but now that I have found an apartment, I am trying to find a cell phone company. Unfortunately, my current company does not have any service in NC. Any suggestions for cell phone companys that get good reception in Durham? (i don't want to sign a 2 yr contract only to find that I only get reception when I stand on the kitchen sink!)

Thanks!

Katie

I think I've had them all. I had Cingular for 2 years. It was okay. There were alot of dead spots, but I wouldnt go as far to say it sucked. It definitely does better in larger cities. I also had Alltel at the same time I had the Cingular on my other phone. Alltel did well in the more rural areas. Personally, Id stay clear of either one. My friend, and both sisters have sprint, and travel b/w the durham and raleigh area and have problems as soon as they step outside of the city limits. As long as you're in the metro area, you'll prob be okay. You have to watch sprint though, they'll jack up your bill. AT&T, :angryfire whatever you do dont sign a contract with these people. I dont know about the service in the area, but they're customer service sucks. I had them in Seattle, and to every service complaint i was instructed to buy a new phone, mind you i had just spent $100 on one with them. At the moment, I have verizon, and travel all over raleigh and durham and have no problem, step into some of the rural areas and your service is through. I like them so far. I've only had them for about 6 months. I havent been too far with it.

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Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
Hi Katie,

Who do you currently have as your provider? I have the exact same problem. I am with T-Mobile right now and they don't have any service in North Carolina but I am NOT switching mobile carriers. I'd rather not have a cell phone than go to any other company...T-Mobile is the best out there and I have a great package for an awesome price. Anyway I discovered that every time I drove to Durham (from Atlanta) for my interview and when I went apartment hunting, on the way my phone will go from displaying T-mobile to Suncom, Cingular...pretty much any service that was available in that area. I found it interesting. Also, as soon as I left my home region, my minutes stopped counting. It didn't matter how much I talked in Durham, when I checked my minutes it was the same as the last time I used it in Atlanta. I finally called T-mobile a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to find out if they would require me to leave their service since I was going to a place that they were unavailable. They said absolutely not. They have partnerships with other cell phone companies so I pick up whatever service is available; the only problem was that those companies were not very good with reporting minutes back to them...I don't know what could sound better than that....The only downside (which is not to me) is that I cannot get a local (Durham) number. People will have to be calling me long distance but if they have free long distance on their plan like T-mobile offers, it shouldn't be a problem.

Now if you don't have T-Mobile, make sure your plan has free long distance and free nation wide roaming. Then call customer service and find out if they have partnerships with other cell phone companies. That way if you love your provider as much as I do mine, you won't have to switch.

By the way, while in Durham, the service I picked up most was Cingular :)

Hope this helps...

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Yes, T-Mobile is great if you get it somewhere else and use it here. I almost drove to virginia to get a t-mobile account, as they had a really great blackberry pda/phone my boyfriend wanted to get me. They have a line-share agreement with cingular here. So many people I know have phone numbers from other area codes because of either keeping their old carrier or local number portability- why change what's probably your primary phone number, y'know?

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