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Illinois | We have been using nextel direct connect for years and really depended on it. We were able to replace our 2 way radios with nextel dc. What suggestions are there now that we know nextel is going to be gone in June? Verizon is only other provider in my area. Does anyone have Verizon push to talk and is it comparable to nextel? |
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Malheur County Oregon | Sprint still has push to talk phones
http://shop.sprint.com/mysprint/shop/phone_wall.jsp?filterString=ba... |
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On the Delmarva | Just because there is nextel coverage doesn't mean you would have Sprint coverage, trust me. We have just moved over to Sprint and have to say so far the push to talk feature really kind of sucks compared to the Nextel. |
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cental pa along the Susquehanna River | Agree with the others. We had great service with nextel then we switched to sprint and the service is horrible. We are looking at verizon or at and t. I am curious also how the others like the push to talk. I have not heard anyone say they like it. |
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West Chazy, New York | Nextel was very popular, but since it became Sprint I probably don't use PTT more than a few times a year. Most Nextel users have gone to a different carrier, and very few of my contacts even bother with PTT phones anymore. I miss it, as it was convenient, but Sprint service is so bad it isn't worth bothering with anymore. |
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Chebanse, IL..... | I don't have any suggestions, but why is Nextel going to be "gone in June"? We don't have Nextel, but have friends using it, I think. |
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custar ohio | Don't even bother with anybody else's PTT because they are bad. We also depended upon Nextel's PTT for years and I still miss it. We are now on Verizon (after going through the whole Sprint thing for a year or two) and they have decent service but no real PTT. They will tell you it's an outdated feature that nobody really uses. I thought we were the only ones who relied on it. I could have choked the kid in the Verizon store who said we needed to text our messages instead of PTT. Yeah that works great in a grain cart. |
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| The "texting" must take less bandwidth
So sprint figures they casn keep the customers but the Nextel PTT was working and the tried to fix something, that was not broke
Wonder how many $ that is costing Sprint
We kept the 2 way radios, because you an listen and not have to have the phone in your ear |
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Eastern Ontario | If you all have smartphones, there are apps out there that will do PTT for free. I've settled with Zello. Seems to work pretty good once you get the hang of it. It will work cross platform ( Android, iphone, blackberry ) If you are looking for a phone, get one with a programmable button like the Samsung S3 rugby LTE. That way it's just one push away from getting to the right screen. We are just setting up with new phones this week, so we'll see how it goes. |
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Lewisburg, PA | Ken we didn't switch yet but think we are going with verison. Nothing like draging our feet. Dad and I and you were the only ones I was using the direct connect. Some friend have the iphone or android phon and have tried the apps for two way and are happy with them |
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Western Kentucky | We just use walkie talkies, work great for us. |
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North Central, NC | I have the Voxer app and my wife and I use it all the time. Not quite as instantaneous as the old Nextel ptt but neither is the new Sprint or Verizon ptt. |
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N. IL | They were using old UHF towers to transmit for the two way and the iDen network. It was state of the art at the time but data was slow and coverage was limited. We kept two phones with the new PTT but is not great. Data is better and more coverage for phone calls but otherwise limited on phone selection. I know some people have gotten a "Tickle" app for their iPhones, not sure how it works.
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Illinois | Sounds like there is no good answer for replacing Nextel dc. I have a smart phone and tried, TiKL, Voxer, HeyTell apps and none are even close to what we need. Not instaneous enough and too many procedures to go through to get connected. I was looking over Verizon website and was hoping Verizon PTT on a phone like Convoy 2 would be a good replacement? Reviews were pretty good but I don't know if those users ever had NEXTEL dc to compare. I keep hoping someone will come out with something before June. Bad part is we are paying $10 more per month per phone until they eventually end Nextel in June.
From my research as to why they are removing Nextel dc is because it was loosing SPrint money. Too costly for them to have both types of towers. The direct connect runs off annalog towers and sprint runs off new towers for 4G LTE. This is how I understand it. Thanks for the replies. Not what I was hoping to hear but thanks for confirming there is no good answer other than going back to 2 ways or worse yet walkie talkies. Bad part about the 2 way radios is with our older radios it was interfering with auto trac. |
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cental pa along the Susquehanna River | yea now we never talk anymore. How is verizon service up that way ? or at t ? |
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Eastern Ont | Dont tell me you gave up on Telus Clay? |
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Near-north Ontario, French River | Telus has a big push on around here to get guys to switch to smart phones. We used MIKEs for years, loved them. Telus is telling us ( har har) that MIKE is scheduled to taken out of service in JAN/15 , but that it could happen earlier as they are closing the networks in the US this summer( 13) .I picked up a Samsung Galaxy SIII Rugby in early November, I love the phone as far as smart phones go but missed the convenience of the MIKE network ( PTT ) as soon as I left the Telus store and wanted to "mike" our main hired man. TELUS rep told me that they were working on a smart phone app that would very closely mimic the MIKE system, I think she said it was due to be launched in fiscal '14? It wouldn't be a typical app, in that it would be proprietary to Telus devices and customers. |
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Eastern Ontario | Brother went and got new phones on boxing day. He was at Bell store and didn't mind switching. I told him to get the rugbys. I later found out that Telus also has the Rugby. Oh well, could have stayed with Telus. Bell did throw in some microSD cards and $100 credit on each phone. So far, I like Zello. The Rugby is well suited for it as it has the extra button which can be programmed to launch the app as well as be programmed to be the mike toggle. So far so good.
I don't think I will pay for a service that can be had for free. When Telus comes out with their app, it will be just like the Bell app. $15/month to use it. Sorry, not this time. You DO need a data plan though. |
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NW Ohio | Switch to Verizon's PTT, we are using it and are happy with it, the only difference is the "alert beep". Has worked well for us and is cheaper than Nextel, also has group pTT included |
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Illinois | Ajs, what phones are you using with Verizon? |
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NW Ohio | We are using old motorola V750 phones there are some better ones out but i get these off ebay for cheap . i think there is a casio that is supposed to be tough. |
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what to do without nextel direct connect?
