You know, this is always a dilemma. I a had Sprint phone for several years and was rather happy; then, one day my wife and I were sitting by the side of the road half-way between Glenwood Springs and Aspen. I went to make a call to Aspen and found out that my phone would not work because there was no Sprint connection in that area. My wife had a Cingular phone, however - and hers worked. Idea - change from Sprint to Cingular when your contract runs out.

Well, at that time, we were not yet married and not living together; but, some four or five months later I moved into her house and LO! and
BEHOLD! - my Sprint phone would not work at my desk. It functioned quite well in the driveway, and not bad by the fire hydrant two houses down - but, not at my desk - WHERE I WORK!

Well, I called Sprint and they ran some tests and determined that there was nothing they could do about my poor reception at my desk so they allowed me to get out of my contract and I switched to Cingular to enable me to get reception at my desk.

I currently am in a situation where I have both a Cingular phone, and a Sprint phone, and cost will probably be a determining factor here as to what goes down in the near future. My contract with Cingular runs out in July and I am paying roughly $55 a month for 450 minutes plus the normal perks. I am also getting Sprint through a friend on his "friends and family plan" that operates on a month-to-month basis and is quite a deal. I got a Razor for $39 (and I can get a new phone anytime I want at a highly reduced rate) and I'm paying $50 a month for 1250 minutes plus all the other perks everyone else gets through the store. Oh, this Sprint phone works well at my desk!

My brother is a big-wig with Verizon, and of course, he says they are the best; but, after a beer or two he will admit that although Verizon IS the best - the big guys are all about the same. My own experience would support what my brother says - they're all about the same. I have two different phones with two different services and I cannot tell you that one is better or worse than the other.

In the case of yours not working in your house, you may go to the carrier, explain your problem to them and see if they will allow you to upgrade to a phone with newer technology - that may solve your reception problem - or let you out of the contract.

Finally, with Cingular, I pay an additional $3 or $5 per month on my account and if ANYTHING happens to my phone they will replace it at a cost of $50. Yeah, it's a rip-off, but I had my phone stolen some time back and Cingular charged me $200+ to replace it, and I had no choice. Sorry for the length - hope this helps. Cheers.