I've had Sprint in it's early days. It was OK, at best. Then, I switched to Nextel (before the Sprint merger). It was ok as long as one was in a metro area or near the interstates (except in the mountains). I kept Nextel for quite a while, until my bill rose inappropriately and without reason. I wound up getting Cingular for the daughter, whioch was spotty as far as coverage. My wife's business offered a pretty decent business deal through Verizon. She wound up with that and has been very happy with their service. Great coverage, few dropped calls, etc. My Father in Law has T Mobile and his coverage just plain sucks. It always has since he's had the plan. I, ultimately, switched to Verizon because Nextel/Sprint refused to work with me as a six year customer. I've been happy with Verizon, myself, so far.
As far as phone etiquette, I firmly believe that there has become NONE. I may answer my phone when/if I'm expecting an important call, but I usually let it go to voice mail if I'm in a crowded area or I find a discrete place to hold a conversation. Honestly, those direct connect phones annoy the hell out of me. Don't people realize that there's a "privacy" function?? I don't care to listen to both sides of a phone conversation while I'm in a store, restaurant, or just out and about. Furthermore, yelling into the phone doesn't help. It might have during the analog cell phone days, but those days are pretty much gone. Peopled NEED to show some common courtesy when using their cell phones!!!