iPhone great, AT&T horrible

[nonkn4mer]

I've never had so many dropped calls, failed calls, or service outages in my life! I love the iPhone but AT&T service is really making me think of throwing in the towel and going back to a blackberry and T-mobile. This is outrageous!!! Am I the only one?????

[stevegmu]

This is why I do not yet have an iPhone. AT&T is terrible in my area- and I'm just outside of DC. I can use my T-Mobile phone in the Metro train, but when I had an AT&T phone, not at all.

[bubba316]

I'm having similar thoughts. I was a loyal Verizon subscriber for several years and had perfect service everywhere I went. Switch to AT&T, full signal outside in most places, not much signal inside. I was in New Orleans a couple weeks ago, full signal on the sidewalk, nothing inside the hotel. I'd always thought CDMA was better inside buildings than GSM, now I have proof.

The iPhone also sucks at noise canceling. I had to buy a Jawbone so people wouldn't complain about background noise when talking to them driving.

I'm tempted to crawl back over to Verizon and get the Voyager but I know once the SDK and future software updates come out I'll want the iPhone back.

[carfac]

This is why God invented IPSF... and Geohot... and ZiPhone

Stevie J may design a good product, but he is not so hot on how to get it out there best.

[polishmacuser]

well i do have att and its pretty good here in L.A. Northridge and everywhere else i go except for sometimes in the mall but what can you do. This is what sucks i agree that the iphone should be unlocked but hell tmobile thats your only choice if att sucks then what diff is tmobile. If any of you dont have att try it out for 30 days. I read it on there website that you can do it. Try it out and see your experience but hell with the iphone i defiantly got better reception then my motorola v551 and slvr.:D but give it a try at least

[bubba316]

You can try AT&T out for 30 days, but you've only got a 14 day return policy on the iPhone plus there's the 10% open box fee if you return that. I suppose you could go into an AT&T store and pick up one of their free phones to give it a try before buying an iPhone.

[polishmacuser]

You can try AT&T out for 30 days, but you've only got a 14 day return policy on the iPhone plus there's the 10% open box fee if you return that. I suppose you could go into an AT&T store and pick up one of their free phones to give it a try before buying an iPhone.

thats what i meant not on the iphone

[Michael CM1]

I've never had so many dropped calls, failed calls, or service outages in my life! I love the iPhone but AT&T service is really making me think of throwing in the towel and going back to a blackberry and T-mobile. This is outrageous!!! Am I the only one?????

Did you even bother checking AT&T's coverage map before dropping $400 on an iPhone? It looks like Arizona's main highways and cities are covered, but everything else is poop. Don't got blaming AT&T when there's a big link to the coverage area at their Web site.

[joekix]

i've had cingular/at&t for the last 10 years, and where i live now the coverage really sucks. i have to either be on my patio or in my bathroom to use my phone. oh well, il like the iphone so it's whatever.

[specops]

my coverage is fine... (close to pitt here)
never have call problems
sometimes internet can be slow though in a few locations
80% time reception is perfect

It's not their fault you didn't check the network around your place before buying the phone.

every provider has hot spots and dead spots. doesnt mean they all suck now does it?

[hexonxonx]

I think since July 6th, I have had maybe 10 dropped calls. My AT&T service has been excellent, far better than Sprint used to be for me.

Of course just like with any cell service provider, not everyone will have good service. It depends on where you are.

[carfac]

You can try AT&T out for 30 days, but you've only got a 14 day return policy on the iPhone plus there's the 10% open box fee if you return that. I suppose you could go into an AT&T store and pick up one of their free phones to give it a try before buying an iPhone.

That is probably your best pre-iPhone bet- get a pay as you go phone and see how it works FOR YOU in YOUR SITUATION. Personally, for me, I have never had a bit of trouble with t-Mo, and I just wanted to stay with them. Plus, I have a plan that cannot be beat- been a t-Mo customer for over ten years. No sense in giving that up!

[avaloncourt]

Did you even bother checking AT&T's coverage map before dropping $400 on an iPhone? It looks like Arizona's main highways and cities are covered, but everything else is poop. Don't got blaming AT&T when there's a big link to the coverage area at their Web site.

That's what my first thought was. I immediately went and looked at the Arizona coverages for AT&T and T-mobile. There's a pretty big difference and a lot of AT&T's coverage is "partner" associated.

[bgattis]

AT&T is perfect for me. Never ever had a dropped call. Always have 5 bars. I guess you should check the coverage area and quit your bitching. If the service sucks in your area then oh well..no iphone for you or deal with it. Where else can you get coverage all across the US? Definitely not with T-Mobile.

[ert3]

I live in the middle of bum ******* south carolina and I drop a call once every three months unless I am inside a brick building with a metal roof and am standing near a wireless server.

Troll on troller.

[rjohnstone]

That's what my first thought was. I immediately went and looked at the Arizona coverages for AT&T and T-mobile. There's a pretty big difference and a lot of AT&T's coverage is "partner" associated.
AT&T leases tower capacity from T-Mobile.
You essentially get coverage from both networks in AZ on your iPhone.
This is only for voice services, not EDGE.
I've never had a dropped call anywhere in AZ... that was until I upgraded to 1.1.3 :(
In this case, it's clearly an iPhone issue and not a network issue.
I have a company issued cell (Pantech C150) on AT&T's network as well and it never drops a call. More evidence that it's an iPhone issue and not a network issue.

[avaloncourt]

AT&T leases tower capacity from T-Mobile.
You essentially get coverage from both networks in AZ on your iPhone.
This is only for voice services, not EDGE.

Those AT&T and T-mobile coverage maps are quite different though.

[ChrisN]

Yup, inside my room I get no service and in my living room I get 1 or 2 bars. Luckily I have wifi to surf the internet on my phone.

[Passante]

No problems with ATT in Phily PA.

[mongoos150]

A few months I was in your situation, and I did sell my iPhone on HoFo and switched to Verizon. When the 16GB iPhone came out, I was tempted to give the iPhone another shot - I have, and I am much more satisfied than I was earlier. In Tucson, they've improved their service quite a bit.

Worse comes to worse, unlock the phone and move to T-Mo.

[myphone]

In our area At&T is pretty good and T-Mobile is horrible. You should check AT&T's coverage first in your area before signing the contract.

[~*allison*~]

I switched from Verizon to AT&T because there were quite a few people around me that says their service wasn't too bad. Now I've had Verizon for almost 10 years, and pretty much never had a problem with their service. AT&T isn't bad, but it's not great around here either. It's strange though...the other people I know on AT&T are getting better service than me in the same exact area. Maybe it's just the iPhone. Who knows.

[BaronvdB]

i'm getting an iphone tomorrow most likely...switching from Verizon...i hope i don't regret it...Verizon service is unbeatable but they don't have the iphone!

[SFStateStudent]

and as I'm driving at the top of my street, I get "full bars" and as I pull into my driveway I get 2-3 bars and I end up placing my iPhone in the charger and take all my calls with the iPhone BT, while keeping my iPhone in the EXACT same spot, in order to keep from dropping calls. This is a "tried & tested" way to keep from dropping calls, but recently I've been experiencing more dropped calls in the house, where I have "0 bars" and sometimes "No Service" pops up. I've experienced this same situation with Sprint for almost 10 years, but fewer dropped calls with AT&T. My God, I need to move and give up my home next to the Bay (Coverage map on AT&T website is EXACT for my area)! :cool:

[aristobrat]

I'd always thought the wireless carriers in the area that used 850MHz for their network were better inside buildings than the 1900MHz carriers that didn't build their network to compensate for 1900MHz needing more oomph to penetrate buildings, now I have proof.
Fixed that for you.

[Shap]

where in AZ are you?

I have never had a dropped call here. I even had one bar while in flagstaff snowboarding at snowbowl. The only place i've been where ATT has zero signal is far north peoria.

So far I've been extremely happy with AT&T, MUCH more than I was with tmobile. Tmobile use to have great service, within the last year it seems they've gone completely down hill with absolutely horrible customer service.

[Bad Ash]

ive had the iPhone for a week now and the service in the Chicago area has been better than sprints ever was. I get 5 bars of service in my basement. Where as with sprint I had no bars. Could not be happier now.

[Surely]

So far my service experience with AT&T has been fine. No dropped calls, EDGE has been working great. It's, obviously, slower than wifi, but way faster than I expected based on all the complaints in these forums :D

My problem is the building I live in. I get virtually no reception at all in my apartment. I get enough reception for the phone to ring, but once I answer it, the quality is awful or it drops the call. It's really annoying, but obviously not AT&T or Apple's fault. Once I exit the front door of the building, I get full bars.

So far I'm loving the iPhone. I can't wait to see what the SDK brings. It's hard to believe it can get any better.

[starflyer]

Love AT&T in Knoxville.

[marykay9507]

service is great here in nj too!

[TEG]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... "Your Mileage WILL Vary", not may vary, WILL vary. I personally have use at&t since they were AT&T then through Cingular/cingular and I love the service. I travel a lot, and only have two dead spots, my home and my uncle's farm (and the basement of my school, but no one has signal there unless they are analog). My house is on an island, filled with hippies, who refuse to allow cell towers. Sprint has some they have integrated into power poles, but there are few other towers in my area. I can get signal from the mainland, or another island, but by the time you get to my house you have mayber one or two bars, and they go in and out all the time.
At my uncle's farm, I can see the tower, but it is an old farm house, with very thick walls, a metal superstructure (to hold it up), aluminum siding, and some exposed wiring, I step outside, 5 bars.

I've driven extensivly between Seattle and Detroit and the only hickup I've ever had is a 20 mile strech in North Dakota where I loose signal, the continental divide on I-90 (or the western crest of the continental divide on I-80), the blue mountains (Oregon), or about 10 miles in Wisconsin. The only other problem is my clock not updating while in Mountain Time on I-90/94 (mainly due to not being on at&t's network there). I've used T-Mobile (while Voice Stream) and I work with people who use Sprint, Alltel, and Verizon, more often than not, I get signal when they don't.

So before you go bashing at&t, remember that every experience is different, and regardless of the provider you shouldn't be able to use your phone on a subway (giant metal tube, passing through a metallicly structured concrete tube, underground; T-Mobile must be transmitting underground).

TEG

[Cybergypsy]

I onlocked mine due to the poor service t mobile rules :)

[JD914]

Unlocked iPhone with T Mobile service = winning combination. I dont even remember when the last time I had a dropped call.

[ZMRoach]

I love my iPhone that's been unlocked for tmobile. Not a single problem.

[Mock Turtleneck]

I've never had so many dropped calls, failed calls, or service outages in my life! I love the iPhone but AT&T service is really making me think of throwing in the towel and going back to a blackberry and T-mobile. This is outrageous!!! Am I the only one?????

Hrm very odd...

I live in the Phoenix Metro and have never dropped below 4 Bars with AT&T anywhere in the metro, on my travels to Flagstaff I will sometimes drop to 1 or 2 bars going through the mountains but once I clear them I'm back to 4/5 bars.

You might call AT&T and have them see if they can push a Tower Update to your SIM...

[Cudadown]

Detroit area... flawless service with at&t. Never drops, always clear. Now my old verizon on the other hand... was friggin horrible here.

[NDimichino]

Love AT&T, been with them since like 2003. Loved Cingular and have no complaints. I get 4 or 5 bars nearly everywhere I go. The only two places I have lost service was in the Holland/Lincoln Tunnel and going to the mountains to ski in PA momentarily (I guess I was between mountains and lost coverage or something).

[AZ CDJ]

Did you even bother checking AT&T's coverage map before dropping $400 on an iPhone? It looks like Arizona's main highways and cities are covered, but everything else is poop. Don't got blaming AT&T when there's a big link to the coverage area at their Web site.

Maybe this guy didn't see the commercials playing on all the local networks bragging about how at&t spent hundreds of millions of dollars putting up new towers in all of AZ just before the iphone was for sale. There are also those nationwide commercials boasting about how at&t has the fewest dropped calls of all carriers... most bars. Speaking of bars, when I owned an iphone, it had full bars many times when it dropped calls or missed them all together. My wife and I would not receive calls and the voicemails would not arrive until hours later. I finally threw in the towel when my cousin died in a car accident and all my family members could not reach me on my iphone. I sold the phone to pay for the early-cancellation fee and went back to Verizon. Only complaint about Verizon is that their phones suck... hate my BB pearl. glyde, htc touch, voyager and lg dare (actually tried lg vu, the att version of dare) are all weak after having an iphone. Hopefully an android phone will come out soon and save the day.

[Requiemm]

This is why I do not yet have an iPhone. AT&T is terrible in my area- and I'm just outside of DC. I can use my T-Mobile phone in the Metro train, but when I had an AT&T phone, not at all.


I don't know how you are getting so lucky on the DC metro since Verizon has an exclusive agreement with the metro and is the only wireless carrier to have repeaters in the stations. Even they don't have any in the tunnels so there can still be drops in between stations that have long tunnels between them.

I work in Dupont Circle and live near Baltimore and my work provided Pearl on AT&T has dropped maybe 5 calls in the last year plus. The only complaint about AT&T I have is that my wife grumbles when my Pearl makes our surround sound speakers "chatter"

Like a previous person said, Your mileage WILL vary!

[DJHess]

Any comments from those who live in San Antonio?!?

I currently live in Omaha/Council Bluffs area and Sprint is the best in my house, especially with BlackBerry phone (much better than Treo.) People with ATT come over and have NOTHING for signal.
I will be moving to Texas in 2 weeks and will switch to ATT...for the iPhone, of course.

[StoneGaijin]

I guess I just got lucky.

In the beginning I had Ariel (now TMobile) which I cancelled because it sucked
Then I had Sprint, which I liked for about a year, as long as I wasn't leaving the city, but then Cancelled Sprint, because coverage sucked.

I then went to ATT Wireless and LOVED it, coverage everywhere, never a dropped call, excellent signal. Never roaming even in remote areas, Then Cingular bought ATT Wireless, and it was the same for me, Then ATT Wireless bought Cingular, (lol)

Anyway, ATT Wireless has been perfect for me, I have coverage everywhere, well, everywhere I go, Minneapolis, Chicago, New Orleans, Orlando, and all the rural inbetween. (I recently took a road trip from Minneapolis to New Orleans, then Florida, and never lost coverage.)

I will tell you this, I am not a fan of AT&Ts customer Service. But oh well, I rarely have to call them anyway.

[citron230]

i am very fortunate. I have been with AT&T (Cingular/PacBell Wireless) since 1999. I have not had any problems here in San Diego/So Cal. I used to travel alot for work and did have problems in Kansas, Colorado and Florida. But for home it is great.

[drchipinski]

ATT sucks in Cleveland...East side. More dropped calls in 6 months than I had with VZW for 10 years. :mad:

[Oskee2001]

I've had AT&T for about 8 years now...service is better than ever and have not had any problems since getting the iPhone in January.

[Zwhaler]

This is why God invented IPSF... and Geohot... and ZiPhone

Stevie J may design a good product, but he is not so hot on how to get it out there best.

Well, they did go to Verizon first, but on top of the distribution disagreement Verizon was sure that their Voyager would be better. I wish they went the Verizon route, but since that wont happen, here I come AT&T (currently with Verizon).

[ipodtouchy333]

Anyone from Omaha, NE around here. I am wondering how the coverage is here. I will be getting the new iPhone but I checked the AT&T coverage map and it looks as if Omaha is covered but I am still very nervous. Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

[Zwhaler]

Anyone from Omaha, NE around here. I am wondering how the coverage is here. I will be getting the new iPhone but I checked the AT&T coverage map and it looks as if Omaha is covered but I am still very nervous. Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

I would assume your area has cell coverage, but you should check again to check for 3G coverage, since that is the main selling point of the next iPhone.

[ipodtouchy333]

I checked the coverage locator on the AT&T site and it looks good....unfortunately there is no 3g in Nebraska at all yet but I still will definitely be getting the 3g iPhone the day it comes out. Thanks again.

[drchipinski]

Well, they did go to Verizon first, but on top of the distribution disagreement Verizon was sure that their Voyager would be better. I wish they went the Verizon route, but since that wont happen, here I come AT&T (currently with Verizon).

That is not true. They stated Apple wanted too large of a %.

[drchipinski]

After checking out the 3G map...wow...not much coverage in 3G at all.

http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/

[SamoanDude]

AT&T is horrible here too. Internet creeps. But I love my phone too much. How complicated is it to unlock my 8 gig iPhone and switch to Verizon? Can I still get internet on it?

[Tallest Skil]

AT&T is horrible here too. Internet creeps. But I love my phone too much. How complicated is it to unlock my 8 gig iPhone and switch to Verizon? Can I still get internet on it?

You can't switch to Verizon. Different tech. Biggest load of Belgium ever... Verizon needs to switch to GSM. NOW.

[rayward]

You can't switch to Verizon. Different tech. Biggest load of Belgium ever... Verizon needs to switch to GSM. NOW.

I joined Verizon from Cingular ages ago, because Cingular's coverage sucked. I switched back to Cingular a few years later as I needed a GSM phone and Bluetooth that could pair with something more than a headset. I was pleasantly surprised by the massive improvement in Cingular's coverage. Haven't had any complaints about that.

However, AT&T as they are now has consistently ballsed up the inclusion of the international data roaming plan on my account, and that's a major headache. It takes 30-45 mins on the phone, after each of my regular trips abroad, to get the data roaming charges removed from my bill. There's often a time-lag, so I end up having to pay $300-$400 in charges which are credited back on a later bill. Grrrr.

Everything else has been great.

[7on]

AT&T is horrible here too. Internet creeps. But I love my phone too much. How complicated is it to unlock my 8 gig iPhone and switch to Verizon? Can I still get internet on it?

You can switch to T-mo.

WooWooo!

[DiamondMac]

AT&T service is incredibly average at best down here.

Verizon blows AT&T away service wise down here as my Verizon service was full of bars wherever I went.

My iPhone on the other hand routinely goes down to 1-2 bars in open areas and Edge crawls to nothing in many spots

I can live with it though as the phone itself blows anything Verizon has out the door

[DJHess]

Anyone from Omaha, NE around here. I am wondering how the coverage is here. I will be getting the new iPhone but I checked the AT&T coverage map and it looks as if Omaha is covered but I am still very nervous. Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

I live in the Omaha area. Unfortunately I have Sprint, but I know many who have ATT and the only problems are in large buildings, such as University of Nebraska Medical Center. Otherwise it's pretty good.

Omaha does NOT have 3G going at this time, but I spoke with the regional Data manager and says that it's being tested and expected to be up in this area Q3, or Q4 at the latest.

Any takers on San Antonio area coverage???

[ipodtouchy333]

Thanks ^^^^. It's good to know I'm not the only Omahan on here. I am very glad to hear the service is pretty good here as well. And I am quite excited now for 3g this year. Woohooo!