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pinkoos

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 15, 2005
590
64
Texas
I live on the west side of town (Memorial area for those familiar) and work in Katy. So, spend most of my time on the "left" side of Houston. Occasionally, of course, make it into downtown, med center, Sugarland, Galleria, etc.

Just wondering for people with experience in this area what you would recommend in terms of carriers: ATT or Verizon? I've pretty much ruled out Sprint, so let's limit it to ATT and Verizon.

I've already gotten an ATT 4S, but am wondering if I should return and switch to Verizon and, if so, for what reasons?

I seem to get good call coverage at home and at work (anywhere from 3 to 5 bars, average of 4 bars), but what seems to be abysmal 3G data coverage at home and decent 3G data coverage at work. However, at home and at work I'm mostly on wifi, so it's a moot point, unless my internet and/or wifi goes down in either location.

I haven't had the phone long enough to notice if I have any dropped calls issue with ATT and I've never owned a Verizon phone so I don't have any experience with what it's coverage will be like in my home or office.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.
 

determined09

macrumors 65816
Jun 9, 2009
1,454
312
I live on the west side of town (Memorial area for those familiar) and work in Katy. So, spend most of my time on the "left" side of Houston. Occasionally, of course, make it into downtown, med center, Sugarland, Galleria, etc.

Just wondering for people with experience in this area what you would recommend in terms of carriers: ATT or Verizon? I've pretty much ruled out Sprint, so let's limit it to ATT and Verizon.

I've already gotten an ATT 4S, but am wondering if I should return and switch to Verizon and, if so, for what reasons?

I seem to get good call coverage at home and at work (anywhere from 3 to 5 bars, average of 4 bars), but what seems to be abysmal 3G data coverage at home and decent 3G data coverage at work. However, at home and at work I'm mostly on wifi, so it's a moot point, unless my internet and/or wifi goes down in either location.

I haven't had the phone long enough to notice if I have any dropped calls issue with ATT and I've never owned a Verizon phone so I don't have any experience with what it's coverage will be like in my home or office.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.
I think the Verizon has great coverage for the Houston area. I work in the downtown area and I'm in the basement. I have no trouble making and receiving calls in the basement. I was even in the basement of hospital and I was able to make and receive phone calls. Now the people at my job with ATT could not get text messages, calls or used the data plans, they had to go up to the first floor to use their phones. I've been with Verzion for years and I'm very satisfied.
Their data speed may be slower than ATT, but the call quality and the low or null number of dropped calls you can beat. :):)

Did you pick ATT or Verzion?
Just curious.
 
Last edited:

pinkoos

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 15, 2005
590
64
Texas
Ended up going with ATT and have not been disappointed. Great reception at home and at work. Rare dropped calls (but dropped calls nonetheless) and great data speed.

I'm happy with ATT, but I'm sure Verizon would have worked well too.
 

ChrisTX

macrumors 68030
Dec 30, 2009
2,690
54
Texas
I've never had much of a problem with AT&T in Houston. Parts of The Woodlands near the mall are really buggy but most every other part of The Woodlands is excellent. I have a lot of friends with Verizon, and they all say the same but a few of them tend to drop more calls than I do. I'd say AT&T is your best bet in this city.
 

almonde

macrumors regular
Sep 7, 2006
134
15
Houston, TX
I live just south of memorial, north of Westheimer and work in West Chase district. Ive found AT&T to be really good in both these areas, both for speed and coverage (iPhone 4, original antenna design). Coming from the UK, i'd heard lots of horror stories about AT&T, but apart form the price, i find them perfectly OK.
 

takeshi74

macrumors 601
Feb 9, 2011
4,974
68
Houston's a big city. The part(s) of the city you're in matter. There are definitely at&t dead zones in the Med Center, for example, where VZW has excellent coverage. I'm sure there are example of the opposite as well. Every carrier has coverage holes.
 

Scubadoobie

macrumors newbie
Apr 23, 2012
21
25
Houston, TX area
I'm counting the days until my AT&T contract is up so I can switch to ANY other carrier. Similar to another comment on is thread, I have no problem with short (2-3 min) calls, but have a dropped call every time on longer calls. Sometimes two or three dropped calls in the same conversation. I live in the museum district and work in the medical center....dropped calls everywhere and everywhere.
 
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