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NYC coverage with VZW, ATT, and Tmobile? & Is talking & surfing a big deal for you?

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Pinkstiletto66

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 12, 2010
501
1
New York City.
Hi, I'd like to get the new iphone this year. I tried the 5 a few months ago with sprint, and in my area of Brooklyn, NYC in my house data did not work. Other parts of Brooklyn, data was poor or ridiculously slow, almost non existent. I've had Verizon in the past. I was a customer pre iphone (left when the iphone came out) for about three years. I also tried the iphone 4 with ATT when it came out. Had it for two weeks, and returned it due to the call quality in/near my house, as well as slow data in several places. So, I'm asking NYC locals where are they and how is their coverage? I know a few might have taken an iphone to Tmobile already so if they can help me make my decision it would gladly help me make my decision.

Also VZW iphones, do you miss the ability to talk and surf? That is also a deciding factor.
 
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CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,451
1,240
Charlotte, NC
Not in NYC but I have the Verizon iPhone 5 and definitely miss talking and surfing at the same time. Hate having to tell people I'll call them back so that I can check something on my phone that requires data. Verizon has LTE just about everywhere though. Considering going back to Tmobile though because of talking+surfing and unlimited data.
 
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manhattanmania

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2007
259
72
I just went through this decision. I live and work in NYC. history: switched to ATT from verizon for the iPhone when it first came out. Needless to say, it was terrible. So bad that I was willing to let my beloved iPhone go to get an android on verizon. Since then I was on verizon with the iPhone, which was fine until the iPhone 5. Somehow, Verizon's LTE coverage, generally speaking, is horrific in NYC. No service in my building in midtown and in the surrounding areas. Like none, even outside. Even around other neighborhoods it was so weak. SIM switched, phone switched. No dice. Made the decision to break my contract and move to ATT, and needless to say I am shockingly happily surprised. In my building in midtown I now have full LTE service where verizon would have none. Same for the surrounding neighborhood. It's like night and day. ATT has performed admirably throughout the city on both LTE and "4G." Att also performs much better on metro north and in CT. The other nice thing is that even if LTE isn't available, ATTs 4G is super fast. In fact, ATTs "4G" is faster than the LTE speeds I was getting on verizon. What sucked w verizon is that when I had to turn LTE off bc the signal was so bad, you fall back to their 3G which is unbearably slow. Anyways, that was a lot of detail, but I'm very happy w ATT and shocked its performing as we'll as it is bc what I remembered were the days of no service and dropped calls every single day. No more. Not a single dropped call so far either.
 
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Pinkstiletto66

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 12, 2010
501
1
New York City.
manhattanmania said:
I just went through this decision. I live and work in NYC. history: switched to ATT from verizon for the iPhone when it first came out. Needless to say, it was terrible. So bad that I was willing to let my beloved iPhone go to get an android on verizon. Since then I was on verizon with the iPhone, which was fine until the iPhone 5. Somehow, Verizon's LTE coverage, generally speaking, is horrific in NYC. No service in my building in midtown and in the surrounding areas. Like none, even outside. Even around other neighborhoods it was so weak. SIM switched, phone switched. No dice. Made the decision to break my contract and move to ATT, and needless to say I am shockingly happily surprised. In my building in midtown I now have full LTE service where verizon would have none. Same for the surrounding neighborhood. It's like night and day. ATT has performed admirably throughout the city on both LTE and "4G." Att also performs much better on metro north and in CT. The other nice thing is that even if LTE isn't available, ATTs 4G is super fast. In fact, ATTs "4G" is faster than the LTE speeds I was getting on verizon. What sucked w verizon is that when I had to turn LTE off bc the signal was so bad, you fall back to their 3G which is unbearably slow. Anyways, that was a lot of detail, but I'm very happy w ATT and shocked its performing as we'll as it is bc what I remembered were the days of no service and dropped calls every single day. No more. Not a single dropped call so far either.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's so shocking. I was afraid because of the iphone that verizons coverage might be poo. If I had the extra I'd open up an account in each and try them out. Then with Tmobile coming along, that makes me curious too. I mean the price looks like a good deal, $70 for everything. Can't beat it. Decisions...
 
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BlockEight88

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2013
217
32
You all can rule out AT&T for talk and surf. They throttle your speeds so bad during calls, its pretty much useless.

I can't get 1mbps down during a call and forget upload. Not too mention, my pings are about 500-600, then drop back to 60-70 when I hang up.

Don't believe me, run a speedtest during a call. I bet AT&T is trying to save bandwidth or something.

T-Mobile, as far as I know, doesn't throttle data speeds during calls (yet).
 
slu

slu

macrumors 68000
Sep 15, 2004
1,636
107
Buffalo
Pinkstiletto66 said:
Wow, that's so shocking. I was afraid because of the iphone that verizons coverage might be poo. If I had the extra I'd open up an account in each and try them out. Then with Tmobile coming along, that makes me curious too. I mean the price looks like a good deal, $70 for everything. Can't beat it. Decisions...
Click to expand...

I don't live in NYC, but travel to NYC for work frequently. I work and stay in midtown, so I can't really comment on Brooklyn. My work phone is T-Mobile. I only have 3G on this phone, but coverage in midtown is excellent, as you would expect.
 
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bushman4

macrumors 601
Mar 22, 2011
4,025
3,427
Att has greatly improved their service compared to years ago. Best idea to find out what works for you is to approach people in your neighborhood to see if they are satisfied with the service.
As for talking and surfing its a great feature if you do both at the same time
 
wordoflife

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
Pinkstiletto66 said:
So I'm guessing when the iphone comes to Tmobile it would only be 3G in NYC until it gets 4G? I could have sworn Tmobile had 4g everywhere.
Click to expand...

They have HSPA+ "4G" in many places, not "LTE". But their HSPA+ is very fast. and quite good coverage in New York City. I don't know if they've got LTE yet, but I'm guessing they will soon enough since NYC is such a big market.

You might not get LTE, but HSPA+ will still be plenty fast. Might be worth the cheaper price than AT&T.

BlockEight88 said:
You all can rule out AT&T for talk and surf. They throttle your speeds so bad during calls, its pretty much useless.
Click to expand...

It's not that bad. At least you can still send/receive iMessages on call, continue GPS navigation, so on...
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
BlockEight88 said:
You all can rule out AT&T for talk and surf. They throttle your speeds so bad during calls, its pretty much useless.

I can't get 1mbps down during a call and forget upload. Not too mention, my pings are about 500-600, then drop back to 60-70 when I hang up.

Don't believe me, run a speedtest during a call. I bet AT&T is trying to save bandwidth or something.

T-Mobile, as far as I know, doesn't throttle data speeds during calls (yet).
Click to expand...

I noticed that lately too.
I don't get it why they do that.
It seems slower than 1mbps when on call. It takes forever to even open up a webpage and even times out.
I don't see the logic behind having a great feature like that available and crippling it to unusable speeds. Don't try to upload anything while on call either:(
 
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Pinkstiletto66

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 12, 2010
501
1
New York City.
bushman4 said:
Att has greatly improved their service compared to years ago. Best idea to find out what works for you is to approach people in your neighborhood to see if they are satisfied with the service.
As for talking and surfing its a great feature if you do both at the same time
Click to expand...

I've asked people and the two people that answered that live in my area one has said there's a dead spot by me and the other has said no problems. Most in Brooklyn generally have said good things. It's crazy because it can very so much in the same borough. I know one thing is for sure if it works in Prospect Heights/downtown Brooklyn shopping area it should work anywhere. I've had trouble with my net with Metro the company I have now and Sprint. Metro is way better than Sprint but not perfect. Sucks too because if you go by the coverage map it always says that it has the service I want, regarding all of the companies.

----------

Oh and I didn't know that you can still get GPS on a call. That was an issue for me. I recently read though that talk and surf might be coming in 2014. Don't hold your breath though,lol.
 
osofast240sx

osofast240sx

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2011
2,539
16
If you get the iPhone from tmobile you will have:
3G(HSPA on PCS)6.5mps top speeds
4G(HSPA+ on PCS)14mps " "
3G(HSPA on AWS)
4G(HSPA+ on AWS)34mps. " "
LTE(on AWS)

Even if NYC does not get LTE until June, you still get high speed on 4G PCS or AWS.
 
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Pinkstiletto66

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 12, 2010
501
1
New York City.
osofast240sx said:
If you get the iPhone from tmobile you will have:
3G(HSPA on PCS)6.5mps top speeds
4G(HSPA+ on PCS)14mps " "
3G(HSPA on AWS)
4G(HSPA+ on AWS)34mps. " "
LTE(on AWS)

Even if NYC does not get LTE until June, you still get high speed on 4G PCS or AWS.
Click to expand...

Hi, can you compare that with the other two companies? I dont know all of the techie lingo but I'm assuming the higher numbers are better. :)
 
MVRL

MVRL

macrumors regular
Oct 17, 2011
247
0
i live in downtown Manhattan, and t-mo's 3G coverage is awesome when I am outside of buildings, but when I am inside, i get like 2 bars tops.. Oh well, I have wifi indoors..
 
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Pinkstiletto66

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 12, 2010
501
1
New York City.
After reading some posts it looks like Tmobile in NYC is better than ATT or basically the same? Hmm, so I think now I'm deciding between Tmobile and VZW. I'm going to wait it out a few more days and check here on Friday. I know there will be tons of speed test post, hopefully a good amount from NYC.
 
osofast240sx

osofast240sx

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2011
2,539
16
Pinkstiletto66 said:
After reading some posts it looks like Tmobile in NYC is better than ATT or basically the same? Hmm, so I think now I'm deciding between Tmobile and VZW. I'm going to wait it out a few more days and check here on Friday. I know there will be tons of speed test post, hopefully a good amount from NYC.
Click to expand...
Think about it this way, what can't u do at 10mbs compared to 60mbs?
The answer for me is nothing. Everyone is different you have to choose.
 
MVRL

MVRL

macrumors regular
Oct 17, 2011
247
0
downtown Manhattan, T-mobile. When you are outside, 4G is everywhere, but when I am inside a building, i get nothing. T-Mo has pretty bad building penetration here..
 
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Pinkstiletto66

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 12, 2010
501
1
New York City.
Thanks for responding. I'm going to be watching the forum more especially since tomorrow is the official day for tmobile. I am leaning towards vzw right ow but like the prices of tmobile. I use my cell as my only phone so it's important that if my sons teacher calls that I get the call.
 
osofast240sx

osofast240sx

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2011
2,539
16
Pinkstiletto66 said:
Thanks for responding. I'm going to be watching the forum more especially since tomorrow is the official day for tmobile. I am leaning towards vzw right ow but like the prices of tmobile. I use my cell as my only phone so it's important that if my sons teacher calls that I get the call.
Click to expand...
A tmobile iPhone purchased after today will have great building penetration.
 
zorinlynx

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,169
17,689
Florida, USA
osofast240sx said:
A tmobile iPhone purchased after today will have great building penetration.
Click to expand...

Huhuhuhuhhhh.. Hey Beavis... he said....

*snirks*

Only slightly better than 3G on the current iPhones. The AWS band is 1700MHz, PCS is 1900MHz. Not much of a difference.

It's the 850MHz CLR band that has excellent penetration, and T-Mobile doesn't have this band. AT&T does, but not in all areas. I've found NYC coverage to be hit-or-miss. Lots of tall buildings + high population density + horrible multipath due to reflections off said buildings == nightmares for RF engineers.

Edti: I should add that AT&T and Verizon have repeaters in many buildings. For example, when you walk into Penn Station with your AT&T iPhone 5, you'll notice that you go from having LTE to five perfect bars of "4G" UMTS coverage. The reason? AT&T repeaters throughout the station. This is universally case when you see full signal "4G" coverage deep in a building on AT&T. These repeaters don't support LTE but you should be thankful as they're the only reason you have coverage in there in the first place!
 
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