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Carrier Anyone here live in or been to Chicago ?

M

max2

macrumors 604
Original poster
5g or 4g lte any better now ? Which phone if so? The provider I want to know most about with data signal in building is AT&T.

You most likely think it is crazy to determine to go back to a place for vacation based on phone signal but that exactly what I am worried about. Mainly it working and speed inside hotel.

I know Chicago has a lot of tall building so that interferes with signals like 4g lte or 5g data connection.

Would use Wifi but do not trust hotel Wifi sorry.

Yes I know as well this is as close to impossible to know for sure unless I go there again and test it out myself. At least least this will give me a idea.

I do remember some areas like in the parks had great 4g lte speed and signal.

The biggest issue was in the hotel 🙁


P.S. tried the hotel Wifi just to see once but not with banking or anything security risk wise. It barely worked too. 🙁
 
max2 said:
5g or 4g lte any better now ? Which phone if so? The provider I want to know most about with data signal in building is AT&T.

You most likely think it is crazy to determine to go back to a place for vacation based on phone signal but that exactly what I am worried about. Mainly it working and speed inside hotel.

I know Chicago has a lot of tall building so that interferes with signals like 4g lte or 5g data connection.

Would use Wifi but do not trust hotel Wifi sorry.

Yes I know as well this is as close to impossible to know for sure unless I go there again and test it out myself. At least least this will give me a idea.

I do remember some areas like in the parks had great 4g lte speed and signal.

The biggest issue was in the hotel 🙁


P.S. tried the hotel Wifi just to see once but not with banking or anything security risk wise. It barely worked too. 🙁
Click to expand...

‘You are wise to not use the Hotel WiFi. Be safe!
 
There is nothing wrong with using hotel WiFi. Any app on iOS now supports HTTPS which protects you against middle man attacks, and any app that tries to use HTTP (not HTTPS) will be encrypted via iCloud Private Relay. Anyways, I understand wanting to be extra cautious which is why you can use a VPN to encrypt all your traffic.

You can use 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare Warp). It is free, and your data is not the "product".

Anyways, to answer your question. I am not in Chicago myself but usually your experience using LTE/5G at a hotel will be much better than at your own home because the majority of hotels are usually close to tourists/public spots where carriers focus their coverage in and invest in higher capacity due to the pressure during peak times.
 
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M.Rizk said:
There is nothing wrong with using hotel WiFi. Any app on iOS now supports HTTPS which protects you against middle man attacks, and any app that tries to use HTTP (not HTTPS) will be encrypted via iCloud Private Relay. Anyways, I understand wanting to be extra cautious which is why you can use a VPN to encrypt all your traffic.

You can use 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare Warp). It is free, and your data is not the "product".

Anyways, to answer your question. I am not in Chicago myself but usually your experience using LTE/5G at a hotel will be much better than at your own home because the majority of hotels are usually close to tourists/public spots where carriers focus their coverage in and invest in higher capacity due to the pressure during peak times.
Click to expand...

Ok fair enough.
 
Found out AT&T may have spotty coverage in Chicago at certain locations. That is dumb.
 
CandyCane23049 said:
Yes. Even in the Subway. Also, when I was in school, some of my classes were in the basement. I didn't get service with Verizon but got it with AT&T.
Click to expand...
Well when I was in Chicago it was so difficult to get 4g lte on my iPhone 11 when at the hotel. 🙁

What phone did you have or still have at this time btw ?
 
Hmm I wonder why my iPhone 11 could not get data in the hotel. Oh well.

Now have a iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Hopefully that fixes it.
 
Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the US. There are tons of giant, metal buildings. Of course there are going to be problem areas. Every city will have spots like that. Experience at a single hotel isn’t indicative of the entire city. If you have to stay at that particular hotel, call and ask. Otherwise, there are about 150 other hotels to choose from.
 
fishkorp said:
Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the US. There are tons of giant, metal buildings. Of course there are going to be problem areas. Every city will have spots like that. Experience at a single hotel isn’t indicative of the entire city. If you have to stay at that particular hotel, call and ask. Otherwise, there are about 150 other hotels to choose from.
Click to expand...
Your right.

There should be info online for it.
 
max2 said:
Found out AT&T may have spotty coverage in Chicago at certain locations. That is dumb.
Click to expand...

If you end up not liking AT&T in Chicago, remember you can get a 15 day trial on Visible which is a Verizon owned MVNO, and a 30 day (or more) trial on T-Mobile via their own app. All eSIM.
 
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M.Rizk said:
If you end up not liking AT&T in Chicago, remember you can get a 15 day trial on Visible which is a Verizon owned MVNO, and a 30 day (or more) trial on T-Mobile via their own app. All eSIM.
Click to expand...
Great suggestion. You can also get a trial for T-Mobile via eSIM really quickly. I live in Chicago. T-Mobile and AT&T have good coverage here, but there are going to be poor signal and dead spots depending on specific location.
 
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I'm in the Chicago area and was in the city, Loop area over the weekend.
I was surprised how good the 5G coverage was. Even in a few of the buildings I entered.
Honestly, I have more dead zone issues out in the suburbs than I did my (only 1 day sample) in the city.
I have AT & T.
They seem pretty awful in the west and northwest burbs. Lots of dead zones. No signal in large commercial buildings.
I get NO signal at work. And only 1-2 bars at home.
They used to have an app you could submit network trouble issues, but they discontinued it.
Probably got too many error tickets from me!
 
My problem was with 4g lte sense I only had a iPhone 11 at the time.

It was only in the hotel though.
 
johnb300m said:
I'm in the Chicago area and was in the city, Loop area over the weekend.
I was surprised how good the 5G coverage was. Even in a few of the buildings I entered.
Honestly, I have more dead zone issues out in the suburbs than I did my (only 1 day sample) in the city.
I have AT & T.
They seem pretty awful in the west and northwest burbs. Lots of dead zones. No signal in large commercial buildings.
I get NO signal at work. And only 1-2 bars at home.
They used to have an app you could submit network trouble issues, but they discontinued it.
Probably got too many error tickets from me!
Click to expand...

What phone did you have at the time ?
 
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