AT&T Announces 850 MHz 3G Coverage Improvements in New York City and Other Markets

[/dev/toaster]

I guess if I lived in NYC I may be happy about this. Too bad AT&T is only trying to satisfy the big cities. Thanks again AT&T. I am lucky if I get bars in my office and yes I have a window in my office. Gosh I cannot wait till Apple offers the Iphone on Verizon’s network. I believe Verizon will try to satisfy its customers with a consistent network and maybe even MMS. Thanks AT&T.

RES

Oh come on ... think about what you just said for a minute. Put your self in their shoes, or any other carriers shows. You have major network issues going across the entire US. Where are you going to invest you time and energy on first. Keep in mind, they do have limited number of tech guys to install this equipment. And no, saying "Oh well just hire more" is far easier said then done.

a) Major cities that have the most problems and highest density of users.
b) Colonia, New Jersey with its grand total population of 17,000 and maybe 12 iPhone users.

Of course that was an extremely sarcastic example ... they will get to the other areas based on priority.

 

[bermannyc]

I'm a tool

ATT call quality is mediocre at best. I've had Verizon and ATT. On Verizon, for 7 years, maybe I had 7 or 8 dropped calls all told. On ATT it happenes pretty regularly. If it doesn't drop then it'll probably be horrible quality. I made 3 calls yesterday from Union Square. Two I couldn't hear anything the person was saying the other was choppy. All three were to land lines.

Its interesting to note that all this "improvement" is happening less than two years before ATT loses their exclusivity contract with Apple.

 

[ghostface147]

Coverage in Houston stinks. I regularly get dropped calls while walking on the street in the Medical Center (3 miles of downtown with over 100,000 employees working on medical research) and coverage indoors is nonexistent unless you are to a window. I hope they are adding the 850 Mhz coverage in this part of town. They only list suburbs such as Sugarland in their press release but one would think they wouldn't leave out the center of the city where the population density is the highest.

By the way, I have had 4 different iPhones here and the problem is not with the phone, it's with the network. I've had better luck in suburbs and outlying areas but the inner city coverage is terrible.

Well that's a completely different scenario than me. I used to work in that area up until a few weeks ago and never had those issues. Hell I was getting reception in the tunnels by the Well Fargo Plaza when visited downtown. Odd.

 

[mikeb13]

AT&T coverage in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area is great. I always get 5 bars and 3G speed is fantastic.

I am going to New York in a few weeks. I hope I get good signal strength.

 

[iphones4evry1]

It'd be nice if I could get bars at my house... (Seriously, no cell phone provider gets bars at my house. It's rather ridiculous.)
But it's good to hear that they are improving their network.

Actually, I think they are just rearranging it.


I think AT&T is has been removing capacity from around different parts of the country, shipping, and reassembling that capacity in these major cities. Cell phone coverage in many areas around me has become WORSE in the past several weeks. I have had perfect 3G since I bought my iPhone3G, yet in the past few weeks, coverage is now terrible. I have called AT&T several times, but nothing has changed yet.

"AT&T's network has primarily utilized the 1900 MHz spectrum so far, and the recent transition to 850 MHz"

That has a double benefit, as 1900MHz is actually classified as "micro waves" and therefore "might" cause cancer. 850 MHz, on the other hand, is classified as "radio waves."

 

[3282868]

Having recently moved from NYC to Los Angeles, from my experience AT&T wasn't terrible in NYC but is atrocious in SoCal. Apparently AT&T missed the deadline to renew towers that Cingular had leased out to tmobile. Because of this there are millions and millions of iPhone users operating on the 1900 band which overloads the system. I barely have a signal now in Pasadena and hardly have a consistent signal in my place in Westwood. AT&T lowered my monthly bill by $20 as I have 8000 roll over minutes, I can only text! It's amusing as everyone in Los Angeles seems to own an iPhone, including those in the "industry". I'm surprised that AT&T hasn't addressed this yet as the SoCal market is huge. Believe me that AT&T is well aware of this issue, just about everyone I know with an iPhone on AT&T has offcially made claims regarding the horrendous service.

Plus keep in mind how much the iPhone has increased the amount of mobile data usage. The average user didn't use data plans until the iPhone was released. Macrumors has posted examples of how much web browsing has increased on AT&T's network since the release of the iPhone. Not that this is an excuse, far from it, but it does explain some of the issues.

 

[iphones4evry1]

Having recently moved from NYC to Los Angeles, from my experience AT&T wasn't terrible in NYC but is atrocious in SoCal. Apparently AT&T missed the deadline to renew towers that Cingular had leased out to tmobile. Because of this there are millions and millions of iPhone users operating on the 1900 band which overloads the system. I barely have a signal now in Pasadena and hardly have a consistent signal in my place in Westwood. AT&T lowered my monthly bill by $20 as I have 8000 roll over minutes, I can only text! It's amusing as everyone in Los Angeles seems to own an iPhone, including those in the "industry". I'm surprised that AT&T hasn't addressed this yet as the SoCal market is huge. Believe me that AT&T is well aware of this issue, just about everyone I know with an iPhone on AT&T has offcially made claims regarding the horrendous service.

Plus keep in mind how much the iPhone has increased the amount of mobile data usage. The average user didn't use data plans until the iPhone was released. Macrumors has posted examples of how much web browsing has increased on AT&T's network since the release of the iPhone. Not that this is an excuse, far from it, but it does explain some of the issues.

It's gotten worse. I live in SoCal also. I'm in Orange County, but I frequently drive up to LA or down to San Diego. Coverage used to be much better, but in the past month it has become worse. I think AT&T is stealing network equipment from around the country and putting it in NYC. Just keep calling AT&T and complaining every day.

EVERYONE, KEEP CALLING AT&T EVERY DAY AND KEEP COMPLAINING. IF ALL OF USE DO THIS, EVENTUALLY, THEY WILL GET TIRED OF IT AND JUST FIX THE NETWORK. WE MUST BAND TOGETHER IN NUMBERS - CALL AT&T EVERY DAY AND COMPLAIN!!!

Update: I just called AT&T and they told me that one of the towers near my house has been receiving complaints for three weeks now and they are going to begin working on it "soon." They offered me a credit on my account for one month of data service. (don't call them and try to get a credit unless you really have a problem - but please do keep calling and complaining)

 

[goobot]

eh i find att to be good. its the only service that i get in my house and its just good. stop complaining. they dont have mms yet cause they dont want to crash then you got no service and you will go crazy also i live in long island and found it to be really fast now

 

[tylerhbrown]

that's where i live. I hate my iphone because of the cr&ppy reception. er, I mean, other than the really cr&ppy reception, I love my iphone. Wonder if there's a schedule of what cities they will roll out the improvements in.

Basically, it's great news that they are addressing this.

They started updating in SF last week. I noticed a dramatic rise in signal quality in my apt in cole valley around last thursday (1-2 bars to full on 5 bars!) and have noticed much stronger signal strength in other parts of the city as well. This past week end at the outside lands concert, I had no trouble making calls at all, where I usually cant connect a call even at a baseball game at ATT park (HA!). Now if ATT could only pay me back for the thousands of dollars and hours of frustration I have had over the last three years of abysmal service.
THB

 

[Enuratique]

A week ago AT&T brought 3G to Central VA. I no longer feel like I'm a third-world citizen! Though the upgrade was long overdue. iPhone is hands down the most popular phone in Charlottesville - by a large margin.

 

[KidFresh]

What improvements??? <---in Manhattan

 

[mojohanna]

Their service still sucks where I live. I put up with it because I love my iphone. However, my wife constantly reminds me of how terrible it is. She chose not to get an iphone.

I can see cell towers and not have service. I can sit in one spot in my house and watch my phone go from Edge and 3 bars to no edge, to no service.

I wish they would fix the area I live in with just basic service. I don't even get 3G where I live, just where I work.

FIX GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO!!!!!

 

[Sledneck36]

I live in a town west of Philadelphia Pa called Atglen... ATT turned on 3G Saturday.. I always toggle between 2G and 3G to save battery life. I remember looking at my phone Friday night and seeing only the "E" I went into setting and turned 3G off. Traveled to an area that has 3G coverage Saturday morning, turned 3G on to check my mail. When I got home went to toggle it off and that is when I noticed.. Its about time!!!!!!!!!

 

[dlewis23]

Oh right.....enable a feature that will stress a network before the network is upgraded. I'm not an apologist for AT&T, I am as upset as the next guy, but get real.

This is not that type of upgrade. This is a coverage upgrade, not a capacity upgrade.

You could do this type of upgrade all day long, it will make 0 difference when MMS is finally enabled.

The amount of bandwidth on each tower would be the real upgrade that would actually really matter when MMS is finally enabled.

 

[iBeard]

I've never really had any problems in Houston before, but if you want to make it better I won't stop you.

 

[aristobrat]

I wonder what's so hard about this area that prevents AT&T from putting up cell towers...

Typically, it's political reasons, not technical. Everyone wants more cell phone towers, just "NIMBY" (not in my back yard). A lot of times when a carrier goes to get the permits to put up a new tower, local residents can make the process very difficult and time consuming.

I guess if I lived in NYC I may be happy about this. Too bad AT&T is only trying to satisfy the big cities.

What? I live in the Norfolk area ("Hampton Roads"), which is farrrrrrr from being a "bit city", and AT&T has dramatically improved their network in this area over the last three years (ahead of NYC, from how it seems). As of three months ago, they had added over 25 new towers around here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7710642/

 

[JonB3Z]

For whatever reason, the Hartford, CT area seems to be on the AT&T "good" list. 3G has been pretty solid here for quite a while and is only getting better. I get five bars and 1.5+ meg downloads sitting in my basement. At my office, which is in the interior of a steel-and-brick building, I get somewhat less but still decent signal.

 

[metrobot]

They started updating in SF last week. I noticed a dramatic rise in signal quality in my apt in cole valley around last thursday (1-2 bars to full on 5 bars!) and have noticed much stronger signal strength in other parts of the city as well. This past week end at the outside lands concert, I had no trouble making calls at all, where I usually cant connect a call even at a baseball game at ATT park (HA!). Now if ATT could only pay me back for the thousands of dollars and hours of frustration I have had over the last three years of abysmal service.
THB

Do you know this for a fact, or is this your assumption from your experience?

i have noticed more bars as well so was secretly wondering if they were addressing SF. Sometimes they seem to be phantom bars, so not sure what that means. Maybe they are working out the kinks. But if they are upgrading the city, that's fantastic news! and yah, what about my refund!!

 

[wrlsmarc]

San Francisco market is going through the 3G 850 addition as we speak. Most of Marin county was completed last week although some cell sites are scheduled for end of September. The call quality and signal have improved dramatically since the upgrade. I know there will be optimization required but my iPhone performance is solid.

Do you know this for a fact, or is this your assumption from your experience?

i have noticed more bars as well so was secretly wondering if they were addressing SF. Sometimes they seem to be phantom bars, so not sure what that means. Maybe they are working out the kinks. But if they are upgrading the city, that's fantastic news! and yah, what about my refund!!

 

[ghostface147]

So instead of bars, I wonder what y'alls radio signal strength is. At the office, I get a radio signal between -51 and -60. At home I get around -90. That's a good enough signal to never lose 3G and maintain great reliability of a conversation.

 

[asoccorso]

At&t Sucks Thank You Verizon And Ebay

Ive Had The Worst Experience With At&t Ive Gone Through 3 Sim Cards 3 Iphones 3gs And Still Got My Famous Call Fails. Appl E Ran A Test On My Phone And In One Day I Made 52 Calls And Had 29 Call Fails And The Funny Part Is I Always Have Bars, This Is Sad I Complained So Much To At&t About This For About 3 Hours And Told Them What Apple Tests Came Up With And They Actually Waived My Termination Fee. Gotta Admit I Was Shocked Even Though I Was Screaming At Them And There Managers. So I Took The Option To Cancel Instantly And I Went To Verizon And Got 2 Blackberry's For $149 And Cant Complain At All The Service, Customer Service Is Amazing Nto To Mention I Pay Less Monthly For More Minutes And Unlimited Text With Guess What , M M S Included But The Best Part Is That I Sold My Wife And My Iphones On Ebay For $700 Each. So All In All I Got Money For My Iphones, My At&t Contract Fee Waived And Got 2 Blackberry Tours For The Price Of One Which Are Pretty Good Compared To The Iphone But Atleast I Can Make Calls And Send Mms.

Oh And Supposedly The Iphone Is Coming To Verizon In January Which Is What People Are Whispering In The Verizon Store And Apparently I Might Be Able To Upgrade Mid Contract With A Promo Price. So 3 Years With At&t Sucked And I Miss My Iphone But The Money I Made And Am Now Spending Is Sooooooo Worth The Compromise. Thanks Verizon And Thank You Ebay

 

[ks-man]

I'm in Chicago (work in city, live in suburbs).

I find that I can get decent reception and speed if I am stationary (home, work, restaurant, store etc). The problem becomes when I'm driving. I drive about an hour (in rush hour) from home to work and often talk on my phone. For a 30 minute phone call I would say I average 3-4 drops. I rarely can have longer than a 5 minute conversation and not have a call failed. It will often drop even when the phone (and my car) says I have full signal.

I don't know why driving makes the signal weaker but that has been what is killing me. Maybe it is God's way of saying I shouldn't talk on the phone while driving, but it goes through my car's bluetooth system so it hands free at least...

 

[j-a-x]

Well that's a completely different scenario than me. I used to work in that area up until a few weeks ago and never had those issues. Hell I was getting reception in the tunnels by the Well Fargo Plaza when visited downtown. Odd.

Weird because all of my colleagues here in the Med Center have the same problems. I'm sitting next to a window on the 4th floor and I can barely understand anybody who calls me because the signal is so weak and my 3G is horribly slow (and this hospital has no wifi for us researchers). Sucks.

 

[AntJon82]

Bad 3g n signal in Newark NJ

And...


...nope, not any better for me. Still dropping out on my daily, above-ground, no-tunnel train commute between NJ and NYC.

I keep losing my 3G n signal in Newark nj and also uploading to YouTube is shaky my phone tells me it not able to upload sometimes to YouTube.

 

[AidenShaw]

Step away from the shift key, son....

Ive Had The Worst Experience With At&t Ive Gone Through 3 Sim Cards 3 Iphones 3gs And Still Got My Famous Call Fails. Appl E Ran A Test On ....

Wow - I stopped reading your post because all the caps and missing punctuation made it painful to read.

A few typos don't bother me at all, but if you want people to read your posts please consider following the rules of English writing - at least most of the time.