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AT&T Announces One Million iPhone 4S Activations
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Attached shows results (on 3G) for the 6 nearest servers to me, as reported by the app. Obviously there is a big disparity, so if you want to ensure accurate results, always try at least 2-3 different servers.
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re: longer contracts
It's not necessarily a "good thing". I'm merely pointing out that AT&T makes it an option for people and their competitors don't.
If you're pretty certain your long-term plans include sticking with the phone carrier you've been using for the last couple years, you don't have much to lose by agreeing to sign up for another 2 years, in order to get the new phone at a steep discount.
Unfortunately, in America, it's just the way the whole system is rigged that you have practically no chance of using one of the top-tier cellphones without obtaining it as part of a 2 year contract with one of the major carriers. Even if you pay full price for a given cellphone that's not locked to a certain carrier, you'll find yourself really limited in which companies will let you use it on their network. (I remember a couple years ago, buying an unlocked Motorola Droid cellphone and wound up reselling it at a big loss, because I couldn't find any carrier willing to let me put it on their network! Apparently, it was originally a Verizon phone when new, but its owner didn't pay his bill and Verizon not only shut his service off, but "blacklisted" the phone's ESN too - so nobody else could activate it again on their network without paying all the back charges the guy owed!)
It's not necessarily a "good thing". I'm merely pointing out that AT&T makes it an option for people and their competitors don't.
If you're pretty certain your long-term plans include sticking with the phone carrier you've been using for the last couple years, you don't have much to lose by agreeing to sign up for another 2 years, in order to get the new phone at a steep discount.
Unfortunately, in America, it's just the way the whole system is rigged that you have practically no chance of using one of the top-tier cellphones without obtaining it as part of a 2 year contract with one of the major carriers. Even if you pay full price for a given cellphone that's not locked to a certain carrier, you'll find yourself really limited in which companies will let you use it on their network. (I remember a couple years ago, buying an unlocked Motorola Droid cellphone and wound up reselling it at a big loss, because I couldn't find any carrier willing to let me put it on their network! Apparently, it was originally a Verizon phone when new, but its owner didn't pay his bill and Verizon not only shut his service off, but "blacklisted" the phone's ESN too - so nobody else could activate it again on their network without paying all the back charges the guy owed!)
It's amazing how much AT&T has changed. They went from being the worst carrier to one of the best for iPhone. It does show that GSM is far superior to CDMA.
What? Why do you assume that not a single iPhone was sold since the first weekend?
I wonder how many more would have been activated if they actually SHIPPED their pre-orders!!! There are still quite a few customers without their 'pre-order.' In many cases, AT&T REFUSES to cancel these FAKE pre-orders even if you are in an AT&T store with the exact phone you ordered IN STOCK! Crazy. And yet NO ONE is reporting on this.
I did the exact same thing. I have yet to drop a single call. With AT&T, I would drop at a minimal 1 call a day. I don't regret the switch.
My pimary reason for "choosing" AT&T is because I'm on a family plan with them and cannot afford to get my own plan on Verizon.
I think a lot of people are in similar situations where they are only still on AT&T because they've been getting the iPhone every year and don't want to pay the cancellation fees. It's not about speed. I did a speed test with a Verizon 4S here in Manhattan. Verizon won every time even though I should be getting speeds like 16 times faster.
I never thought there'd be over-zealous fans for cell carriers 
The biggest thing I am looking for in a carrier is the price of my plan over that 2 years. If Sprint was to etch closer to the price of AT&T or Verizon I'd jump ship in a heartbeat.
Speed over the cell network is 'meh' to me, Baltimore has plenty of open WiFi hotspots . . . . at least the places I tread anyway.
The biggest thing I am looking for in a carrier is the price of my plan over that 2 years. If Sprint was to etch closer to the price of AT&T or Verizon I'd jump ship in a heartbeat.
Speed over the cell network is 'meh' to me, Baltimore has plenty of open WiFi hotspots . . . . at least the places I tread anyway.
I just switched from AT&T to Verizon. It's great that AT&T is faster and they definitely are expanding their 3G network, but Verizon's 3G is totally ubiquitous and in my experience fast enough for anything I'm likely to do on my phone. AT&T's Edge is unusable.
I have nebet had any problems with AT&T. Dropped maybe 10 calls in the past 2 years, constant 1-3 Mbps down everywhere. North Florida. It all depends on where you are and what you're trying to do.
Obviously we're all talking about our experiences, but I think people constantly forget that it varies for every carrier.
And thats not even counting all activations AT&T will get WHEN they get around to delivering the iPhones to all of us that got SUCKERED into pre-ordering our iPhones through AT&T.
Like many others, I pre-ordered my iPhone at my local AT&T back on the 7th and my phone is still listed as backordered. In the meantime, anyone (except those of us that pre-ordered) can walk into the same AT&T store and walk out with an iPhone. I was told that they have iPhones in stock but I cant buy one because I pre-ordered one. I asked that they cancel my pre-order and let me just buy one they have in stock. They said that they have to wait until my iPhone arrives before they can cancel the order.
AT&T INTENTIONALLY MISLED us into pre-ordering our iPhones with the FULL KNOWLEDGE that we would go to the end of the line. AT&T does NOT CARE because they know that the majority of us, for whatever reason, will not switch to another carrier. We may bitch and complain, but THEY DONT CARE. They know we will just BEND OVER AND TAKE IT.
I just wish AT&T would have at least used a little LUBRICATION!!!
I think we got it. Your phone has been delayed and you are being screwed. I have seen this same post from you like 4 other times.
Ugh, I really need to get a 4S, I'm in Houston, and just thinking about this gets me excited!
I've had every iPhone since the first one, and granted I switched from T-Mobile, I have had 0 problems with AT&T in Houston, Texas. At this point now that just about every major carrier has the iPhone, AT&T has given me no real reason to switch I'm happy with their service.
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IDK about everyone else but I get the same 3.5 - 4.5 Mbps download as I did on my iPhone 4 as my iPhone 4s. So IDK about there so called 4G cough cough on there 3G cough network. Damn cold.
I ge 7-9 on my 4S
T-Mobile USA is running the 42Mbps standard. And Verizon and AT&T have LTE networks which unfortunately beats your 'elite' altitude.
Are you serious?
A little research shows that:
-Rogers offers LTE in 4 Metro area- Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa. They have ZERO phones, and ONE tablet that can run on it.
-Bell Mobility has LTE in one Metro area- Toronto.
-Tulus does not have LTE yet.
All of the networks DO have HSPA+ which claim right there on the site "manufacturer's rated peak download speeds with an expected average of 7-14Mbps" ...exactly the same as AT&T and T-Mobile here in the US.
In America, Verizon has LTE in 160 cities across the country. Sprint has WiMax available in every major US market. LTE and WiMax both blow HSPA+ out of the water.
Oh and here's a fun closing fact, the iPhone 4S is not a 4G phone, so none of this even matters.
I am in Crystal City and the speeds I get seem to mirror what you posted (indoors).
T-Mobile USA is running the 42Mbps standard. And Verizon and AT&T have LTE networks which unfortunately beats your 'elite' altitude.
LOL...
I've had 50/5 service actually offering 50/5 speeds since 2009. Even the buses here have LTE service ... they drive around the city acting as a relay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doEy1SeYdfc
Our Valley Metro LINK buses have Wi-Fi, which I found out was just a glorified Sprint setup.
It is now clear that on Friday AT&T followed the sun with activations going East to West. A heads-up would have been appreciated as well as a screen message which was not ambiguous. But those gripes aside, since my first iPhone in June of 2007, I have had remarkable service from AT&T. I ported out from Sprint that day and never looked back nor have I ever had occasion to call AT&T for any reason. It just works. I am also finding the 4S to be amazingly fast on the AT&T network. I'm getting speed I did not hunk was even possible.
The same week the iPhone 1 was released, Sprint dumped over 25k customers because they had the nerve to call customer service to demand the service for which they were paying. The cheek of it! I was glad to be out of there. I have no interest in looking at another carrier at this point but competition is good to keep everyone moving forward. We all have our carrier horror stories. Mine just doesn't involve AT&T.
The same week the iPhone 1 was released, Sprint dumped over 25k customers because they had the nerve to call customer service to demand the service for which they were paying. The cheek of it! I was glad to be out of there. I have no interest in looking at another carrier at this point but competition is good to keep everyone moving forward. We all have our carrier horror stories. Mine just doesn't involve AT&T.
