Same here in Northern VA...this in addition to the 3.1 bugs is just maddening...enough to drive me to another carrier. Waiting on some Android phones to be released with VZW...Sprint has the the new HTC hero as well. Might be about the closest thing to an iPhone that won't drop my damn calls.
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AT&T Dropped Call Rate of 30% Considered Normal in New York City
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Same here in Northern VA...this in addition to the 3.1 bugs is just maddening...enough to drive me to another carrier. Waiting on some Android phones to be released with VZW...Sprint has the the new HTC hero as well. Might be about the closest thing to an iPhone that won't drop my damn calls.
wow Matt, you must live in a special area of Minneapolis, because my experience with AT&T coverage in Minny is terrible! I was over in St. Louis Park just yesterday and my wife and I both had NO SERVICE until we got into Edina, and when my wife was in downtown at her patent lawyers office (IDC) she had 1 bar on Edge, and could not stay connected for more than 30 seconds before dropping the call. Thankfully in Prior Lake, I have decent coverage.
I have had Sprint service for 7 years before switching over 2 years ago with AT&T, and if it were not for this device, I would be back on Sprint.
I am tired of all the excuses I hear from AT&T every time I call them about their coverage, its a joke. What makes me and everyone I know upset, is this is AT&T we are talking about, not a 3rd rate, fly by night provider... I pay a premium price every month, and do not get anywhere close to a premium service in return.
I cant wait for this phone to be with a different carrier, the second it becomes available, I am switched over!
Me too. I lived in the DC area before and reception was fine. Now I live in Cincinnati (not exactly a population dense area) and I have about 20% of my calls dropped or can't be completed. And when I'm on-call, this is so horrible it frightens me. I've been ready for a new carrier for months now (and I've only been with AT&T for 9 months), but not quite ready for a new phone (yet).
So, ATT saying they are building up their network is really just a PR bandaid? That fits my experience with the company.
Three to four bars of 3G at my house in suburban Detroit and I'm lucky if I can make a call and if I can, half the time it's dropped. And nobody can hear me anyway. I rarely receive calls and the missed call and voice-mails notifications don't show up till I leave home. Had Verizon for years and I can't remember ever dropping a call anywhere. But I love my iPhone and never did like Verizon.
Wow.
Actually, the reason I NEVR got a mobile phone until the iPhone came out is the dropped-call rate for my friends in NYC. Who were on Sprint, as it happened. Their experience was so poor that it kept me on land lines for decades
Luckily I get almost no dropped calls with my iPhone--but I'm not in NYC!
Actually, the reason I NEVR got a mobile phone until the iPhone came out is the dropped-call rate for my friends in NYC. Who were on Sprint, as it happened. Their experience was so poor that it kept me on land lines for decades
Luckily I get almost no dropped calls with my iPhone--but I'm not in NYC!
Been with O2 (UK) for many years I never had a dropped call until I bought an iPhone.
My signal is good, full bars on 3G and 2G. Dropped calls, calls failed happen regally.
I also hate sitting on a train, everyone else who does not have an iPhone has full-good reception, iPhone displays "No Service".
My signal is good, full bars on 3G and 2G. Dropped calls, calls failed happen regally.
I also hate sitting on a train, everyone else who does not have an iPhone has full-good reception, iPhone displays "No Service".
My phone seems to not accept calls about 5% of the time, and I'm pissed with that.
I'm waiting for the iPhone price war to reduce the price to be somewhat sensible now there's competition for it.
That's actually a very intelegent point. I hate AT&T for their price gouging and service but I would bet we would've said the same about Verizon if they got the exclusivity too three years ago.
The blame really is with Apple on this whole mess. Open up the rights to other carriers and give the customers the option between the big 3. At&t was an alienating decision.
THIS IS DISGRACEFUL !!!!!!!!!
With AT&T being the cell phone carrier that charges the most, they should be EXPECTED to provide the best quality service in the industry. If AT&T thinks 30% of all calls being dropped is "normal," this is absolutely unacceptable! So this means that of every ten phone calls to 911, 3 being dropped is "normal" and acceptable????? And major corporations with thousands of employees are supposed to sign up for cell service with AT&T, knowing that 30% of all calls (with customers) being dropped is, in AT&T's eyes, acceptable????????
Far as I know, Verizon charges the most
But yeah, having switched from Verizon to AT&T, trying the Blackjack 2, then the Fuze, then the iPhone, AT&T service sucks. If the iPhone wasn't such a great phone, I'd be back on Verizon even if I had to pay more
Though the one guy's comment about the carrier exclusivity being the real problem is something to think about
I live in Hell's Kitchen, and I rarely drop calls here, though data speeds during rush hour are pathetically slow.
I walk near Union Square every day on my way home from work, and every single time I'm at 5th Ave & 13th st. I drop a call... every single time... I can never hold a call near union square.
AT&T service is really not good in NYC. There's no point in my getting a 3Gs for faster 3G... it's all slow here, regardless of the model iPhone.
I drop about 15-20% of my calls. Near Union Square I drop 75-80% easily.
That's odd because I get great service in St. Louis Park (I'm in that area a lot) and I live and work downtown and get great service both indoors and out. I very rarely go below 5 bars anywhere I am in the metro area - I only experience diminished service along I-35 heading north to Duluth. My roommate has an iPhone as well and has the same experience I do. I've had AT&T now for about 3 years and have never had problems. I do agree that Sprint has great service as well in MN, I had them before the iPhone came out.
VP of Verizon story
I had one of the 1000 I'm sure VPs of Verizon check into my hotel a few weeks before the iPhone launch. I asked him what he thought and he said the iPhone is amazing I wish we could have gotten it. He said watch though it will bring down AT&Ts network. He went on to talk about how their network is crap.......I still can't make, receive, send or get text messages or mail during any sporting event in my city. It was the same when it first came out and it is the same last week at the game. We'll see this week but I'm not holding my breath after this many years.
I believe him now.
I had one of the 1000 I'm sure VPs of Verizon check into my hotel a few weeks before the iPhone launch. I asked him what he thought and he said the iPhone is amazing I wish we could have gotten it. He said watch though it will bring down AT&Ts network. He went on to talk about how their network is crap.......I still can't make, receive, send or get text messages or mail during any sporting event in my city. It was the same when it first came out and it is the same last week at the game. We'll see this week but I'm not holding my breath after this many years.
I believe him now.
My 3G runs on Edge typically. I haven't had the same dropped call experience. Would the network make a major difference here?
So this is a headline article based on a diagnosis and opinion of an Apple Genius Bar technician? In additoin, it is coming from a reader on Gizmodo. It may or may not be true that 20-30% dropped call is expected for those areas, but why headline this article when it is merely coming from the voice of an Apple store representative? It is very deceptive and may trick people into believing that this is a factual statement coming from AT&T themselves. Too many people on the internet always believe what they read from any source and that is why the legitimate journalist are p o'd about the future of journalism and reportings.
Edit: Sorry, not headline, but front page.
Edit: Sorry, not headline, but front page.
ATT, go check out HK to learn how to do it.
yeah exactly... they act like NYC and SF are the only densely populated places on earth, and good service just cant be achieved....
funny how Rogers doesnt have these problems in downtown Vancouver (which is denser than SF and almost as dense as Manhattan)
And it will always be that way unless the FCC allows more frequencies to be used for cell transmission. Data is breaking the system. A cell tower can only handle 50-300 'calls' at any given time due to frequency limitations (you can only time multiplex so much...). Data is even more of a bandwidth hog, harder to time multiplex w/o slowing down transmission drastically. People also use data much more often than voice now (especially the iPhone). When you have 10,000 people packed into a small area for an event what more can you expect? The area is probably covered by one tower (or if you're lucky a few small cell sites in the venue).
Unfortunately extending and increasing capacity of cell service isn't as simple as setting up a wireless router. Takes a bit more work and planning than that. It's also hard in the US due to FCC regulations/state regulations/city regulations and high public opposition to new cell towers.
This is exactly my experience in Brooklyn, NY. I'm considering going back to Verizon. How much does it cost o break the att contract?
Think again
Be careful. iPhone's superior web access is the future. I've been using a BlackBerry on Verizon and, although it's superior to many others, the iPhone's web superiority makes it so much more useful, that I'm migrating TO an iPhone. I'm just waiting until my contract breaking fee goes down a notch. I know I have company. RIM's sales are starting to sag somewhat while iPhone's are soaring. ATT is not my favorite network, but they will get better. The problem right now is that the iPhone is more advanced than the rest of the industry. Its users benefit, except when ATT's inadequacies get in the way.
I get about the same drop rate or worse in the DC Metro area. I also have friends on AT&T that have their text messages go to the wrong person. Thinking seriously of getting a Verizon BB and an iPod Touch to replace my iPhone.
Be careful. iPhone's superior web access is the future. I've been using a BlackBerry on Verizon and, although it's superior to many others, the iPhone's web superiority makes it so much more useful, that I'm migrating TO an iPhone. I'm just waiting until my contract breaking fee goes down a notch. I know I have company. RIM's sales are starting to sag somewhat while iPhone's are soaring. ATT is not my favorite network, but they will get better. The problem right now is that the iPhone is more advanced than the rest of the industry. Its users benefit, except when ATT's inadequacies get in the way.
You know what's funny? I've had ATT for over 5 years and have barely had 5 dropped calls and one of them was an iphone OS issue with OS 2.0. I live in the Silicon Valley so maybe coverage is just exceptionally good in my area, though I recall coverage being decent over in the Adirondacks in NY two years ago.
Wireless Signals
The two biggest complaint areas are NY and San Fran. I bet if you took any phone, on any network, and drove around town thru hills and valleys (San Fran) and steel/concrete structures (San Fran and NY), you would have the same drop rate.
Physics is physics. Wireless signals do not like to propagate through steel, concrete, tinted windows, passing Semi's, etc.
The two biggest complaint areas are NY and San Fran. I bet if you took any phone, on any network, and drove around town thru hills and valleys (San Fran) and steel/concrete structures (San Fran and NY), you would have the same drop rate.
Physics is physics. Wireless signals do not like to propagate through steel, concrete, tinted windows, passing Semi's, etc.
In my opinion, I think that at&t should focus on spreading their 3g network to cities like the one that I live in, where there are at least 100,000 people residing in, rather than putting towers up on every street corner in NYC. It pisses me off that we pay the same price for phone service, yet we cant even take advantage of the 3g speeds. NYC has had 3g service for 5 years, yet we don't even have reliable EDGE service.