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AT&T in Chicago

I don't have any issues with service in the city. I usualy have 3-4 bars. But I will say that there are some definite distinct dead spots where you loose all service. It is wierd and kind of reminds me of those verizon commercials..."Dead Zones". You walk a block or so and low and behold you have full service again. I feel bad for people who live in those areas.
 
Like a few others in this thread, I have spotty service with my phone where I live in Chicago. It works at my office which is in West Bucktown, but not at my home which is near DePaul. I should state that it's not that calls are being dropped, but the other callers go in and out so that it's near impossible to talk to them. I just moved over from Sprint where I had spotless service.

It seems the issue is in the Lincoln Park/Lakeview area as that is where most of the people in this thread are that have problems with their signal.
 
I live on the NW side of Chicago (Jefferson Park) and my AT&T service is great. I have them for land line, internet, and iPhone.

Only time I've ever lost a call was when I ended up in a Subway tunnel.

Downtown (Streeterville) at my work it's also perfect. No interference or lost calls.
 
problem following your SIM not the phone?

You said you put your SIM in your boyfriend's phone and got the same signal as you did in your iPhone. When his SIM is in his phone is it OK? If that is the case then the trouble is following the SIM and not the iPhone.

Whoever told you that replacing the SIM never helps with reception issues is wrong. I don't know how it works, but pre-iPhone I had a Sony Ericsson with bad reception issues when commuting from Chicago to Arlington Heights. Turning the phone on and off would fix the problem but that shouldn't have been necessary. Getting a new SIM with updated carrier tower profiles fixed it.

Yes, I live in Chicago. I work in Wrigleyville but travel all over the north side on a daily basis. Wrigleyville coverage is spotty, but considering the neighborhood population doubles or triples while the bars are open or the Cubs are playing I'm not surprised. Yes, I think ATT Wireless should have a plan to combat this, mostly for data speeds.

Good luck with your problem, I hope you haven't given up on your iPhone specifically before ruling out your SIM or wireless account settings first. It's a great phone.
 
I was in Chicago over Spring Break this past week and i got phenomenal service downtown and throughout the city on my iPhone.
 
I have spent most of the afternoon talking to customer service at AT&T. I have to give them credit, their customer service is the best I've ever seen for a cell phone company. Clearly from this country and spent a lot of time looking into the issue.

They told me they think it's a bad SIM card. Have had no issues with data so far. Just pixelated voices coming in from the other end. Hopefully that fixes the issue so that I don't have to go running back to Sprint and deal with that mess.
 
spencecb said:
I would be more apt to believe this if this wasn't my second iPhone. And yes, there are definitely areas in which I do receive a perfect signal. But this does me no good when the signal drops for no reason. Like, when I am on the redline, the signal drops completely at Sheridan. Why? Who knows.
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ITs your iphone I live and work in downtown chicago and I do not think I have ever dropped below 3 bars even in buildings.


I also have parents on the southside and coverage is just as good there
 
Niwrad said:
Like a few others in this thread, I have spotty service with my phone where I live in Chicago. It works at my office which is in West Bucktown, but not at my home which is near DePaul. I should state that it's not that calls are being dropped, but the other callers go in and out so that it's near impossible to talk to them. I just moved over from Sprint where I had spotless service.

It seems the issue is in the Lincoln Park/Lakeview area as that is where most of the people in this thread are that have problems with their signal.
Click to expand...

Lincoln Park has terrible cellular service. I remember when there were numerous dead zones for no reason. They've been reduced but you'll still come across them and get crummy signal.
 
Warbrain said:
Lincoln Park has terrible cellular service. I remember when there were numerous dead zones for no reason. They've been reduced but you'll still come across them and get crummy signal.
Click to expand...

Terrible for AT&T. I've never had an issue with any other service.

I've fixed the problem somewhat by just staying on the Edge network. 3G is just too spotty for phone calls and this solution was given to me from the AT&T forum where there is a huge thread about bad service in Chicago.
 
Lawrence and Ravenswood here - AT&T's signal went from no-3G to so bad even 2G didn't work. Tried 3 different phones, then dumped them for T-Mobile. The G1 may be an ugly second-best but at least it actually works. (Obviously if you already have an iPhone and a contract this isn't much help. :( )
 
3G crawls in Chicago...it's almost unusable compared to other big cities I have been in...have to turn on Edge and it works ten times better
 
Scooty Puff Jr. said:
Lawrence and Ravenswood here - AT&T's signal went from no-3G to so bad even 2G didn't work. Tried 3 different phones, then dumped them for T-Mobile. The G1 may be an ugly second-best but at least it actually works. (Obviously if you already have an iPhone and a contract this isn't much help. :( )
Click to expand...

The fact that your T-Mobile phone even works in Chicago is a miracle. No signal in buildings, bad reception...at&t is still the best GSM in Chicago.
 
Scooty Puff Jr. said:
Lawrence and Ravenswood here - AT&T's signal went from no-3G to so bad even 2G didn't work. Tried 3 different phones, then dumped them for T-Mobile. The G1 may be an ugly second-best but at least it actually works. (Obviously if you already have an iPhone and a contract this isn't much help. :( )
Click to expand...

I'm past the 30 days so I'm wondering if I can get out of the contract. I mean if the service doesn't work as advertised, can they really hold me to it?
 
Warbrain said:
The fact that your T-Mobile phone even works in Chicago is a miracle. No signal in buildings, bad reception...at&t is still the best GSM in Chicago.
Click to expand...

I don't know. After doing a lot of research the past week or so on carriers in Chicago, I've seen more complaints about AT&T than anyone else (at least recent complaints). I have multiple friends using Verizon that have never had a problem at all. Two friends with T-Mobile have had some minor complaints about an occasional dropped call, but nothing like a lot of us are experiencing with AT&T.

Would also mention that I was in Gainesville, Florida shortly after purchasing the phone and could hardly get reception at all either.
 
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