I was just wondering how the service in san diego is for att esp with using the iphone 4, im moving there soon and debating weather to stick with att or not, love the iphone but i dont want it if the area is dropping calls or lacks good coverage. thanks!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
At&t in San Diego
- Thread starter xvariant
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I was in SD for a few weeks at the end of may (la jolla) and reception there was really awesome. 3G speeds out there were really good on my 3GS (3.5 mbit down) and I didn't have any dropped calls or "searching..." or "no service" the entire time i was there.
Then I came back to NY and it was back to 200 kbps download speeds and not being able to make calls or send text messages even with 5 bars of 3G.
I live in North County San Diego AT&T service is great here. No complaints I drop a call about once a year and have 3G pretty much everywhere. I also have a sprint phone for work and I would say my iPhoneon AT&T gets better reception then sprint.
I've been on AT&T here in San Diego since the first iPhone in 2007. I was a Verizon customer before then. I don't know if Verizon has improved their San Diego coverage since 2007, but, when I switched I found AT&T's coverage to be an IMPROVEMENT over Verizon.
We travel a bit (by car) and I've taken my iPhones through about 3/4 of the states west of the Mississippi. San Diego County is a sweet place to own an iPhone.
Mark
We travel a bit (by car) and I've taken my iPhones through about 3/4 of the states west of the Mississippi. San Diego County is a sweet place to own an iPhone.
Mark
I live in Downtown SD, but work up in LA. The difference is huge! San Diego appears to have excellent AT&T service (at least where I live in SD) - just did a full test over this past weekend. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Los Angeles which HAS gotten better in the last couple of years, but I drop calls all the time in LA and have EDGE more than 3G it seems.
The best bet is to wait until you arrive in SD and sign up with a 30 day trial. That way you can be sure that the service works where you live and work, and won't be tied to a contract until it makes sense.
The best bet is to wait until you arrive in SD and sign up with a 30 day trial. That way you can be sure that the service works where you live and work, and won't be tied to a contract until it makes sense.
More of the same here. I live in Oceanside (~40 miles north of San Diego downtown) and have a strong enough 3G signal where I live that I'm beginning to worry about my ability to reproduce. I can pull 2.5 Mbps or more all day long on my iP4 from the house.
I work in the heart downtown San Diego (a word of advice: the commute sucks - don't do like I do!), and on the 2nd floor of my high-rise I get a signal that bounces between 4 & 5 bars all day long, with decent performance (1.5+ Mbps). Outdoors though, 3G is rock-solid.
Rural areas surrounding San Diego are hit-and-miss; sometimes AT&T is better, sometimes Verizon wins. Besides locations already noted, the two AT&T dead zones I routinely encounter are:
* Interstate 5 near the Sassafras Street southbound offramp (extremely small; just enough to drop an in-progress call - AT&T only).
* Coaster/Amtrak route north of Pacific Beach as the line heads inland toward Miramar (about 1 mile service void - all carriers)
I can pull 2.5 Mbps or more all day long on my iP4 from the house.I work in the heart downtown San Diego (a word of advice: the commute sucks - don't do like I do!), and on the 2nd floor of my high-rise I get a signal that bounces between 4 & 5 bars all day long, with decent performance (1.5+ Mbps). Outdoors though, 3G is rock-solid.
Rural areas surrounding San Diego are hit-and-miss; sometimes AT&T is better, sometimes Verizon wins. Besides locations already noted, the two AT&T dead zones I routinely encounter are:
* Interstate 5 near the Sassafras Street southbound offramp (extremely small; just enough to drop an in-progress call - AT&T only).
* Coaster/Amtrak route north of Pacific Beach as the line heads inland toward Miramar (about 1 mile service void - all carriers)
More of the same here. I live in Oceanside (~40 miles north of San Diego downtown) and have a strong enough 3G signal where I live that I'm beginning to worry about my ability to reproduce.
I work in the heart downtown San Diego (a word of advice: the commute sucks - don't do like I do!), and on the 2nd floor of my high-rise I get a signal that bounces between 4 & 5 bars all day long, with decent performance (1.5+ Mbps). Outdoors though, 3G is rock-solid.
OOOO-SIDE!
Seriously though that commute blows!
I live near USD and lived near UCSD. I travel from downtown up to Carlsbad and east to El Cajon and pretty much anywhere in the county is good. I've NEVER had a dropped call before. Drove out to Vegas also and reception was excellent.
You aren't kiddin', but at least we have awesome cell service while stuck in the parking lot otherwise known as the I-5 coastal corridor!
Whereabouts are you in O'side? I'm down in the SLR river valley, near the Oceanside Municipal airport.
Yup, as noted above San Diego is the most reliable AT&T city I have seen. Much better than LA or SF by far.
Just did a speed test on 3G for fun, 3Mb down, 500kbs up. Only times I have gotten dropped calls is when I am in some sort of prohibitive structure (concrete basement or something), or FAR east San Diego out in the boonies where they barely have running water.
Just did a speed test on 3G for fun, 3Mb down, 500kbs up. Only times I have gotten dropped calls is when I am in some sort of prohibitive structure (concrete basement or something), or FAR east San Diego out in the boonies where they barely have running water.
this is amazing. i live in san diego and by my home AND work the service is HORRIBLE!!!! when i drive down the 5 from mission bay - coronado, I drop a call probably 5 times. I have MOVISTAR or TELCEL at work and when I am at home in national city it doesnt ring and I have to hang out the window of my second floor bedroom to get service! wish I was in the rest of your shoes!
Apart from my house (really) service all around SD is fine.
My house must be some kind of faraday cage since neither Verizon or AT&T work well here and calls drop all the time. In fact, I regularly see no bars and the "Searching..." indicator. My battery drains quickly at home trying to lock onto a cell tower. 100 feet away from my house and I get signal back. I should probably get a microcell, but it annoys me that AT&T want to charge mr money to plug a hole in their network, so I've held off.
My house must be some kind of faraday cage since neither Verizon or AT&T work well here and calls drop all the time. In fact, I regularly see no bars and the "Searching..." indicator. My battery drains quickly at home trying to lock onto a cell tower. 100 feet away from my house and I get signal back. I should probably get a microcell, but it annoys me that AT&T want to charge mr money to plug a hole in their network, so I've held off.
Ahh... Coronado... I worked there for 10 years, 8 of which while I was on Verizon and 2 of which while I was on AT&T with the iPhone (2G and 3G). Coverage for both services in Coronado can be spotty at times. But I think this has more to do with over saturation (density) than with bad coverage. It seems every child older than 5 has a cell phone in Coronado. And when the iPhone was released, it seemed like half the cell phones in Coronado were iPhones. I'd have 4-5 bars of signal but still couldn't place a call. It was especially bad during the hours of 6am - 3pm M-F. That's when population of the island rose dramatically thanks to the naval base. Too many people with cell phones in too small of an area.
Also, the San Diego/Coronado Bay Bridge has a nice dead zone smack dab in the middle. But, until they put a cell antenna ON the bridge, there's not much you can do about that.
Mark
Also, the San Diego/Coronado Bay Bridge has a nice dead zone smack dab in the middle. But, until they put a cell antenna ON the bridge, there's not much you can do about that.
Mark
Totally agree. I live in Encinitas with wonderful reception and really, stellar service at both the new Apple store (border of Carlsbad and Encinitas) and the AT&T store about 200 yards away from Apple.
I'm in Mira Mesa and have great coverage. I don't talk on the phone all that much for long periods so I can't comment on dropping calls, but in terms of 3g service, fantastic. Haven't had a problem and I'm out and about all over the city.
Reason why I never understood the whole at&t sucks thing. I mean, don't all carriers pretty much suck at some point?
Reason why I never understood the whole at&t sucks thing. I mean, don't all carriers pretty much suck at some point?