AT&T LTE in Washington, D.C.?

[aka777]

But in Manassas, I've been using AT&T plans on my iPad and iPhone with great success, no dropped calls, and almost always with 4 bars or more. Perhaps it might be different in downtown DC, but the suburbs are doing just fine. I also do a sixty mile commute each day into Fairfax and AT&T seems to work well there too.

Does AT&T have LTE in Manassas?

 

[hacksr00t]

+1 on the no issues with AT&T in the DC Metro area. Been using iphone/at&t in this area since the iphone first came out.

I picked up my IPAD AT&T version in Reston today, Drive to Chantilly was on/off LTE and when I did have LTE it was never full bars, but with 1 or 2 bars in LTE I was getting 20mbps up/down according to the iphone speedtest app.

at 5pm I drove from Chantilly to Ashburn on Rt 28.. had LTE pretty much till right before the toll road.. and so far notice there is no LTE in Ashburn at all. But constant 4G (HSPDA+) which is no big deal, @ home Ive got fios/wifi. I have had sprint and vz MIFI's throughout the past couple of years and none were as reliable as my iphone.. I got rid of both MIFI's and settled on personal Hotspot.. never turned back.

Will see how well itether works with my shinny new IPAD and unlimited data plan.

 

[bosscrab]

I think my earlier AT&T test was inaccurate. It was probably not on LTE because it just said 4G, not LTE.

At home in NW here is what I'm getting:

AT&T: 50.45mbps down, 14.19mbps up
Verizon: 4.41mbps down, 5.36mbps up

I will have to try AT&T again downtown. Very conflicted now. Would like the hotspot feature. But Verizon is getting absolutely smoked.

Have been able to test both the Verizon and AT&T Ipads in my office:

AT&T: 1.5mpbs down, 0.2 up
Verizon: 8.3mbps down, 9.1 up

I have been testing them several times from about 3pm to 7pm. I will test again at home and post again. It could be that my office just does not get good (or any) AT&T LTE coverage.

 

[vegastime]

and so far notice there is no LTE in Ashburn at all.

Disappointed there is no AT&T LTE in Ashburn. From the coverage map, it looks like Ashburn and the Dulles area are covered.

Anybody know if Verizon LTE is available in Ashburn? From what I have heard, it is pretty spotty.

 

[aneftp]

Coverage with LTE reminds me of the good old days back in early 2005 when units 3G was new to Wash DC. When I worked insider the District very good 3G signals. Anytime I moved to the closed in surburbs like Falls Church and Alexandria 3G would drop out and go to edge.

Very frustrating.

That's the growing pains of LTE coverage. Sure LTE is supposed to travel further distances but you will still get big gaps in coverage with both Verizon and AT&T. Especially with AT&T since they just started the services a few months ago.

 

[aka777]

And we all know how freakin slow AT&T is to expand or roll out anything. They launched LTE in OCT 11 in the DC area and it looks like not a single new tower in 6 months.

 

[Swampthing]

Does AT&T have LTE in Manassas?

Good question. On the map, it looks like it stretches out to Manassas, but I haven't seen the "LTE" symbol on my iPad 3 yet. Of course, my iPhone 4S always shows the 4G symbol now instead of 3G.

 

[cbronfman]

Thanks to whtrbt7 for clarifying my problems with AT&T

Verizon is better in the DC area due to government contracts and local legislature. Go with Verizon because you can even get signal in the metro. Also AT&T towers are normally located up high with no ground transponders. Government building normally have CDMA transponders on the ground or in buildings.

Thanks for clarifying this problem. I started with AT&T with the first iPhone and am still with them at present. I also use them for my iPad2. Problem is that data connection is iffy as is voice quality in and around my home (Georgetown, foot of Wisconsin, near the river). I've been frequently on the phone with AT&T and they've puzzled over the fact that there are several towers very close to me - one really within a few blocks. They finally concluded that the tower was sloped too high to spread the signal over more people further up in GT and missed me (and anyone in my general neighborhood). I know that people using Verizon (and Sprint oddly enough) have a better signal than I do. Your post explains the "Verizon factor." I think when the next iPhone is announced, I'll order an unlocked Verizon phone. If it works much better - I'll pay the ETF on AT&T. At least I now know why Verizon works better and that the problem I've had with AT&T is not going to resolve itself. Service is not terrible, it's just not what it should be. My 4S speeds a few blocks from my home are better than they are nearer my home. My speeds in lower Bethesda are better still. I suspect the advantage of Verizon will persist for quite awhile for voice and data - therefore, if I do buy the new iPad, I'll go with Verizon. And when the next iPhone comes out - I'll seriously think of switching. CS is much better on AT&T but I need coverage to be reliable at least as much.

 

[wowbachman]

AT&T vs. Verizon LTE in Fairfax-Oakton

I am torn as well...I have an original unlimited iPad plan and live in Oakton and work at the county government center in Fairfax. So far in my home and most places around Fairfax, Chantilly, Oakton, Verizon is pulling 6-12 down and 1-6 up and overall AT&T is doing about 1-3 down and usually less than 1 down...in short, Verizon is kicking butt in almost all scenarios. The only time I saw blazing speeds from AT&T is in Arlington near Ballston and a few times inside the government center, but almost everywhere else, Verizon was strongest.

So AT&T slower speeds but unlimited for $30 with no probable hot spotting for unlimited plans vs. in general faster and more pervasive coverage of Verizon with hot spotting and 2GB for $30 a month.

And yes, I purchased one of each but will have to return one by next week....a few times my original iPad on AT&T 3G turned in faster times than the 4G iPad....go explain that. What would you do?

 

[bosscrab]

It depends--where will you be using your cellular data?

At home and work probably isn't a big deal because you have access to wifi there.

My guess is that in your situation I'd switch to the Verizon plan. Unlimited data is wonderful if you have access to FAST LTE, but since you don't, you should sell your sim on craigslist and enjoy the hotspot feature on Verizon.

I am torn as well...I have an original unlimited iPad plan and live in Oakton and work at the county government center in Fairfax. So far in my home and most places around Fairfax, Chantilly, Oakton, Verizon is pulling 6-12 down and 1-6 up and overall AT&T is doing about 1-3 down and usually less than 1 down...in short, Verizon is kicking butt in almost all scenarios. The only time I saw blazing speeds from AT&T is in Arlington near Ballston and a few times inside the government center, but almost everywhere else, Verizon was strongest.

So AT&T slower speeds but unlimited for $30 with no probable hot spotting for unlimited plans vs. in general faster and more pervasive coverage of Verizon with hot spotting and 2GB for $30 a month.

And yes, I purchased one of each but will have to return one by next week....a few times my original iPad on AT&T 3G turned in faster times than the 4G iPad....go explain that. What would you do?

 

[fusion150]

Verizon LTE in Washington, DC

The service is terrible. I have the newest iPad, and more often than not when downtown, it will just spin in place while on LTE. The worst thing is, it doesn't even know its not working. I have to turn LTE off to force it to switch to 3-G, then I get Internet connectivity back.

I wish dearly I hadn't been seduced to buy a Verizon iPad on the argument that they had better service than AT&T. This is demonstrably WRONG. My old 3-G AT&T iPad worked better than this downtown. I should have stayed with AT&T. I would have had better service and a more generous data plan for the cost.

Anybody nearby want to trade?