ATT vs Verizon Mobile Broadband Coverage -- Issue or Not?

[MacVault]

I just got a new iPhone 4 the other day. While driving through the mountains today in the Pacific northwest I noticed a lot of non-broadband areas which appear to be largely covered by Verizon's mobile broadband - at least according to VZW's mobile broadband coverage map.

So if I want to switch am I going to lose my pants on this ATT iPhone and not be able to sell it for much once the Verizon iPhone comes out?

Do you all (those of you with more iPhone experience than I) notice this to be an issue in real-world usage? Does Verizon really blow ATT away like their coverage map commercials indicate? Or is ATT really not that bad?

Also, what does it mean when my iPhone shows an "E" at the top instead of the "3G"??

Thanks.

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I just got a new iPhone 4 the other day. While driving through the mountains today in the Pacific northwest I noticed a lot of non-broadband areas which appear to be largely covered by Verizon's mobile broadband - at least according to VZW's mobile broadband coverage map.

So if I want to switch am I going to lose my pants on this ATT iPhone and not be able to sell it for much once the Verizon iPhone comes out?

Do you all (those of you with more iPhone experience than I) notice this to be an issue in real-world usage? Does Verizon really blow ATT away like their coverage map commercials indicate? Or is ATT really not that bad?

Also, what does it mean when my iPhone shows an "E" at the top instead of the "3G"??

Thanks.

The "E" means you are on the edge network, which is quite slow, but still there.

As for coverage, Verizon ha it's deadspots, just like AT&T. I've used both, and greatly prefer AT&T. Their data speeds also appear much much faster than Verizon's.

 

[kdarling]

There is no doubt that Verizon has far more geographic coverage than ATT, especially outside of populated areas.

However, there are plenty of ATT customers, so you could always sell a phone if/when Verizon got a model and you wanted to switch.

The more costly problem might be paying off a high ETF to get out of a contract, depending on how impatient you are.

 

[Fernandez21]

It really depends on where you travel. I'm in Florida and travel around from Tampa to Orlando, daytona, and Miami and there is always 3G coverage except for when I was traveling on alligator Allie through the Everglades and only had edge. The symbol stands for edge which is 2g. So yeah, check your coverage and real world use, and if your not happy return before your 30days are up. I've also used verizon and haven't noticed any difference if coverage where I am at, and at&t has much faster data speeds.