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Bad AT&T Service - Any words of advice?

W

wolfpackfan

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 10, 2007
1,549
16
Cary, NC
What do you do when you are getting absolutely horrendous AT&T service but still like your iPhone. Both my wife and myself have iPhone 3G's. We can not make or receive any calls in our house. Most times we just have 1 bar and quite often we have "no service". The funny thing is we can drive a couple of blocks away and have fine service. When either phone rings we typically have to walk outside to talk. If we stay in the house the call drops within 20-30 seconds of receiving it. Even walking outside calls drop 50% of the time. This is getting really old as we've missed several very important phone calls because of this.

I don't know what to do. I've talked to AT&T and they've placed several service reports but nothing ever changes. Do I have grounds to ask that my contract be cancelled without penalty? I hate to do this though because other than problems at our house both my wife and myself really do like our iPhones. We are both using it all the time and it works fine with my WiFi network.

One more thing - I got an email from AT&T a while back asking if I would be interested in being a beta tester for something new they are testing. It is a micro cell tower that you put in your house and it connects thru your WiFi network. I will be testing it during the month of July. It will be interesting to see if this improves our reception any. Has anyone heard of this type device? Unfortunately the test is just for a month, so come August we'll be back like we are now.
 
wolfpackfan said:
What do you do when you are getting absolutely horrendous AT&T service but still like your iPhone. Both my wife and myself have iPhone 3G's. We can not make or receive any calls in our house. Most times we just have 1 bar and quite often we have "no service". The funny thing is we can drive a couple of blocks away and have fine service. When either phone rings we typically have to walk outside to talk. If we stay in the house the call drops within 20-30 seconds of receiving it. Even walking outside calls drop 50% of the time. This is getting really old as we've missed several very important phone calls because of this.

I don't know what to do. I've talked to AT&T and they've placed several service reports but nothing ever changes. Do I have grounds to ask that my contract be cancel without penalty? I hate to do this though because other than problems at our house both my wife and myself really do like our iPhones. We are both using it all the time and it works fine with my WiFi network.

One more thing - I got an email from AT&T a while back asking if I would be interested in being a beta tester for something new they are testing. It is a micro cell tower that you put in your house and it connects thru your WiFI network. I will be testing it during the month of July. It will be interesting to see if this improves our reception any. Has anyone heard of this type device? Unfortunately the test is just for a month, so come August we'll be back like we are now.
Click to expand...

I don’t think they are going to let you cancel for bad service unless your in the 30-day window in which you can cancel and return the phone minus a re-stocking fee. I would say though to hold tight, especially if they are letting you test out the femtocell which is supposed to work pretty good from early indications and has been discussed here in other threads. Maybe, as a bonus for your troubles, they’ll let you keep the unit after the trial is over?

Good Luck!
 
jrotunda85 said:
Maybe, as a bonus for your troubles, they’ll let you keep the unit after the trial is over?

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Actually they said I could keep the unit after the test, but I just figured the service itself would stop working. Hope I'm wrong. I'm really anxious to give this a try.
 
wolfpackfan said:
Thanks loads.
Click to expand...

Your quite welcome and even though they don’t mention AT&T-specific pricing, I know some have adopted a model whereby you pay for the unit and there isn’t a monthly service charge, so maybe you won’t have to pay for the unit or the service! :)
 
wolfpackfan said:
What do you do when you are getting absolutely horrendous AT&T service but still like your iPhone. Both my wife and myself have iPhone 3G's. We can not make or receive any calls in our house. Most times we just have 1 bar and quite often we have "no service". The funny thing is we can drive a couple of blocks away and have fine service. When either phone rings we typically have to walk outside to talk. If we stay in the house the call drops within 20-30 seconds of receiving it. Even walking outside calls drop 50% of the time. This is getting really old as we've missed several very important phone calls because of this.

I don't know what to do. I've talked to AT&T and they've placed several service reports but nothing ever changes. Do I have grounds to ask that my contract be cancelled without penalty? I hate to do this though because other than problems at our house both my wife and myself really do like our iPhones. We are both using it all the time and it works fine with my WiFi network.

One more thing - I got an email from AT&T a while back asking if I would be interested in being a beta tester for something new they are testing. It is a micro cell tower that you put in your house and it connects thru your WiFi network. I will be testing it during the month of July. It will be interesting to see if this improves our reception any. Has anyone heard of this type device? Unfortunately the test is just for a month, so come August we'll be back like we are now.
Click to expand...

If you really press it you can get out of your contract. The reps have the power to cancel it without an ETF; you just have to be persistent.

The femtocell should solve all of your problems. My dad's an exec at AT&T and he's been raving about them. The trial may be for only one month, but eventually it be widely available. It just depends on how long you want to wait!
 
Look at your house. You might have a have a metallic coating in your roof that is there for thermal reasons.

Problems with the metal in the roof is it kills GSM cell phones. I have a good friend who house is that way. My cell is worthless in side her house and have the same problems you listed. But I step out side and I get full bars.

This is not ATT fault but your house. your only choose is to put in a device in your house that relay cell signals into the house. I think it is a 100 bucks or so all it does is just relay any wireless signal is picks up between the 2 antennas. It would solve your problems inside your house. You have to pay EIF if this is the case. Because ATT has good signal to your house but your house is blocking everything.

Your other choose is to switch over to a CDMA providing. CDMA signals are stronger than GSM
 
sounds like switch carriers or see how the microcell testing goes. Also, keep calling ATT and tell them that your service is atrocious and they keep documenting it. 2 different places I have lived had awful cell service and new towers went up several months after my calls. Whether it had anything to do with me, I'm not sure, but had good service after the new towers went in (there install was probably already planned)
 
It sounds to me like there might be some interference in your home.

Either bad electrical or wireless interference.


There is a possibility that it is the service but if your ok just outside the house that leads me to believe that it is something in the home.
 
I did a little googling. Look at getting a cell repeater put into your house. It might run 300-400 bucks but it solve your problem long term with other carriers you will have.
 
Femtocells work great. I had a Pre briefly, and got little to no service in my house so Sprint sent me a free Airave (their femtocell, which is already available.) I immediately got 5 full bars throughout my house and backyard. If it works as well as Sprint's Airave, you'll love it. I'm glad to hear that At&t is gonna start offering one, since I get spotty service in my house.
 
you are not alone concerning phones not working in your house. it actually is pretty common and not just with att. just has to do with building materials etc.

apartments for example dont have as much of a problem because walls and material are less than in a house made with whatever material its made of.

my advice: unfortunately will just have to deal with it. att wont do anything and i doubt they actually can do anything. it could be that your house is just in a weak spot to begin with and being inside only makes it worse.
 
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