Consistently stronger EDGE signal than 3G in SF Bay Area?

[Derek87]

i presume i'm not the only one...

i know in practice bars mean nothing, and as long as the threshold is reached, one can keep their call and not have it dropped. but i've lately been experimenting with when i'm in a region where i drop to 1 bar...if i switch to EDGE (ie, 3G off), i always get a strong signal (most times 4-5 bars).

is this basically an overcrowded network issue where most people aren't on EDGE so that has more room for phone calls?

(i have occasionally dropped calls on 3G but thus far in my using EDGE for the past couple of weeks, i have zero dropped calls)

 

[TheGarreth]

I definitely notice - I live in the South Bay and I keep 3G turned off 90% of the time, for a few reasons.
I notice that because the 3G signal is so weak in most areas around here that my battery drains a little faster searching for signal on 3G - and really, call quality on Edge is just as good, if not better, than on 3G. The only reason I really need/use 3G is for data/surfing; so if I'm somewhere with WiFi (which I am most of the time), I keep the network set on Edge. If I'm out & about with no Wifi, I turn on 3G.

 

[Derek87]

I definitely notice - I live in the South Bay and I keep 3G turned off 90% of the time, for a few reasons.
I notice that because the 3G signal is so weak in most areas around here that my battery drains a little faster searching for signal on 3G - and really, call quality on Edge is just as good, if not better, than on 3G. The only reason I really need/use 3G is for data/surfing; so if I'm somewhere with WiFi (which I am most of the time), I keep the network set on Edge. If I'm out & about with no Wifi, I turn on 3G.

good to know (i think) i'm not the only one...

that's certainly becoming my routine since as you suggest, i seem to save battery by leaving off 3G when i don't need 3G data.

of course, maybe we shouldn't advertise it lest the 2G towers starting getting too full! :