Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Data Outage - West Michigan

F

Foamer

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 27, 2008
110
0
Have had 5 bars of service, but no data. I am able to make calls just fine, but the edge or 3g icon does not show up and data wont work.

It has been down since 11pm last night. Every once in a while the edge icon will pop up for about 30 seconds, but then instantly goes away for several more hours.

This crap is ridiculous, just like the last outage they had that caused most of the country to lose service for a day.


Any other west-siders having data issues right now? I am in Grand Haven BTW.
 
UPDATE:

Just talked with a technician down the road working on a tower. There IS a widespread outage across West Michigan, and there is NO ETA on service restoration. From what he told me, it is a single point of failure, just like the last major outage. Why the heck don't they build some redundancy into the network?

I was pissed, but excited at the same time when only the data went down, hoping we were being upgraded to 3g (Holland, MI got it a couple weeks ago), but that does not appear to be the case.

Apparently living in a huge tourist destination does not warrant 3g.


Anyone else without data service today?
 
I'm more up north, near Traverse City, and I have full bars with data service (edge)... so it doesn't look like it's affecting us up here at all
 
Going on 17 hours now with no data service. the tech guy is not at any of the towers in the area now. Not sure if they gave up for the day or what. I can go 1/8th mile and get edge from another tower, but not here.

it is REALLY upsetting me, since I use my phone heavily for work, and have not been able to do a damn thing all day today.
 
Four days later, still no data service. Dont see a damn AT&T truck around the tower either (And every time I call AT&T, they say they are actively trying to fix it.)

It is going on 120 hours with no data service at all. Do you guys think it is worth throwing a fit and try to get a credit from them since I cannot use their service?

I can go a few miles in either direction and get edge data, but nothing right here in my loft downtown in a very busy tourist destination.

Still getting 5 bars and can make voice calls just fine, just the data is gone (no edge or 3g).

I am REALLY beginning to get pissed off about this.
 
I feel for you guys out there, I went to Western Michigan University, and I know how bad the reception can be at times. I thought Alltel was the big provider in western Michigan, so maybe AT&T doesn't have too many towers out there. Still sucks, though.
 
Foamer said:
Four days later, still no data service. Dont see a damn AT&T truck around the tower either (And every time I call AT&T, they say they are actively trying to fix it.)

It is going on 120 hours with no data service at all. Do you guys think it is worth throwing a fit and try to get a credit from them since I cannot use their service?

I can go a few miles in either direction and get edge data, but nothing right here in my loft downtown in a very busy tourist destination.

Still getting 5 bars and can make voice calls just fine, just the data is gone (no edge or 3g).

I am REALLY beginning to get pissed off about this.
Click to expand...


I would from the way it sounds you could probably get some freebies if you make a big enough deal.
 
Daiden said:
I feel for you guys out there, I went to Western Michigan University, and I know how bad the reception can be at times. I thought Alltel was the big provider in western Michigan, so maybe AT&T doesn't have too many towers out there. Still sucks, though.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I currently go to WMU and didn't notice any issues. Sucks that you're still without service, hopefully it's not too much of a burden.
 
east side is good!

Sorry though I know allot of people on the west side. It can be difficult at times there. I'm in Southfeild,MI here and I'm not even using the Data plan much now since I sold my 8gb 3G. using a old nokia that barely checks mail. try to get a credit from AT&T at least inconvenience. though it probably only be a few bucks. :(
 
Hope they get it fixed before I get my phone and before I head to my inlaw's home near Kalamazoo.
:D

















Seriously though...that sucks.
 
Still out!

Just called AT&T. They denied any problems in this area recently (although friday they told me there was in fact an outage.)

I can go 2 miles in either direction and get data fine.

Here at my place, since wednesday, I have only been able to get 5 bars of voice, and no data.

They insist it is the iphone. Took it to apple, they insist it is at&t (which it is).

This is total BS.
 
FINALLY got some sort of data back. Only GPRS, but it is better than nothing.

After politely arguing with AT&T, they say they will NOT give me a credit of any sort for the 5 days I was without service.

I am pissed, and will most likely be unlocking and transferring over to t-mobile.

I don't get 3g here anyway, so there is no major loss going to t-mobile.
 
Wow, that stinks. Good thing the semester is over at GVSU or they're be a bunch of unhappy Lakers.

Yeah, I'd b*tch to AT&T. They should be something for you - good luck.
 
i understand the frustration that may have ensued during these 5 days, but im not sure that alone would warrant you to get as upset as you got...i certainly don't think it warrants a switch of carriers, but thats just me.

do you not have wifi in your home? If you do, i don't see how this could be a problem.

and for 5 days without data, i dont exactly know what kind of consolation you wanted from att...it was only five days, and during that time they were trying to fix it...i wouldn't expect them to give you a months free service, or an out for your contract (so you can get the 3G S at the subsidized price :eek:...kidding)

anyways, i get your frustration...maybe i just don't get as mad as some people
 
Foamer said:
FINALLY got some sort of data back. Only GPRS, but it is better than nothing.

After politely arguing with AT&T, they say they will NOT give me a credit of any sort for the 5 days I was without service.

I am pissed, and will most likely be unlocking and transferring over to t-mobile.

I don't get 3g here anyway, so there is no major loss going to t-mobile.
Click to expand...

I'm amazed they offered you no credit of any kind. I would think they'd at least throw a $10 credit your way for that crap.
 
actorkid said:
i understand the frustration that may have ensued during these 5 days, but im not sure that alone would warrant you to get as upset as you got...i certainly don't think it warrants a switch of carriers, but thats just me.

do you not have wifi in your home? If you do, i don't see how this could be a problem.

and for 5 days without data, i dont exactly know what kind of consolation you wanted from att...it was only five days, and during that time they were trying to fix it...i wouldn't expect them to give you a months free service, or an out for your contract (so you can get the 3G S at the subsidized price :eek:...kidding)

anyways, i get your frustration...maybe i just don't get as mad as some people
Click to expand...

Really....? You don't get it?!?!?! If he didn't have wifi, he's got every right to be upset. If this had been NY, LA or Chicago and they were out of service for 5 days there would be h*ell to pay. Lucky for AT&T it was Grand Haven / West Michigan. Probably a lot of people from Chicago visiting there last weekend anyway....

If my Comcast cable is out for more than a day they'd offer me (I wouldn't have to ask) a credit. This didn't sound like an iPhone issue but a AT&T issue and every data user would be effected. If it was isolated to say Ottawa county they're probably 250,000 people. If it was just Grand Haven then about 15,000 people. If you argued AT&T holds 25% market share there (its probably higher) then its 3,750 phones (based on the fact there are as many or more phones than people in the US). Thats a good sized outage. Again, its not Chicago or NY but with 3700 customers with no data service for 5 days, its a pretty big deal. If that was your only data connection, it'd be a big deal. Outages are bound to come up, but 5 days?!?!? It shouldn't matter if it were NY or Grand Haven... AT&T should take care of their customers.
 
ckurt25 said:
Really....? You don't get it?!?!?! If he didn't have wifi, he's got every right to be upset. If this had been NY, LA or Chicago and they were out of service for 5 days there would be h*ell to pay. Lucky for AT&T it was Grand Haven / West Michigan. Probably a lot of people from Chicago visiting there last weekend anyway....

If my Comcast cable is out for more than a day they'd offer me (I wouldn't have to ask) a credit. This didn't sound like an iPhone issue but a AT&T issue and every data user would be effected. If it was isolated to say Ottawa county they're probably 250,000 people. If it was just Grand Haven then about 15,000 people. If you argued AT&T holds 25% market share there (its probably higher) then its 3,750 phones (based on the fact there are as many or more phones than people in the US). Thats a good sized outage. Again, its not Chicago or NY but with 3700 customers with no data service for 5 days, its a pretty big deal. If that was your only data connection, it'd be a big deal. Outages are bound to come up, but 5 days?!?!? It shouldn't matter if it were NY or Grand Haven... AT&T should take care of their customers.
Click to expand...


I don't have wifi at home (only have my 24" imac hard wired), and I use my phone for work several times each day, so it was a MAJOR inconvenience for me to not have data service.

Grand Haven is most likely not on the top of AT&T's priority list due to the extremely low local population. What many don't realize is while the census may say grand haven has a low population, it is one of the top tourist destinations in the region (even more so now with higher gas prices). Right now, the streets are PACKED with tourists from Chicago and other major cities. I am almost scared to see what AT&T does when 4th of July or Coast Guard Festival comes around and there are hundreds of thousands of people in town each day. Last year service was pretty much crippled due to the demand.


Anyways, back on topic...

After talking with AT&T politely but firmly, they refused to issue a credit, and basically blamed the whole incident on my phone (which it was not). I am NOT a happy camper. If something like this happens again, I am unlocking and switching to T-Mobile.
 
ckurt25 said:
Really....? You don't get it?!?!?! If he didn't have wifi, he's got every right to be upset. If this had been NY, LA or Chicago and they were out of service for 5 days there would be h*ell to pay. Lucky for AT&T it was Grand Haven / West Michigan. Probably a lot of people from Chicago visiting there last weekend anyway....

If my Comcast cable is out for more than a day they'd offer me (I wouldn't have to ask) a credit. This didn't sound like an iPhone issue but a AT&T issue and every data user would be effected. If it was isolated to say Ottawa county they're probably 250,000 people. If it was just Grand Haven then about 15,000 people. If you argued AT&T holds 25% market share there (its probably higher) then its 3,750 phones (based on the fact there are as many or more phones than people in the US). Thats a good sized outage. Again, its not Chicago or NY but with 3700 customers with no data service for 5 days, its a pretty big deal. If that was your only data connection, it'd be a big deal. Outages are bound to come up, but 5 days?!?!? It shouldn't matter if it were NY or Grand Haven... AT&T should take care of their customers.
Click to expand...

i honestly see where the anger comes from...but it wasn't even a whole county, just a two mile radius says the OP. That two mile radius just happened to be where the OP lived. Now I don't know anyone who doesn't have some sort of internet connection in their home. I also don't know anyone who would rather use their iPhone for data usage in their home than an actual internet connection on an actual computer. So essentially, the OP only had no data when he/she was at home, but had perfectly fine data once he/she left home.

Again, i completely understand why you would be angry if this happened, and i dont think that you don't deserve SOME sort of acknowledgement from att for dealing with such an obstacle....I just don't know what more you would expect att to do, and I don't think it's THAT big of a deal, given the circumstance.

No disrespect, just my view...
 
Foamer said:
I don't have wifi at home (only have my 24" imac hard wired), and I use my phone for work several times each day, so it was a MAJOR inconvenience for me to not have data service.

Grand Haven is most likely not on the top of AT&T's priority list due to the extremely low local population. What many don't realize is while the census may say grand haven has a low population, it is one of the top tourist destinations in the region (even more so now with higher gas prices). Right now, the streets are PACKED with tourists from Chicago and other major cities. I am almost scared to see what AT&T does when 4th of July or Coast Guard Festival comes around and there are hundreds of thousands of people in town each day. Last year service was pretty much crippled due to the demand.
Click to expand...

Hey small world, I'm living in North Muskegon with my mom for the summer. I have an iPhone 3G and haven't had any data problems though. I was in Grand Haven Thursday evening and still had 5 bars of EDGE. Weird.

Try going to Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings. This basically will reestablish your connection to the at&t network. It could work.

On a side note, it is absolute BS that the west coast doesn't have 3G. Muskegon has what, a population of 50K now? Plus as you said, there are so so many tourists that visit this area. The Summer Celebration is coming into town at the end of this month, and that always draws in loads of people from all over.
 
uiop. said:
Hey small world, I'm living in North Muskegon with my mom for the summer. I have an iPhone 3G and haven't had any data problems though. I was in Grand Haven Thursday evening and still had 5 bars of EDGE. Weird.

Try going to Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings. This basically will reestablish your connection to the at&t network. It could work.

On a side note, it is absolute BS that the west coast doesn't have 3G. Muskegon has what, a population of 50K now? Plus as you said, there are so so many tourists that visit this area. The Summer Celebration is coming into town at the end of this month, and that always draws in loads of people from all over.
Click to expand...


Yeah, Holland just got 3g, but the coverage ends at 31 and Lk. Michigan Drive (a whopping 5 miles from Grand Haven) With the HUGE amount of tourists from big cities like Chicago, you would think they would have 3g here.

If you come down to Grand Haven again sometime, send me a PM and I can get you a behind the scenes tour of the musical fountain if you want.


EDIT: it is weird that you were getting service thursday, unless you were in one of the few areas of town that still had data. I live right downtown in a loft a half block from the waterfront.

I also tried everything right down to restoring the phone and setting up as a new phone to no avail.
 
Foamer said:
Yeah, Holland just got 3g, but the coverage ends at 31 and Lk. Michigan Drive (a whopping 5 miles from Grand Haven) With the HUGE amount of tourists from big cities like Chicago, you would think they would have 3g here.

If you come down to Grand Haven again sometime, send me a PM and I can get you a behind the scenes tour of the musical fountain if you want.


EDIT: it is weird that you were getting service thursday, unless you were in one of the few areas of town that still had data. I live right downtown in a loft a half block from the waterfront.

I also tried everything right down to restoring the phone and setting up as a new phone to no avail.
Click to expand...

Oh wow you work for that thing? How cool. I can remember going to see it with my grandfather as a little kid when he had a condo nearby (Boardwalk Condominiums). I'll might take you up on that offer sometime.

I was at family's house on the Grand River and got service just fine. In fact, I remember googleing something for someone while I was there, so I know it was working. Maybe that area was unaffected? Weird. At&t needs to get their act together. It'd be nice to have 3G before they start rolling out the 4G/LTE network. :eek:

I might be eating lunch down there Thursday or Friday afternoon so I'll let you know if I get any data.
 
uiop. said:
Oh wow you work for that thing? How cool. I can remember going to see it with my grandfather as a little kid when he had a condo nearby (Boardwalk Condominiums). I'll might take you up on that offer sometime.

I was at family's house on the Grand River and got service just fine. In fact, I remember googleing something for someone while I was there, so I know it was working. Maybe that area was unaffected? Weird. At&t needs to get their act together. It'd be nice to have 3G before they start rolling out the 4G/LTE network. :eek:

I might be eating lunch down there Thursday or Friday afternoon so I'll let you know if I get any data.
Click to expand...


I finally have Edge back.


As for the fountain, I have been posting videos up here: http://www.youtube.com/user/GHMFshows

I set up the camera occasionally when I am up there on the hill.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back