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Carrier Finally gave up on VZW in Massachusetts

I

I_am_a_loser

macrumors Maltese
Original poster
Sep 8, 2015
199
69
Boston, MA
So long story short I was on a plan with a relative that received a discount through her employer, though come to find out there was no discount, which is a completely separate issue that needs to be investigated. Anyways, we've both made the switch to AT&T as of yesterday. We are awaiting our phones. Her 6 should arrive before my 6S, but only by a week or so. I did a bit of research after I cancelled our Verizon account and came to the conclusion based on a recent Forbes article (August '15) that AT&T was the best provider in Massachusetts. Can any fellow iPhone 6/6S users with AT&T in Massachusetts or the Greater Boston area share your experiences with the network? Thanks in advance.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hnewman/2015/08/19/the-best-wireless-networks-state-by-state/

panorama.jpg
 
I live and work in Boston and switched back to AT&T about 11 months ago. It's been significantly faster, more reliable, and cheaper in my usual usage than Verizon was.
 
Wow, seems like overall Verizon is the winner. Never been to Boston area, but am going this week. Hope my Verizon works decent. BTW....any must eat restaurant recommendations?
 
I use Cricket (AT&T MVNO) in southern NH/Greater Boston, and have also traveled pretty frequently to the Berkshires. Coverage has been fantastic with better indoor coverage than Verizon, at least where I've been. AT&T is also much better (fewer dead zones) than Verizon in the Berkshires.
 
CrockettHood said:
Wow, seems like overall Verizon is the winner. Never been to Boston area, but am going this week. Hope my Verizon works decent. BTW....any must eat restaurant recommendations?
Click to expand...

Overall VZW is the #1 wireless provider in the US, no doubt, but not by a lot. And in my particular situation it appears AT&T is the better pick. I was unaware of this until actually looking into it when switching. If you're in the North End go to Mike's Bakery. Best cannoli I've ever had. As far as restaurants go I don't eat in the city a lot, but I'm a big seafood fan and Atlantic Fish Co. in Back Bay is some of the best I've had as of yet.
 
gurase said:
I use Cricket (AT&T MVNO) in southern NH/Greater Boston, and have also traveled pretty frequently to the Berkshires. Coverage has been fantastic with better indoor coverage than Verizon, at least where I've been. AT&T is also much better (fewer dead zones) than Verizon in the Berkshires.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Thank you.
 
This seems about right. Verizon is considered to have the best network nationwide. However I had Verizon here in CT then switched to AT&T and got much better service and faster data speeds. The only states I spend a lot of time in are CT and RI and AT&T wins out in both and my experience with both providers is consistent with the chart. I remember me and my coworker both getting iPhones at the same time and him only getting 3G coverage and about 1mb/s on Verizon in our office where with AT&T I was getting LTE at 40 Mbps download.

Especially with having Unlimited Data with AT&T I won't be switching anytime soon.
 
supervelous said:
This seems about right. Verizon is considered to have the best network nationwide. However I had Verizon here in CT then switched to AT&T and got much better service and faster data speeds. The only states I spend a lot of time in are CT and RI and AT&T wins out in both and my experience with both providers is consistent with the chart.

Especially with having Unlimited Data with AT&T I won't be switching anytime soon.
Click to expand...

That's good to hear.
 
I Live in Boston and AT&T is "very" spotty in the Back Bay Area. However, it works great in the suburbs.
T-Mobile is horrible and Verizon seems to have a positive feed back from friends and colleges that live downtown.
 
I_am_a_loser said:
So long story short I was on a plan with a relative that received a discount through her employer, though come to find out there was no discount, which is a completely separate issue that needs to be investigated. Anyways, we've both made the switch to AT&T as of yesterday. We are awaiting our phones. Her 6 should arrive before my 6S, but only by a week or so. I did a bit of research after I cancelled our Verizon account and came to the conclusion based on a recent Forbes article (August '15) that AT&T was the best provider in Massachusetts. Can any fellow iPhone 6/6S users with AT&T in Massachusetts or the Greater Boston area share your experiences with the network? Thanks in advance.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hnewman/2015/08/19/the-best-wireless-networks-state-by-state/

panorama.jpg
Click to expand...

I lived in western MA for about 15 years, moved away about 4 years ago. Never had much luck with Verizon, it was OK but not great. Actually had Sprint when I moved there, but ended up with ATT for most of that time with some brief stints with Verizon. ATT definitely had the better reception.
 
That's a meaningless chart. If you look at the report, at least for the national level, there is a very slim difference between Verizon and AT&T performance in all metrics. It's a very misleading and stupid way to present the data when you "assign" a winner in each category even though the 2nd and sometimes the 3rd are almost as good. And they present themselves as applying rigorous statistical methods. May be they do, but by the way that they present the results they are throwing all that away.
 
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Why is AT&T better on text every where, i mean text is text what's the difference?
 
My experience is that best can change from street to street and building to building. I know of places where the AT&T signal is great - walk down the block and it barely exists.

Only you can really tell from exactly where you use most.
 
CrockettHood said:
Wow, seems like overall Verizon is the winner. Never been to Boston area, but am going this week. Hope my Verizon works decent. BTW....any must eat restaurant recommendations?
Click to expand...
Good restaurants around the area can be found on Yelp. If you like fried chicken, check out Bonchon in Allston or Cambridge. Definitely check out some of the good places down in Allston and shop at the Primark in Downtown lol..
 
My brother lived in Boston for 9 years and never really complained about his service on our Verizon family plan. Granted he moved up there in 2004 with a flip phone. But overall Verizon has been a good choice for us since my dad travels pretty frequently for his job, and my parents went from living in Pittsburgh to Minneapolis to Baltimore. With me living outside Kansas City and my brother in Virginia, it works out.

CrockettHood said:
Wow, seems like overall Verizon is the winner. Never been to Boston area, but am going this week. Hope my Verizon works decent. BTW....any must eat restaurant recommendations?
Click to expand...

North End has many many options if you like Italian food. Ye Olde Union Oyster House on the Freedom Trail is always worth a visit too.
 
My wife had Verizon when we moved three years ago and hated it. I had been on ATT and it was and continues to be great. We left for T-Mobile for unrelated reasons (really don't like their flip flopping on unlimited data plans and after being lied to I just had it). Service isn't as great, but it's better than Verizon was, amazingly, and we are saving about $80 a month over our att bill with the newest phones, a fourth line (we don't even use lol) and additional data. The reality is, though, ATT can't be beat in New England.
 
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