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meyer1131

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2008
163
1
I have Verizon but my dad is unsure whether to switch over to ATTT because of the coverage? I am going to probably get the iPhone if we switch, is the coverage worth it? How is it compared to Verizon?
 
Depends completely on where you live.
Some places have better Verizon coverage and some have better AT&T coverage.
Post your location City/State and maybe some forum members can tell you what kind of coverage they are getting.
 
Well, with the original iPhone, I didn't make the switch, because 2G AT&T coverage is crap, IMO. Your area may be different, but I've lived in three states in the 11 years I've had a cell phone, and Verizon was light-years ahead of AT&T in each one. Those were NYC, Northeast OH, and SoCal.

So I can say that if the iPhone were available on Verizon, I'd still be with Verizon, but the iPhone 3G is worth the switch, at least here in Southern California, where AT&T's 3G coverage is good.
 
alright well i live in southern new jersey. My Dad likes the ATTT coverage cause its cheap over in Europe when he is going to go visit in October. His Verizon phone does not get that service over there. I have heard some complaints about ATTT and some of you say its great! So what so you guys think? I have an Apple store down the street from me.
 
I've used at&t coast to coast. I've also used Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Alltel and found at&t to be the most consistent.

TEG
 
Most people believe Verizon to have the best coverage, and AT&T is one of the worst from their Cingular days.

I personally have been on AT&T for the last 8 years and just stop caring. If I get disconnected, I'll call back...
 
I had Verizon for 14 years. I crossed the country by car and found it worked most everywhere. I also found it to be very weak inside some buildings I work in. It worked fine but I only used it for voice calls. I switched because I wanted to add third party medical applications. I was getting very tired of carrying a Palm device just for that.

Where I live I have better service and better voice quality now with AT&T. I also have heard they have more dead zones in our area but I have not encountered them.

My biggest complaint was the transfer process at an AT&T store. Rude, slow, and incompetent. It took phone calls and trip a back to the store to the phone connected properly. I filled out a survey and got a personal call from the store manager. She didn't offer anything but an apology but at least they showed they cared.
 
I moved from the south and I live in the northeast now. While T-mobile was great in the south, it is absolutely horrible here. AT&T has been awesome though. I get 5 bars Edge everywhere and much to my surprise, I don't get disconnected even in the ELEVATOR! I get 2-3 bars 3G unless I'm close to downtown (5 bars easy) but it's OK, it still works fast. AT&T also has rollover minutes & mobile-to-mobile w/out charging extra $ which I like. Then did I mention the FAN discount with all those awesome codes? I'm paying $20 more monthly than my regular phone plan I had before so I think it was well worth the switch.

And even though it sounds like it, I am NOT involved in anyway with AT&T. :p Steve Jobs probably made sure iPhone wasn't going to be carried by some crap company and it's true, AT&T isn't bad at all.
 
verizon does have the better coverage overall in the US but depending on where you live the att coverage will probably be just as good. if you have questions about coverage the only real way to answer the question would be to try out a phone with att in the areas you are and see if it is acceptable.
 
anyone with personal experience in the east coast area? we also travel often to Atlantic City as well as Syracuse New York. Although we live in Jersey my dad works in Washington DC so anyone have any experience there?
 
I just left Verizon (in NYC) for AT&T. So far, I love the quality and ease of calling. I talk a lot to people on the west coast, and those calls have been very clear. No lost calls yet. My friends traveling upstate have had problems with coverage in rural areas, but so did I with Verizon last spring.

However, I really like Verizon and would have stayed, unquestionably, had they gotten the iphone. But they blew it. And now they've called and tried to talk me out of switching - the fellow finally just said the iphone was a bad phone, and they'd give me $100 off any V. phone, plus hundreds of free minutes. He was imploring me to reconsider.

Whatever they're saying publicly, this intense salesmanship tells me they're hurting. There were 4 other defections in the 45 minutes I spent in the AT&T store...
 
I live in Northern NJ, right near the George Washington Bridge. I've had AT&T for about 8-9 years. I've traveled all through southern NJ and never had a problem making calls. I've actually never even questioned the service. If a call drops out now and again, i think it's just part of having a cell phone. I was always able to get back in touch with someone. Friends with Verizon have dropped calls too. The iPhone is so worth it. Their other phones are boring, i wouldn't bother otherwise.
 
The only places where I've been where I got no ATT signal unless I stood completely still was in Fredericksburg, VA at Fort A.P. Hill. Outside of that, I'm good everywhere.
 
My company cell phone is Verizon and I own an att iPhone.

I find coverage fairly comparable.

To those who think one or the other is that much better I say Pffttt to you! :D

I am a traveling salesman working a multi State territory and while there are areas better to one or the other over all there isn't much difference.
 
In the DC area, Verizon is the best. As much as I love my iPhone, I am very disappointed with both leaving Verizon and having to put up with AT&T. I live in a major metropolitan area and yet my cell phone signal is so weak or non-existent in most places I go. Verizon for example has I believe an exclusive in our subway system, thus you never lose signal when you go underground. With AT&T, I see "No Signal" so often it's ridiculous. I'm not about to pay more for 3G - I'm sticking with my 1st Gen iPhone. 3G isn't going to help my signal strength, as I witnessed at the Apple Store.
 
Absolutely... if you have coverage.

For the longest time I was on a Verizon family plan and was worried about switching to AT&T because of the additional cost (single line instead of family) and the suposedly horrible coverage. I got freaked out by all the horror stories posted on the web regarding AT&T.

A piece of advice: Ignore the horror stories. People with no life enjoy ranting about how crappy their service provider is just so they can feel superior. People feel entitled when in reality they are not. Yes, you'll find a lot of bad stuff written about AT&T on the web, but the same goes for any other carrier. All that matters is whether it works for YOU in YOUR AREA.

AT&T's coverage and customer service has been spectacular. Signal is not great when you leave metropolitan area but, honestly, why the hell should I base my purchase on if my phone works at my cabin. Coverage is overrated... if you get excellent service on a great device 90% of the time, thats far better than a carppy Verizon phone with 99% coverage. It works when I need it.

Go for it. The iPhone is amazing and absolutely worth the money. If all else fails, AT&T has a 30-day trial period.
 
Absolutely... if you have coverage.

For the longest time I was on a Verizon family plan and was worried about switching to AT&T because of the additional cost (single line instead of family) and the suposedly horrible coverage. I got freaked out by all the horror stories posted on the web regarding AT&T.

A piece of advice: Ignore the horror stories. People with no life enjoy ranting about how crappy their service provider is just so they can feel superior. People feel entitled when in reality they are not. Yes, you'll find a lot of bad stuff written about AT&T on the web, but the same goes for any other carrier. All that matters is whether it works for YOU in YOUR AREA.

AT&T's coverage and customer service has been spectacular. Signal is not great when you leave metropolitan area but, honestly, why the hell should I base my purchase on if my phone works at my cabin. Coverage is overrated... if you get excellent service on a great device 90% of the time, thats far better than a carppy Verizon phone with 99% coverage. It works when I need it.

Go for it. The iPhone is amazing and absolutely worth the money. If all else fails, AT&T has a 30-day trial period.

Exactly. There are plenty of horror stories out there about AT&T but I have not had a single bad experience with their customer service or coverage. Any issues that have shown up on a bill have been resolved with a simple phone call and, from my own experience, the agents are more than willing to work with you to solve problems.

Coverage is most likely going to be the deciding factor as to whether a switch is worth it or not.
 
Go to WalMart, purchase an AT&T go phone. Go to the places you need to make calls and test it out.

It'll cost you far less money to do this than the aggravation you'll experience if you switch and find out the coverage isn't what you need and have to switch back.

FYI in my area in Philadelphia Verizon and Sprint have it all over At&t my phone literally goes dead in my work which NEVER happened on either of the other providers. At&t absolutely sucks here. It's great outside, but in my office and in my home it can't even pick up signals. At&t seems to have nonexistent penetration :(
 
Find a friend with ATT where you live and ask them.... Also, the reception on the iPhone seems alot better than some of the cheaper phones.

ATT coverage is great in Western PA.
 
If you're looking for straight up cell coverage check the ATT map. If you're looking for data coverage...that one's up for grabs.
 
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