Leaving AT&T due to poor coverage with iP5, opinions?

[j.dstasio]

I have been an AT&T customer since the first iPhone in 2007. Since upgrading to the iPhone 5, my partner and I have had problems with coverage at home. In order to make calls we either have to walk to the end of the driveway, or go up to the 2nd floor and not move around while on the phone. Any other time we get “call failed”. Our text messages are delayed for days & sometimes we just never get them. I have tried to resolve the issue by replacing devices, sim cards, resetting settings, restoring, etc. I have spent countless hours working with At&t tech support. We believe it is a problem specifically with the iPhone 5s & our location in particular. My daughters dumb phone makes calls fine.

After trying to get this sorted out and not getting anywhere we have decided we have to make a change of some sort. I am looking for opinions. I have a few options…

1. Leave at&t and switch to Verizon. I am going to lose unlimited data, but I believe Verizon has LTE in my home area (At&t did not).
2. Leave at&t and go to a prepaid plan. No LTE coverage, but can keep unlimited data w/ a $80-$90/ month savings
3. Keep at&t and get a micro cell. Paying for additional equipment to use a service I’m already paying for really irritates me and almost isn’t an option .
4. Keep At&t , sell the iPhone 5s and go back to using an iPhone 4S. This option would almost certainly make me go prepaid since I would not have LTE capability anyways.

Anyone have an opinion on what they would do or have an option I haven’t thought of yet?

 

[lelisa13p]

IIRC, last year AT&T was giving (unpublicized and at no charge) some subscribers a micro cell when they had exhausted every other solution and service still remained unsatisfactory. I'd think you might ask them about this, given that your previous service was fine and the daughter's dumb phone is still fine. Remind them that you have been a good customer since 2007 and are just looking for some relief for your situation; stress that you'd really hate to have to leave but you also don't want to have to pay extra to fix something that worked well previously. Considering that you signed new contracts for those iPhone 5s, you'd like to try the micro cell as a last resort.

Be really nice, yet insistent. Wheedle.

 

[LapsangSouchong]

I switched to Verizon due to poor signal. I lasted 1.5 weeks and switched back to AT&T.
For ME the trade off between a better signal and no simultaneous voice/data was the key.

I had no idea how much I relied on simultaneous voice/data. If you do a lot while on the phone, think twice. If that's not an issue, then you might be okay. You're coming from AT&T which means you've always had it, and take it for granted....

ps: I use a microcell at work. That makes up for most deficiencies, for me.

 

[PNutts]

Have you reported both phones in the same support call? Back when I managed mobile devices at work I had the vendor relationship with AT&T. Even with that, if I reported one phone having an issue it was "my" issue. When I reported two or more phones having the same issue then AT&T would listen. When you call support, if you're not getting anywhere escalate the call to a duty manager.

 

[ixodes]

I've enjoyed stellar reception, voice quality & connectivity with AT&T over a twelve year period. I've used at least 20 different feature & smartphones. The difference from one to the other has been minimal.

The one exception is the two iPhone 5's I owned. Each have been a bit poor. Not unusable, yet quite noticeable. That's not a knock on iP5, just the facts.

My wife's Galaxy S III is crystal clear, as is my Galaxy Nexus. While no help, I just thought I'd check in & share my experience.

For what it's worth I'm currently enjoying & appreciating my iPhone 4S more than ever. My iPhone 5 is doing quite well on the shelf

 

[j.dstasio]

Thanks for the replies.

The last time I called I did call with both phones, which did seem to make some headway with making At&t realize there was an issue. Before then, it was just suggested I reset settings, or reboot the phone. The last time I called I had already replaced both sim cards, and the phones themselves.

I have had ZERO luck getting a micro cell from At&t. I have tried several times in the past as well as this time around. We have always had marginal signal at my home. Up until we upgraded, we just had the minor annoyance of occasional dropped calls or no service on rare occasion. The last time that I called with both phones unable to make a call, they agreed that a micro cell would help, but were unwilling to send me one without me paying for it.

Out of principal I don't want the burden of a micro cell to fall on me. I already pay for cell phone service. Using that service shouldn't be dependent on me purchasing additional equipment, providing a broadband connection and powering a separate device.

 

[superstardj]

I have been an AT&T customer since the first iPhone in 2007. Since upgrading to the iPhone 5, my partner and I have had problems with coverage at home. In order to make calls we either have to walk to the end of the driveway, or go up to the 2nd floor and not move around while on the phone. Any other time we get “call failed”. Our text messages are delayed for days & sometimes we just never get them. I have tried to resolve the issue by replacing devices, sim cards, resetting settings, restoring, etc. I have spent countless hours working with At&t tech support. We believe it is a problem specifically with the iPhone 5s & our location in particular. My daughters dumb phone makes calls fine.

After trying to get this sorted out and not getting anywhere we have decided we have to make a change of some sort. I am looking for opinions. I have a few options…

1. Leave at&t and switch to Verizon. I am going to lose unlimited data, but I believe Verizon has LTE in my home area (At&t did not).
2. Leave at&t and go to a prepaid plan. No LTE coverage, but can keep unlimited data w/ a $80-$90/ month savings
3. Keep at&t and get a micro cell. Paying for additional equipment to use a service I’m already paying for really irritates me and almost isn’t an option .
4. Keep At&t , sell the iPhone 5s and go back to using an iPhone 4S. This option would almost certainly make me go prepaid since I would not have LTE capability anyways.

Anyone have an opinion on what they would do or have an option I haven’t thought of yet?

The same thing happened to me (except we had 4s iPhones) and after about 3 hours on the phone with them I got them to waive the ETF for both lines!!

I had better service than you but it still wasn't great, they suggested a microcell but i told them my Internet wasn't fast enough (lie, but I know people that live close and the mc doesn't help)

So they agreed to let us out of contract for no penalty (and we were a good 2 months into our contract). Of course when we called back to verify they gave us the runaround and we had to talk to them for another hour or so.

When they agreed to that, we took our 4s to Verizon, traded them in (got like 250 each) and I got a 5, the wife a 4s.

Go with Verizon especially if the have LTE!!!