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Switching...anyone regret dropping Verizon?

makismagoo99

makismagoo99

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 17, 2006
229
0
So I know Verizon's network is better than AT&T's. I currently have Verizon and get amazing service pretty much everywhere. The question is: how bad is AT&T? Do they really have the fewest dropped calls? How often do you have a dropped call or lose service in your home or office? That's what I'm really worried about. So, who dropped Verizon to get the iPhone and was it worth it? I would especially appreciate input from those of you in the Bay Area (I'm in Redwood City). Thanks!
 
I've had AT&T since 1997. AT&T was better than Cingular is for customer support, and the TDMA network was much better than Cingular's GSM network was at the time I switched to GSM. That said, my co-workers at the last job all had got Verizon when they moved to Denver, and my AT&T and later Cingular phone has much better service coverage than they did, often times they would have to use my phone as they just couldn't make calls. It was a very large problem when we were in downtown Chicago.

That said, I have had dropped calls in Denver with Cingular/AT&T with my last two Motorola phones. I haven't had any with the iPhone yet.

AT&T is still going to give you the widest coverage area, but if you don't travel outside an urban area, any carrier will do about the same.

-jt2
 
I switched from T-Mobile and now with AT&T where I used to have 1 bar in my house I now have 3 bars and where I had two I now have 4. Much better coverage, I now don't have any dead spots in my house, while I used to have most of the house being a dead area. AT&T is great IMO.
 
I am having less dropped calls on AT&T than I did on Verizon (but not by much). I also get reception in a lot more areas now (my basement being one of them). The only regret I have is the amount of $ I have to give Verizon for dropping them :)
 
Jovian9 said:
The only regret I have is the amount of $ I have to give Verizon for dropping them :)
Click to expand...

Ahh yes the ever-daunting ETF. I haven't decided yet if I'm willing to pay that (I have about 10 months left). Part of it depends on the service I can expect with the iPhone. But good news so far. :) Keep it coming!
 
Zero regret. After switch to ATT, my wife and I think that voice quality is better than Verizon at least here in NYC. Couple weekends ago we drove from NYC to Perkasie PA along RT78 and Rt 202, the reception was decent (3 bars and above) and didn't experience any drop call. We were able to get direction from iPhone Google map with Edge connection. If I am in your situation, I will wait till 2nd gen iPhone release and save $175 on ETF. I know it is hard to resist.
 
I dropped verizon years ago. Their service was horrible, and there support was even worse. When i switched to AT&T (then cingular) the service improvement was great, and the support was just as good. The only thing i hate is how badly the cingular folks (not sure about the AT&T folks) talk about the iphone. I talked to the guy to see what he had to say about it, and he didnt have one good thing to say about it, not to mention the fact that most of the stuff he did say about it wasnt even true. Oh well.
 
As a 'heavy' user on Vz since '92 (ahh... remember the dpc-550?) in Southern California (SD), I can tell you that, for me, there is no better network than Vz/CDMA. As a computer engineer that worked on CDMA stuff through UCSD (via Qualcomm), I can say that their technology works better in varied terrain (like coastal CA, hills, penetrating buildings, bluffs, etc). The CDMA networks are more reliable in these conditions, and I'll rarely drop one call a month, even with travel and heavy use. I travel extensively through the US, and I can say that at&t has the nation covered very well. In several areas, much better than Vz, notably TX, and surrounding states. That said, they might cover more, but in the areas that Vz covers, they'll do it more reliably. I've been with Att on my iPhone since launch and I have asked myself everyday, is this F'in worth it. I now drop in 3 spots on a seven mile drive to work. No longer can I call someone on my way to work for more than a 1-2 minute conversation without hitting a 'drop' spot. I drop calls in buildings. My signal at my house jumps from 1 to 5. All these problems... thankfully the iPhone makes it worth it (for me). It is my new mini laptop (almost). It's my Newton that I toted around in the nineties, but with a phone! So if it's only on at&t, then, yes, it's worth it (for me).

(disclaimer: happiness varies by service. service varies by area.)
 
I've had everything, verizon, att/cingular, tmobile, and sprint/nextel.

I dropped tmobile for the iphone and besides having the iphone, I really miss t-mobile's customer service. I've had great experiences with them. WAY more friendly, available 24/7. Seems like every time I call ATT for support the person who answers usually seems angry that I called. Just hate it, I call as little as possible. Probably why it took me so long to get my phone actually activated.

Verizon, eh. And the same with sprint/nextel (they just dropped all customers who complained too much...ouch).

I wish T-mobile was bigger, they are the best so far that I've had. Also, it seems like my service was better with t-mobile and works with ATT, which is weird. Oh well, at least I have the iPhone, and ATT has my soul....wait, what?
 
The Prise said:
att is the best done and done.
Click to expand...

I can't agree with that blanket statement. AT&T might claim to have the least dropped calls, but you need a SIGNAL to make a call. No signal, no call, therefore no DROPPED call ;)

With Verizon, I was covered everywhere except 2 (known) dead spots (due to the terrain). With AT&T, it's worse. But the frustrating part with AT&T is, the phone might show a strong signal until you try to make a call. Then you get the 'no service' message. Verizon didn't play this 'switch' trick with me.

Also in the DC area, Verizon is (still) the only service you can get while riding the Metro. And even if the Metro allowed other carriers to extend service into the Metro tunnels, Verizon claimed it took 1 month for every mile of track to extend their service.

That being said, I'm 'mostly' satisfied with AT&T. Of course, the real test will be when I take a vacation.
 
Happy with AT&T

I switched from Vz to AT&T when I bought the iPhone and have been very happy. I get coverage some places at my office building that I did not with Vz. And the coverage in my home is better. I used to have to make calls from the back porch with VZ. Now I can sit on my couch in the living room. Very glad I switched, especially since I now have the iPhone.

BTW, I am in Fairfax, VA.
 
I switched from VZW to AT&T, and I have no complaints. The coverage and voice quality is virtually even, with a slight edge (HA!) to VZW for voice quality (because of CDMA). And unlike some other folks, I've found AT&T's customer service to be friendly, courteous, and helpful. I'm happy I made the jump. Love my iPhone, love the less expensive data packages, love having more options when it comes to equipment. Not that I'd switch from my iPhone. ;)

Having said that, none of this may apply to you. If you're thinking of switching, you should test drive their network out first to see if you get good coverage in your area. I live in Northern CA, so virtually all the carriers provide good coverage.

Side note on voice quality: I previously tested out AT&T when the BlackBerry Curve was released. Loved the phone, but wasn't willing to switch from VZW just for a camera (I was using the 8830). Also, I thought the voice clarity was a little lower on AT&T. I have to tell you, though, I'm really impressed with the iPhone. It may have the best voice clarity of any device I've ever used.
 
I’ve been with Verizon for years (going back three companies ago....early 90’s), and have r-a-r-e-l-y had drops, and those have been in remote regions of the Nebraska sandhills where no one gets service of any kind.

I own a boutique in Minneapolis—a city that’s pretty heavily covered by everyone. Still, when customers are in the store, there are distinct patterns. If you have TMobile, you have to stand at the front window or outdoors on the sidewalk to hold a signal. With ATT, you can get about one third of the way into the store before losing a signal. If you have Sprint, you’re safe to the mid-point of the store (ironic, since Sprint is next door).

With Verizon, I can get all the way through the store, through the stock room, down the back loading dock hall, and into the underground garage without a single drop.

As gceo pointed out so wisely: happiness varies by service. service varies by area. Well said.
 
There were 2 really nice things about Verizon.

1) They paid me to go to paperless billing

2) In the Wash DC area, the metro is wired for Verizon service.

But, I don't use the metro all that often, and I got a $25 giftcard for being referred, so it's not that big a deal.

I get a dropped call once in a while but nothing I didn't see happening with Verizon.

I haven't had to deal with AT&T support yet, but I never dealt with Verizon support either so I have no experiences to judge there.

Basically, I like my iPhone so much, AT&T would have to be really miserable for me to regret the switch.
 
gceo said:
happiness varies by service. service varies by area.
Click to expand...

Very true. The Bay Area seems like it would be one of the most-covered places in the US. I know Verizon is good, and the CDMA voice quality is exceptional, which is why I'm waffling on whether or not to drop them for the iPhone, or stick with them and upgrade my P.O.S. RAZR to Treo or something. I just wish VZ didn't insist on putting their own crappy software on phones...
 
makismagoo99 said:
So I know Verizon's network is better than AT&T's. I currently have Verizon and get amazing service pretty much everywhere. The question is: how bad is AT&T? Do they really have the fewest dropped calls? How often do you have a dropped call or lose service in your home or office? That's what I'm really worried about. So, who dropped Verizon to get the iPhone and was it worth it? I would especially appreciate input from those of you in the Bay Area (I'm in Redwood City). Thanks!
Click to expand...

Depends very much where you live. I don't know about California, but up here in Washington, AT&T has the worst coverage of any providers. I know several areas within five-ten minutes of my house where I will get no cell reception with an AT&T phone.
 
carman63 said:
I can't agree with that blanket statement. AT&T might claim to have the least dropped calls, but you need a SIGNAL to make a call. No signal, no call, therefore no DROPPED call ;)
Click to expand...

I think the fallacy that everyone has is that because AT&T or Verizon is good/bad in ther particular neck of the woods, that automatically means that it's bad/good EVERYWHERE. That can't be further from the truth.

I could go on about my experience with Verizon and why I left them for Sprint and later AT&T, long before the iPhone was even announced. But it would be of little relevenace to anyone else in the other 49 states of the US. i don't know what Verizon or AT&T service is like in Nevada, or Arizona, or Minnesota, or many other places. So my experience is irrelevant to people there.

AT&T sucks for you? That's a shame, but that isn't my experience, and it may or may not be the experience of others. Verizon is excellent for you and CDMA is God's gift to cell phones? I'm happy for you, but again, it sure wasn't for me, and others may have different experiences.

This is why you should always follow two simple rules when choosing cell service:

1. Don't base your decision on what others say about the network. Each carrier has a trial period. Use it. And base your decision on YOUR experience, not what someone else tells you. If someone lives near you and travels around the same areas you do, then it's possible to make some general inferences, but I still wouldn't totally rely on their experience 100%.

2. Base your decisions on the network, not the phone. Even if it is the iPhone, what good is an iPhone if the network it's on doesn't cover you?

That said, I'm immensely happy with AT&T, and wish I had been on board much sooner. Your experience may vary.

There are two things no one can deny about Verizon though:

1. They like to cripple all their phones to a standard interface, and I doubt the iPhone we know and love now would have looked the same if Verizon had been allowed to get their grubby mits on it. Even the Blackberries have Verizon-specific schemes to them. And

2. Verizon DOES terminate any data users who, in their estimation, use too much data.
 
My service is better with AT&T than verizon in northern RI

With verizon i couldn't make a call from within my house, now I have 4 bars. Couldn't be happier. My brother also switched to At&T from nextel, same result.
 
makismagoo99 said:
Very true. The Bay Area seems like it would be one of the most-covered places in the US. I know Verizon is good, and the CDMA voice quality is exceptional, which is why I'm waffling on whether or not to drop them for the iPhone, or stick with them and upgrade my P.O.S. RAZR to Treo or something. I just wish VZ didn't insist on putting their own crappy software on phones...
Click to expand...

DON'T! Treo's are absolutely awful, awful devices. If you're going to get a smartphone with VZW, get a BlackBerry. The 8830 is a fantastic device. Be forewarned, though, the data is expensive. If you want unlimited, it's $45 extra a month. They have a smaller plan, for $25 a month, but you're limited to 10 mb. If you just want to use the data for email or texting, you'll be fine, but if you do any heavy web stuff, you'll be in trouble.

Incidentally, if you live in the Bay Area, I can tell you absolutely that AT&T's service is as good as VZW's. I've been up and down the coast and I don't notice too much of a difference.
 
willxm said:
With verizon i couldn't make a call from within my house, now I have 4 bars. Couldn't be happier. My brother also switched to At&T from nextel, same result.
Click to expand...

yeah, cause nextel is AWFUL! If I hear "please hold while the nextel subscriber you are trying to reach is located" one more time, I might just lose my marbles!
 
I was a Verizon customer for 17 years until I recently got my iPhone. I got my first phone when I lived in California. It was then PacBell. I traveled extensively throughout the US and never had a significant problem with Verizon connectivity. I did not care for their service in the stores but because the phone worked well I stuck with them.
I am now retired and live in the Houston area, The iPhone on AT&T works fine for me here. The test for me will be when I go on the road for personal travel to places like SoCal, Az, etc.
 
I switched from verizon to att for this phone. In my area (chicago), verizon has a far superior network IMO. I dropped less calls in my 1 1/2 years with verizon than with att since I got the iphone opening day.

Do I have any regrets? Nope. My phone is for personal use, not business, so the occasional dropped call is worth it so I can have this phone. If it were my primary business phone, I would have probably gone back to verizon.
 
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