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Verizon iPhone Ad Targets AT&T Reception, AT&T Giving Out Free Microcells to Some Cu

gloss said:
You forgot that they still count data use over Microcell 3G against your data allowance even though that data is being routed over your broadband connection.
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Well, it is also routed over AT&T's data network. It's not like WiFi - when using 3G over a microcell, you get one of AT&T's public IP addresses for your data.

But it doesn't matter, really. The 3G data over the microcell is so crappy you wouldn't really want to use it for that anyway if you had a choice.
 
On The Front Page
Instead of
"This is America's largest and reliable network"
Shouldn't It Be
"This is America's largest and most reliable network"
 
After I read about the free microcells, I called AT&T and was told by the guy that the iPhone4 is the worst for reception. I hung up on the jerk and called another ATT # about getting a microcell. He told me I have to buy it online.
Connecting to the AT&T web site, you are directed to the store to get it.

What is the process to get a free microcell?
 
LOL! I love this commercial! :D

Now, AT&T where is my free microcell ????
years of dropped calls daily in my home, if it wasn't for google voice...

and I'm talking not just the iphones, but on using previously Motorola Razr, and other cell phones, so AT&T can't claim it's because of the iPhone, it's their sucky weak ass signal.
 
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TheRealTVGuy said:
Well I'm already past a T-Mobile contract, so I'm free as a bird to go to either AT&T or Big Red... So you'd take Verizon?
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Since Orlando has great AT&T coverage, I would go with them. They are the superior company, if you have the coverage.
 
celo48 said:
"Yes, I can hear you now but I cannot use data when I hear you."
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I don't understand why people keep touting this as some awesome feature. I've asked around, and no one I know who has AT&T has ever even tried using the web or an app utilizing data while on the phone. Realistically, I don't know how often this is used. I'm willing to bet that it's something a very small fraction of their customer base uses. It makes for a nice commercial, but it's almost a trivial feature.
 
AidenShaw said:
I've had a Verizon 3G smartphone for at least 6 years, and I honestly didn't realize that I had this "problem" until I read about it on MacRumours.

If I'm on a phone call, the phone is against my ear. If I'm using data, it's in front of me. If the phone is against my ear, I don't care if my data link has been transparently paused.

And don't be so rude to your callers as to expect them to hold while you go surfing - say "I'll check and call you back". Their time is important too.
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This is utterly ridiculous. I can't even begin to count the number of times that I've absolutely NEEDED this ability over the last 4 years. Why is your phone up against your ear? Are you TRYING to give yourself cancer? There is such a thing a speakerphone, which amazingly, makes it quite convenient to look up something while continuing the conversation. All the debates about what true multitasking is...THIS, is multitasking.

And I'm not talking about BS, like looking up movie times. I'm talking about when clients call me, and I need to log into my company database to look up their information, before going to far into the conversation.

A verizon iPhone owner with my job would have to ignore the call, look up their info, memorize it, and call the person back. Bad customer service.

Böhme417 said:
I don't understand why people keep touting this as some awesome feature. I've asked around, and no one I know who has AT&T has ever even tried using the web or an app utilizing data while on the phone. Realistically, I don't know how often this is used. I'm willing to bet that it's something a very small fraction of their customer base uses. It makes for a nice commercial, but it's almost a trivial feature.
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What a joke. Get a job, and you might suddenly find yourself using it everyday.
 
Just like political ads, attack ads for products turn me off completely. Let's hear what VWZ has to offer, not why AT&T is worse than you.
 
Böhme417 said:
I don't understand why people keep touting this as some awesome feature. I've asked around, and no one I know who has AT&T has ever even tried using the web or an app utilizing data while on the phone. Realistically, I don't know how often this is used. I'm willing to bet that it's something a very small fraction of their customer base uses. It makes for a nice commercial, but it's almost a trivial feature.
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i use this at least 5x a day. like when your on a call and want to send someone a email or even a MMS (MMS requires data, unlike simple SMS). id be willing to bet ALOT of people use it more than they realize, ad probablywont realize until its not available to them if they switched. if you have always been on verizon, then no you are not going to miss it, but anyone switching would likely be affected by it at some point.
 
maccompaq said:
After I read about the free microcells, I called AT&T and was told by the guy that the iPhone4 is the worst for reception. I hung up on the jerk and called another ATT # about getting a microcell. He told me I have to buy it online.
Connecting to the AT&T web site, you are directed to the store to get it.

What is the process to get a free microcell?
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If you make a good case for yourself, you can get the support people to offer it to you. I'm in Pittsburgh where the reception is spotty at best. At home, I had to go out the door and stand almost on the street to keep the call from being dropped due to lack of bars (two next to the window, "Searching..." for the rest of the house.)

I got it for free with no monthly fees because I argued that it was now fair for me to have to pay more money per month to actually be covered at home. Overnight shipping was on them as well...
 
pmz said:
This is utterly ridiculous. I can't even begin to count the number of times that I've absolutely NEEDED this ability over the last 4 years. Why is your phone up against your ear? Are you TRYING to give yourself cancer? There is such a thing a speakerphone, which amazingly, makes it quite convenient to look up something while continuing the conversation. All the debates about what true multitasking is...THIS, is multitasking.

And I'm not talking about BS, like looking up movie times. I'm talking about when clients call me, and I need to log into my company database to look up their information, before going to far into the conversation.

A verizon iPhone owner with my job would have to ignore the call, look up their info, memorize it, and call the person back. Bad customer service.



What a joke. Get a job, and you might suddenly find yourself using it everyday.
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I don't often directly deal with clients/customers. When I do, it's with my office phone. I'm sorry if you put your job ahead of your life, but I don't care to be bothered by work when I'm not in my office. They will wait.

Also, we were actually having a discussion about this at work the other day. We have both a Verizon tower and an AT&T tower on our office property, and someone remarked (an AT&T and iPhone user) how the only thing the AT&T tower seems to do is discourage service.
 
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cornopaez said:
maccompaq said:
After I read about the free microcells, I called AT&T and was told by the guy that the iPhone4 is the worst for reception. I hung up on the jerk and called another ATT # about getting a microcell. He told me I have to buy it online.
Connecting to the AT&T web site, you are directed to the store to get it.

What is the process to get a free microcell?
Click to expand...

If you make a good case for yourself, you can get the support people to offer it to you. I'm in Pittsburgh where the reception is spotty at best. At home, I had to go out the door and stand almost on the street to keep the call from being dropped due to lack of bars (two next to the window, "Searching..." for the rest of the house.)

I got it for free with no monthly fees because I argued that it was now fair for me to have to pay more money per month to actually be covered at home. Overnight shipping was on them as well...
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Well, there aren't any monthly fees for the Microcell anyway unless you opt into the unlimited calling feature.
 
We got a free microcell offer and we already have one...

PLUS: Watch out for this microcell. It actually sucks. At least for us. It is constantly dropping calls when transitioning from the 'outside world' to the 'inside world' and vice versa. Constantly. And yesterday it was causing problems in the house going from room to room. The microcell is installed centrally in the house and even in areas with two to three bars, it will sometimes drop calls. We are using it with AT&T's U-Verse DSL and it is 'approved' for use with it. Our 'outside world' coverage is rather poor around our house so I wonder what role that plays in the issues we've had but I am so far not completely in love with it. It doesn't 'fix' the issues with AT&T's retched network, it seems to exacerbate them here. I mean, as long as you stay near it, it works. Roam around the house and *PFFFFTTTTT* it turns on you and dumps you call... Oh, and lately it's taking 30+ seconds to connect after dialing and getting the dial sounds.

Is AT&T putting so many of these microcells out there that they are overburdening that part of their system now? From one extreme to the other and the only hope I have is that enough people jump the burning ship that is AT&T to take the load off and we start getting better service.

Which is a pathetic way to improve your product... We pay through the nose for crap and people in Europe and Asia get so much more for so much less I keep hearing... :eek::mad::mad::mad:
 
I just sent an email to AT&T to request a microcell. They replied saying I will get a reply within 2 days.
 
nsayer said:
Well, there aren't any monthly fees for the Microcell anyway unless you opt into the unlimited calling feature.
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When I got ours I was promised a $100 rebate for getting it and the unlimited calling. Never received the rebate... I did get a note that they needed some number off the box. I called their number and pointed out that the number was on the sheet that was an actual copy off the sticker on the box. I was told to re-submit the form to a different address anyway and I'd get the rebate.

Yeah... Sure... Thanks AT&T...
 
The DRis said:
Haha.

AT&T iP4 User: "Hey sending you the new spreadsheet and graph now, ok sent, let me know what you think."

Verizon iP4 User: "Ok let me see.... I'm gonna have to call you back."
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I LOVE reading spreadsheets on my phone. :rolleyes:
 
PinkyMacGodess said:
When I got ours I was promised a $100 rebate for getting it and the unlimited calling. Never received the rebate...
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We got our rebate, so we got effectively a $100 Visa card and the Microcell for $149. We had a miserable experience with it for 8 months or so. It has gotten better lately, but it is still not trouble-free. AT&T's support for the device is even worse than their support generally is. AT&T truly believes that everyone who is have trouble is either incompetent or has a rotten ISP. AT&T has told more than one of the people on AT&T's own Microcell support forum to either just return or eBay it. No joke.

Of course, they just raised the price to $199. It takes real chutzpah to do that given how many people are having problems with the damn things.
 
thecypher said:
Have you used a Verizon phone in the mountains where you live? Unless you have a reference comparison I don't see your point. Get a Verizon iPhone and then share your comments after you have used it for a couple of weeks at least. For all you know may be Verizon signal is better by where you live or could be worse. You never know unless you actually try it. As far as simultaneous voice and data go, I am sorry as much as people try to downplay it, it is extremely useful and important to me and to a hell lot of other people who are used to it. If you are on Verizon you have never been able to do it so you don't know any better and you are happy as a clam. Doesn't mean something better doesn't exist out there just because you don't have it. Simple case in point, I am in my car with my GPS running on my iPhone. The GPS also gets live traffic data from the Internet i.e. it needs a data connection and I am on conference calls many times in my car that last an hour or more. I use this conferencing application which shares the other person's desktop while I am on the call so I can see what the other person is presenting. I am sorry the movie example may seem lame to you but being able to do simultaneous voice and data is a HUGE productivity issue.
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Yeah actually. Before the iPhone 3Gs I had a verizon Razr and it died around the same time the 3Gs came out. (i used my ipod touch heavily before that and decided it would be better to just upgrade to a device that covers a number of things.) Also, i find the GPS on the iphone VERY unreliable. Constantly jumping around and whatnot. I give my trust to my Garmin for GPS.

About the remote desktop sharing, couldn't a verizon iphone do that anyway if there was wifi? I wouldn't want to look at a huge monitor displayed on the tiny iphone screen unless the quality was decent. That's where wifi would come in right?

I'm not saying voice+data isn't useful. I merely said it's not useful to me. I don't see why people have to get so bent out of shape about such a simple statement. So all the people that ordered a Verizon iphone and don't need Voice+Data don't need a smartphone? I highly doubt it. It's a nice feature. But not as nice as actually being able to call someone where you are.
 
Böhme417 said:
I don't understand why people keep touting this as some awesome feature. I've asked around, and no one I know who has AT&T has ever even tried using the web or an app utilizing data while on the phone. Realistically, I don't know how often this is used. I'm willing to bet that it's something a very small fraction of their customer base uses. It makes for a nice commercial, but it's almost a trivial feature.
Click to expand...

I use data & voice at the same time a lot! Giving directions, checking something on Safari, etc. while talking on the phone. I think it is one of my fav features!
 
Primejimbo said:
If your walls are that thick, no cell phone company will work. I have Verizon and at&t now and some of the commercial buildings I go in with thick walls and in basements, nothing works. :rolleyes:
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Well, thick wall but somehow T-mobile and Verizon works just fine.
 
aajeev said:
Well, thick wall but somehow T-mobile and Verizon works just fine.
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Reception in buildings with thick walls will depend on what frequency a carrier is using.
800/900 Mhz bands will have better building penetration than the 1800/1900 MHz bands.
It's also possible that the lab you were working in had a repeater installed for Verizon and/or T-Mobile, or you were in an area where they were using the lower frequencies and AT&T was not.
Lots of variables to take into account.

My company has both Verizon and AT&T repeaters installed in the ceilings of many of our buildings for this very reason.
No outside RF can penetrate many of our buildings. This is by design.
A commercial repeater is a lot different than a consumer level micro-cell.
 
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