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You have to wonder about response bias in a survey like this, since the issue is so well known. Do Verizon iPhone users perceive they have fewer dropped calls because they have been led to believe that Verizon has a more reliable network? And do AT&T iPhone users perceive that they have more dropped calls because they have been led to believe that AT&T has a less reliable network?

I'm not saying this data is necessarily inaccurate, but it's a question worth asking in this specific context.
 
You have to wonder about response bias in a survey like this, since the issue is so well known. Do Verizon iPhone users perceive they have fewer dropped calls because they have been led to believe that Verizon has a more reliable network? And do AT&T iPhone users perceive that they have more dropped calls because they have been led to believe that AT&T has a less reliable network?

I'm not saying this data is necessarily inaccurate, but it's a question worth asking in this specific context.

Drop calls are actually monitored and recorded by the phone companies. They can tell when a call is terminated by the end user and when it's a dropped signal. This is where the data comes from.

Strangely enough, she mentioned that the "Immaculate iphone experience" involved talking and surfing.

It was more than just how much she mentioned the Verizon iPhone (ViPhone?).

Her entire inflection and body language changed. As though she was reluctantly admitting some terrible sacrifice the company has made by doing business with Verizon.

I'm thinking this is individual employee bias. But i wouldn't be surprised if it gets out that there is an Apple company-wide slant to the AT&T version. Apple has engaged in anti-competitive practices before.

That sounds like an individual to me... why would Apple care what carrier you take as long as you buy the iPhone?

Also... there's nothing anti-competitive about them slanting towards one service over the other. But again... unless there was a huge difference in revenue or ease of activation, I don't see why they would care which service you use.
 
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RE: Verizon iPhones with Fewer Dropped Calls

I have been an iPhone user since the first generation. I fired AT&T when the Verizon iPhone came out. My AT&T iPhone 4 had very poor reception at my residence. Since switching to Verizon the signal strength has been full bars almost all the time. I do not remember dropping a call if it happened it was only once or twice in almost two months.
 
Another anecdote:

I had a first gen iPhone unlocked on TMobile for three years. No problems.

When the iPhone 4 came out I switched to AT&T. That was almost a year ago. No problems.

I have tens of thousands of minutes on two iPhone 4 units, on AT&T. They include urban and rural use all across the western USA. I have absolutely no complaints. I have even streamed Pandora while on Edge coverage in PO-dunk nowhere high desert.

In our building, smack dab in the middle of the city: which is built like a faraday cage, I had zero TMobile signal and my AT&T signal varies widely. I have 4 bars now but might drop to 1 in a minute or two. But it seems to work OK for the most part. Our company uses Verizon 3G data cards and we only get signal to them by the windows, and coworkers on Sprint and Verizon have the same problems in the building as I do.

Using the Verizon data cards on a laptop and comparing to my iPhone 4 on AT&T, I have travelled around the pacific northwest and northern California. I have found coverage to be similar, with Verizon winning a little bit in geography. But Verizon is slow slow slow. My iPhone is at least twice as fast in AT&T 3G than the Verizon card, and even on Edge AT&T often competes well with the Verizon speeds.

I have no vested interest - actually I was quite happy on TMobile - but my experiences have been just fine on AT&T.

In my honest opinion - all the carriers in the US could be better (I oppose the AT&T an TMobile merger as it will ruin competition).

--
"Officer, I know I was going faster than 55mph, but I wasn't going to be on the road an hour." -Steven Wright

Posted from my iPhone using the "Tapatalk" app.
 
Where do you people live? I can't remember having a dropped call on AT&T in the last year at least. If you live in Frisco then, well, duh?! Getting permission to build a cell there is like.... well, trying to get permission to build a nuke plant on Telegraph Hill.
 
And in other news…

A redesigned iPhone 4 works better than the original? Who would have guessed it!

Obviously having redundant antennas on the Verizon model and the phone's ability to choose the antenna not in contact with the user's death-grip is going to yield better results.

To all the websites who swallowed the explanation that "differences in Verizon's CDMA technology" necessitated different antennas/gaps in the the Verizon iPhone, shame on you. It is obvious that Apple saw their flawed design and added a second aerial to the top of the phone.
 
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I don't know about you, but if asked how many calls I dropped, I could never, NEVER be able to provide a single digit percent...what kind of memories do these people have?

sounds like a bogus survey to me
 
I have had an iPhone since the 3G launch date. Switched to Verizon on the ViPhone launch date. Since then, it's been everything I'd hoped. Strong signal, no dropped calls and actually better data rates since I always have a consistent connection. I don't think there's really any argument over which carrier has the better voice network.
 
A redesigned iPhone 4 works better than the original? Who would have thought.

Obviously having redundant antennas on the Verizon model and the phone's ability to choose the antenna not in contact with the user's hand is going to yield better results.

[btw, I'm comparing "Post Reply" at the top of the discussion vs. bottom]

IIRC the redesign had to do with frequency differences between the two carriers. My VZ iPhone will drop a call in weak areas by bridging the lower left gap, same as AT&T version. If you can point to actual FACTS of the redesign being for any other reasons, please do so.

That being said, here in metro Phoenix and outlying rural AZ areas, my wife and I have not only been able to MAKE calls we previously couldn't with our AT&T iPhone 4's, but our drop rates have been nill. I've had two, and they were both at the same location while driving. ie a dead zone, that all carriers have to some degree.
 
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Makes sense.

YMMV. Frankly, I don't see how it can make sense for a VZW iPhone user to report on a "Last 90 Days" metric when it is literally impossible for him to have owned his iPhone for that long.


You have to wonder about response bias in a survey like this, since the issue is so well known. Do Verizon iPhone users perceive they have fewer dropped calls because they have been led to believe that Verizon has a more reliable network? And do AT&T iPhone users perceive that they have more dropped calls because they have been led to believe that AT&T has a less reliable network?

I'm not saying this data is necessarily inaccurate, but it's a question worth asking in this specific context.

Response bias is likely, but more disconcerting is the Changewave's survey question with a "90 Day" criteria on a product that's barely been available for 45 days.

If Changewave normalized their VZW iPhone survey respondant data, they failed to disclose so, including how. If it wasn't normalized, then some of their report is flat out wrong.

To illustrate, by assuming that they failed to normalize for the temporal disconnect, then since the VZW iPhone4 data is only from a ~45 day period, its reports would be roughly half the value that it should have been for the 90 day period (criteria used for the AT&T customers). Thus, instead of this being a "1.8% vs 4.8%" comparison, it would've been "3.6% vs 4.8%".

And if the average VZW ownership was only 30 days, then it would have been "5.4% vs 4.8%"...yes, in favor of AT&T.


Until Changewave clarifies their analytical method (to assure that this factor was indeed addressed), their "Dropped Calls" comparison claim simply isn't statistically credible.


-hh
 
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Popeye206 said:
You have to wonder about response bias in a survey like this, since the issue is so well known. Do Verizon iPhone users perceive they have fewer dropped calls because they have been led to believe that Verizon has a more reliable network? And do AT&T iPhone users perceive that they have more dropped calls because they have been led to believe that AT&T has a less reliable network?

I'm not saying this data is necessarily inaccurate, but it's a question worth asking in this specific context.

Drop calls are actually monitored and recorded by the phone companies. They can tell when a call is terminated by the end user and when it's a dropped signal. This is where the data comes from.

That is not where this data came from.
 
I've had AT&T for yearrrrss and have NEVER had a dropped call. I didn't even know what they were talking about when I first saw commercials about them.
 
You have to wonder about response bias in a survey like this, since the issue is so well known. Do Verizon iPhone users perceive they have fewer dropped calls because they have been led to believe that Verizon has a more reliable network?


I've never had one dropped call on my Verizon iPhone, Not one.
 
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The only dropped call I have on my Verizon iPhone is when my cheek taps the "End" bar. Pretty good service so far, Data has been pretty good too.
 
Who are they polling? Why is it I never get a call?

I have AT&T and I have never had a dropped call (after getting a case, of course). The only problems I ever have with my iPhone is syncing it.
 
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isnt this simply because verizon cellular and data are separated so surely u wont drop a call when u have all ur calls solely on a system just for calls and your data isnt weight that system down.
 
This article is stupid and misleading. Off all iPhones, there is 88% with AT&T and 12% with Verizon. Of course AT&T is going to have more dropped calls. They have more iPhone customers!!! You cannot just simply take the percentage of both and make a graph. Since there are only 12% with Verizon, you have make a graph that details only 12% of att iphone users to make it unbiased and have much lower sampling error.
 
5+ years of various phones, including Moto Droid and now iPhone 4....travel all over the place, and I've never dropped a call on my phone. I honestly can't remember dropping a single call. The network is just solid, and more iPhones arent going to change that.

As for 3G speeds, what exactly are you guys doing that 1.2 down isnt fast enough? I average about the same, and I stream music, watch youtube videos, and browse the web with minimal delay, so I dont understand why you think the 3G is slow slow slow? Are you basing this strictly on speed tests? Or actually putting it in context of your daily use?
 
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