Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Verizon map of AT&T 3G coverage, true or false?
- Thread starter palmerc2
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
why at&t
I have been a at&t customer since they were bellsouth in the mid 90s. With at&t my bill is always the same, unlike most of my friends that get the occasional 600 dollar bill from verizon. And yes at&t coverage map is pretty accurate. I am enjoying the two companies going at it because that mean at&t will be working on expanding thier 3g coverage. At&t 3g runs around 3 mbs wheras verizon has trouble hitting the 1 mbs range. I am an at&t fan and an iphone fan. apple went with at&t because thier 3g is over twice the speed of verizons. also by being an at&t customer and having the iphone i get free nation wide wfi.
I have been a at&t customer since they were bellsouth in the mid 90s. With at&t my bill is always the same, unlike most of my friends that get the occasional 600 dollar bill from verizon. And yes at&t coverage map is pretty accurate. I am enjoying the two companies going at it because that mean at&t will be working on expanding thier 3g coverage. At&t 3g runs around 3 mbs wheras verizon has trouble hitting the 1 mbs range. I am an at&t fan and an iphone fan. apple went with at&t because thier 3g is over twice the speed of verizons. also by being an at&t customer and having the iphone i get free nation wide wfi.
I WANT TO KNOW PEOPLE WHO HAVE AT&T, receive any 3G reception in Montana? Wyoming? New Mexico? South and North Dakota, Idaho,Nebraska, and Alaska?
went to MT a few weeks ago, NO 3G, Edge barely worked, and even making a phone call was a challenge. When I moved out of MT a few months ago you couldn't get an iphone contract anywhere in the state.
Here's a thought on the ads...
I recently took an amtrak from Jackson, MS, to Chicago, IL. Along the way, I had a range of receptions on my iPhone. 3G, Edge... lots of dropped calls. Many periods of No Service. Fun time to have phone conversations.
Meanwhile, a guy in front of me was watching Netflix on his computer with the Verizon MiFi. No probems.
I recently took an amtrak from Jackson, MS, to Chicago, IL. Along the way, I had a range of receptions on my iPhone. 3G, Edge... lots of dropped calls. Many periods of No Service. Fun time to have phone conversations.
Meanwhile, a guy in front of me was watching Netflix on his computer with the Verizon MiFi. No probems.
phone calls and data are different. and it's a known issue with GSM that when you're moving to that you will drop a call since the handover from one tower to another doesn't work very well.
data is buffered so if you change towers you won't notice it because it has time to acquire another tower
While he watched his movie, I tried downloading some samples of Amazon ebooks. My phone's data connection struggled even with that through the travel.
Meanwhile, he finished one movie and started on another.
in the small print it says verizon's definition of 3G is 600kbps. EDGE qualifies as 3G since the first 3G networks were deployed almost 10 years ago.
AT&T has HSPA deployed almost everywhere and i get almost 3Mbps in NYC during off-peak hours and close to verizon's maximum speed of 1.4Mbps during peak hours
Sorry guys i apparently forgot there is no 3G coverage in freaking las vegas! I mean are you kidding me. if AT&T has no 3G coverage in las vegas i will throw my iphone off a cliff, pictures included
I was in Vegas just a few months ago and had a 3G signal on The Strip. I didn't go anywhere else in the city, but the 3G connection was fast and reliable.
No it doesn't. The current version of Verizon's comparison map explicitly states that for Verizon the criterion for inclusion in the map is EV-DO; for AT&T it is HSPA; for Sprint it is EV-DO; for T-Mobile it is HSPA.
http://vzwmap.verizonwireless.com/dotcom/coveragelocator/images/maps/3Gcomparison.pdf
AFAIK the maps are correct-- it matches my experience with iPhone. But, if you are satisfied with Edge, then, there is a more coverage. I haven't seen a map for AT&T Edge. Edge is kind of slow, but, it does in a pinch. No question that Verizon and Sprint are ahead of AT&T and T-Mobile in 3G. But I still like the iPhone for other reasons -- the nice messaging interface, the way Google maps works and how you can use it to find some obscure business that you are looking for.
The United Nation's ITU committee originally classified EDGE as 3G back around 2000 because it had a theoretical max over 600Kbps. Later they admitted in a white paper on their website that it was a mistake to lump it in with others, because in real life it max'd at ~360Kbps.
Plus no other group on the planet calls EDGE "3G". Not even AT&T, in their maps, their website, nor in their lawsuits.
Yep, AT&T is increasing their backhaul to go along with HSPA and it's going to be a great and long-awaited improvement.
FYI, Verizon's max speed is 3.1 Mbps.
3.1Mb/s is the max theoretical for Verizon, so you see much, much less... where as AT&T is already seeing real life in the 4Mb/s already thanks to its upgraded 7.2Mb/s network (where backhaul is ready).
After seeing the "there's a map for that" commercial a few times, I want to know how peoples 3G coverage is to see how to true the map is. Based on the map, I can already tell you the 3G coverage from Los Angeles to Phoenix, AZ is false. I have 3G coverage all the way there and back
Post if your 3G coverage isn't "blue" on the map, name location too if need be
![verizonmap.jpg]()
![attmap.jpg]()
I recently, in October drove from Everett, Wa to Columbus, OH and always had 3 to 5 bars, never dropped a call even through the mountains. So I think Verizons ads are lies. What say you?
That's where the ads are deceptive. People think those blue spots mean AT&T coverage, when in reality it is not.
Those two maps are of Verizon's 3G vs AT&T's 3G, and both are true. However, coverage wise, AT&T has its EDGE network that covers same if not more places than Verizon's network.
Coverage != 3G.