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Verizon Targets AT&T's Network With 'There's a Map For That' Campaign
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There are 2 gaping holes in this commercial. Looking at the map I'm positive Verizon is counting 1xRTT in their footprint, just like they have stopped giving a breakdown on their coverage map by calling all data access "Broadband". They are also using some weird algorithm for their map as looking at even basic phone coverage 50% or more of upstate NY should be white. Not because Verizon's got a bad network, but because it's wilderness and farm country.
Unfortunately none of the YouTube videos clearly show the weaselease at the end of the commercial that I'm sure will show how they have manipulated this map.
Don't forget non-simultaneous voice and data. You can not look up something while on a call.
No the add is right. To many people drool over apple so they go with ATT. If you picked AT&T for the iPhone and knew the service was spotty in your area you loose all right to complain about it.
The smart people out there first pick a network that offers them the price they want and the coverage. Then your worry about what phone to get. The iPhone is not game changing and it sure as hell is not THAT much better any more with all the other phones hitting the market.
As for the add that was the exact reason why I left them. Verizon had crappy service out in Lubbock Texas and lied about them moving there network out there. They told us 6 months and that 6 months claim turn was not filled 4 years later of course I left at the end of the first year when my contract was up. I switch to AT&T because service was great there and in Houston so I choose them. I choose a network that works were I lived and spend my time.
They are correct choose a network then worry about your phone. Apple Fan seem to not understand that.
Well sorry you have no right to complain your dropped calls. You CHOOSE to go with AT&T for the iPhone knowing these problems are in your area. You ACCEPTED that as part of the problem. I recommend you go back to Verizon as soon as your contract is up.
The iPhone is NOT that great. Good phone but not some super phone that is poor local network.
You must not live in north Phoenix.
Verizon blows up here. Even the company I work for, who had a Verizon contract for years, dropped them and went to AT&T. We got tired of missing calls and text alerts when a system went down.
And no, we don't use iPhones either. Only Nokia, Samsung or Blackberry phones.
When I was on Verizon, I could drive from Silicon Valley down to LA and not get dropped once.
Now that I'm on AT&T, on my 40 mile drive home on the 101 from downtown LA to the West Valley, I regularly get dropped 2 to 3 times - usually at the Lankershim and Winnetka exits.
It is what it is
Now that I'm on AT&T, on my 40 mile drive home on the 101 from downtown LA to the West Valley, I regularly get dropped 2 to 3 times - usually at the Lankershim and Winnetka exits.
It is what it is
Looks more deceptive than factual. I'm sure Verizon is being very generous with the definition of "3G coverage" for their own network while doing just the opposite with AT&T's.
Neither carrier actually has a 3G coverage map available on their website.
A little fishy? Me thinks....
Neither carrier actually has a 3G coverage map available on their website.
A little fishy? Me thinks....
More than that, the 30% figure was for *one* user in the NYC METRO area. The tech support response in question was from an *APPLE* tech, commenting that the hardware of the phone itself appeared to be operating within expected parameters. The user was complaining about a high level of dropped calls. There didn't appear to be anything from AT&T, much less a statement that 30% dropped calls is normal or expected.
My thought
For me service is good even tho it got alittle spotty when att allowed picture & video text. An in my area its getting better. If you drop your service that mean less congestion on the att network. An as far as the iphone on verizon I really dont think there network would work the same with the iphone. It will be overload.
For me service is good even tho it got alittle spotty when att allowed picture & video text. An in my area its getting better. If you drop your service that mean less congestion on the att network.
An as far as the iphone on verizon I really dont think there network would work the same with the iphone. It will be overload.
I honestly don't understand why people are always complaining about AT&T. I and no one else that I know has ever had an issue with AT&T in our area (Ann Arbor, MI). But everyone who has Verizon has issues.
We used to be on Verizon, and we would always get dropped calls. And my friends who are still on Verizon still drop calls all the time.
It's the same if I drive out into the middle of nowhere. (Which me as some friends did recently). I had 3G coverage in the middle of nowhere, but my friend on Verizon had no coverage at all.
And the funny thing is that according to the maps, Verizon is supposed to have better 3G coverage in my area which is total BS.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention the crappy customer service from Verizon. Like the manager at a Verizon store telling my mom to F**k off and die, because she was pissed that there had been a service outage for over a week.
AT&T will bend over backwards for us though. The one time we had a problem (a day long outage) they prorated 25% of our bill for that month, without us even asking.
Don
We used to be on Verizon, and we would always get dropped calls. And my friends who are still on Verizon still drop calls all the time.
It's the same if I drive out into the middle of nowhere. (Which me as some friends did recently). I had 3G coverage in the middle of nowhere, but my friend on Verizon had no coverage at all.
And the funny thing is that according to the maps, Verizon is supposed to have better 3G coverage in my area which is total BS.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention the crappy customer service from Verizon. Like the manager at a Verizon store telling my mom to F**k off and die, because she was pissed that there had been a service outage for over a week.
AT&T will bend over backwards for us though. The one time we had a problem (a day long outage) they prorated 25% of our bill for that month, without us even asking.
Don
i live in the san francisco bay area ---berkeley.
3 years of verizon service >>dropped calls were virtually non-existent
and the only place i couldn't get service was on trips to the russian river.
at first my iphone/att worked pretty well in my home
now...after 1 year the signal in my home has continuously degraded
and become sporadic
my dropped call rate at home has consistently increased
>well over 30% even when the signal indication looks good.
reception and call retention in the city is spotty at best
even if this is just due to a dramatic increase in the use of their network ..
that just means that att has sold services they can't provide.
I really love my iphone and am sorely regretting that i'm going to have to give it up because of att's unacceptable lack of reliable service
3 years of verizon service >>dropped calls were virtually non-existent
and the only place i couldn't get service was on trips to the russian river.
at first my iphone/att worked pretty well in my home
now...after 1 year the signal in my home has continuously degraded
and become sporadic
my dropped call rate at home has consistently increased
>well over 30% even when the signal indication looks good.
reception and call retention in the city is spotty at best
even if this is just due to a dramatic increase in the use of their network ..
that just means that att has sold services they can't provide.
I really love my iphone and am sorely regretting that i'm going to have to give it up because of att's unacceptable lack of reliable service
Yeah, you live in one of the two cities that AT&T repeatedly admits it's screwed up ... SF and NYC.
A little over two weeks ago, AT&T started turning on 3G coverage on their 850mhz frequency, which has greater range. Hopefully that will impact your service positively.
http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=4718
I still disagree with you. The device is material. The network is supposed to be invisible. You're not supposed to notice the network. AT&T's service isn't great, but I'll put up with it to use the device of my choice.
The mobile industry has a strange business model compared to other industries. You don't buy a desktop computer that you can only use on one ISP or a car that you can only fill up at particular gas stations (excluding electric). However, If these industries were to operate this way, I still think people would go for the product over the commodity.
To me, and apparently many others, mobile service is just a commodity. Some may be a bit better than others, but in the end you're getting a comparable service. The devices, on the other hand, vary. And, yes, I still think the iPhone was game changing. All I remember before January 2007 were RAZRs and Chocolates. Unintuitive text-based interfaces with linear button-mashing controls in a hyped-up shell.
Former Verizon, unhappy AT&T customers...
It is impossible to argue that Verizon would be better if it had the iPhone. We will never know the answer to such a question unless exclusivity goes over to Verizon. If Verizon would have got the iPhone deal instead of AT&T, thousands and thousands (whatever the number may be) of cusomters would have left AT&T, Sprint, etc. to join up with Vierzon just to get an iPhone. The networks may or may not have become over-saturated with the additional cusomters. We will never know. So if you are really that unhappy with AT&T's service, go back to Verizon. I'm sure they would welcome you back with open arms. I personally couldn't imagine paying for such terrible service if I were in that situation. AT&T's service just happens to be great in my area.
It is impossible to argue that Verizon would be better if it had the iPhone. We will never know the answer to such a question unless exclusivity goes over to Verizon. If Verizon would have got the iPhone deal instead of AT&T, thousands and thousands (whatever the number may be) of cusomters would have left AT&T, Sprint, etc. to join up with Vierzon just to get an iPhone. The networks may or may not have become over-saturated with the additional cusomters. We will never know. So if you are really that unhappy with AT&T's service, go back to Verizon. I'm sure they would welcome you back with open arms. I personally couldn't imagine paying for such terrible service if I were in that situation. AT&T's service just happens to be great in my area.
I have used every major U.S. carrier except Sprint. I have used every iteration of iPhone since the original's launch date - which also represented my 1st experience with AT&T.
Until the 1st iPhone 3G, I had no issues with AT&T and their Edge network - namely because it's speed (or lack there of) was all we iPhone users knew at the time. Often calling AT&T my favorite service provider to date. And at the time, that was true. But once the 1st iPhone 3G hit, it started to become apparent that AT&T's network was not up to task. And as the popularity of the device grew, so too did my frustration with AT&T's network.
Living in Denver, CO, my (and several other users I know) 3G experience has been so poor, my dropped call frequency so high, that I had (yes, past tense - I'm getting there) disabled 3G most of the time. Of the two places I spend 80% of my life - work & home - neither offered a scenario that allowed me to use my iPhone for sending/receiving phone calls (let alone data). Zero bars of 3G and maybe a nub of Edge. At best. And that's having a giant AT&T logo'd tower in line-of-sight of my house and STILL can't send/receive phone calls form home. And mine and my wife's iPhones our only phones, this has been a really big problem for us. and what's been almost more frustrating than dropping all of my calls has been that all along I have upheld my end of the bargain. Every month, in full & on time, I pay our 2-iPhone Family Plan. But AT&T has not upheld their end of the bargain. A major aspect of the device, 3G, is virtually unusable to users in Denver (and other major markets). Dozens of fairly cordial calls (yes, I've been told by an AT&T rep that I'm "always polite" and that "yes, we do denote callers' behavior") to AT&T yielded the same, "we're sorry" replies. One even crediting my account for a full month of service. Nice, but that doesn't make my phone work any better. Another call to AT&T, that dropped, saw the rep called back to leave me a 4-minute message about how sorry she was about my horrible experience. Saying, on record, that their network "sucked," that they receive "a lot of calls about this from their iPhone customers." Even offering me the option to walk from my contract sans penalty. And that's when it hit me... wow - if one of AT&T's contingency plans is to bad mouth their own network and then allow iPhone customers to break their contracts, then this was a much larger issue than I realized.
And all of that set up was meant to paint a picture. One that many of you are all too familiar with. Same story, different city. So, with as much AT&T bashing as I have done over the past couple of years, I think it only fair/I'm happy to report that it appears AT&T has fixed their 3G issue in Denver. Monday morning, I woke to 5 glorious bars of 3G at home. I even shut down my iPhone & rebooted to make sure it was really there. Sure enough, glory! And from work I was able to make several phone calls with no issue. Confused by a functional AT&T network, I called AT&T and asked why everything was working. With a chuckle, the rep sad it appeared the network was upgraded in my area (seemed a canned line, but hey - I'll take it.). So here I am - day 2 of full 3G service at home, at work, all over town. Sounds silly, but it's really nice when your network... works. Considering my only gripe with my iPhone experience has been the service provider (yeah, a big gripe), it now appears the Denver's coverage is finally working as advertised. While the rep wasn't able to uncover exactly what "your network was updated" meant, I wonder if it's the new spectrum upgrade we've been hearing/reading about? Any other Denver (or other troubled markets) users notice the improved, read: functinoal, AT&T network? Pretty nice, eh?
So when I saw the Verizon "Coverage Maps" commercial Monday eve, it was oddly refrehing to find I wasn't yelling "YEAH! STUPID AT&T!" while waving my fist at the tv and instead able to turn off said tv and call my recently widowed mother who lives 2,000 miles from Denver - something I hadn't been able to do, from home, in 2 years. Ahh the simple pleasures...
Here's hope others' coverage improves as well.
Until the 1st iPhone 3G, I had no issues with AT&T and their Edge network - namely because it's speed (or lack there of) was all we iPhone users knew at the time. Often calling AT&T my favorite service provider to date. And at the time, that was true. But once the 1st iPhone 3G hit, it started to become apparent that AT&T's network was not up to task. And as the popularity of the device grew, so too did my frustration with AT&T's network.
Living in Denver, CO, my (and several other users I know) 3G experience has been so poor, my dropped call frequency so high, that I had (yes, past tense - I'm getting there) disabled 3G most of the time. Of the two places I spend 80% of my life - work & home - neither offered a scenario that allowed me to use my iPhone for sending/receiving phone calls (let alone data). Zero bars of 3G and maybe a nub of Edge. At best. And that's having a giant AT&T logo'd tower in line-of-sight of my house and STILL can't send/receive phone calls form home. And mine and my wife's iPhones our only phones, this has been a really big problem for us. and what's been almost more frustrating than dropping all of my calls has been that all along I have upheld my end of the bargain. Every month, in full & on time, I pay our 2-iPhone Family Plan. But AT&T has not upheld their end of the bargain. A major aspect of the device, 3G, is virtually unusable to users in Denver (and other major markets). Dozens of fairly cordial calls (yes, I've been told by an AT&T rep that I'm "always polite" and that "yes, we do denote callers' behavior") to AT&T yielded the same, "we're sorry" replies. One even crediting my account for a full month of service. Nice, but that doesn't make my phone work any better. Another call to AT&T, that dropped, saw the rep called back to leave me a 4-minute message about how sorry she was about my horrible experience. Saying, on record, that their network "sucked," that they receive "a lot of calls about this from their iPhone customers." Even offering me the option to walk from my contract sans penalty. And that's when it hit me... wow - if one of AT&T's contingency plans is to bad mouth their own network and then allow iPhone customers to break their contracts, then this was a much larger issue than I realized.
And all of that set up was meant to paint a picture. One that many of you are all too familiar with. Same story, different city. So, with as much AT&T bashing as I have done over the past couple of years, I think it only fair/I'm happy to report that it appears AT&T has fixed their 3G issue in Denver. Monday morning, I woke to 5 glorious bars of 3G at home. I even shut down my iPhone & rebooted to make sure it was really there. Sure enough, glory! And from work I was able to make several phone calls with no issue. Confused by a functional AT&T network, I called AT&T and asked why everything was working. With a chuckle, the rep sad it appeared the network was upgraded in my area (seemed a canned line, but hey - I'll take it.). So here I am - day 2 of full 3G service at home, at work, all over town. Sounds silly, but it's really nice when your network... works. Considering my only gripe with my iPhone experience has been the service provider (yeah, a big gripe), it now appears the Denver's coverage is finally working as advertised. While the rep wasn't able to uncover exactly what "your network was updated" meant, I wonder if it's the new spectrum upgrade we've been hearing/reading about? Any other Denver (or other troubled markets) users notice the improved, read: functinoal, AT&T network? Pretty nice, eh?
So when I saw the Verizon "Coverage Maps" commercial Monday eve, it was oddly refrehing to find I wasn't yelling "YEAH! STUPID AT&T!" while waving my fist at the tv and instead able to turn off said tv and call my recently widowed mother who lives 2,000 miles from Denver - something I hadn't been able to do, from home, in 2 years. Ahh the simple pleasures...
Here's hope others' coverage improves as well.
AT&T never admitted to 30% call drop rate. An employee at an apple store told a customer that in the NYC area at&t drops 30% of it's calls. And the internet ran wild with it. It was anecdotal evidence, not hard facts and detailed research, not from at&t, and about the NYC phone network, not about the nationwide network. It was an offhand comment by an apple store employee.
But we wouldn't want to get our facts straight now would we?
I think your arugument would be valid if phones were not subsudized and you have to buy them at full price. Because AT&T in this case is paying Apple $400 per phone you should choose a network first.
If ISP were footing the bill for desktop then Verizon add still would work but for cell phones most of the cost of the phone is paid by the networks. Not the other way around.
My original iPhone was not subsidized and I had to buy it at full price. I chose the device with no qualms about what network I was required to use.
While the iPhone is now subsidized, so are many other phones on many other networks. If only certain networks were doing this to add value to choosing their contracts, I could understand your point of choosing the network before the device. Maybe I'm missing something but I don't understand how this changes my argument that the service is just a commodity while the device is the consumer's primary choice.
i get what your sayin, but nah, they can still complain all they want... i dont think it says in the contract be expected to have 30% dropped calls.
people complain not only to relieve themselves, but to eventually get whats right. (complaining on macrumors isnt exactly the best way of going about it, ill give you that)
Obviously YMMV, but I've never had any significant issues at all with AT&T's service in the nearly 2 1/2 years since I switched to them for the original iPhone. The same has continued since I upgraded to the 3GS as well. Verizon doesn't have the iPhone and won't be getting it anytime soon (if ever), so they're not on my radar screen anyway. And even if they did ever add the iPhone at some point, I doubt I'd ever switch because my own personal experience with Verizon's service several years ago was that it was absolutely dreadful.
I spend at least 98% of my time in AT&T 3G coverage areas. While Verizon's coverage map may look impressive with their sea of red, they seem to be forgetting that dirt can't use 3G.