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Was AT&T's service good before the iphone?

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dvader123

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 27, 2010
105
0
I'm asking this for several reasons. People say that if the ip4 comes out to other networks then it will clear bandwidth for AT&T, and they should have good reception. This assumes that all this time the reception problems were due to the iphone and not at&t's lack of coverage.

My question is was at&t's service good before the iphone? Anyone here had at&t well before the iphone was introduced?
 
I was actually wondering this myself last night. Let's say that Verizon does get the iPhone in 2012 and everyone abandons AT&T to get on Verizon's network. Would it overload Verizon's network so much that it would become like AT&T's with dropped calls, no signal, etc.? Then, would AT&T's service be good because it is no longer overwhelmed? Talk about role reversal!

BTW, for the sake of argument, we'll say both networks are on 3G, which we all know won't be the case in 2012.
 
overlyunderme said:
I was actually wondering this myself last night. Let's say that Verizon does get the iPhone in 2012 and everyone abandons AT&T to get on Verizon's network. Would it overload Verizon's network so much that it would become like AT&T's with dropped calls, no signal, etc.? Then, would AT&T's service be good because it is no longer overwhelmed? Talk about role reversal!

BTW, for the sake of argument, we'll say both networks are on 3G, which we all know won't be the case in 2012.
Click to expand...
Right. If the ip4 does come out to other carriers, then at&t users will be happy because it will lead to better coverage.

This makes sense only if at&t service was good before the iphone. They are claiming the bad coverage is due to too many users.
 
I've had ATT wireless (Cingular) since 2005 and it has always been fine here. Pretty much the same on my old LG flip phone as it is on my iPhone--which is good. 5 bars then, 5 bars now.
 
I was with Pac Bell Wireless just before it became Cingular in 2000. I'm with them now and found that their network was fine for me up until the iPhone. The iPhone has been problematic for me on the AT&T network for reasons that few can explain. My love for the iPhone has made me decide to suffer with more dropped calls than I recall having in the past, but recently I've been looking elsewhere. It's embarrassing when I'm on an important call and it is dropped. However, AT&T offers something that I use more often than I used to think and that is voice with data at the same time. Verizon doesn't offer this.

Network saturation may be the culprit, my area may be a factor, or the phone. It's really unknown to me.

I await the Droid X to make my final decision, I've been upgrade eligible for a year now so I'm good to go whenever.
 
I've never had a problem with ATT/Cingular here in Minneapolis. I've been a customer for over ten years and an IPhone user for almost two years.

I've dropped calls with every phone that i've owned, but never had it happen consistently to where it was a problem.

I read a stat somewhere that said 58% of mobile web browsing was done on iphones. Then you take into account the other smart phones on ATT, and you can understand the hit that their network has taken. Realistically, ATT could be hosting up to 75% of mobile browsing.

I'm actually looking forward to next summer and hopefully an IPhone 4G on ATT. IMHO, that will relieve ATT's 3G more than another carrier picking up the IPhone.
 
I also have not had any issues with ATT and I have been a ATT customer for about ~6-7 years now. Had phones ranging from SE, Samsung, Motorola, and now an iphone.

I live in MA, which has pretty good coverage from all the wireless providers.
 
I was with ATT/Cingular also here in the LA area. I never had any kinds of problems.. Maybe one or 2 drop calls ever. The CS was good.

Before I got the iphone i had an LG flip phone. Pretty good phone since it was one of those phone that started to come out with music.
 
dvader123 said:
I'm asking this for several reasons. People say that if the ip4 comes out to other networks then it will clear bandwidth for AT&T, and they should have good reception. This assumes that all this time the reception problems were due to the iphone and not at&t's lack of coverage.

My question is was at&t's service good before the iphone? Anyone here had at&t well before the iphone was introduced?
Click to expand...

The technology was always 4 years behind the industry standard (comparing similar service providers world wide).
 
My experience with Cingular/BellSouth/AT&T has always been very mixed. Whereas I've gotten good reception everywhere else, I've always had trouble at home and at work. The two places I spend 90% of my time. I've actually called them from the middle of the street in front of my house - because that's the only place I could reliably make a call - and had them tell me everything was fine.

Wasn't a phone issue either. I've had Nokias, LGs, Samsungs, SonyEricksson, etc, etc. The ONLY two phones that I've ever had decent reception with have been my Razors, and my iPhones. Don't know why...
 
I had a basic att phone around 01 and never had any problems, but smart phones were pretty rare. In wichita ks i've never had an issue unless I was at a place w/a lot of people (concerts/big firework shows) I figure when thats what its like in places like NY/SF and i'm glad i'm not in those places.

Last I knew verizon's network couldn't do data/voice at the same time. Wouldn't that be a negative on their network? I'm not saying they couldn't upgrade but I think it would surprise a lot of people who think verizon is king of everything.

While bad for att pockets, it would be good for their network losing some people off it. I wouldn't switch right away. I'd just look for the deal that would benefit me the best.
 
I had switched to Cingular in 2006 to get the black Moto Razr, and the service was god-awful. Returned the phone and ended service within 9 days.

Just switched to AT&T for the iPhone and it seems I almost always have 5 bars. The service has improved in my area tenfold since 2006.
 
Not sure if it matters

Not sure if it matters what the coverage was like before. The network has been upgraded much in my area. One year ago when I got my 3GS I did not have 3G service. Now I have 3G service. I also can now make phone calls from my basement which I could not do 6 months ago.
 
I've had AT&T since 2002 and it was fine. I still believe that it's mainly the iPhone that causes the dropped calls for people.
 
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