I was slightly worried about this as well, i was coming from Verizon. Ever since i got my 3gs on Friday and after using it for 2 days i've had exceptional coverage. 95% of the time i have 5 full bars of 3g coverage. I haven't really gone about other parts of the city yet but at work and home i have great coverage.
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Worried about how bad AT&T Is...
- Thread starter WannaGoMac
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3G service in Manhattan is outright brutal. I get five bars but my speedtest bandwidth numbers are bad. During peak times I rarely get over 300k and a lot of times I max out at 100k. It's an absolute joke. Yes granted there are times my speed is good. I'm getting 1500k at 4:50am. But that is in the middle of the night.
I am coming from sprint and their data network is much better. Maybe it's because of all the iPhones in use the manhattan towers are overloaded. And it's just manhattan that I find slow. Queens and long island are fine for me.
I am coming from sprint and their data network is much better. Maybe it's because of all the iPhones in use the manhattan towers are overloaded. And it's just manhattan that I find slow. Queens and long island are fine for me.
I'm in Atlanta and the service is poor indoors relative to Verizon, and spotty in large buildings. I think the vast difference in experience relates not only to city but also where you spend the majority of your day.
Outside of downtown I have few complaints, but downtown it's a hot mess. It's gotten better of late. I have much fewer problems than I did even a few months ago. (Combination of upgrades to the network and the 3.0 release??) I used to drop calls much more frequently or have problems.
Side-by-side with friends with Verizon they have signal in restaurants that I don't, so it's still not on par with them, but much better.
Jeff
Outside of downtown I have few complaints, but downtown it's a hot mess. It's gotten better of late. I have much fewer problems than I did even a few months ago. (Combination of upgrades to the network and the 3.0 release??) I used to drop calls much more frequently or have problems.
Side-by-side with friends with Verizon they have signal in restaurants that I don't, so it's still not on par with them, but much better.
Jeff
AT&T just announced they are rapidly upgrading to fix the NYC problem within the next 2-3 months. Supposedly finally switching to the lower frequency GSM spectrum to improve connection resiliency and also upgrading equipment for better capacity.
AT&T and any of the major carriers are for the most part indistinguishable if you live in a major city. Hearing people chime in and say that AT&T works for them at their single destination isn't particularly meaningful.
What if you drive outside of that metro area? What if you travel or go on vacation? Don't bother looking at coverage maps. They are a complete joke and nowhere near reflect the reality on the ground. Be sure to read the fine print, too, of where it's native versus partner coverage...
I don't know how many meetings I've been at where somone has asked me to look up something on my iPhone and I have to say, "uh, sorry, I don't have signal."
What if you drive outside of that metro area? What if you travel or go on vacation? Don't bother looking at coverage maps. They are a complete joke and nowhere near reflect the reality on the ground. Be sure to read the fine print, too, of where it's native versus partner coverage...
I don't know how many meetings I've been at where somone has asked me to look up something on my iPhone and I have to say, "uh, sorry, I don't have signal."
with all your rants about AT&T, I think its time for you to sell your iPhone and move on over to Verizon so you could bitch and whine over there. Perhaps BB will work better for you...
Nah, I will just stay and continue to bitch. If it annoys you, that makes it all the better.
iPhone makes it worth it even with the terrible service.
I live in northern Georgia about 15 minutes south of Chattanooga, Tennessee and an hour and 15 minutes north of Atlanta, Georgia and I've had an awesome experience so far.
I've only been with AT&T since I got my iPhone 3G S on launch day, but I've had 3G everywhere I've gone and usually 5 bars. Sometimes, I'll see the bars drop down to 2 or 3, but only for a minute and then it goes back up to 5. I've had no dropped calls so far and all calls have been very clear.
Last Saturday, I drove from Chattanooga to the Atlanta airport and had 3G coverage the whole way down. The 3G speeds are really fast too (almost compares to my wifi at home).
Like most people have been saying, it's all about your location.
Oh, and by the way, I had Verizon for the past 6 years and AT&T is about the same. I actually get better coverage around my house than I did with Verizon.
I've only been with AT&T since I got my iPhone 3G S on launch day, but I've had 3G everywhere I've gone and usually 5 bars. Sometimes, I'll see the bars drop down to 2 or 3, but only for a minute and then it goes back up to 5. I've had no dropped calls so far and all calls have been very clear.
Last Saturday, I drove from Chattanooga to the Atlanta airport and had 3G coverage the whole way down. The 3G speeds are really fast too (almost compares to my wifi at home).
Like most people have been saying, it's all about your location.
Oh, and by the way, I had Verizon for the past 6 years and AT&T is about the same. I actually get better coverage around my house than I did with Verizon.
Wow, funny how dramatically different people's reviews of cell services are even in the same location. I guess at the end of the day, all cell services suck somewhere...
I have a 2G phone and live in a suburb of Denver (Centennial) and my mother lives in Denver. When I had T-Mobile I'd get a constant 4-5 bars and loved them.
Opening day I got my iPhone and I was at 3 bars, where while I wasn't happy I lived with it. AT$T rolled out their 3G network at I dropped to 2 bars. They at forst denied anything wrong until a month later a VP said their network was overwhelmed. Wasn't happy but lived with it and expected the network to recover.
A little more than a month ago I dropped to 1 bar to lots of dropped calls at both my house and my mother's. After repeated calls and being told it was the trees fault or Apple's fault I finally got a gal to slightly admit she'd heard their 2G network was being "worked on" and to hang in there. I think what she really meant to say was they were rolling out their 3.5G network and us old 2G customers were screwed. Oh yeah, and now my Voicemail is coming in hours later.
Great job AT$T! You suck here in Denver!
Opening day I got my iPhone and I was at 3 bars, where while I wasn't happy I lived with it. AT$T rolled out their 3G network at I dropped to 2 bars. They at forst denied anything wrong until a month later a VP said their network was overwhelmed. Wasn't happy but lived with it and expected the network to recover.
A little more than a month ago I dropped to 1 bar to lots of dropped calls at both my house and my mother's. After repeated calls and being told it was the trees fault or Apple's fault I finally got a gal to slightly admit she'd heard their 2G network was being "worked on" and to hang in there. I think what she really meant to say was they were rolling out their 3.5G network and us old 2G customers were screwed. Oh yeah, and now my Voicemail is coming in hours later.
Great job AT$T! You suck here in Denver!
I'm in DC/Northern VA and have been on AT&T, then Cingular, then the "New" AT&T. I'd say service got worse when they become Cingular, with slow, steady improvement since. AT&T isn't horrible overall. Generally, things work as expected, but I've definitely had sporadic poor service.
I got the 3G on launch day and noticed that in some areas I'd have full 3G reception, but data would not work at all. Then, about a week later, it worked great. Once in a blue moon I'll have a 15 minute span where most of my outgoing calls fail and connected calls drop. Then things will settle down again. That seems to happen less and less. It feels like AT&T is a victim of its own success. I'd like the service to be better, but it's good enough, given that the iPhone is the best mobile device I've ever used, and by a wide margin.
I've been in SF for weeklong trips, and service was worse. No dropped calls, but data was often slow, especially during Macworld Expo. AT&T's service doesn't seem to scale well. I've heard horror stories about performance in NYC.
I got the 3G on launch day and noticed that in some areas I'd have full 3G reception, but data would not work at all. Then, about a week later, it worked great. Once in a blue moon I'll have a 15 minute span where most of my outgoing calls fail and connected calls drop. Then things will settle down again. That seems to happen less and less. It feels like AT&T is a victim of its own success. I'd like the service to be better, but it's good enough, given that the iPhone is the best mobile device I've ever used, and by a wide margin.
I've been in SF for weeklong trips, and service was worse. No dropped calls, but data was often slow, especially during Macworld Expo. AT&T's service doesn't seem to scale well. I've heard horror stories about performance in NYC.
Good. Because the AT&T posts about their service will continue as long as the service is sub-par for me and apparently many others here. More of me not annoying you.
I agree with the above statement.
I suppose, as others have said, it truly depends on where you live. I've had a 3G and now the 3G S. I've rarely had any problems. No problems whatsoever until I was in the city, only two dropped calls there. When I got the 3G S, I had full bars with 3G with one exception (Edge once).
People can always hear me well and even comment on how close I sound and how clear the call is. I'm able to hear them as well. So, talk to people where you live, as many as possible and find out what their experiences are. I've had no troubles with AT&T at all (again, two dropped calls in the city was it).
blazing 3G Speeds on the 3G S
Over on Long Island (NY) I have almost always 5 bars occasionally in my house it will dip to 3 but for the most part I have service everywhere, not so much with edge
Over on Long Island (NY) I have almost always 5 bars occasionally in my house it will dip to 3 but for the most part I have service everywhere, not so much with edge
After a few weeks of use, found AT&T service is fine where I go and live. Get 3g mostly everywhere. No complaints.