Seems a lot of people have been having issues with AT&T lately. Is their service poor enough for Apple to make a move? How poor would it have to be? Would another US telco be able to step up? My take.
Update: According to FakeSteve, Apple Employees are only using Verizon iPhones.
some guy at TechCrunch says the iPhone is great but AT&T is a "big, steaming pile" of poop. I have to agree. If anything, we hate those morons at AT&T more than you do. Do you have any idea how awful it is to be yoked to a pack of bozos like that? Truth is, nobody around here runs their iPhone on AT&T. Most of us are on Verizon -- we're doing a trial before the official announcement, which should come later this year or early next. Oops. Did I just say that out loud? In case you're wondering what it's like on Verizon -- it's spectacular.
All kidding aside, would it surprise anyone if Steve Jobs had a Verizon iPhone?
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ATT us bit that much worse.
ATT us bit that much worse.
ATT is Horrid, I can no
ATT is Horrid, I can no longer use my phone in my house or yard without dropping calls constantly, I live In LA!! How big does a City have to be to get good service? I hate the so much that I read every article that even slightly pertains to Apple dropping ATT and going elsewhere (just not Sprint, just as terrible). I stay with ATT because of the iPhone but not much longer, Sorry Apple I have supported you since my 1st ever computer purchase back in 92, a 6400 power PC, it was crappy and buggy up until the realease of OSX many years later but I cannot support you much longer if you stick with this Crap Co as your phone carrier. I will go back to my Old iTouch and WiFi and just go to Verizon.
Dallas.
I'm not sure, but I live in Dallas and I have exceptional signal. Looks like LA is losing out to the next #1 city in America.
-1 for use of "iTouch" Get
-1 for use of "iTouch"
Get that one on the boardwalk, didja?
AT*T
Was ready to buy the new Apple phone today but a friend came over last night with her new phone and absolutely no coverage anywhere in my house except way out in my driveway. I'm in the middle of Santa Fe. Heard coverage was bad outside of city but in center of town no service!
Forget it. Is a service upgrade happening late this summer as I had heard?
Best there is where I am
Where I am in NC right now at my home, ATT is the only one with a signal. None for Sprint, Verizon or T-Mobile. Been with ATT since the first iPhone and very pleased. Better than Verizon which I had before.
ATT is working great here in
ATT is working great here in Memphis Tennessee. Also works great on trips to St Louis area.
AT&T sucks for us in St.
AT&T sucks for us in St. Louis. We have dead zones all over our house, and that's in the middle of the metro area. I thought Sprint was bad, but AT&T is abysmal.
More Sucks In More Places
I think the crummy AT&T service is the norm for almost all of us coast to coast. I live in Seattle, where it's also terrible, and was thinking that the iPhone data speeds were all hype, until I went on a trip to D.C. and wow- wouldn't you know it- whippin' fast. I think AT&T is making sure our fatcat representatives don't see any problem and shafting the rest of the country.
I have great service in
I have great service in Virginia beach VA. I am in NC on the coast and the service works great here also. Guess it's just LA also. Maybe you people should move to a different city/state?
Funny Story
Some people think we care about the quality of service they experience in their house and neighborhood! For me, personally, I only care about the quality of service I experience.
I left Verizon because of their poor quality service, which I experienced frequently where I live, work and travel... and because my total phone bill was about 20% more expensive with them versus AT&T.
I switched to AT&T, and I experienced substantially better service everywhere I go, AND my phone bill became substantially smaller.
Obviously, a lot of people agree with me here: there are roughly 80 million subscribers on AT&T. Only a subset of them are iPhone subscribers. And obviously very very few iPhone users would keep AT&T service if it was a poor service.
"And obviously very very few
"And obviously very very few iPhone users would keep AT&T service if it was a poor service." As if they currently have a different option here in the US????
For the record, I love
For the record, I love everything Apple.
I've had iPhone 2G and 3G from the start and even had a replacement handset due to call problems.
I suffer terrible problems with reception, dropped calls, calls straight to voicemail and delayed text messages here in the UK on O2 but surely all of the carriers world wide can't be equally as bad - isn't about time we started looking at the iPhone and asking questions about it's capability as a mobile telephone?
Maybe it just doesn't "just work" the way it should?
:-(
logical conclusion?
My iPhone works great where i live in Kentucky, and simply doesn't work, where i live in Florida (I had to install a $300 signal booster to make the phone work in my house there).
If the hardware works well in one place and only marginally in another, the problem is likely with the carrier.
Having said that, I've been disappointed in numerous areas by ATTs poor signal strength. I think someone once showed me a way to use the phone to get feedback indicating the location's signal strength: Perhaps a national campaign, posting--publicizing--unacceptable signals in metropolitan areas--would embarrass ATT into improving that situation. The key to generating a response is getting the data widely publicized.
I was told by ATT tech support, in response to my florida complaints, that they weren't investing in putting more towers into areas currently served, regardless the problem, but rather were focused on extending their reach into new areas. Clearly, some $ could be well invested in the existing infrastructure. Question is: How to make that happen.
Service is fine here...
I'm in Houston, TX signal is fine better than Sprint and when Hurricane Ike came AT&T was still strong in fact FEMA had to use their towers for Emergency Management because it was the only reliable one. I don't have a problem with their service just their business motive is what bothers me the most. Can't use iPhone 3GS on a GoPhone plan so get a contract where I have to pay a deposit of $300 then it will cost me $172 a month for Unlimited Anytime Minutes, Unlimited Data and Unlimited Text including taxes. That's too much right now and yes I do want the 32GB iPhone 3GS.
Acid
WTF? What kind of great acid are you on? goPhone plan with unlimited everything? Man, figure out what you need! Did you pass 6th grade math?
I use my iPhone for all of my personal AND business calls. I have no other telephone device. And I only need a 450 minute voice plan! Yes, rollover can smooth out the peaks and valleys, but I find it incredible that people can consistently their phone more than I do. With free M2M and nights and weekends, it seems pretty near impossible to overshoot even the lowest cost plan.
Am I an exception? Well, I also manage the cell phone use in my department. Only once has someone exceeded their "minute" allocation of 450 minutes. And that was by 12 minutes - not even enough to merit a "bump" to the next plan.
So whine all you want about the cost of "unlimited" minute plans - for 100% of the people I know, an unlimited plan is a complete waste of money - even if it cost $80 a month.
Yes, you may be different. But you are far from the norm.
Service is fine here...
I'm in Houston, TX signal is fine better than Sprint and when Hurricane Ike came AT&T was still strong in fact FEMA had to use their towers for Emergency Management because it was the only reliable one. I don't have a problem with their service just their business motive is what bothers me the most. Can't use iPhone 3GS on a GoPhone plan so get a contract where I have to pay a deposit of $300 then it will cost me $172 a month for Unlimited Anytime Minutes, Unlimited Data and Unlimited Text including taxes. That's too much right now and yes I do want the 32GB iPhone 3GS.
NJ
I HAD VERIZON FOR YEARS. I LOVE APPLE SO I GOT THE 3G & 3GS WHEN THEY LAUNCHED. I WAS WORRIED AT FIRST ABOUT THE COVERAGE FROM ATT BUT I AM VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT. I HAVE HAD JUST AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER COVERAGE WITH ATT OVER VERIZON. I ADMIT THE BILLING IS HIGH ON ATT AND I MISS THE ABILITY TO SEND MMS, BUT OVERALL I AM HAPPY. IF VERIZON GETS THE IPHONE I MAY SWITCH BACK.
BILLY MAYS HERE!
I think your Billy Mays button must be stuck on!
Minimal coverage in Lincoln, NE
I can't get coverage where I work or where I live in Lincoln, NE.
I am still with Verizon. I would love to have an iPhone but can't make the switch with out coverage.
Worked for ATT
Well, I actually worked for Dish Network and we were partnered with ATT. I answered technical calls for both companies.
I was there for about 6 months after Dish partnered with ATT and I never had a single ATT cust who liked them. Mostly it was due to their customer service. They had a habit of passing the blame off to everyone else (but what company doesn't). I had several customers say they felt locked into ATT because they couldn't really use the iphone anywhere else.
I'm happy with sprint because I don't travel and it works great for where I go in Oklahoma, but I do have an ipod touch. I briefly considered going with att for the iphone until I started taking those calls.
Unfortunately all the services are the same. You just have to find the one that works best for where you use it the most. No service is going to work perfectly everywhere. And no one has good customer service anymore.
its the in store treatment of
its the in store treatment of customers that sucks at AT&T once you sign that contract your their cash bitch for ever.
its the in store treatment of
its the in store treatment of customers that sucks at AT&T once you sign that contract your their cash bitch for ever.
works great in Philadelphia
works great in Philadelphia
works great in Philadelphia
works great in Philadelphia
not in U city!! Too many
not in U city!!
Too many iPhones there
AT&T coverage is just about
AT&T coverage is just about perfect in Connecticut and other parts of New England that I've been in since getting an iPhone. How arrogant and self-centered are these "tech journalists" when they think their own AT&T issues in a few major cities reflect the experience of all AT&T customers across the country? Most people are just fine with their iPhone service.
Not too many complaints in
Not too many complaints in ATL.
Dallas
Works great in Dallas, even in residential areas. Consistently get above 1mbps and sometimes 2.3 or higher. Dropped calls are very rare. Houston is ok except in residential areas.
Works in Seattle area
I've had ATT since the first generation iPhone. In the past year service has improved to nearly that of the Verizon service I had before. True, I only get Edge service at our cabin on Hood Canal.
The biggest downside is that my entire family is on Verizon friends and family, so it costs them to call me.