I asked this on someone elses thread, but I though I might get more response on my own. I am want to find out who has AT&T service, and an iphone. I would really like to have one, so that I could have my music and phone all in one. Right now, I have all my music on my ipod. We currently use Verizon, and our contract is up. We thought about switching to straight talk, as it is cheap and you get everything one price, and no contract. I know you can get a phone from Verizon that you can put music on, but I have a lot of money invested in itunes. If anyone has an iphone, can you tell me what kind of coverage you get when you are traveling? Is it just on major hwys, and major cities. We are all over the southeast. Thanks for your input. Ruthi
Ruthi, we have had Sprint,T Mobile,Verizon and At&T this year we went back to AT&T it is the only service we can find that works in our area.
My wife has the I phone and I have a Blackberry the I phone is so much better than the Blackberry and so much easier to use with better reception it is unbelievable she loves her I phone if you buy one get the hard case those screens cost 200 bucks lol no she didn't break it I did.
Cell service is like buying ice cream sure you will get dozens of different answers here but we love the AT&T service works good for us.
If you would like I can PM her number and you can talk to her direct she will not post here because she has seen how most women are treated here I tell her she needs to be tough like you and Christy
good luck
My wife and I have At&t and Nextel I carry an iphone and now an ipad and she loves sprint due to her family...99.9% my iphone works when her's doesn't!
luvrbus, that is funny about your wife. I know how she feels. I have gotten a couple of rude replies on here, but most are nice. Guys sorta figure women dont know much, and think this board is for them, guys. TOO BAD, I AM HERE, lol. ;D Where are you located? Ekhedge, what part of the country do you travel? We sometimes end up in some pretty small town areas working, just need to make sure our phone gets a signal. Never had much trouble with verizon, just rather have the iphone.
We spent last summer in Nebraska/South Dakota/Missouri this winter we've spent in Ohio/ky/Tn and everywhere in between! so far so good! You'll find some pretty tiny "deadspots" with the iphone but mine have been pretty slight! only in the "boonies" aka Colorado 71....if your familiar i had some shoddy coverage but overall I've had few issues. The only thing i can say is the highspeed coverage is lacking in the boonies! however I'm a geek and things like my net speed drive me crazy! Happy Trails!
Ruthi, Pat and I both have the iPhones and we love them. I use mine a ton for the iPod option. We have used AT&T for years and had very little problem with reception all over the US. Certainly there are areas with no service, but when we hit those, I ask other folks if their service works and most do not - just a dead area.
One of the issues with the iPhone is that it has really loaded the AT&T network. Even on 3G we get some pretty slow connections. At our house, we do not get 3G, but the usage of the available bandwidth is probably not as high as it is in Denver, so our speed is OK.
When we are on the road, we really like the ability to check our various email accounts. At the trade shows, if I get board, I go the the bus bulletin boards ;D. I appreciate you can do that with other phones/services but the iPhone is just very easy to use. The other factor is the huge amount of apps that are available for little or no cost (some really useful and some just for fun).
We are having an issue with our satellite internet service (bad modem) and won't have a replacement for a few days. Going several miles to the library got old and we don't have a dial-up service. As a result, we decided to get a Verizon air card (will work for other things we do). Don't believe their stupid maps. We were very careful to have the sales person (Verizon) show us the map of our area. Said it should not be a problem. Well, it is. I think we would have acceptable phone service, but the data service is really marginal. The air card we got has antenna capability, and we have the part to connect to our Wilson antenna ordered, but I am not too sure what to expect. At least we have some service and that is mandatory for us.
Sorry this drifted a bit, but we are very happy iPhone users.
Jim
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I have AT&T for my iphone. I spend the winter in the RGV in TX and they have great 3G coverage there. And i just got home and found they have moved from Edge to 3G at my home in Minnesota. So it appears i am set. I find it hard to imagine being without the iphone, not only for internet and email, but for the thousands of free apps available. I use my iphone a couple dozen times an evening, checking on what is on TV and chking the weather. Handiest thing to have around. The 1-button GPS directed weather radar map app is another i use a lot.
Dallas. Good point.
There is a hack for connecting them if you have an older software version (using the existing USB cable). The new Apple or AT&T software (not sure which- would guess that it is Apples software dictated by AT&T) prevents connecting the iPhone and your computer.
AT&T states that the connection service will be available "soon", but the experts suggest that will not happen until they get more broadband capacity in place AND a way to charge for the computer connection service.
Jim
If you prefer the Iphone, but do not want to go with ATT, there are jailbreaks available to make it work on other GSM networks. Also, Verizon is expected to start carrying the Iphone soon. Yet if Itunes is the issue you are concerned about, there are softwares that supposedly take care of that too (http://www.doubletwist.com/dt/Home/Index.dt (http://www.doubletwist.com/dt/Home/Index.dt)).
Quote from: ruthi on April 05, 2010, 06:37:09 AM
I asked this on someone elses thread, but I though I might get more response on my own. I am want to find out who has AT&T service, and an iphone. I would really like to have one, so that I could have my music and phone all in one. Right now, I have all my music on my ipod. We currently use Verizon, and our contract is up. We thought about switching to straight talk, as it is cheap and you get everything one price, and no contract. I know you can get a phone from Verizon that you can put music on, but I have a lot of money invested in itunes. If anyone has an iphone, can you tell me what kind of coverage you get when you are traveling? Is it just on major hwys, and major cities. We are all over the southeast. Thanks for your input. Ruthi
Ruthi,
Simply, DON'T get an iPhone. I had one for a couple years and found a few expensive lessons. First ATT's coverage is HORRIBLE unless you live in a metro area. ATT won't let you tether your phone to a PC and they won't let people send you pictures from their phones. ATT has a huge network, however it's mostly CDMA and GSM which are old and slow outside metro areas.. My coverage through out the western US and Canada with ATT was pisspoor at best. I dropped my iPhone and the case bent so that the volume button would not work, then the touch screen shattered with another drop. We were ATT customers since the early 80s.
After these experiences I switched us to Sprint and the HTC Hero (Android) phone. I've found that the phone has great function and is considerably more robust in performance and physically than my old iPhone. I've found that my coverage while traveling is far superior to ATT, including 3G and 4G in some rural areas. I have a plan that allows roaming, which means I have access to Verizon's network. I have been extremely pleased with our Sprint move and will migrate my wireless card to Sprint as well when the contract expires. I receive pictures from other phones, and can tether my phone to my computer and use it as a modem when my ATT card won't get signal.
I'd never recommend anyone get an iPhone unless they like the limitations, and live in a metro area.
IMHO YMMV
I really like Verizon's coverage for both phone and wireless broadband. No carrier is perfect and works everywhere yet. I have been in areas where Verizon doesn't work or barely works while AT&T phones work fine. I have also seen the opposite. My friend has Nextel which means no service in Wyoming, Utah, or Nevada except major metro areas.
My employer looked at switching to T-Mobile last year. I was given a phone for testing on a trip. I was going south of Lincoln, Nebraska and the T-Mobile rep told me they had zero coverage there. We gave up on T-mobile due to lack of coverage.
AT&T may still has some leftover CDMA in their network, but the iPhone certainly isn't running on CDMA as it doesn't support it. There are areas where they don't have 3G and the iPhone runs on EDGE for data.
Matt, Apple/AT&T have been quite active in updating the capabilities of the iPhone. I updated Pats phone with the latest software version and she can get photos from other smart phones and email just fine. Supposedly she can send photos as well.
I had a Palm before and made extensive use of the notes feature. When we got the iPhone it did not have that capability. I was going to use a jailbreak with some software, but they now support notes.
As far as phone service, I have not had any problem in extensive travel (including Europe $$$$) with only one or two exceptions.
The famous blue and red maps are for 3G which you don't need for voice. There is some legal discussion about that ad from what I hear.
Even with the non-3G capability we still get Internet at better than dial-up speeds and that is good enough for many things we do.
As I said in an earlier post, Verizon assured us we would have 3G at the house and we only get that with our newly installed Wilson antenna.
So, as many of the posters have said, most of the big providers have pretty darn good coverage. However, the advertising with the red and blue maps is extremely misleading as far as I am concerned
Jim
Sonja has no problems with photos or emails with her I phone 3 or 4 everyday of the grandkids.
Ruthi I live in AZ to answer your questions and we travel here in the west and southeast and AT&T service has never been a problem for us we even use her I Phone in Jordon Valley OR and Garden Valley ID talk about a remote areas
good luck
wow, thanks for all the good info guys. I am really leaning to getting the iphone. I have wanted one for a long time, just been afraid of the service, especially when I look at the coverage maps. I just looked at their site. I guess there is no bonus discounts for them, even if you are a new customer. I tried to get 2 of them on the family plan, but, every time I go to select the 2nd phone, it wont give the iphone as a choice. Dont know what is up with that. ??? I think we will give them a try, as they also give 30 days to try them out. Again, thanks for all the good info. Ruthi
We have had really good coverage with verizons air card, so, I will probably keep that.
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Many OTR truckers use Verizon because of coverage.
Lisa has an iphone and loves it and while there are a large number of dropped calls even where there is coverage, she is looking to upgrade to the newest iphone when her contract ends. Our Verizon blackberry has the best coverage and least dropped calls. My Tmobile android is closer to Verizon in coverage and dropped calls. Most of our non urban travels are in CA and MO.
Rumors are circulating about bringing out a CDMA Iphone this summer. The government is pressuring the industry to distribute phones across the industry rather than to one carrier so it is just a matter of time.
Mike
Ruthi,
If you ONLY travel interstates ATT is good, but if you get of the interstate AT T's coverage is HORRIBLE and I mean Horrible......
I drive 50,000 miles a year and very seldom have problems with Verizon, we used 5000+minutes a month Both have blackberry's, and both have 3g network cards,(our Son also has a phone on this plan) Costs $400+ a month. but we service 20 = states so we have to have something that Works.
John
Do any of you others that travel, use hwys other than the interstates, and if so, what kind of reception do you get? I would stay with verizon if they had an iphone, but, dang it, I am tired of waiting. I am ready to downsize to one device.
I also have AT&T with great results. but I live in the west and verizon don't work where I live I have had sprint too and it worked fine. I have been in AZ where sprint and AT&T worked great and verizin was very touchy to find a spot. Jerry
Quote from: ruthi on April 06, 2010, 10:26:05 AMDo any of you others that travel, use hwys other than the interstates, and if so, what kind of reception do you get? I would stay with verizon if they had an iphone, but, dang it, I am tired of waiting. I am ready to downsize to one device.
Hello Ruthi
If you're going to be going to a places well off of the interstates, you might want to invest in a cellphone with the option of connecting a really good quality high gain external antenna. I had phones from both AT&T and Verizon with me in my travels across the USA back in 2008. I found that in the many remote areas I travelled through, neither one worked so well with the factory antenna. I had an external antenna with adapters for both. The Verizon phone worked much better for cellphone coverage, in more remote locations than the AT&T phone did. To be fair, the AT&T phone did have faster internet access when I was close to the cities, but the dead zones for AT&T were a lot bigger in most places. There were a few places that the AT&T phone worked better in, but they were few and far between. Since I tend to avoid the cities and interstates as much as possible in my travels, I dropped my AT&T service last year and just stick with Verizon now. The most difficult areas for me to find cellphone service were the desolate highways passing through remote desert regions of Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Bob
I have been looking at this company: Wilson Electronics (http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/)
Ruthi, why worry about the coverage unless things have changed I never built a Wal-Mart SuperCenter in the boonies lol go for your Iphone girl.
good luck
the iphone my be pretty, but i like to be online. like Jim, i have satellite. with Verizon, i've only had to make calls twice via satellite where i just couldn't find a signal to make a call. Data use for tethering is even worse. i'm near lakeland, fl and yes, i can use my cell with my PC, but the speed sucks.
We were doing rv shows and traveling a lot. Not always on Interstates. in my opinion, (and a lot of other escapees at their shows), Verizon has the network. Not always fastest, not always best, but almost always able to communicate. lots more bare spots today with AT&T in my opinion, and i did lots of questions when i was doing seminars.
i looked at Androids and blackberrys. both are expensive and i notice verizon is now qouting a mandatory $10 data charge with new phones on top of voice plan. Blackberries and androids have mandatory $30, and if you want to use it with a computer, it''s another $30. :o
if you are planning on using it the way they want instead of voice calls, then the prices aren't scary. also, walmarts usually are in populated areas where they have people to sell to, as luvrbus said. that means cell service available.
iphone and blackberries and androids, oh my!! i spend way too much time on electronic gadgets. i may be getting old, but i'd rather be working on the bus. (he says as he sits typing on the stupid computer again). that's my 42.5 cents worth.
Thanks yall. Every once in a great while, they build them in some out of the way locations expecting the area to grow. But, we handle business sometimes going down the hwy.But, that being said, I am going to go for it, lol. But, I talked with someone today at the store, and they told me that a new iphone will be coming out, prob. in July. She said they all were told no one could take vacations in July, and that is a good sign. It will be a 4G phone, with some extra things on it. It will have a camera on the front for skype too. So, I think I will wait til then to get it, if I can stand it that long. She said that the cost of the 3G will then drop too. So, bummer, guess I will have to patient, and that is not my thing. ;D
I know from my experiences that AT&T has a lot more dead spots in the Carolinas and Virginia especially off the main highways. I switched to AT&T when they offered a special deal and only kept it long enough for my contract to expire before returning back to Verizon. I also have a Verizon wireless Net Card in my laptop and (knock on wood) have never been anyplace in the last 2 years that I couldn't use it. Not sure about the rest of the states but for me here in the Carolinas, Verizon beats AT&T hands down.
We have had Verizon for several years. Then moving to Abilene TX we could not get a local number, that was in 06. So we ended up with AT&T, always have dropped calls, poor service in general. As soon as our contract is up we're going back to Verizon. We also have a Verizon air card and it seems to work very good, much better than an ATT I used for work.
I think it's a crap shoot anyway, it's all about who you are happy with. ;)