cell phone coverage

[ruthi]

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

[luvrbus]

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

[Eric]

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!

[ruthi]

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.   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.

[Eric]

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!

[rv_safetyman]

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  .  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

[Just Dallas]

Removed

[John Z]

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.

[rv_safetyman]

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

[Lin]

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).

[MattC]

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

[belfert]

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.

[rv_safetyman]

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

[luvrbus]

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

[ruthi]

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