AT&T Blames iPhone users for Network Problems

[nehunte]

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...he_iPhone?taxonomyName=Hardware&taxonomyId=12

"There are simply too many users using data-intensive applications," Donovan said. "Users expecting to just pick up their phone and use 3G data whenever they want are being unreasonable."

Yes, it's unreasonable to expect to use features you're paying for at any time. Time for a CDMA Verizon iPhone..

This article is effin' garbage!! Are you kidding me? It's some guy that hates AT&T and is using his pulpit to spew his anger. His links in the article don't talk about what he is talking about. He doesn't actually link anything to prove what he's talking about. The whole article was about opinions and rumors.

I'm not the biggest fan of AT&T, but this article is bogus. Everybody has this dream that they can just take all of the iPhone users in the US and throw them on the Verizon network and everybody is going to be happy and there won't be any problems because their network runs on magical happy dust. Doesn't work like that!

 

[kdarling]

One of the biggest choke points in AT&T's network is found in what's called back-haul capacity, or the size of the pipe that connects cell towers to the Internet,...

That's where Verizon has a large advantage. They've got their FiOS network and MCI fiber trunks to provide tons of backhaul. They even rent some of that bandwidth to other wireless carriers.

And AT&T is making big changes in how it plans and runs the network. In the days when a cell phone was just for voice calls, it was easy to forecast network capacity across large regions. (... stuff about planning for temporary high needs... ) "No other carrier is even close to that degree of sophistication," Donovan claims. "We're solving problems for the world in how to deal with these loads."

Hardly anything new. Other carriers set up local feeds as needed, too. (Verizon was also immediately on the 9/11 Trade Center scene with portable cell sites looking for buried survivors who might have weak signals.)

And unlike other carriers who use computer models to determine where they have coverage, Verizon continuously sends out trucks all over the country to actually measure it... which is why their maps are very accurate (and is where that obnoxious "can you hear me now" saying came from).

 

[nehunte]

And unlike other carriers who use computer models to determine where they have coverage, Verizon continuously sends out trucks all over the country to actually measure it... which is why their maps are very accurate (and is where that obnoxious "can you hear me now" saying came from).

I'm still not a personal fan of their coverage maps cause all they show is a blanket of red. They don't necessarily tell you if the signal is strong or weak. But I will agree with you, their maps are pretty accurate in terms of actual coverage.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

That's where Verizon has a large advantage. They've got their FiOS network and MCI fiber trunks to provide tons of backhaul. They even rent some of that bandwidth to other wireless carriers.



Hardly anything new. Other carriers set up local feeds as needed, too. (Verizon was also immediately on the 9/11 Trade Center scene with portable cell sites looking for buried survivors who might have weak signals.)

And unlike other carriers who use computer models to determine where they have coverage, Verizon continuously sends out trucks all over the country to actually measure it... which is why their maps are very accurate (and is where that obnoxious "can you hear me now" saying came from).

Tell you the truth all the carriers have guys who drive around in cars testing things. Verizon just lead the way in it and started it.
Another random fact is those test cars are full of cell phone making random calls testing how it sounds and they are also using the networks.

They also have from from all the competitors to see how they are stacking up compared to them.

Something AT&T does is lets say at football games they screw with the network before the game taking away bandwidth from texting/data and diverting it to calls. Right after kickoff they take away bandwithe from voice to handle the extra data and texting.

Something all the careers are starting to do is move bandwith between voice and data depending on the time of day. That is something that will never change. Personally I think voice calls should over ride all the other traffic the network. The data demands for internet can afford to have extra lag time. Voice calls can not.

 

[Primejimbo]

That's where Verizon has a large advantage. They've got their FiOS network and MCI fiber trunks to provide tons of backhaul.

Verzion bought MCI and is now Verizon Business. I don't have any info, I just work side by side with them at work. Their backbone was built by the company I work for and they lease from us.