Least Dropped Calls? Most reliable, nah.

[jng]

I'm with Cingular now. I guess I should say AT&T. While it's nice knowing that I could get the iPhone without switching networks, I'm wondering if Apple knows how unreliable the network really is! Honestly, that BS in the commercials about 4 bars? I get 2 at home. And now that I'm looking for jobs, I am actually using my cell more often and it's very staticy AND I've had dropped calls.

Also I noticed that the fewest dropped calls is BS. Why? Because if I lose the other person, my phone still says I'm "connected" even though I hear absolutely nothing. So then I hang up and have to call the person back or the other does the same.

My contract expired sometime last year so I'm free to go. Verizon has much better reception in Boston, but their customer service isn't as good. I hate cell phones.

How is Cingular/AT&T where you are?

 

[Turkish]

I think it's a well-known fact that Verizon has perhaps the best network as far as coverage, but in my experience, they also have the absolute worst service ever.

Perhaps Apple went with a carrier that shares a bit of its creative DNA, but also is excited about the product and willing to follow Apple's likely anal-retentive instructions for customer service, support, etc...

Not thrilled about Cingular myself...

 

[mkrishnan]

How is Cingular/AT&T where you are?

Now you've made my point for me. I think there's at least one part of every major city in which one of the major services stinks. Sadly, you're there.

Anyways, Cingular seems to be middle-of-the-road in my (not major) city. Sprint seems to be the dead-out worst, Cingular and T-Mobile roughly a wash and both far better than Sprint (Cingular might be slightly better, because I think they do have the band that T-Mo does not use deployed here), and then Verizon the best.

EDIT: As for why Apple is in with Cingular, I think you can in no way undercount the level of importance for them, starting out, to be in GSM and not on CDMA. Even though Apple is widely acclaimed to hate every part of the world outside the US, being in GSM is just really the best option for them. And that meant either T-Mo or Cingular, and Cingular is honestly much more aggressive than T-Mobile is in the US.

 

[shecky]

apple was foolish not to have asked you before deciding on what carrier to work with on the iPhone. after all, your anecdotal evidence must be indicative of the performance of the network everywhere else.

 

[r6girl]

Verizon has much better reception in Boston, but their customer service isn't as good. How is Cingular/AT&T where you are?

i'm in boston now too and i have absolutely GREAT reception with cingular. i have 4 bars (the max on my phone) at home in the suburbs north of boston, and 3-4 at work in downtown boston. our reception at home is so good that we decided against getting a land line at all and simply use our cell phones all the time. the only places where my calls get dropped are in the tunnels in downtown, or a certain section of the commuter train ride to and from work.

what kind of phone do you have? that can be a significant factor - i've had phones that will have different reception levels in the same exact spot. my current phone is a treo 680, which i loved at first but is now slowly driving me insane, and i'm anxiously awaiting the iphone. i just hope the iphone has signal reception as good as my treo...

 

[MovieCutter]

That's funny because I used to not be able to use my phone in my house when I was with T-Mobile. Ever since I switched to Cingular, haven't had a problem. I guess you must think your problems are network-wide...not specific to your location.

 

[neven]

Also I noticed that the fewest dropped calls is BS. Why? Because if I lose the other person, my phone still says I'm "connected" even though I hear absolutely nothing. So then I hang up and have to call the person back or the other does the same.

You know the saying, "the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data"?

 

[island]

I have AT&T (Cingular) here in SW CT and I have perfect service without any problems. I used to have Verizon and that was pretty good except at my office where I always lost service. T-mobile is the worst out of all of em. Sprint is so-so and Nextel is not bad but if I had to pick, AT&T is the one I have had the best success with so far.

 

[aricher]

It may just be the phone you are using. My wife and I were using Moto V400 and V600s up until about a year ago. Both had horrible reception, many dropped calls, etc. In the downtown Chicago area. She switched to a Razr V3 and I got a Nokia 6682 - we have not experienced any bad reception or dropped calls since. The service has been flawless everywhere we have traveled including Mexico and all over Europe.

Try switching your sim card into someone else's phone and see if that helps.

I've tried every service (Sprint, T-Mobil, Verizon, Nextel) except for US Cellular - all have been worse than Cingular IMHO. To each their own. I'm happy Apple's teaming up with Cingular/AT&T, I just hope that they offer some sort of upgrade deal to people already tied into contracts.

 

[fairnymph]

It really could be the phone. I had a sprint phone and it got horrible reception (also in Boston area) and dropped calls constantly, then got a new virgin mobile phone, which uses the same exact network, and have never had a single problem.

 

[yg17]

I had Cingular too and it sucked. Fewest dropped calls my arse. I dropped more calls on them than I ever have on any other carrier.

I haven't dropped a single call since switching to T-Mobile. Oh wait, I did drop a call or two since switching to T-Mobile, but that was while roaming on the Cingular network

 

[papadopolis1024]

to tell you the truth I think it is better than the other networks where I live. I get signal were my friends dont I even get it in our librarys underr ground floors.

 

[xyian]

Cingular is okay. I used to be with Verizon and have to admit that even with the old technology they had when I was with them, they rarely ever dropped calls.
AT&T/Cingular/AT&T/Whatever they might be next week....is a whole other story. I've been with them for a while now(because of company discount) and they suck. They give you a lot for your money but I get dropped calls all the time. It's actually gotten worse over the past three weeks. I have a good phone(which I even use as my high speed modem, thank you 3g) and I still just randomly drop calls. I don't think Cingular is worth the quality of their network. I definitely wouldn't get it just for the iPhone. I'm seriously trying to find ways out of my network.

I'm with Cingular now. I guess I should say AT&T. While it's nice knowing that I could get the iPhone without switching networks, I'm wondering if Apple knows how unreliable the network really is! Honestly, that BS in the commercials about 4 bars? I get 2 at home. And now that I'm looking for jobs, I am actually using my cell more often and it's very staticy AND I've had dropped calls.

Also I noticed that the fewest dropped calls is BS. Why? Because if I lose the other person, my phone still says I'm "connected" even though I hear absolutely nothing. So then I hang up and have to call the person back or the other does the same.

My contract expired sometime last year so I'm free to go. Verizon has much better reception in Boston, but their customer service isn't as good. I hate cell phones.

How is Cingular/AT&T where you are?

 

[crees!]

Northern Virginia

Any one in NOVA who has Cingular/AT&T out there? I have Verizon and travel between Alexandria and Manassas. My reception has been pretty good. Though at work Verizon doesn't get through the building, but Cingular does. My contract is ending in the fall and I plan on switching. I used to live in MD and regularly drove through areas where I knew there was no service (with Cingular). Now everyone in my family is with Verizon. This will be interesting to see what my bills would be since I wouldn't be in their "in" network anymore.

 

[Dimwhit]

I love Cingular. I always get 4 bars, never have dropped calls, and they have the best plan for the money. (Rollover minutes rock!)

Everyone has different experiences.

 

[donniedarko]

My reception is super good... IMO I believe phones also play part in this. I get good reception where some others don't.

 

[jng]

what kind of phone do you have? that can be a significant factor - i've had phones that will have different reception levels in the same exact spot. my current phone is a treo 680, which i loved at first but is now slowly driving me insane, and i'm anxiously awaiting the iphone. i just hope the iphone has signal reception as good as my treo...

I have great reception when I'm actually in the city. But I'm in Medford/Somerville most of the time and I just have horrible reception. I also work in Boston near Brookline and I get bad reception too (there are no cell phone towers in Brookline).

I have a Razr, first generation. But it's German, so that might be the problem. It didn't occur to me until you mentioned it actually. Hmm.

I didn't realize that Verizon was not GSM, still CDMA.

I have absolutely no need to buy an iPhone. But it'd be curious to see after it came out how reliable the service that came with it is here in Boston. The iPhone is one sexy phone, but it'd be silly if you couldn't get online when you needed to, etc.

For the moment, my Razr and shuffle suffice though

 

[MacbookSwitcher]

More important than questionable reception, Cingular probably has the worst data plans and the worst 3G implementation: Their UMTS deployment is just horrible (by that I mean slow and limited to just a few areas of the country), compared to Verizon's EVDO.

To face the real facts, the reason Apple did not go with Verizon or Sprint, is that those carriers require too much customization of the phone to their liking. They would have made Apple put Sprint applications and certain Sprint UI features onto the iPhone, which Steve Jobs probably balked at.

Cingular was the only carrier that would let them get away with doing what they wanted with no carrier input on UI or featureset. It has nothing to do with the "best network" or "best reception". It has everything to do with "Who will let us ship this phone without 'carrierizing' it?" Cingular was the only taker.

 

[donniedarko]

I have great reception when I'm actually in the city. But I'm in Medford/Somerville most of the time and I just have horrible reception. I also work in Boston near Brookline and I get bad reception too (there are no cell phone towers in Brookline).

I have a Razr, first generation. But it's German, so that might be the problem. It didn't occur to me until you mentioned it actually. Hmm.

I didn't realize that Verizon was not GSM, still CDMA.

I have absolutely no need to buy an iPhone. But it'd be curious to see after it came out how reliable the service that came with it is here in Boston. The iPhone is one sexy phone, but it'd be silly if you couldn't get online when you needed to, etc.

For the moment, my Razr and shuffle suffice though

Its funny I have a Nokia 3560, 4 years old; one of the first smartphones. The Symbian s60 software is excellent IMO. We are getting cultured to by the next best phone. I had a RAZR and I want to throw it in the ocean like a skipping stone.

 

[madog]

Personally I think service has mainly to do with poorly developed phones. Frankly, even though Motorola has been in the game the longest, I think they are absolute garbage. If you took any service and had your old [everyone had one] black and white screen Nokia phone that weighed half a pound, it would be far more reliable than anything that's out on the market now.

I have Cingular and use my buddies old Ericsson P910a and have had, if anything, a few dropped calls in the past 2 years whereas my previous 2 Motorola phones would drop calls on a weekly basis. As for my old Nokias, the only trouble I had was when I broke an antenna off one of them. Even then, when I had my finger on the exposed part it would still work better that anything I've had since.

 

[jng]

Its funny I have a Nokia 3560, 4 years old; one of the first smartphones. The Symbian s60 software is excellent IMO. We are getting cultured to by the next best phone. I had a RAZR and I want to throw it in the ocean like a skipping stone.

Yeah, I have a Sony Ericsson T637 or something like that and that's from cinuglar. I'd use it but it's much bulkier than the Razr.

I think I'll upgrade my phone this summer (not to an iPhone) but it'll have to wait until I have the cash because I'm not too keen on signing an extension with Cingular.

 

[hulugu]

It really could be the phone. I had a sprint phone and it got horrible reception (also in Boston area) and dropped calls constantly, then got a new virgin mobile phone, which uses the same exact network, and have never had a single problem.

I've noticed a vast difference between my old T610 and my RAZR on T-Mobile. Not many people mention this, but the phone matters nearly as much as the network and it's very difficult for one person to accurately control for such a big difference.

I'm considering switching to Cingular, the iPhone and Rollover minutes are both very good reasons for me.

 

[Dimwhit]

Personally I think service has mainly to do with poorly developed phones. Frankly, even though Motorola has been in the game the longest, I think they are absolute garbage. If you took any service and had your old [everyone had one] black and white screen Nokia phone that weighed half a pound, it would be far more reliable than anything that's out on the market now.

I have Cingular and use my buddies old Ericsson P910a and have had, if anything, a few dropped calls in the past 2 years whereas my previous 2 Motorola phones would drop calls on a weekly basis. As for my old Nokias, the only trouble I had was when I broke an antenna off one of them. Even then, when I had my finger on the exposed part it would still work better that anything I've had since.

I think you're right. My wife's Motorola used to drop calls regularly. Her new LG doesn't drop any calls.

 

[roland.g]

It can definitely be location and phone specific more than network. I always used to carry my cell phone around to check the signal strength at any new apartment I wanted to rent, same with when I bought my house b/c I haven't had a land line in 5 years, so good reception at home was important. And that can change from network to network at various locations. Not to mention that my Sony Ericsson T-610 has awful reception b/c the internal antenna was crap, but all my Nokias (which IMO have the best antennas) always have much better reception.

I think that the move to pick AT&T/Cingular was a good move b/c Verizon has the network but not the right kind GSM/CDMA and poor customer service, and T-Mobile is a step behind. I have them now and have for 8 yrs, but they are way back on the whole content on your phone/music/video/etc movement. Their t-zones is nothing comparted to the more broadband like content from the other providers. Also I think that Cingular has a better network than T-Mobile. I will switch b/c the iPhone is droolworthy. Question is to get it this summer and spend $200 to get out of my contract or to wait till next March when it expires and hope that it goes 8/16GB and other revisions by then. My wife will want me to wait. I got a Nokia 8801 ($800) in November 2005, so I think I need to hit the 2+ yr. mark before switching to another $$$ phone.

 

[jng]

I'm considering switching to Cingular, the iPhone and Rollover minutes are both very good reasons for me.

Rollover is cool. But because of their expensive plans, casual users often end up with lots of unused minutes. Since they added free calling to other cingular members, our family plan has had over 10,000 rollover minutes (at one point).

It's sort of a another way Cingular eats your money. =/