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Communications Iphone Cellphones Apple

Consumer Reports Gives AT&T Lowest US Carrier Rank 187

Posted by Soulskill from the can-you-hear-me-now dept.
tekgoblin writes "Consumer Reports has just released results for consumer satisfaction across all US cell phone carriers. The survey covered around 58,000 Consumer Reports subscribers. Over half of the respondents who used AT&T used the iPhone when taking the survey. According to Consumer Reports, iPhone users were less satisfied with AT&T than other users with different phones. An AT&T spokesman responded by citing independent speed tests, as well as higher subscriber numbers and a dropped call rate within 0.1% of the industry leader." Update: 12/07 01:49 GMT by S : Corrected last sentence to indicate the 0.1% dropped call rate statistic is the difference between AT&T and another carrier, not 0.1% overall.
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Consumer Reports Gives AT&T Lowest US Carrier Rank More

Consumer Reports Gives AT&T Lowest US Carrier Rank

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  • Dropped call rate of 0.1%?! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:26PM (#34467886)
    Look AT&T, if you're going to lie you should at least make it a plausible lie. Nobody who uses AT&T (or has to call people on AT&T) is going to believe your ridiculously low 0.1%.
    • I use AT&T and have only had a dropped call when I went into this weird underground bar. The bar was fun, but it was the only time I got low enough bars to where I could not make a call. As for dropped calls, I have never had a dropped call unless it was from the other person.

    • Re:Dropped call rate of 0.1%?! (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:33PM (#34467970)

      ridiculously low 0.1%.

      ...what's your basis of calling it ridiculously low? Do you know the dropped call rate of other companies?

      Perhaps 0.1% is very high compared to other companies? Heck, assuming 10 million calls a day, that's 10,000 dropped calls daily!

      Anyway, I'm just trying to say the number has no context. If I said my penis was 5,000 flagoogles long, it might *sound* impressive, but maybe a hundred flagoogles is only half of a nord?

      • If I said my penis was 5,000 flagoogles long, it might *sound* impressive, but maybe a hundred flagoogles is only half of a nord?

        Isn't a flagoogle a unit of time and not distance?

        If your penis was a car, would it be an 18 wheeler or a hatchback? Please phrase your answer in a way that would make Alex Trebek's ears flutter in glee.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        ...what's your basis of calling it ridiculously low? Do you know the dropped call rate of other companies?

        There are periods when I have no dropped calls. There are also periods where I drop a call two or three times in a single hour. This is in an area that typically has 3-5 bars of signal. A number as low as 0.1% can't possibly be correct unless their methodology is flawed. Most likely, their methodology is the same as the methodology used for determining whether to credit the customer: if the customer

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dgatwood ( 11270 )

          Ah. Actually, that .1% was a delta, not a total dropped call percent. Makes more sense that way.

        • Pfft the bars don't mean anything. If they want to present a meaningful comparison, they could show decibels of microvolts emf, microwatts received power, SNR.. Even the bar representation could have been meaningful, if they'd only declare a meaning for it.

          More "bars" in more places?! what the hell is that even supposed to mean?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by icebike ( 68054 )

            Pfft the bars don't mean anything. If they want to present a meaningful comparison, they could show decibels of microvolts emf, microwatts received power, SNR.. Even the bar representation could have been meaningful, if they'd only declare a meaning for it.

            More "bars" in more places?! what the hell is that even supposed to mean?

            Best as I can tell, iPhone users fret about bars all the time.

            Since switching to Android my dropped call rate on ATT has gone to zero, and I never pay any attention to bars at all, because I just never get calls dropped anymore.

            FTR: My android reads out actual dBm. But who cares, since the calls don't drop.

    • "Dropped call rate" doesn't mean anything; a 60 minute call is more likely to drop than a 30 second call. And any call is more likely to drop if I'm driving through a tunnel while on the phone.

    • Re:Dropped call rate of 0.1%?! (Score:5, Informative)

      by Matheus ( 586080 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:44PM (#34468112) Homepage

      Bad Summary / RTFA. They say "our dropped call rate is within 1/10 of a percent - the equivalent of just one call in a thousand - of the industry leader." NOT that they have fewer than 0.1% dropped calls.

      • Bad Summary / RTFA. They say "our dropped call rate is within 1/10 of a percent - the equivalent of just one call in a thousand - of the industry leader." NOT that they have fewer than 0.1% dropped calls.

        Yeah, but even that way is mighty sketchy wording. AT&T knew what they were doing when they worded it that way.
        -Taylor

    • no shit .. it's closer to 60% for me. Goddamn awful! Thank you Apple for giving these guys a leg to stand on.

    • From TFA,

      "The GWS drive tests also revealed that 98.59 percent of voice calls connected over the AT&T network nationwide are completed without interruption. That's a difference of about one-tenth of one percentage point, or one call in 1,000, from the only higher score in the industry."

      So no, they do not drop only 1 out of 1000 calls, they drop more like 15 out of 1000 calls.

      Not that my anecdotal evidence has any weight, but I personally experience more like a 5 to 10% dropped call rate with AT&T (

      • Not that my anecdotal evidence has any weight, but I personally experience more like a 5 to 10% dropped call rate with AT&T (one time I was dropped 4 times in a half hour).

        I don't have that kind of rate overall, but I have had the experience of being dropped multiple times in about 10 minutes. Each time, I used AT&T's "Mark the Spot" application to report a dropped call. On the last couple of reports, I added a comment to the effect of "Please get out here and fix this cell base station!" -- I was at home and never had any problems with dropped calls until then.

        A couple of days later, I noticed that the signal strength on my phone was 0-1 bars, instead of the usual

  • Now, I know that correlation != causation, but... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rekenner ( 849871 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:27PM (#34467898) Homepage
    "Over half of the respondents who used AT&T used the iPhone when taking the survey."

    • Re:Now, I know that correlation != causation, but. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dumbnose ( 190140 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @08:59PM (#34468844)

      I had two different iPhones over two years. I experienced dropped calls all the time. It was awful. I hated AT&T. During this time, I even moved from the East Coast to the West Coast and still had the same poor experience. I was ready to leave AT&T. I had friends on AT&T that didn't have iPhones and they said they had a good experience with AT&T. So, I decided to get a new phone. I got a Samsung Focus running Windows Phone 7. Now, my experience is really good. The network seems fast and reliable. No more dropped call issues. I can't speak for everybody. But, this is my experience. I wish I had changed phones sooner. It would've saved me tons of aggravation.

    • To be fair, AT&T service here is sufficiently bad, that were we the only people with iPhones the problem would never have been discovered.

      There's something about Seattle which leads us to get crappy service from telecoms. AT&T, Qwest and Comcast all in the same market. And I'm not sure that the others are any better. Receptionwise, Sprint was actually pretty good in my experience, but that was just for voice, no idea how they are for data.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by icebike ( 68054 )

        My experience is different. The only place in Seattle I have problems is Safco/Quest during a game. Drop back to Edge, problem solved.

        I used to have dropped calls by the airport in SeaTac, but not since I switched to Android from iPhone. Even in the I5 underpass I don't drop calls.

        AT&T in NYC and San Francisco may have serious problems, but in Puget sound area, AT&T is solid. If you are still stuck with an iPhone you may still think AT&T sucks, but not more so in Seattle than anywhere else.

    • So the ones who couldn't get through aren't accounted for. It would have been 90% of the respondents...

  • at&t isn't that bad (Score:4, Insightful)

    by p51d007 ( 656414 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:30PM (#34467948)
    And when the hoard of iPhone users flood another carrier (Verizon?) when at&t loses its exclusive contract with Apple, maybe two things will happen. 1. The speeds on at&t's network will increase 2. The call quality/service will increase. at&t will have to try harder, to keep customers because you won't have to go there if you want an iPhone. I have been with them for 8 years, never had a problem. It will just be nice to walk into an at&t store and not have to look to see if you accidentally didn't wonder into an Apple store LOL.

    • I'm really hoping Verizon gets the iPhone because I think a LOT of people will flock to that network. After a year or so, I'll see how the reports look for both sides and make an informed choice...

      Verizon better be ready, because AT&T sure had issues with the load they got.

      Although in my region too, these days AT&T is actually pretty decent.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by icebike ( 68054 )

        The iphone experience on CDMA will send lots of those right back to AT&T. It just can't do all the same things that iPhone users have gotten use to being able to do.

        You are correct in stating AT&T had issues with the load of iPhone users they got. The cheap infineon chip sets in the first three iPhone releases had them tweaking the network in stupid ways trying to keep the iPhone running.

        Meanwhile, Blackberry users in the same time period had nowhere near the problems.

    • And when the hoard of iPhone users flood another carrier (Verizon?) when at&t loses its exclusive contract with Apple,
      maybe two things will happen.
      1. The speeds on at&t's network will increase
      2. The call quality/service will increase.
      at&t will have to try harder, to keep customers because you won't have to go there if you want an iPhone.
      I have been with them for 8 years, never had a problem. It will just be nice to walk into an at&t store and
      not have to look to see if you accidentally didn't wonder into an Apple store LOL.

      Yeah, lots of people say that: "I've had AT&T for years and never had a problem." But how can you know? You've *never* had a problem? Every cell network has problems. You don't have reception everywhere, none of the networks do. So how much reception is acceptable? Have you ever gone on vacation to somewhere remote and lost reception? Yes, we shouldn't focus on technology on vacation, but what if you just needed to make one call? I think every cell user in the world has experienced that.

      So then, what is

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by icebike ( 68054 )

        Yeah, lots of people say that: "I've had AT&T for years and never had a problem." But how can you know? You've *never* had a problem? Every cell network has problems. You don't have reception everywhere, none of the networks do. So how much reception is acceptable? Have you ever gone on vacation to somewhere remote and lost reception?

        Well, yes, there are some places in the west that are out of AT@T range. You first fall back to Edge, then to GPRS, then sometimes nothing.

        But I knew that going in. And Verizon has some of those holes as well. (Far fewer than AT&T, which in turn has far fewer than T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.

        But to your main point, You DO know when the network has problems. You pick up our cell and can't make a call. Or you finally drive over a pass and three voice mails come in.

        Occasionally you might notice, even in stro

  • Not Just Iphone Users (Score:3)

    by Greyfox ( 87712 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:31PM (#34467952) Homepage Journal
    My room mate just had to drop AT&T as her carrier because conversations were garbled and she could not understand about one word in four. She tried three different phones while trying to resolve the problem, and borrowed my HTC from Sprint a couple of times. She just switched over to Sprint, problem solved.

    A lady I know over at my favorite coffee shop also complains of problems with AT&T data service and dropped calls both at home and at the coffee shop, and she doesn't use an iPhone either.

    • I use an N-Gage QD, that's right, that old. I don't have any problems with AT&T. Now the kicker: I moved from Nebraska to Vegas and kept my Nebraska number and just use Google Voice. Yeah, my phone still works perfect. Granted, I was smart enough to get a plan that is nationwide so I am not hit for roaming charges, but this is first hand experience from somebody who uses a phone that is completely hated on. My phone is supposed to be really, really bad, but yet, it works just fine. No dropped call

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Greyfox ( 87712 )
        I thought it might just be a phone quality issue too -- my HTC Evo is a good bit more expensive than the mid-range smart phones she was trying. Three phones, she tried with AT&T. First phone with sprint resolved the issue.

        There are a lot of variables involved, and it's hardly a scientific study, but it only ever seems like AT&T users I hear complaining about the service, and the complaints are not uncommon.

        • Same here. I use an htc EVO on Sprint, and I have absolutely no problems with AT&T. :)

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Greyfox ( 87712 )
            I didn't have any problems with AT&T with the ol' 1G iPhone either, other than it being godawful slow due to being 1G. Of course, I never actually talk to anyone.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      My room mate just had to drop AT&T as her carrier because conversations were garbled and she could not understand about one word in four. She tried three different phones while trying to resolve the problem, and borrowed my HTC from Sprint a couple of times. She just switched over to Sprint, problem solved.

      I'd be curious if your roommate's cell tower is forcing all her calls into half rate encoding. Could be the case if the tower is highly congested or if the phone's battery is low. Moving to a differ

  • Studies mean nothing (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mishotaki ( 957104 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:34PM (#34467974)
    If your service sucks and your customers hate you, citing studies and statistics won't make them hate you less...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tftp ( 111690 )

      If your service sucks and your customers hate you, citing studies and statistics won't make them hate you less...

      If your service sucks and it costs billions to make it better, citing studies and statistics is the only direction that is open to you.

      There are only about three cell phone companies in the USA (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint; some say T-Mobile is also a cell company :-) The whole market is divided among them, and all these companies are bad. The customer only has an option to move from one bad c

  • Duno (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mrsteveman1 ( 1010381 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:34PM (#34467978)

    Most of the iPhone users i've talked to say its been just fine on AT&T. I've got an iPhone 4 and it's working great, 3G speeds are plenty fast, and calls haven't dropped at all. Voice sounds bad, and AT&T might be worse in that respect than other carriers, but poor call quality seems to be part of a trend that followed the switch to digital phones, they just sound worse than the older analog ones and definitely worse than landlines.

    Most of the AT&T hate seems to be coming from users in large cities like SF and NY. I expect that the signaling issues that TechCrunch and others have reported on that are specific to AT&Ts network are hitting hardest there.

    • I suspect that's probably coincidental. There's also been a trend towards deregulation covering most of that period of time. Service even for voice seems to be getting significantly worse.

      I just found out that Qwest charges only $6 a month more for their 40mbps fiber service than they do for my 5mbps DSL, only catch is that they don't provide any speeds faster than what I've got here, and they talked the city out of setting up municipal fiber on the premise that they don't want to have to put up with gov

  • Reminds me of Kitchen Nightmares (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Vrallis ( 33290 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:39PM (#34468040) Homepage

    The response by AT&T reminds me of almost every episode of Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon goes in, finds out the food is shit, and the owners always respond "but the customers all tell us the food is great!" (to which Gordon usually responds "What customers?").

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by garcia ( 6573 )

      "but the customers all tell us the food is great!" (to which Gordon usually responds "What customers?").

      Yeah because AT&T has no customers and none of them think the service is acceptable--nope, not one. Please. I have an iPhone and while I wish I had a phone with a physical keyboard and true multitasking, the iPhone is a killer device and certainly still the best available for the touchscreen only market.

      I rarely have dropped calls, I have 3G most everywhere I happen to be, and the service is acceptabl

      • Well, the example isn't the greatest because there are other restaurants out there that are presumably better. AT&T is worse than the competition, but not bad enough to make much of a difference in terms of switching.

        3G coverage for them in Seattle is complete crap. Largely because they've got their antennae set up north of the city and south of the city with everybody in the middle with little to no consideration for topography. Before Sprint pissed me off with their customer service, I had much, mu

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by garcia ( 6573 )

          I was in Seattle back in April. I didn't have any reception problems anywhere while I was there.

  • Consumer Reports responded in kind that AT&T could shove it's speed tests, considering they were measuring customer satisfaction, and apparently customers could give a good goddamn about how AT&T performed on its own, unverifiable tests when their customer service is horrifying.

    • I don't know where AT&T gets their numbers. I don't have any hard statistics, but as a regular iPhone user, I've experienced a 5-10% dropped call rate, times when even texts wouldn't be sent, and depending on where I am in this large metropolitan area I call home, download speeds of 0.03 Mbps (though right now I'm getting 2.12 Mbps down and 0.180 Mbps up). I'm certainly not impressed with AT&T's network. On the other hand, Verizon's customer service was what prompted me to switch in the first pla

      • That's similar to how I ended up on AT&T. Sprint's terrible service prompted me to switch and AT&T ended up being cheaper for reasons related to a family plant.

        But the reception is far worse than it was on Sprint and I'm regularly in parts of the city where I can't get 3G.
  • My girlfriend and I have been in a long-distance relationship for a while now and communicated almost exclusively via phone at night. Some nights there would be 5-10 dropped calls in a 30 minute period. It didn't matter which side dropped the calls because we both used AT&T. Moreover, even when the dropped call rate was tolerable, the call-quality was very poor. We both finally decided to switch to T-Mobile when our contracts ran out and have never looked back.

    • You're in a long distance relationship and you get a lot of dropped calls?

      Have you considered the possibility that you are not, in fact, in a long distance relationship..?

  • Speaking as an iPhone Owner and New Yorker (Score:3)

    by Azureflare ( 645778 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @07:50PM (#34468184)

    I can tell you I am completely satisfied with ATT, but ONLY when I'm in Brooklyn. In fact, 3G service has better latency than my cable connection through Cablevision.

    As soon as I go to Manhattan, ATT provides the most horrible experience I've ever had with a phone.

    I'm not totally sure if this is ATTs fault though, for two reasons: 1.) Buildings interfere with cell signal, and 2.) Tons of people there have an iPhone/smartphone.

    I find that the latency in Manhattan (especially lower down in Hell's Kitchen, the Village, or near the WTC) can sometimes be atrocious, especially when just coming out of the subway. When you're looking up directions or reviews, you don't want to have to wait a minute for results to come back... That minute can feel like much longer especially if it's freezing cold out.

    Does android on verizon or sprint have similar issues, or is it just ATT? Anyone?

    • I talk to a friend almost every day who lives in Brooklyn and works in Manhattan, and I'd (mostly) agree. Manhattan + iPhone/AT&T = awful. We'll have 10 dropped calls in a half-hour period, depending on where she's walking. It's pretty brutal. Brooklyn's a bit better, but I still notice way more problems (drops or corrupt sound) than other carriers.

      I'm using Virgin, which piggybacks on Sprint's network (I believe), and haven't had any problems at all. Only issue is getting reception in certain bu

  • Another Data Point (Score:3)

    by jIyajbe ( 662197 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @08:02PM (#34468312)

    Seattle area, iPhone, AT&T, fully satisfied. No problems.

    (Plus, the SB baristas all know my drink, so I don't take up time ordering it. :-) )

    • Really? You must not spend much time traveling around actually in the city, because the service is pretty much shit. But, OTOH, if you're up north closer to shoreline or down south the service ought to be much better given the location of the antennae.

  • I'm sure dissatisfaction has a lot to do with the iPhone antenna issue. I'll tell you - I switched from Sprint when I bought an iPhone and I've never been happier. U.S. based call centers. You don't have to wait 30 minutes to talk to a person. And the service just works. You couldn't pay me any amount of money to go back to Sprint.

    With Sprint, they double-billed me, tried to blackmail me from leaving by stating that I agreed to a new contract when I did not, and they made me spend countless hours on th

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      I'm sure dissatisfaction has a lot to do with the iPhone antenna issue.

      Doubtful. Customer satisfaction with AT&T was in bad shape long before iPhone 4 came out. It is, however, regional.

      For a great way to check your coverage in many major cities, go to CNet's cell coverage map [cnet.com]. As soon as you look at the San Francisco Bay area, you'll understand why the reviews are so negative. Verizon's data service map looks awful, but their voice service map looks good. AT&T is the reverse. Guess who is opt

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Evets ( 629327 ) *

        Bay area being what it is (I don't go there much), I do travel extensively. The only area AT&T ever gave me problems was in a small area near the New Hampshire border in Massachusetts.

        I'm not much of a bandwidth user - just email and google maps. Google maps isn't what I'd hope often enough, but meh - it's a phone.

        Still - my coverage would have to take a major drop from what I currently experience to put myself through the horror of offshore call centers and subpar customer service.

        I guess if I didn't

    • When did you switch from Sprint? I've been using them for about a year and a half now, and I must say that I have been impressed with the customer service:
      They called me up a couple months into my plan saying "You know how we gave you free Sprint to Sprint calls? Now you have free mobile to mobile."
      At about the one-year mark they told me that even though I signed a two-year contract, I could resign and get a reduced phone rate.
      They've called me up to see how my weekend was going. (Really)
      And I can get caple

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Evets ( 629327 ) *

        It's been years, and I'm still upset about the way they treated me as a long-term customer.

        AT&T has done things for me above and beyond what sprint ever would have done.

        1) You chose a plan below your activity. We'll go ahead and backdate a plan upgrade for you because that'll be cheaper. If your calling habits change, you can downgrade at any time.

        2) My phone was stolen, they activated GPS tracking on it immediately and gave me the location for law enforcement.

        3) Provided me with a discount on a new p

    • I wouldn't bet on that. I've never owned an iPhone and if anything my opinion of AT&T is far lower than the people I know who have iPhones. Even before I moved up to a Backflip then Nexus One, the reception was terrible.

    • I'm sure dissatisfaction has a lot to do with the iPhone antenna issue.

      I don't think so. I use an iPhone 4 without any form of bumper or case and have never had a single dropped call or data slowdown etc. But I don't live in America and don't use AT&T.

      The iPhone is a GSM/HSDPA phone like any other. Problems such as dropped calls lie with your carrier, not the hardware.

      I suspect 90% of the antennagate 'issue' in the US was in fact a problem with AT&T and people living in areas with terrible reception, rather than a major issue with the phone itself. Yes if you bridge th

  • AT&T is a great carrier... TO PEE ON!
  • The article said AT&T's "dropped call rate is within 1/10 of a percent – the equivalent of just one call in a thousand – of the industry leader". So if the industry leader drops 5% of the calls, AT&T drops 5.1%.

  • Interpretation: Wireless data plans suck (Score:4, Insightful)

    by dirkdodgers ( 1642627 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @08:09PM (#34468392)

    If Verizon had the iPhone too, albeit the results would be similar. 2GB is a ridiculous monthly cap. $10 for every additional GB? What is this, 1995? OK, throttle bandwidth as needed to deliver QoS, but don't put an artificial per-month cap on my usage.

    The main advantage of having the iPhone on Verizon will be that it will drive down data plan prices and drive up caps.

    And $20/month extra for tethering? Really AT&T? Go shove it up your ass.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by rgviza ( 1303161 )

      Or Verizon will adopt a "Let's fuck iPhone users too, what are they going to do, go to AT&T?" stance, like they did with the blackberry.

      Demand, not cost, will drive the prices. Verizon won't rock the boat as far as pricing. Why should they?

  • What? They must be counting all the minutes you're NOT using your phone as them NOT dropping your call.

  • Their Network is Too Fast (Score:4, Funny)

    by NicknamesAreStupid ( 1040118 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @08:20PM (#34468522)
    It is so fast, the bits just fly by before anyone realizes it. Calls are not dropped, they merely end before the subscriber does. The problem is 2G subscribers on a 3G network. Subscribers need to upgrade themselves to 3G. Truth is, no one is nearly fast enough for AT&T. Send them all your money, and they will forgive you.

    No, I am not a shill; I just play one on the Internet.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jd2112 ( 1535857 )
      next year: the problem is you are using a 3G phone on a 4G network year after that: you're using a 4G phone on a 'still not really 4G but closer than we were before' network, you need to upgrade... and so on.

  • They paid Jobs massive $$$ for exclusive iPhone rights, got a lot of customers, and now their network is overloaded. There's no money left for infrastructure upgrades because Apple has it all!

  • T-mobile (Score:5, Funny)

    by russotto ( 537200 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @08:38PM (#34468688) Journal
    I have T-mobile prepaid. Fewer dropped calls because more often you can't place the call because there's no service at all. On the good side, it's cheap.

  • What I like and dislike about AT&T (Score:3)

    by kimvette ( 919543 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @08:50PM (#34468770) Homepage Journal

    What I like about AT&T:

    * They use SIM cards
    * They offer the iPhone

    What I dislike about AT&T:

    * Everything else

    I've been with them since they were Cellular One and I had a big old bulky NEC phone - They were great back then. Now, not so much. I'd love to be able to use the iPhone on T Mobile (I know, I can unlock it blah blah blah)

  • AT&T admits to being sub par anyway. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I got hired with Convergys, a company that handles AT&T customer service. During the course of the training, we were told that, yes, AT&T is the most expensive carrier. We learned how AT&T grades their customers, on a scale of 1 to 0 to 5, with 0 being the type of customer they want to lose, the one who always calls with complaints and requesting adjustments. Meanwhile the 5's they will bend over backwards to keep.

    The most astounding thing I learned, however, was during a discussion about intern

    • They must be referring to voice traffic. Nothing else makes sense. AT&T doesn't even KNOW you are using some dude's Wifi in Mexico if you are just using it for pure data...

  • My phone, wife's phone, son's phone, in the same room in our house, literally within 10 feet of each others. My phone shows four bars, the other two nothing. Happens all the time, just in a different combination. First contract expires in April, at which point we're "phasing out" AT&T.

    • That symptom suggests (or in fact, screams) 'cell overload'.

      The cell/tower only allows x simultaneous connections to it. Your phone has one. However there are no slots left for the other phones, so they have to seek to the next available tower, which will obviously be further away and have worse reception (or in fact, no reception at all).

      So yes you are right to point the finger at AT&T. Sounds like they are not provisioning their network adequately in your area.

  • They've got good coverage in my area and the plan I use is comparable to Verizon's in price and availability. Other customers haven't been so lucky, I suppose, but I haven't had any problems with them.
    I did, however, have a horrible time with Sprint in this area.
    Haven't had Verizon yet, but AT&T just hasn't given me a reason to leave yet.
  • I am posting this reply from my iPhone 4 on AT&T and I have never had a dr
  • On my AT&T Blackberry, I can't even load a site like Speakeasy.net to test the speed...

  • I just came back from a semester abroad in Sydney, Australia. I bought an iPhone 4 there unlocked, and used it every day, chewing through a lot of minutes and using a lot of data. I was on Telstra in Australia, and their 3g network is hands down the best I've ever seem anywhere. During my entire time there (6 months), I didn't drop a single call. I had wonderful service and fast data almost everywhere, and even with low signals (-110dbm and lower) I was able to make and hold good voice conversations.

    In New

    • I used to have a razr with AT&T a few years ago when I lived two miles east of Apple's Cupertino CA headquarters and worked two miles west of it, and I couldn't make phone calls home with it.

  • I recently completed a round the world trip that included the US, Australia, India, sub-Saharan Africa, and the cell phone experience in the US (which was mainly AT&T) was by far the worst. Dropped calls, no coverage in many places for no reason (certain block in NYC, on the freeway).

    3G wasn't deployed in Africa when I was there, but for talking I would pick an African carrier over AT&T (or T-Mobile for that matter) any day.

  • CRO report is meaningless (Score:3)

    by wcrowe ( 94389 ) on Tuesday December 07, 2010 @12:10PM (#34475592)

    Though well-intentioned, the CRO report is meaningless. I've used four different carriers in the last 12 years. Saying that one is better than another is like saying one of Satan's minions doesn't stick you with the pitchfork as much as another of Satan's minions.

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