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Comments on news posted 2009-12-01 18:34:40: Straight off of AT&T and Verizon's multi-week network quality snark fest, Consumer Reports has issued their latest survey of wireless carriers and phones, and it probably won't make AT&T particularly happy. ..

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Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

Selenia to Mike_

Premium Member

to Mike_

Re: The difference isn't that great

I agree. CR is almost always wrong. The majority of vehicles I had with reliability rated excellent from them were the biggest crap cans I owned. Yet, many rated poor have gone 200k+ for me without a hitch. Audio components are rated on features and whether they are one of CR's favorite brands, not sound quality as it should be. Tell me how a Denon or Marantz reciever/amplifier(with transistor or tube amps instead of lousy chip-based amps) ranks below a bottom-of-the-line Sony or Technics. Blah! I can certainly hear the difference. Must be deaf people on their testing board. Do not even get me started on them always top-ranking HP, Dell, and Gateway, even over some expensive Alienware models in the past =( As a computer repair tech before I got into engineering, I can literally say that Dell(and Gateway for that matter) are the biggest pieces of practically made-in-China OEM dookie on the planet(or close to it). Even emachine used to be much better built than Dell, though they seem to have declined in recent years.

Anyways, my point I think has been proven. Did I mention CR sucks?
Selenia

Selenia to Morac

Premium Member

to Morac

Re: Depends on the area

said by Morac:

AT&T works great at my home and my office, yet if I go to my parents house less than an hour away I barely get a signal.

Also AT&T's signals seem to have a hard time penetrating buildings with a lot of metal in them. There's a metal building that I go to that's a dead zone for AT&T, but Verizon works fine there.
1 of 2 things...either the VZW tower is very close to that metal building, making the building's attenuation less than the signal strength. Other possibility is VZW is using the 850 MHz CDMA band while ATT is using 1900 MHz GSM or 2100 MHz(which they sometimes use for UMTS, which you didn't happen to mention whether it was a UMTS area). That would greatly depend on area which bands are used by which carrier. In another area, VZW may be using the 1850 MHz CDMA band while AT&T is using the 850 MHz GSM band. Sometimes, it's all on the terrain and where there is available spectrum for another provider. I mention this because in some areas, you'll probably observe the opposite, as to building penetration. AT&T uses alot of 1900MHz here in the small city of Pittsfield, with some 850 in outlying areas of the county. They seem to have enough towers here though to get away with 1900.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac

Member

said by Selenia:

said by Morac:

AT&T works great at my home and my office, yet if I go to my parents house less than an hour away I barely get a signal.

Also AT&T's signals seem to have a hard time penetrating buildings with a lot of metal in them. There's a metal building that I go to that's a dead zone for AT&T, but Verizon works fine there.
1 of 2 things...either the VZW tower is very close to that metal building, making the building's attenuation less than the signal strength. Other possibility is VZW is using the 850 MHz CDMA band while ATT is using 1900 MHz GSM or 2100 MHz(which they sometimes use for UMTS, which you didn't happen to mention whether it was a UMTS area). That would greatly depend on area which bands are used by which carrier. In another area, VZW may be using the 1850 MHz CDMA band while AT&T is using the 850 MHz GSM band. Sometimes, it's all on the terrain and where there is available spectrum for another provider. I mention this because in some areas, you'll probably observe the opposite, as to building penetration. AT&T uses alot of 1900MHz here in the small city of Pittsfield, with some 850 in outlying areas of the county. They seem to have enough towers here though to get away with 1900.
I don't know the frequency (not sure how I could figure that out), but I can't get either a 3G or Edge signal.

According to this map both 850 and 1900 are in my area. My phone supports either so I don't know which one it would pick.

RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY

RARPSL to Turbocpe

Member

to Turbocpe

Re: Lame AT&T Commercials

said by Turbocpe:

AT&T's latest commercials, which have been in direct response to Verizon's commercials against AT&T, has been weak. The guy "collecting" postcards from places AT&T provides coverage (many cases, just Edge) is boring and just side skirts the issue that AT&T doesn't have the same 3G coverage that Verizon does. Sure, some people with Edge are satisfied, just as some people with 56K dial-up may have been satisfied.
WHAT type of coverage? They do not say in the Ad. They IMPLY that they are talking about 3G coverage but I get the impression they are using VOICE (or as you suggest EDGE) coverage as their measurement tool. At least the Verizon Ads STATE they are talking about 3G coverage (with the mention in the explanation bar on the maps, that EDGE coverage may be available in areas not covered by 3G).
axiomatic
join:2006-08-23
Tomball, TX

axiomatic

Member

Ducks that suck

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it must suck AT&T. Better duck?!?!
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon to en102

Member

to en102

Re: Survey says att sucks

And Sprint proudly proclaims.... 'We Suck Less!! Finally!'

Actually, I think Sprint sucks less than Verizon now when it comes to pricing/policy. Since Sprint roams on Verizon, coverage seems to be moot as well.
smueller
join:2009-08-11
Houston, TX

smueller

Member

death to "uncle twice removed, Bell"!!

Back before SBC became the 'new' at&t ... and even in the first few years of the 'new' at&t ... the Federal Trade Commission, and the Interstate Commerce Commission did studies of national wireless coverage. The results were so one sidedly favouring a single carrier, that the reports have been kept secret. US Taxpayers can't even see what they found!!

Rumour has it, at&t was on top, then... but now we have the 'new' at&t and iPhones.
So ... somehow the 'new' at&t has squandered this in a little under three years? Dog gone! How do you do that? Must be some flippin' pathetic mismanagement running the day to day operations, and managing the company as a whole.

I admit, I'm still very jaded, being a former at&t employee.
They won't get another red cent from me! at&t can eat my shorts!
I'd even hand deliver them to headquarters in Dallas, with some mayonnaise and a clean, wrapped plastic spork!

I think all these years of US customers paying into the USF (Universal Service Fund), we deserve better than the piles of excrement we get! All the carriers suck somehow ... except for Sprint, who blows. Eh ... it's all perspective. One end sucks, the other blows.

Since the Spanish-American War, Americans have paid a tax that goes into the USF ... yet what has it gotten US? I DO NOT support using these funds for other purposes, as the Congress has attempted to do, a handful of times. I think it should go back into our national infrastructure, specifically for telecommunications and public access (schools and libraries).
Perhaps a nice petition?? Oh yeah ... Death to at&t!
jay_rm
join:2002-04-12
Netville

1 edit

jay_rm

Member

Big Wireless Providers...

...you suck, they suck, everyone sucks - all of them.

I've had them all - now I use a MVNO that parasites on VZW's network, doesn't have contracts, charges reasonable rates and, most of all is NOT ATT (gag) !
JerryTimes
join:2002-01-09
Clinton Township, MI

JerryTimes

Member

.

I'm surprised by this. I live just outside of Detoit, I've had ATT (Ameritech, Cingular) and I've liked their service. I'm not saying that I've never had an issue, but I actually recommend their service.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

Customer Defection Rate?

Hmmmm I have friends who are state employees who hate AT&T and can't get rid of it because of long term contracts the state has with Mother Bell. If the states and their emplyees defected - I do not know any that use AT&T privately - what would that say about customer service. One thing I do know for sure is Verizon works a lot better in rural areas where Verizon towers are than AT&T does. It's all about the bottom line.
puffgussy36
join:2007-01-15
Hampton, NH

puffgussy36

Member

Same devils, different names.

"In terms of the industry as a whole, the Consumer Reports study found that overall, customers are increasingly satisfied with wireless service. That's not as exciting as it sounds -- wireless carriers have traditionally ranked among the worst across any industry"

The ALL suck. They all need to admit that, bust out the 4G and stop nickel and diming us for technology that is just getting cheaper for them (their PMs are insanely high). I'm an AT&T customer. I'm waiting for the mass defections once the eclusive rights to the iPhone are gone. Then I can call up, threaten to quit and have them hand me their first born.
chuckkk
join:2001-11-10
Warner Robins, GA

chuckkk

Member

AT&T

I recently dropped AT&T in favor of T mobile
Why?
AT&T was charging for service that they failed to deliver.
I was a long term (over ten years) customer if you include the earlier names on the same door--Southern Bell, Cingular, then AT&T)
AT&T tried to kill portions of my services multiple times, even though I was paying for them, or they were grandfathered services.
This included such things as tethering, automatic switching to analog when digital service was not available, and automatic switching to "roaming" when AT&T network services were not available or were down.
Then, they wanted me to start a new contract, in order to replace the phones that they were required to provide service for under the grandfather clauses. (Which they claimed was necessary to provide the services that I had been paying for, and were not provided.)

I ended up buying "Google" phones outright, and using them on AT&T until I was able to get SIM cards for them from T Mobile.
The phones are totally unlocked, and I have full control of what operating system version is used, as well as what applications are loaded into them. No Contract with T-Mobile.
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