I carry three cellphones. Even I don’t know why I do it. Part of it could be purely academic – to do the research-to write posts like these.
But anyways, I have an ATT Treo 750, a Verizon Wireless Razr V3M and a Sprint-Nextel Treo 700p.
So given the strategic advantage of having all these providers and being as mobile as I am- lends me in a position to rate the network coverage of each of these carriers. And the reason I am writing is because it would surprise not a few people.
So here goes…
ATT Mobility (Formerly Cingular Wireless): Worst Coverage. By Far. Both Data and Voice is pretty bad. I know ATT has a shaky EDGE network – but the places where I roam – New Jersey/New York (Manhattan) – I can very ambiguously state that ATT has more holes than any of the other providers. I get absolutely no coverage at home, decent coverage on the Turnpike, no coverage in the tunnels leading into Manhattan and most surprisingly, pretty spotty coverage in Manhattan itself. Especially inside buildings and bars.
Verizon Wireless: At least in the Northeast, it lives up to its network promise. Very robust coverage all over New Jersey and New York. Only provider to actually work in the tunnels. Only ding is that when I take the train, data coverage leads a little to be desired. But overall, very very impressive in the Northeast. In other parts of the country, I have yet to encounter a hole – but then I dont use this phone very much so I cannot comment. But having used it on the Acela Express on the Boston-Washington route – I can say that its network is pretty blanketed and uniform. Very impressive.
Sprint-Nextel: Absolute surprise. By far, the best data network you will get from any network provider in the United States. Most mature EVDO deployment in the Northeast. They are going to EVDO Rev A now – even faster. Voice coverage is comparable to Verizon Wireless in the Northeast. I would say the voice quality on the Northeast corridor line is actually better than Verizon Wireless. Great network. Only problem is, Sprint only offers roaming in the tunnels. And there is not seamless roaming handoff. Your call will get disconnected as you get into the tunnels. But great plans, devices and most of all – absolutely great data network.
So based on my experience, if I were to rank the three carriers based on overall customer experience, I would say Sprint-Nextel would tie with Verizon Wireless ( Verizon Wireless – marginally better voice, Sprint-Nextel hugely better data). ATT Mobility comes last in every category.
Stay away from ATT Mobility. Their “Lowest Dropped Calls” campaign doesn’t hold up in the Northeast – I would call it blatant untruth.
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12 responses so far ↓
Tommy // December 4, 2007 at 6:56 pm |
I’ve been a happy Sprint customer for a long time. I tried AT&T recently for a few days and wasn’t happy. The iphone lured me in but I was dissatisfied with the coverage and the slowness of EDGE. I’m sticking with Sprint. I live in Queens, work in NYC. Thanks for confirming what I have known all along.
Stan K. // March 25, 2008 at 5:07 pm |
I don’t know what r u talking about! At&t is grrrrrreat! I am professional truck driver. I got rid off my Nextel because its simple-coverage is horrible. At&t forever! King of the hill! Works everywhere! Will recomend it over any other carrier!
eca // May 25, 2008 at 9:19 pm |
hi! i was actually debating on sticking with att or switching. i think i’ve had or had almost every provider… att, sprint, tmobile… except for verizon.
but everywhere i don’t get reception on att, someone with verizon gets it. i live in the dc metro area and in buildings, the metro, tunnels – verizon always gets it.
i know gsm is the growing network, but it really sucks when you’re driving down the highway and you lose reception every 5 minutes
it seems like i get reception with att outside, in some spots… but in buildings (like the mall, work, restaurants, etc) it’s shotty.
another thing, i dont know what happened to att phones. back in the early 2000s it had great top notch phones. their phones stink now. the only thing att seems to be able to offer is the iphone, and honestly, it’s not that big of a deal…and i used to be on the phone with att customer service EVERYTIME a hot new phone came out…
my question is about customer service… how good are they? according to recent internet research, verizon seems to be leading the pack as far as satisfying customer needs (pro-rated cancellation fees)… i called att to ask about them the day BEFORE the prorate started, and they never mentioned anything about it.
as far as dataplans go, i have tmobile from work – and it’s free so i don’t really care. i want a phone that works when i need to call, period. second, a good phone.
att phones stink. their phones average about a 3.5 on phonescoop.com and verizon averages about 4.3.
great article btw.
Hashman // July 31, 2008 at 12:58 pm |
I love MetroPCS………Y u ask because I can text internationally without extra fees like with everyone else. All I have is the global Text talk which comes with all they plans over $40……does wnyone else have better internation text package to rival this
Jake // August 2, 2008 at 4:27 pm |
AT&T will have the best coverage in the northeast by the end of 2008. If you read what they are doing and will be doing until the end of the year, u will be surprised. They are putting 12 new cell towers all across NH alone and adding 3 more in one town alone (Methuen, MA). Will also be putting 3G on all of these towers and all other ones not specified above which means the Northeast will be almost totally covered with 3G. I have compared Verizon and AT&T across the United States, and I have come to the conclusion that AT&T’s network is superior to Verizon’s and 3G speeds on AT&T are faster then the EVDO R1 on Verizon.
Tracey Doerrer // August 12, 2008 at 7:06 pm |
I just left ATT mobility after 13 yrs. The 3G upgrade that they have done has rendered my phones almost useless. Calls go to voicemail without ever ringing on the phone. Bars dropped from 3-4 to 0-1. Text messaging stopped working and CS answer to me was that they got 1 out of our 4 phones to work!! I have had service so long, that 2 of our phones had free text messaging that they took away from me in July stating that they no longer offer that plan. I stated that they should have been grandfathered, and they denied that, saying that they no longer offer the feature. I explained that they do offer text messaging, but I lost that argument and added a Family Text plan. Then the texting stopped working and they could only get one of the four phones to work – that is only a 25% success rate in my mind. Verizon was very happy to port our numbers and I have been happy so far. Central NJ.
Elvizle » Archive » Hard Choices: iPhone, iPod Nano and Gates-Seinfeld // September 15, 2008 at 10:17 am |
[...] have been using for a while. Also, if you are doing data, the Sprint network is arguably faster (better) than the AT&T (NYSE: T) 3G networks (currently Sprint, to my knowledge, [...]
Pete Ham // September 24, 2008 at 2:32 pm |
I have Sprint. The coverage is very good, and as stated the data network is very fast. I was in Fallon, NV recently. My phone worked great while my friend who has AT&T wireless was dropping calls and coverage constantly. Plus, the $99.00 everything plan is unbeatable
Polo // April 11, 2009 at 2:52 pm |
I have AT&T and I don’t get reception neither in my apartment nor in my job. Those are the two places I really want to get reception. AND I LIVE IN NYC.!!!. AT&T offered me another phone, and it had the same problem “NO RECEPTION. I HATE AT&T. The label says 3G!!! 3G!!! the only time I see 3G is when I turn on the phone and the intro movie splash comes out, but that’s it, NO 3G, but ONE BAR ONLY, and sometimes it disappears. I HATE AT&T SO MUCH. I REALLY HATE AT&T.
david thomas // June 15, 2009 at 12:47 pm |
Have you continued your 3 wireless network research into 2009? If so, are your conclusions still the same? I am thinking of switching to Sprint for the Palm Pre, and it’s pretty tempting, especially after reading your review of Sprint’s coverage.
neurojava // July 18, 2009 at 4:09 pm |
David:
Sorry, I haven’t. I got an iPhone recently (as a gift, would never buy it) – but same issues. Returned in a week. Am solely with Sprint now.
And dare say, I am an absolutely satisfied customer.
-a-
Bill Holmes // November 29, 2009 at 1:10 pm |
I have At&t. I live in the greater Chicago land area. You’d think that I’d have great coverage and no dropped calls. But I’ll drop calls 5-10 times a week. It’s really annoying. I’ve always thought that it was a tower transferring problem. But as I’ve searched the web I’ve come to understand that they just don’t have the towers like they say they do IN CHICAGO!?!?!?!?!?! I’m probably going to switch to Verizon. I hear they have the best service nationwide. My uncle switched to Verizon 4 years ago and has only dropped one call, and that’s because it was inside a building that went far under the earths surface.