Comments on: iPhone on AT&T: What's your experience?

Molly Wood claims the iPhone "sucks" on AT&T. Have you had the same experience?

[pfepher]

I live and work in Brooklyn, NY and have good reception and 3G in both locations. In Manhattan, it seems worse. I'm moving to Manhattan at the end of the week, so we'll see.

I previously had Verizon. For 2 years I lived in Brooklyn, but had a phone number from Los Angeles. I had the WORST service with dropped calls and missed calls when I should have been connected every single day. One evening I had to call CS 7 times to report the problem (finally the rep started calling me back after each disconnect). Verizon's solution: change to a NY number. Um, isn't the point of a mobile phone MOBILITY? I switched to AT&T 4 years ago, and don't regret it (except when skiing in Vermont where my friends have service but I don't)

[SoloScuba]

I've had a 3G iPhone since it came out last July and I really really like it. I use it for my music, photos, and apps like Lose It. I've lost 22 lbs. since the beginning of February. I live in Fort Lauderdale, FL but travel weekly to Newark, NJ and for the most part I have a good signal from AT&T. Every now and then I will drop or drag a call in NJ, not so much in South Florida. I worked for McCaw Communications in the 90's so I'm pretty familiar with the wireless system and it's not easy to make a system work the way it should. You can have the best RF coverage possible and if all the parameters in the switch are not set properly, you still might not be able to make a call or access data. AT&T is taking advantage of this exclusive deal they have with Apple to pretty much rape their customers, but if you want the technology you have to be willing to pay. I only hope that Apple can come to an arrangement with Verizon, so that when they no longer have to use only the AT&T network that AT&T will get off their high horse and drop the rates they are charging for services that really are not costing them as much to roll out at the initial cellular system did.

[sbinner1]

Why don't you get a Verizon iphone like I have. Get an iTouch and a Verizon MiFi. It's awesome and NO AT&T! I have Skype and truphone. Call me sometime ;>

[John77774346246]

I live in the Pittsburgh, Pa area, and I have excellent service everywhere I go! I hve full service in my home as well and the speeds are significantly faster then my previous Moto Q with Verizon. I have had no issues so far and I am very happy with my service. I have also traveled to Los Angles and NYC a few times for business and I had no service or phone issues in either location. A few of my friends have iPhones as well and they are all very happy with there service as well!

[rmb7984]

I live in the city of Atlanta and have a mixed bag of experiences. For about the first 7 months of ownership I had horrible problems with dropped calls in and around my home and at work. The only thing that would fix my issues was to turn off 3G. Beginning in March, everything became much better. Where I used to get a max of about 5 dropped calls a day, now I may have 2 to 3 a week. This must have been a change on AT&T's part, because I didn't change anything with the phone. I don't care why it works now, but it does and that makes me a more satisfied customer. On another note, I have friends who have other 3G phones on AT&T and they have had similar problems with dropped calls.

[IBEJohnson]

I would be willing to bet that your issues were partly resolved due to AT&T's 850MHz migration. Longer reach and better in-building penetration. They just completed the transition in March of this year.

[-xtian-]

The service is terrible in Denver, Colorado. Initially when I purchased my iPhone (in March of last year), things seemed great - although the Edge network is laughably and painfully slow, it still worked and I had no trouble making or receiving calls anywhere in Denver. That all changed roughly four months ago; now, it is oddly difficult to get Edge connectivity in random parts of the metro area of Denver, and at other times things work fine. Even though I consistently have five or occasionally four bars, I also often miss calls without getting alerted with a ring etc. or even an indicator on the phone a call came through and went to my voice mail. People will tell me they try dialing me only to have the line ring and ring and ring without anything picking up. Service quality this poor should *not* be an issue for a phone of this caliber, which was the number one reason why I groaned when Apple tapped AT&T to be the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the first place - everyone knows AT&T isn't reliable or consistent enough to handle it. I'm *desperately* hoping the rumors about App

[-xtian-]

-CONT- I'm *desperately* hoping the rumors about Apple allowing other carriers to jump in are true.

[pepsirus]

I switched from Verizon to get the iPhone. Now I know what it's like to have dropped calls and poor receiption. I just spent the weekend in a small town with a group of freinds. Everyone had great cell service except the two of us with AT&T. I stared at "No Service" accross the top of my screen all weekend. At work, by phone shows 4 bars but everyone with an iPhone has trouble making or receiving calls from here. As soon as Verizon gets an iPhone, I'll pay any cancelation fees necessary to switch back ASAP. I love the phone but hate the service.

I only got my iPhone a few weeks ago, but haven't had any problems so far. 3G throughout Montgomery, AL has been flawless. I had my problems with AT&T a few years back and dumped them from my landline, and we came (kicking and screaming) back to them when they acquired Cingular. So far, though, when we've called customer service, they've been helpful and courteous and -- unlike the rep we dealt with about the landline issue -- not total jerks. The phone itself is not just cool but endlessly useful. I had a 3G Widows Mobile device before and was loath to give it up fearing a loss of functionality, but some highly enjoyable tinkering and exploring has given me everything I had before and a lot more. Sorry, Windows Mobile -- I was a staunch defender till recently, but this phone and OS are just way better. I could see being ticked off if the 3G service was spotty here, but at least in this neck of the woods, it is strong and reliable.

[mwellens]

I have the iPhone 3G in Northeast Wisconsin where the 3G network is a work in progress but if it's anything like it is in Madison, I'll keep my phone on ATT's Edge network for battery purposes and because of spotty 3G coverage.

The 3G network in Madison is fast but my phone is constantly searching and losing the 3G signal.

As for ATT's Edge, it works great and is surprisingly fast in this part of the state and unlike the 3G in Madison, I don't have to worry about a page load being interrupted or a call dropped. Only calls that ever get dropped are my parents, who have Alltel.

Like any other carrier, I 1-2 bars, sometimes none, in Wal-Marts, grocery stores, high school gyms, etc.

Maybe the problem with CNET in San Fran is the building?

[UKStory1355]

There is no HSDPA in Western Kentucky, there will never be HSDPA in Western Kentucky. I have given up all hope. The Edge coverage is great, much better than Sprint's (Which is non-existant here) and almost as good as Verizon's EV-DO. It is a shame that I have to choose either a crappy phone or crappy EDGE.

ps. AT&T doesn't fuel up their emergency generators, but Verizon does. So if something like a 100 year ice storm happens and knocks out the entire power grid for 13 days, Verizon customers can still use their crappy phones for calls. Us iPhone users have a really cool mp3 player. (Not that happened recently or anything)

[pdm777]

To honest I have only had 2 minor problems with my iPhone. I live in Cleveland, and my iPhone gets better reception in building than any of my Verizon phones ever did. We did have 2 days where 3g was acting goofy...but that was only on my phone...my son's iPhone never had the problem...but when I switched to edge...it seemed to run faster than normal...a day later all was good.

I only had one place in all my travels where I could not get iPhone service, and that was in Williamsburg, VA on one of the resorts. Other than that I have never had any problems or dropped calls.

[theposts]

I am happy with the AT&T service, I'm in the metro NYC area. I get occasional dropped calls...but I understand technology and nothing is fool-proof. Yes, I think Verizon has better coverage but not only do they nickel and dime you for everything, they disable phone features so they can make even more money using their "network". So bottom-line, would I like cheaper AT&T service and better coverage, absolutely but its the lesser of two evils. Verizon will charge you for everything and try to cripple the phone.

[slapppy]

It's reports like this, with a host that lacks any journalistic professionalism that ultimately hurts CNET as a credible news source.

[pottyvick]

Why would this hurt cnet? Its not exacly investigative journalism but it is not biased. It doesnt blame either at&t or apple but it does state that one has to be the problem. Its more of a survey than anything.....

[slapppy]

"news.cnet.com"

News, not sensationalism, reality tv, youtube shenanigans. If CNET claims to be a News site/source, then reporters should act like one. Otherwise, send it to another category: "goofy.cnet.com" or better yet "hitwhorecommenter.cnet.com"

[fleurya]

Never had any issues, great 3G service pretty much everywhere I go! But then, I live and travel in civilized locations.

I've had my phone for two years and it's a great mini computer but it sucks as a phone. I go from four bars to no bars and I never moved. It goes to voice mail without ringing, and sometimes won't haang up. The updates have helped some but the Att service is real bad (ot phone)

[andrewrm]

I have no issues with coverage here in Chicago. AT@T sucks in N. California just like T-Mobile in parts of NYC. I'm pleased. Sorry Molly.

I live in Seattle and have had very few issues with coverage. My 3G has been great and I'm looking forward to 3.0.

[whmurray]

I think that what you are seeing is a local AT&T problem. It is definitely not an iPhone problem.

I travel the world and have no problem with my iPhone except in San Francisco. I was in SF for RSA and data on my iPhone was unusable. My colleagues reported the same problem. I charged it up to the extra load from all the geeks in town for RSA. However, if you are still seeing the problem now that we have gone, it is likely a local SF/AT&T problem.

[pottyvick]

Im in Phoenix AZ and the service here is just okay. When Im at work I get faster speeds with edge than with the 3G service. The funny thing is I have full bars of 3g at my Desk but the speed sucks. I wouldnt mind it if the phone displayed signal bars accuratley....

I believe its an iphone problem because I used to use an older Samsung A707 (which is 3G) and it had full bars and actually had fast internet. Never had to switch it to edge just to do some decent browsing...

[liven2]

I have the iPhone here in Bonney Lake WA (close to Tacoma Wa) and have not had any issues with my reception or 3G. So far so good on the best phone I have ever owned.