AT&T Coverage Dropping?

[U-CREATE-ITDOTCOM]

I had AT&T years ago and dumped it do to coverage issues and went with the "THEN" Nextel. I swapped over to Sprint last year and although they have their moments, the coverage has been great! This week I purchased the new 3G for myself and a new slider for my wife. We kept our numbers signing up with AT&T with the new phones.

Now, I am just North of Seattle (not in the mountains), but off the interstate (I-5) and when sitting in my home, both of our phones coverage is up and down. It in on for a little while then drops to no service for a while and then starts all over again. I was even thinking about dropping my regular home service, but cannot do it if the AT&T is constantly dropping off for the cells.

Is anyone else having this problem? Also are there any solutions? Can anybody help with this???

[volsfan0911]

welcome to the wonderful world of AT&T. Basically, their network sucks IMHO. 3G is pathetic although EDGE in the Baltimore/DC area has been pretty good. Building penetration is non-existant though. But yes, you can be sitting in a chair and reception can vary wildly depending on plantary alignment, wind direction & speed or some other factor which I don't understand. 3G is the most maddening aspect of the 3G iPhone - it's essentially worthless and I leave mine off most of the time. Pathetic really.............

[Bad Ash]

I have superb service here in Chicago. I was also just in Arizona for the weekend and same results there. And for "building penetration" mine is great as well. In my basement I get 5 bars where as with Sprint or Tmobile down there.... ZERO. So I can't complain.

[cjvitek]

I have never gotten anything but great reception, unless I am driving through the backwoods of Florida.

Chris

[Libuff]

I've found that by forcing 2g on the iPhone, my signal has gone WAY up... just a chance that might help...

[Bad Ash]

Originally Posted by Libuff

I've found that by forcing 2g on the iPhone, my signal has gone WAY up... just a chance that might help...

That just means you are in a weaker area for 3g. Eventually your 3g signal will get better as they expand their coverage.

[AnteL0pe]

My coverage in the DC area has been awesome since 2001 when i first signed up. Building penetration has not been an issue. I have reception in my basement as well.

[h22kai]

What you may be experiencing is the iPhone switching from 3G to 2G... often the iPhone drops calls as the 3G signal goes away and is entering a 2G area (even if the 2G area it is moving into is full bars). Apple is aware of this problem (and hopefully!) trying to fix it. This problem is very common and all at my local Apple store have their fingers crossed for a fix soon as we live in an area that has three 3G areas (think of them like circles) with 2G gaps in between.... lots of dropped calls here. Eek!
My last phone would go from these 3G areas and never reconnect to a 2G signal. My current phone will drop the call when moving from 3G to 2G but IMMEDIATELY find the 2G signal and I can call the person back. I always keep my phone in 2G unless I am out using Safari... but I shut 3G off as soon as I am done. I haven't tested the phone since I did the 2.0.1 update (crazy fun week)... I'll have to drive around the known drop spots in 3G and see if anything has changed.

[AZMerf]

Originally Posted by Bad Ash

I have superb service here in Chicago. I was also just in Arizona for the weekend and same results there. And for "building penetration" mine is great as well. In my basement I get 5 bars where as with Sprint or Tmobile down there.... ZERO. So I can't complain.

The map of the Phoenix / Tucson area show great coverage in both EDGE and 3G. No phone yet so I can't test it personally.

[cjvitek]

I just moved to Edinburg, TX, and here the signal really fluctuates. In and around my house, I can MAYBE get 1 or 2 bars for 3G. If I go 5 minutes east of my house, I can usually get a full complement of bars. The annoying thing is that in my house, the edge coverage isn't much better, so I only get a couple of bars of edge as well.

This area is SUPPOSED to be a 3G covered area, and when they put my address in at the ATT store, they said I should have a signal that was fine.

It's not too much of an issue (the lack of 3G) since I use my wireless network when I am at home, and when I am out driving I do get 3G coverage. But I was hoping to use my cell as my primary phone line, and with the miserable edge coverage, I can't do that.

Chris