Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

[Tpeltz]

@Lewyman - 

NICE! Welcome to Big Red enjoy the 3G and LTE! 

[Wild Banchi ACE - Professor]

I sincerely hope that you guys appreciate your new phones and upgraded network. In highly populated areas that have already been upgraded to 4G LTE, this is probably something that is not that cool/important to them. It's probably like being a kid in a candy store for you guys.

I'm in Bay City and I have friends that have Verizon 4G LTE-capable smartphones. I asked them if it was noticeably faster than regular 3G and they said that it was. I've noticed that text messages send noticeably faster than they have before on AT&T. I wonder what it's like...

It's a downer that AT&T could not suit your standards, but what ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Enjoy!

[Lewyman]

@Tpeltz
I hope they keep rolling it out fast. If they are truly going to have statewide coverage by late summer then they will need to start lighting up huge areas at a time. I will drive by the tower in Lewiston tomorrow to see if the tower has new panels. It appears at least downstate that they are not replacing panels but rather adding new ones and leaving the old ones up.

[JREwing53]

I'm giving AT&T till the end of this summer, or else I'm moving on to Big Red.  They have been stalling us around here for too long.  Promises made by store employees just don't mean anything anymore.  When my friends down state seeing 4G LTE all over the place and there is no sign of even 3G to us, then that's it for me.

Rumor is that Verizon will have 4G LTE here by summer.  Pretty embarrasing that they have LTE and we are stuck on 2G Edge.

[Lewyman]

I would say that Verizon will be turning on a lot of areas in the next few months up north and would suspect that the Soo right on down the I-75 corridore will be very soon. What I heard from a few AT&T techs 6 months ago, is that they were supposed to have 3G/H+ in Grayling and West Branch by the end of last year but that didn't happen. Very disappointing.

[Lewyman]

Well I found a website that shows areas of mapped coverage from people that travel around and post newly discovered network upgrades. This site is for all carriers: www.sensorly.com. Well I selected AT&T 4G and it shows the Detroit and Grand Rapids LTE areas but it also shows some coverage along U.S. 23 near Au Gres. Wonder where the main coverage is? I don't have AT&T anymore so I can't verify this so maybe somebody else can. Also it shows some new Verizon LTE coverage in the U.P. west of Marquette along 141, south of 28 and north of 2. It appears that Iron Mountain is now live as well.

[Mjrtom7]

I think I've figured out a way to minimize my ATT headaches.  My plan has 3 different phones on it, and two of the phones will expire in May.  At that point, I can sell my phone on Gazelle dot com (currently for $325!)  and help pay for the early termination feel I'll get hit with from ATT.  At that point....Verizon, here I come!  (or maybe one of the prepaid services, provided the network coverage is adequate).  Do anyone know which networks are used by these prepaid vendors?

[Lewyman]

Verizon is launching 4G LTE in Escanaba today.

[JREwing53]

How would you like to be a poor AT&T customer with Edge today in Escanaba? And tied into a two year agreement?

[Lewyman]

I know. I just switched to Verizon but was three months into a new contract from AT&T for upgrading to a Samsung GS3. I am going to get hammered with an ETF but I cannot justify staying with AT&T and paying a $50 monthly data charge for almost two years when the data is virtually unusable north of Bay City. And after looking at their updated coverage map month after month with no new 3G coverage up there I will take the hit.

[Wild Banchi ACE - Professor]

Verizon has had LTE in Bay City now since around the late summer/fall of 2012... AT&T's turn, soon?

[randu22]

Even Sprint will have Bay City and Saginaw on LTE in the next few months. AT&T better step it up.

Randy

2g in Alpena

The full list of markets that will gain access to Sprint 4G LTE follows:

• Albany, Ga.
• Anderson, S.C.
• Bay City, Mich
• Branson, Mo.
• Bremerton/Silverdale, Wash.
• Columbus, Ga.
• Columbus, Miss.
• Decatur, Ala.
• Florence/Muscle Shoals, Ala.
• Gadsden, Ala.
• Gaffney, S.C.
• Gettysburg, Pa.
• Glasgow, Ky.
• Homosassa Springs, Fla.
• Hot Springs, Ark.
• Lake City, Fla.
• Lake Havasu City/Kingman, Ariz.
• Midland, Mich.
• Nacogdoches, Tex.
• Opelousas/Eunice, La.
• Oxford, Miss.
• Paris, Tex.
• Pittsfield, Mass.
• Saginaw, Mich.
• Spartanburg, S.C.
• The Villages, Fla.
• Waycross, Ga.
• Winona, Minn.

[Lewyman]

Well AT&T's 4G (HSPA+) ends north of Bay City around the 176 mile marker on I-75 in which it drops to EDGE. Verizon LTE ends around the 188 but when it drops off at least it reverts to 3G. Like TPeltz stated in a previous post AT&T simply does not have enough spectrum to launch LTE north of their current 4G cutoff at this time. However, they are acquiring spectrum from other companies plus they are going to start refarming their PCS and Cellular frequencies to achieve 10x10 Mhz paired spectrum to deploy LTE on. But that will be a while yet, not to mention the fact that a big majority of their towers up there haven't been upgraded with new panels yet.....and lastly they are WAY behind in the necessary fiber/microwave backhaul. I'm not an expert by any means but I would say realistically that a statewide AT&T LTE deployment is at least 3 years away. New York and Chicago will have LTE Advanced before you will see 3G.

[Mjrtom7]

Is there hope on the horizon....???

I called ATT last week to complain (yet again) about the poor data coverage in the Alpena area.  I stated that I've been a loyal customer for about 4 years now, and year after year I am given the false hope that some day (hopefully before I retire and move away) they will upgreade the service in my area.  I told them that that I can only use about half of the fancy functions on my phone due to lack of data connectivity (Siri? nope.  Maps? barely.  Speach to text? nope).  Only using wifi, but not through Edge.  I was seriously planning to pay the cx fee and jump ship.

After speaking with the first agent, she politely offered to credit my account for $30/mo for the next 6 mos to cover my unlimited texting.  I told her that would be great....HOWEVER....and trying not to sound ungrateful...I was still concerned that the poor data service was here to stay and that I held out no hope of ever seeing improvement.  She sympathized with my complaint and dircted me to another department, where she felt my concerns could be better addressed.

The next fella I spoke with was very cordial and sympathetic as well.  After giving him my iPhone-life horror story, he offered to credit my account for an additional $250 dollars!  Clearly they are becoming sensitive to the complaints of shoddy service and are trying to do something about it.  He further offered that (although he wasn't supposed to bandy about any dates) they are planning to have 3G service in Alpena by March 29, and 4G service in mid May of this year.  

I don't know if they will be able to hold to these dates...or if this is just more fluff aimed at trying to placate the people who call with concerns.  What I do know is that I will be saving $380 over the next 6 months on my phone bill and, hopefully, by the end of that time I will be able to pull up a map on my phone to give me directions to the beer store so I can go pick up a 6 pack and celebrate.

If you haven't contacted ATT to express your concerns over the lack of service in your area, it may be worth your while to do so.  I was very polite and measured in my conversations with the folks on the line, and they genuinely seemed to appreciate my complaints.  Here's hoping that they can keep to these timelines and FINALLY get service upgraded  in our neck of the woods!

[JREwing53]

I called today and they never offered me anything.  But they did say that our towers are to upgraded to 4G on June 29, 2013.  

Ok, now I've heard these promises before, but at least they give me hope.

The problem for me is, that Verizon is horrible here.  They don't even have cell coverage in Pickford. I guess i will ride it out and hopefully will be a happy camper by Independance Day!

[Lewyman]

@Mjrtom7
That is some good news and it sounds like AT&T is trying to keep their customers happy. You know that Verizon has 4G LTE live in and around Alpena?? OK....basically what AT&T considers "4G" is essentially what the 3G standard should be, unless they specify LTE......and Alpena will not be getting AT&T LTE sorry to say. The thing that sucks is they need to keep expanding. Take Gaylord for example....it has 4G(H+) but they have not continued to expand so if you go south or east you fall back to EDGE. They are focusing more on the western part of the state and will eventually upgrade northeast Mi but its going to be a while. They did announce at the end of last year that they will be investing something like 2 billion in Michigan the next couple of years. So that is a huge shot in the arm and lets hope this year they start kickin it!!

[Mjrtom7]

I hear ya @Lewyman....I know the big V has had great cell service here for awhile.  At least I'll be able to pull up a web page or a map on my phone without having to sit there and swear at the screen while it spins and loads.  Most of my Google searches are returned with "try again", and using apps like AtBat for baseball games, or Pandora for music....it simply won't work.  

Any upgrade will be a welcome one...

[Lewyman]

Traveling to northern Mi tonight. Confirmed Verizon LTE on northbound M-33 at M-55. Possibly from West Branch.

[Wild Banchi ACE - Professor]

I was at G's Pizzeria in Prudenville/Houghton lake on Saturday night and overheard a woman complaining about her service. All I could catch was "AT&T's service isn't as good up here..." Looked at my phone, and there were 3 bars of EDGE. Not completely horrible, but not completely satisfactory, either.

I would assume that she lives somewhere in lower Michigan where the service is at least running on the 3G network.

[Lewyman]

Well Big Red has LTE service in Alpena and West Branch now and announced a few days ago that Skidway Lake, Rose City, and other areas will soon have 4G service. AT&T hasn't done anything since upgrading the Soo,along I-75 to the Big Mac, and the Gaylord areas last year. What in the world have they been doing?? Their retail stores have to be closing left and right in northern Mi. The one in Lewiston was an independent store and was telling people that there would be 3G up there by the end of 2008. Well that's what AT&T told them and it didn't happen and its a shame because they closed a few years ago.

[American Ninja]

I hope Escanaba, MI gets 3G/4G soon. Verizon has had it for a while now. I got an email the other day from AT&T saying 4G is avavliable on my network but, it said 4G is now avavliable in Detroit but, I don't live in Detroit. lol I live in the Upper Peninsula. Just a few minutes ago I got a text message from AT&T telling me how to turn on 3G on my phone. So I dont know if that means 3G/4G is coming to Excanaba soon?

[JREwing53]

I wish I would get a text message from AT&T. Nothing here yet in the eastern UP.

[Lewyman]

If AT&T activates 3G/4G(HSPA+) in your area your phone should automatically switch, but it wouldn't hurt to restart your phone now and then. Sometimes a restart is needed if they have just turned on service, as was the case in Gaylord after it first went live. Hope you guys get it soon up there....EDGE is terrible as you know!!

[Lewyman]

Verizon LTE speedtest result from Imlay City, MI

[Lewyman]

Just checking on the website: sensorly.com which maps people's data network type on their phones. It appears that Sprint 4G LTE is live in many areas of southern Michigan, many more areas than AT&T.

[American Ninja]

I turned my phone off then on again just to see I had 3G but I dont. Nothing here in the central U.P. 

[Lewyman]

That's too bad. AT&T does have better coverage in the U.P. and northeast Mi, just a shame they aren' t moving faster to upgrade their network. I would guess that AT&T is going to be hitting northern Mi harder this year and hopefully soon you will get 3/4G.

[American Ninja]

Yeah it sucks. Would calling AT&T and asking them if 3/4G they are going to be expanding their 3/4G coverage in the U.P. help? There is an AT&T store in Escanaba, think they would know anything?

[Tpeltz]

AT&T customer service knows literally nothing about 3G/"4G" expansions. I tried we'll over 20 times during my term with AT&T and gained absolutely nothing. Corporate retail stores also have no information and will just tell you anything to get you to buy a device.

You're best bet would be to email AT&T's midwest corporate offices.

[Lewyman]

No. Like Tpeltz stated the retail stores don't have access to that information. They have been telling people that 3G was coming to northern Mi since 2008. I switched to Verizon a few months ago and haven't regretted it. They have 4G LTE in Escanaba. Hope your service is upgraded this year.