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DillPickel's profile

Contributor

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1 Message

Monday, March 17th, 2014 3:23 PM

How is it that at&t "covers 99% of America"

But it doesnt cover Ada, Oklahoma. at&t or Verizon they both have crappy service here but I prefer at&t and Verizon over any other company the sad thing is we have an at&t in town you need more towers

Scholar

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391 Messages

10 years ago

Well, technically speaking yes T-Mo is the worst. Get more? Lol:)

Teacher

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17 Messages

10 years ago

That map is EXTREMELY inaccurate. Also, GSM towers generally have a maxium range limit, while CDMA towers techincally do NOT have a "limit", but due to power reasons they will only reach so far. Line of sight, terrain, play a HUGE role. AT&T coverge map always assumes "Excellent conditions" and it does NOT take these into account Terrian and other issues before making their PROJECTED coverage maps, they are only giving a PROJECTION of EXPECTED coverage, assuming their towers are going at their maxium range, which I listed below:

 

"Depending on terrain and other circumstances, a GSM Tower can go between 2 and 30 miles"

 

If you are using "coverage maps" as a means to show that AT&T is the largest carrier, you should know better than that. (since you seem to know what you are talking about "technology wise". You know a lot more than the average person does I will say that. Although you are giving AT&T too much credit based off their projected map which is way overstretched and not accurate, I have 2 real examples below). Coverage maps like I said above are extremely overstretched to their MAX limits and they are assuming every tower is projecting to it's max limits, so an AT&T GSM towers are projecting up their max of 25+ miles when in reality terrain might limit that down to only 2 miles of coverage.

 

Also, I have two real life examples of the AT&T map being completely incorrect about ENTIRE small rural towns. Yes, AT&T claims it covers these two towns when in reality there is ZERO coverage at all anywhere in these two cities:

 

#1: Portal, Arizona: population 79. It's a desert village (not even a city) in the middle of basically no where with a population of LESS THAN 100 PEOPLE. It's so small it's not even considered a city, it's a VILLAGE. The nearest main town is a good 30 minute drive. It's in the midde of NO WHERE. I checked the AT&T coverage map before we went out there (our 2nd home is out there), and AT&T coverage map showed full coverage. I was happy because according to the coverage map I would be able to use my phone while out there. Yet when I got there I was extremely disappointed. I had an AT&T iPhone (contract) and my stepdad had his AT&T BlackBerry (contract), so we both should have had coverage out there according to that map. Yet there was ZERO service in ANY direction, on any road, period. You had to drive to the next town about 25 miles away before AT&T had service. This really isn't suprising, since like I said it's in the desert in the middle of no where boonies with a population of 80 people, so who's going to put towers out there? No one. I am only upset because AT&T falsely claims they cover the middle of the desert out there, but no, they don't, their tech support guy even told me there was NO towers out there so there was "nothing he could do" and that the map was "just a projected estimate of coverage, not exact". The tech guy even told me the coverage map only showed coverage because there was a tower approx 20 miles away from the town, and the coverage map was projecting that under PERFECT conditions the tower would provide some form of coverage to our area since the tower under perfect conditions can reach 20 miles. He only told me this because I questioned him "why would AT&T show coverage if in reality there is nothing in the entire town for nearly 20 miles!?!

 

#2: Rye, Colorado. Population: 202. It is 33 miles away from the CLOSEST CITY. It's in the boonies, completely rural middle of no-where. Guess what? AT&T also claims it has full coverage in Rye, Colorado, a population of 200 people!! I was just out there a few days ago, as there is a placed called "Bishops Castle" where it's a hand build castle this guy built. Anyways, AT&T claims it has coverage in this city/town, and also claims it has coverage all along highway 165, which is what leads into the town. It's the only highway that leads there. Well, guess what? A few minutes after I got onto highway 165 I dropped down to "no service". Not even 1 bar, not even roaming, just no service for roughly 20 mile drive along highway 165. I checked the AT&T coverage map and it shows I should have FULL coverage along highway 165, which again is completely false as my GPS stopped working and I lost coverage for a nearly 20 mile stretch (I had coverage at the VERY start of highway 165, but lost it very shortly after getting on this very very rural highway)

 

--So WHY does AT&T map show coverage there if when in reality there actually is no coverage in that very rural boonie town of population 200, and it's 33.5 miles away from the nearest town?? Why would AT&T say they cover that town?? Because AT&T has a tower in a town next to it that is 33 miles away. UNDER THE 100% PERFECT CONDITIONS AND ASSUMING THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL INBETWEEN YOU AND THE TOWER, THEORETICALLY THAT 1 TOWER 33 MILES AWAY CAN POSSIBLY PROVIDE PROJECTED COVERAGE ALONG THE MAJORITY OF THE HIGHWAY LEADING UP TO THE CITY OF RYE, CO, AND POSSIBLY EVEN THE CITY ITSELF, UNDER PERFECT CONDITIONS.

 

Coverage maps DO NOT take into account terrian, mountains, trees, buildings, and all types of things that get in the way. Coverage maps assume PERFECT conditions where it's all flat open land and there is nothing between you and the tower, then yes, techincally it *could* give you a faint signal even at 30 miles away, if there was NOTHING AT ALL between you and the tower.

Teacher

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17 Messages

10 years ago

Also like to quickly point out someone who posted a topic, proving my point even further.

 

The OP said:

"AT&T maps says I should have good service where I am moving too. But I have tested both phones at the location and neither one has any signal of any sort. I have to drive 3 miles south, 8 miles north, 8 miles west, or 15 miles east to get any coverage."

 

Community Manager replied with the following word for word:

 

"A Coverage Viewer shows an approximate coverage based on the towers in your area, however other factors might be affecting your real life experience."

 

-- This is EXACTLY what I said above in my longer reply, but he said it in a much shorter way and didn't go into details like I did. ALSO, this now proves 3 cities that AT&T claims they have coverage according to their coverage map but in reality there is ZERO coverage there. Now you understand how inaccurate that coverage map is? How many other cities does it also show coverage but in reality there is nothing there? Probably quite a few, mostly rural towns though as AT&T generally puts majority of their towers in major cities.

There are even apps that show where towers are as all all towers are registered with the FCC, and in my city AT&T has triple the towers that any other carrier does. It has AMAZING city coverage. But when you head out 20+ miles out west, to the rural towns, well, AT&T doesn't have any towers out in any of the rural towns, unless the population is at least 5,000+, but the smaller rural areas AT&T has nothing out here in Colorado, and I mean nothing. Only Verizon works, and even then it's a 50/50 chance with Verizon working, but it's better than NO service AT ALL that I get with AT&T in rural Colorado. It's probably because GSM towers don't work well in rural areas, they'd need 5 towers in a town of 500 people to even provide coverage due to GSM having a range-limit, unlike CDMA which can reach much, much further and has no actual limit on it's range. A GSM tower, even if an in OPEN FIELD with nothing at all blocking it could only reach a max of 25 to maybe 40 miles. A CDMA tower has no techincal limit on it's range, it can go as far as the line of sight allows. So in an open field, CDMA has *techincally* no limits on it's range, while GSM stops around 25 miles no matter what even if in an open field.

 

Scholar

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391 Messages

10 years ago

Josh177:

 

1) Portal, AZ (85632)

 

The AT&T coverage map does NOT depict full coverage in Portal. The coverage shown is residual from towers along 10 and 191. The voice coverage map clearly shows tower locations. All of the carriers show coverage which is sometimes impossible to connect to except perfect conditions.

 

2) Rye, CO (81069)

 

I agree the coverage map shows full data coverage in Rye and along highway 165.  Sensorly shows full 3G signal strength ( what AT&T calls "4G") along 25 which is 4-5 miles away from the area you stated. Now according to the AT&T voice coverage map, BOTH of these areas are depicted with diagonal lines which indicates their disclaimer "requires 3G handset".  If that is the case, my suspicion tells me that AT&T might not have 850 MHz (Cellular) spectrum in those areas for EDGE/UMTS and is using 1900 (PCS) which basically has poorer propagation than 850. They may be showing coverage based on 850, I really can't say for sure. Now i just checked on the Spectrum Dashboard and my hunch was correct. Rye consists of 4 counties. One of them is Pueblo County which AT&T does not have any Cellular (850) spectrum which causes a problem, just like an AT&T tower close to me here in Michigan that borders 3 counties. They cannot shoot frequencies into a county that they don't have spectrum licenses for and they have to use tilts and azimuths to direct signals accordingly which messes the coverage up in that given area.

 

Checking further, Portal AZ is another area in which AT&T doesn't have 850 either so they are using 1900 for voice and 3G data. Again, they may not be depicting their coverage in these areas accordingly based on spectrum bands which have poorer range that they may be using.

 

It really doesn't matter if CDMA can theoretically carry further than GSM. Verizon could crank up the power to the point where their panels are cooking. Today's digital devices simply cannot communicate with towers at distances they are not designed for. Mainly due to RF danger.

 

If you are going to be traveling frequently into areas of poor coverage, I would HIGHLY recommend a Wilson craddle booster which works wonders pulling in a "4G" signal. Mine supports multi-bands including all of Verizon's and AT&T's 2G/3G/HSPA+/LTE/AWS frequencies.

Teacher

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26 Messages

10 years ago

Josh,

This is really not true. I do a lot of traveling and camping and I can tell you at&t has better coverage then Verizon where i go.. I was camping at Fort-Gibson and my friends has US-Cellular and they struggled with 1 bar. But my iPhone had HSPA+ and I was browsing web pages very fast and streaming music. One time I was out in the middle of the country where there were no highways anywhere close to my location. I got full bars out there and was on HSPA+ and was able to pull up information supper fast.

Contributor

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1 Message

9 years ago

I am in the same boat. I joined AT&T in January, purchasing an iPhone, on which I still owe $278. I have been so happy with AT&T and coverage until I moved 20 miles northeast. Now I have NO voice coverage at all at home. I spent approximately an hour on the phone (land line work phone or fiancee's cell with a different carrier) with a very nice and helpful Customer Service Rep. After doing all of the trouble shooting she could do, it came down to two options. 1) I purchase a "Micro Cell" which is like a mini-tower that connects to my wireless router in my home. For $149.99  OR I switch to another carrier. And with all of the "we'll pay your early termination fees" offers, it turns out they don't cover balance due on devices. So now I'm stuck with a phone that I can't use to make or receive calls at home, that I owe $278 on, OR I can pay another $150 so I can use the service I'm paying for. Needless to say I am NOT happy. Sure, I can put in a land line at home. Why not just buy an old rotary dial corded princess phone and an answering machine that holds cassette tapes to go with it? GRRRR! The CSR was very apologetic, actually said "I'm sorry you moved to an area with such weak signal" Really? I can't live in a beautiful, somewhat rural area AND have reliable cell service? Even in town, only 4 miles away, I still have no service. This is a town of 35,000 people. Not a one-light crossroad town. So I agree, 99% of America my eye!

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

9 years ago

My suggestion is press them to give you a microcell.  I did then 6 months later they fixed the tower with LTE.  I went from 1 bar of servie to full bars

Contributor

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1 Message

9 years ago

Lies... Pure lies. I travel around the country on a regular basis and At&t service is abysmal everywhere except the largest cities. Huge geographic areas with no service at all, yet according to their coverage map should be working. They often blame my device, yet the people I travel with who also have At&t don't get a signal either. The addition of WiFi text messaging support would help drastically, but they don't seem to have a plan to implement that even though nearly every other mobile phone company has already done so at this point. I've been very patient with them, but it's been years now and still no improvement. So farwell At&t.

Tutor

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9 Messages

9 years ago

We live in Casey County, KY out on [edited for privacy-please do not post personal or unique information such as but not limited to full names, employee ID numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, etc.] which spans many miles of heavily wooded countryside. Not a single bar of signal to be found. And there are many people in this area that have to live off grid due to not being able to afford to get electric put in. So they are stuck without phone service in every way. And I can tell you. AT&T can put in a single tower in, which would change the lives of thousands of people in that area. What is AT&T's solution to this problem. Offering a dam microcell gadget that nobody can use. This company seriously has sunken to the bottom.

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

OK, We have AT&T service. We moved to a remote location in Ragland, Alabama. I have almost no service or very little service at times. Verizon is a little better but not by much.

Both show the area map covered with 4G service. Both lye. So how do they keep getting by with the false ads.

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