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Consumer Reports ranks Verizon best, AT&T worst among US carriers

post #1 of 53
12/6/11 at 6:56am
Thread Starter 
Consumer Reports on Tuesday revealed the results of its annual survey of US carriers, which found Verizon ranking highest and AT&T coming in last among America's four largest wireless providers.

This year is not the first time that AT&T ranked last in the Annual Cell Service Provider Survey, as the carrier has struggled for years with poor consumer perception in the face of coverage woes. Last year, the survey similarly found that AT&T fared poorly across the board, earning the worst possible score in all categories related to value, service and customer support, except for the "texting" service category.

Verizon maintained its place atop the big four U.S. carriers this year, though the nation's largest wireless provider was followed closely in the rankings by Sprint. Both Verizon and Sprint began offering Apple's iPhone, ending a years-long exclusive arrangement between Apple and AT&T.

Coming in third in the Consumer Reports rankings was T-Mobile, which was said to have rated "significantly better" than fourth-place AT&T. Earlier this year, AT&T announced an agreement to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion, but AT&T withdrew its application to the Federal Communications Commission after the deal faced antitrust scrutiny.

"Our survey indicates that subscribers to prepaid and smaller standard-service providers are happiest overall with their cell-phone service," said Paul Reynolds, electronics editor for Consumer Reports. "However, these carriers arent for everyone. Some are only regional, and prepaid carriers tend to offer few or no smart phones. The major carriers are still leading options for many consumers, and we found they ranged widely in how well they satisfied their customers."

The Consumer Reports poll was based on a survey of more than 66,000 subscribers about their service and customer support experience with U.S. wireless carriers. The full report, available in the January 2012 issue of the consumer advocacy group's magazine, has carrier ratings for 22 metropolitan markets.



AppleInsider has also offered its own in-depth look at coverage and data speeds using the iPhone 4S on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Tests showed that AT&T offered the fastest speeds and Verizon had the best 3G coverage. The tests also demonstrated service issues with Sprint, though that carrier remains the only option in the U.S. for customers who want an iPhone with an unlimited data plan.
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post #2 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:02am
Question, is AT&T worst the same way the iPhone 4 didn't work? Or is it really worst?
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post #3 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

AppleInsider has also offered its own in-depth look at coverage and data speeds using the iPhone 4S on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Tests showed that AT&T offered the fastest speeds and Verizon had the best 3G coverage. The tests also demonstrated service issues with Sprint, though that carrier remains the only option in the U.S. for customers who want an iPhone with an unlimited data plan.

With all networks, your mileage may vary.

Unfortunately AI's report was based on just a handful of locations and so wasn't an accurate nationwide picture of the situation.
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post #4 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:07am
Verizon might have the best coverage but they have the worst customer service.
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post #5 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:08am
Speaking for myself, but I'm pretty happy with AT&T in my area. But if iPhone comes out with LTE, Verizon will take over AT&T in that area, and AT&T should be scared sh***les.
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post #6 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by shen View Post

Question, is AT&T worst the same way the iPhone 4 didn't work? Or is it really worst?

Those are two different analyses.

The iPhone 4 handset review was written by the editors of Consumer Reports.

The annual mobile operator report is a broad survey of readers, not the opinions of a few staff writers.

No American mobile operator can be proud of their performance. Verizon is basically a 37" giant in a land of three-foot midgets. I have no idea why there are fanboys of American cellular providers. The mobile service offered by these companies here in America is abysmal and hideously over-priced. Year after year, there's some shuffling in the rankings, but the overall industry has not made any strides in improving customer satisfaction hence the perennially mediocre scores. American cellular industry is right there at the bottom of customer satisfaction, alongside cable TV providers.

So yeah, according to the CR readership, AT&T really is the worst.
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post #7 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:27am
OIC, it was a survey, not actual usage tests. And a survey from none other than CR's subscribers - a demographic that makes one wonder about the value of their opinions. After all, they subscribe to CR and CR is as far from reality as one can get.
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post #8 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:34am
i have a AT&T 4S and a Verizon droid phone from work. the differences in service quality in NYC are so minor they aren't worth mentioning. Verizon is a little better in indoor signal quality
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post #9 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:42am
Consumer reports is garbage...has been for years. Their tests are flawed on many products, particularly ones they really don't understand enough about. A few examples come to mind, including the iPhone 4 and AT&T. AT&T's service really depends on where you live and what features are important you. I've got my issues with it, but I'm not ready to go Verizon just yet. We'll see if Apple releases a 4G iPhone on Verizon next year...that could change my mind.

This also reminds me of the time CR slammed the Rainbow Cleaning system, which I was associated with in college. This is the vacuum that has a tray of water in the bottom of it. It's an amazing product and cleans better than anything I've ever seen. They trashed it though, because among other things, they tested it on the one thing it couldn't dissolve in the water...baby poweder with lanolin. Ridiculous.
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To save time, assume I know everything.
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post #10 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:46am
I agree, consumer reports is garbage for cell phone ratings. I recommend no one base their phone purchase decision on Consumer Reports ratings. I have had AT&T Wireless since the late 90's (they became Cingular for a while there), and I have never had any problems with my service (I live in the Mid-Atlantic, DC Region). Consumer Reports is good for some things, like appliances or cars, but their electronics ratings are almost worthless.
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post #11 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cvaldes1831 View Post

Those are two different analyses.

The iPhone 4 handset review was written by the editors of Consumer Reports.

The annual mobile operator report is a broad survey of readers, not the opinions of a few staff writers.

No American mobile operator can be proud of their performance. Verizon is basically a 37" giant in a land of three-foot midgets. I have no idea why there are fanboys of American cellular providers. The mobile service offered by these companies here in America is abysmal and hideously over-priced. Year after year, there's some shuffling in the rankings, but the overall industry has not made any strides in improving customer satisfaction hence the perennially mediocre scores. American cellular industry is right there at the bottom of customer satisfaction, alongside cable TV providers.

So yeah, according to the CR readership, AT&T really is the worst.

I agree. The way this should really be interpreted is that Verizon is the least bad of all of them.

For me, it's a complete yawner. In my area and the places I use my phone, AT&T is just fine, so I have no reason to change. If I did have a reason to change, I can get the phone I prefer from several different carriers, so it's not a big deal.
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post #12 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:58am
Coverage-wise, I'm sure it's no contest between AT&T and Verizon. However, as a consumer, I'm surprised they left out the fact that AT&T is the only carrier that lets you keep your unused minutes for up to a year. Moreover, they are the only carrier that has an app that lets you tell them where/when there is a problem with their network.

I'm no shrill for AT&T but those two things alone hit me as progressive-minded, pro-consumer policies.
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post #13 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:59am
"though that carrier remains the only option in the U.S. for customers who want an iPhone with an unlimited data plan."

Small correction, should say "for NEW customers..."
I have an unlimited iPhone data plan on Verizon. Just added another iPhone last month and they let me keep the unlimited plan for the new phone as well. Seems as long as your account is currently unlimited, you get to keep it.
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post #14 of 53
12/6/11 at 7:59am
I am satisfied with AT&T here in Houston. I can't speak for every single spot of course, just where I work and travel between. With the qualcomm chipset, dropped calls are 100% gone, but it was never really an issue beforehand either. I have my unlimited, simultaneous voice/data.....all good.
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post #15 of 53
12/6/11 at 8:16am
Looks like their ratings for t-mobile are already out of date. They have them rated pretty low for "value" but they recently added budget plans (contract but no subsidy) that are vastly cheaper than the three networks that carry iPhone.

Shame T-mobile doesn't have iPhone but I've been very happy with my new android phone and I'm paying about half what the service would cost on the big three.
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post #16 of 53
12/6/11 at 8:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gettysburg11s View Post

I agree, consumer reports is garbage for cell phone ratings. I recommend no one base their phone purchase decision on Consumer Reports ratings. I have had AT&T Wireless since the late 90's (they became Cingular for a while there), and I have never had any problems with my service (I live in the Mid-Atlantic, DC Region). Consumer Reports is good for some things, like appliances or cars, but their electronics ratings are almost worthless.

I also have some issues with some of CRs testing, mostly that they focus on the low-to-mid range devices. For example, an average user looking for a DSLR might do well to refer to CR, but I'd never rely on them for pro or prosumer level DSLR reviews. I used to subcribe, but I don't any longer. Not because I thought their reviews were bad. They just weren't at the level of detail I wanted and not targeted to my requirements.

But in this case, we are talking about a survey of 66,000 actual customers. As far as I am aware, this is by far the largest survey group of anyone doing studies of the US cell phone industry. So unless you think CR is intentionally manipulating the survey results, this is about as comprehensive as you are going to get. It covers all carriers in all regions of the country (unlike AI's recent article that only looked at a handful of locations on the West Coast).

The only real knock against the CR report is the selection criteria of respondents. It's CRs subscribers. Since techies seem to not like CR (like me and my DSLR example), that may mean the survey results shift away from a techie's priorities. The focus here and on other message boards seems to focus almost entirely on data speeds, but perhaps the survey respondents, on the whole, cared a bit more about making phone calls. It's a customer satisfaction survey, not a technical capabilities analysis. It rates overall satisfaction, and not about picking one or two technically testable criteria and ranking in controlled testing scenarios.

[From personal experience with both ATT and Verizon, and the impression I get from friends and coworkers, the CR survey results roughly reflect reality in my neck of the woods...which is one of the cities CR specifically reports results for. Although I am surprise Sprint ranked above Tmobile, based on what my circle of people say about their service from each.]
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post #17 of 53
12/6/11 at 8:33am
So much for CDMA being inferior to GSM. This study clearly shouldn't be used to claim CDMA is superior but it's impossible to claim the opposite when the top two rankings both go to carriers using CDMA technology.
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post #18 of 53
12/6/11 at 8:58am
In my area (Stockton/Modesto), my coverage is spotty at best. The maps indicate I should have coverage pretty much anywhere inside of my operating area, but the reality is my results vary greatly depending on which part of the city I'm in and whether I'm inside or outside.

At my house, I have great coverage inside or outside. Decent voice quality and reasonably fast data speeds. If I go 2 miles east, I can use the phone outside, but it's less than useless inside.

My wife has the Verizon iPhone 4. I have the AT&T iPhone 4. When we go to our local arena in Stockton to watch hockey, the phone works great outside or near the exterior walls, but is totally unreliable once we're inside watching the game. One second it's working great, the next it doesn't work at all.

My wife's Verizon iPhone works great. It never flinches. When she first got it, we decided to have a race. We each took a picture of each other, then raced to see who's phone would upload to Facebook the fastest. Hers was done in seconds. Mine eventually timed out after several minutes. Keep in mind, when I first started the upload, I had 4 bars on the signal meter.

I would switch to Verizon if I could. There are just too many places where my wife can use her phone that I can't. Unfortunately, it's a company issued phone and they're locked into AT&T. I've been trying to get them to switch, though, since most of the people on our plan have issues with their AT&T iPhones.
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post #19 of 53
12/6/11 at 9:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wiggin View Post

The only real knock against the CR report is the selection criteria of respondents. It's CRs subscribers. Since techies seem to not like CR (like me and my DSLR example), that may mean the survey results shift away from a techie's priorities. The focus here and on other message boards seems to focus almost entirely on data speeds, but perhaps the survey respondents, on the whole, cared a bit more about making phone calls. It's a customer satisfaction survey, not a technical capabilities analysis. It rates overall satisfaction, and not about picking one or two technically testable criteria and ranking in controlled testing scenarios.

The fact that the CR readership is non-techie more accurately reflects the real world. There are probably a few techies who participate in the survey and their responses would be blended in. My guess is that CR lops off the top and bottom five or ten percent of scores, so the results are more normalized.

A higher emphasis on calls is understandable, especially because this is a survey of all cellular users, not just those who own smartphones. There are still a lot of people out there with feature phones; data speeds mean very little to these folks.

Moreover, the happiest people from the survey were those using prepaid or smaller standard service providers and thus were far more likely not to be using smartphones (and thus cellular data).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hudson1 View Post

So much for CDMA being inferior to GSM. This study clearly shouldn't be used to claim CDMA is superior but it's impossible to claim the opposite when the top two rankings both go to carriers using CDMA technology.

You know these rankings change sometimes? I think a couple of years ago it was Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint for the big four. I don't think anything could be assumed about GSM or CDMA technology superiority back then or today from a CR survey.

On top of that, the winner this year was Consumer Cellular, an MVNO that actually runs on AT&T's network.
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post #20 of 53
12/6/11 at 9:23am
By ranking carriers, Consumer Reports just confirms it's incompetent.
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post #21 of 53
12/6/11 at 9:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gettysburg11s View Post

I agree, consumer reports is garbage for cell phone ratings. I recommend no one base their phone purchase decision on Consumer Reports ratings.

The i4S gets the highest rating from Consumer Reports.
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post #22 of 53
12/6/11 at 9:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by shen View Post

Question, is AT&T worst the same way the iPhone 4 didn't work? Or is it really worst?

Sorry, the iPhone 4 REALLY didn't work in areas where AT&T coverage wasn't the strongest (I tried one, I know!). The poorly designed antenna with its signal problems is well documented!
However, the AT&T iPhone 4S (with the dual switching antennas), DOES work. I have signal in places I never had signal with ANY of my other phones (iPhone, Blackberry, etc).
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post #23 of 53
12/6/11 at 9:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by foxhunter101 View Post

Sorry, the iPhone 4 REALLY didn't work in areas where AT&T coverage wasn't the strongest (I tried one, I know!). The poorly designed antenna with its signal problems is well documented!
However, the AT&T iPhone 4S (with the dual switching antennas), DOES work. I have signal in places I never had signal with ANY of my other phones (iPhone, Blackberry, etc).

As an AT&T iPhone 4 user, this is actually kind of encouraging. Gives me at least some hope that when I upgrade in June I might get better reception.
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post #24 of 53
12/6/11 at 9:47am
Um, is Consumer Reports still using the little circles to let us know how good/bad stuff is?

I mean, really, those people still prolly endorse progressive scan DVD players.

It's 2011 folks.

Surveys about consumer electronics and services are outdated by the time they go to press.

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post #25 of 53
12/6/11 at 10:04am
Another unscientific survey from Consumer Reports where unconfirmed participants compare apples to oranges. AT&T has far more iPhone users than the rest of the providers combined (many on this survey do not even support the iPhone).

Apple customers are probably the most demanding. How can they compare an iPhone user on one network to a dumb phone user on the other?

The following studies are much more scientific. It compares the same iPhone 4s across all carriers. They reach a completely different conclusion based on facts, not opinion.


http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...on.html&page=1


http://m.minyanville.com/?guid=4714&catid=5
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post #26 of 53
12/6/11 at 10:15am
A lot of this has to do with EXACTLY how the questions are worded. I used to take part in writing surveys for McCannErickson, many years ago. Writing surveys is difficult, even for experienced people. Sometimes, the wording forces an answer the person didn't intend.

For example:

Would you prefer to use our highly reliable product for this purpose, or another one which is buggy and unstable?
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post #27 of 53
12/6/11 at 10:22am
I'm calling BS on this. AT&T is faster than the others for data, the customer service is light-years better than Verizon's 'attitude line' and dropped calls in NYC are now a distant memory.

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Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others.
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post #28 of 53
12/6/11 at 10:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hudson1 View Post

So much for CDMA being inferior to GSM. This study clearly shouldn't be used to claim CDMA is superior but it's impossible to claim the opposite when the top two rankings both go to carriers using CDMA technology.

The CDMA is inferior argument has always been a terrible argument. The only real category GSM wins in is data speed. They are just different technologies.

Otherwise, CDMA has better voice quality, better inherent encryption security, better tower to tower handoff, and can handle much more load than GSM which typically results in less dropped calls and customer perception.
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post #29 of 53
12/6/11 at 10:24am
In the case of cell phones, a user's opinion about their own service is a practically useless parameter. That would be like asking a user if they "like" the sound of their stereo system or the picture on their TV. How do they know what it should look/sound like? Because if I say that AT&T is terrible, how do I know that Verizon or Sprint isn't worse under either the same or different conditions?

And an evaluaton of one geographic area has no relevance to performance in another geographic area. My U.S. iPhone worked better in London than it did in New York.

Another issue is when the evaluation was done because when I first got my iPhone several years ago, AT&T dropped 90% of my calls and many areas of midtown-Manhattan (like on Fifth Avenue in the 40s) were either dead or had so much traffic that you couldn't use the phone. Now perhaps 1% of my calls get dropped and I only occassionally hit a spot where the phone doesn't work. When I first got my phone, it would almost never ring - everything would go to voicemail. Now that rarely happens.

Only an objective evaluation of data speeds, the number of dropped/failed calls and coverage compared to pricing would be a true comparative evaluation of service.

Also, if I have an app that uses data (such as a mapping app) that doesn't respond well, is it the phone itself, the wireless connection (if I'm using one) and associated network, the app, the carrier or the remote server that's causing the problem? A user simply doesn't know and might assign blame to the wrong place.
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post #30 of 53
12/6/11 at 10:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zoetmb View Post

In the case of cell phones, a user's opinion about their own service is a practically useless parameter. That would be like asking a user if they "like" the sound of their stereo system or the picture on their TV. How do they know what it should look/sound like? Because if I say that AT&T is terrible, how do I know that Verizon or Sprint isn't worse under either the same or different conditions?

And an evaluaton of one geographic area has no relevance to performance in another geographic area. My U.S. iPhone worked better in London than it did in New York.

Another issue is when the evaluation was done because when I first got my iPhone several years ago, AT&T dropped 90% of my calls and many areas of midtown-Manhattan (like on Fifth Avenue in the 40s) were either dead or had so much traffic that you couldn't use the phone. Now perhaps 1% of my calls get dropped and I only occassionally hit a spot where the phone doesn't work. When I first got my phone, it would almost never ring - everything would go to voicemail. Now that rarely happens.

Only an objective evaluation of data speeds, the number of dropped/failed calls and coverage compared to pricing would be a true comparative evaluation of service.

Also, if I have an app that uses data (such as a mapping app) that doesn't respond well, is it the phone itself, the wireless connection (if I'm using one) and associated network, the app, the carrier or the remote server that's causing the problem? A user simply doesn't know and might assign blame to the wrong place.

You can find all kinds of reasons to not their answers or even the methodology but when you spread your survey out over 66,000 people, the results become quite reliable.
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post #31 of 53
12/6/11 at 10:40am
Not sure I can trust anything they say (and it's not just because of the bad iPhone 4 review they did). They've reviewed many products/services poorly in the past, why should I believe them now?

Here's my take on their US carriers review: Out to lunch.

I'm currently on AT&T. Am I completely happy? No. They all suck to some degree. But, AT&T has given me a pretty good deal since the 1st gen iPhone. Their data is the fastest, and pretty reliable. Their customer service is okay, helpful with service needs or technical issues, but not so helpful if you want a better deal or disagree about your plan's pricing.

Verizon does have broader coverage and more reliable voice, but their data is slower than AT&T (and I use far more data than voice these days) and when I was with them they couldn't once get the bill correct. Another thing I disliked greatly was their totalitarian control of everything (before the iPhone came around) - VCast? Utter crap.

Sprint - I have no experience with them. I do know that every time I try to call someone I know that's on Sprint, I have a 50% chance of hearing "The Sprint customer you're trying to reach cannot be located..."

T-Mobile was an okay experience (before Verizon) as far as customer service, rate plans, options, etc. They were the most customer friendly carrier I've ever been with, unfortunately their coverage is what killed it for me. It's most unfortunate. I'd like to go back to them. If they had Verizon's coverage and AT&T's speed, I'd be knocking on their door tomorrow.

So, in my experience, Consumer Reports is out to lunch. Right now, I'd say the best carrier is AT&T even though they're certainly not perfect.
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post #32 of 53
12/6/11 at 11:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hudson1 View Post

You can find all kinds of reasons to not their answers or even the methodology but when you spread your survey out over 66,000 people, the results become quite reliable.

Precise, yet inaccurate.
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post #33 of 53
12/6/11 at 11:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

This year is not the first time that AT&T ranked last in the Annual Cell Service Provider Survey, as the carrier has struggled for years with poor consumer perception in the face of coverage woes. Last year, the survey similarly found that AT&T fared poorly across the board, earning the worst possible score in all categories related to value, service and customer support, except for the "texting" service category

I think as AT&T customers renew their contracts they'll start giving AT&T bad scores for the text services. Not because it doesn't work well but because AT&T is only going to give you 2 options. Either you pay per message or pay $20 for unlimited texting. Right now I'm on the $10 plan for 1000 messages and that works for me. I don't need to pay another $10 for text messages that I will never receive or send. I wouldn't mind the paying per message rate if it wasn't so much.

I know there are people who need the unlimited plan and that's fine but don't take away our choice. If Verizon's network did data and calls at the same time I would seriously think about switching back when my iphone 4 contract runs out next year.
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post #34 of 53
12/6/11 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JuanGuapo View Post

Coverage-wise, I'm sure it's no contest between AT&T and Verizon. However, as a consumer, I'm surprised they left out the fact that AT&T is the only carrier that lets you keep your unused minutes for up to a year. Moreover, they are the only carrier that has an app that lets you tell them where/when there is a problem with their network.

I'm no shrill for AT&T but those two things alone hit me as progressive-minded, pro-consumer policies.

I'd like to agree, but I've been "reporting" problems using their little app for 3 years and there has been no improvement. Conversations with "tech support" always end in them stating that they are adding coverage in our area or would I like to buy more ATT products. 3 years of promises and so far no new coverage. In my area, I have gone from 1-2 bars 3g to 4-5 bars edge almost every day. In Silicon Valley I lose data coverage all the time unless I'm on wifi.
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post #35 of 53
12/6/11 at 11:43am
This is a load of elephant dung. If Verizon ranks anywhere near the top, especially when customer satisfaction or value come to play, then those things CR polled are most likely not human entities. Maybe they polled 66,000 monkeys. It may also have been 66,000 feral cats.

"earning the worst possible score in all categories related to value, service and customer support"

Clearly, a large group of Americans are forfeiting the duty to think for themselves, and have likely not had the pleasure of being raped by the other carriers, namely Verizon. There is proof enough in the "mass migration" pipe dream that was predicted to annihilate AT&T's subscriber numbers last year (no doubt to the sheer delight of that Big Red Pimple).

Tell me again what came of it all? Oh, that's right: nothing. CR is a has-been.
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post #36 of 53
12/6/11 at 12:00pm
Actually AT&T has the most dropped calls.

Can't you hear me now?
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post #37 of 53
12/6/11 at 12:58pm
Conspiracy theory says: To all those basing tests for speed initiated from a provider's system -- it is trivial to make speed tests look good when accessing a known and commonly used speed test site (such as Speedtest.net). All the ISP has to do is notice that you are accessing the site (something that can be programmed to happen automatically) and then give your connection to that site priority. This would be the same thing as gaming a benchmark for graphics cards, for example (as graphics card makers have been found to be doing in the past).

The only way the test results of Speedtest.net would be reasonably reliable is if you route your connection to the test site through an encrypted connection with a proxy. This would of course add the encryption overhead but the results would be relative between systems tested.

With an open, unencrypted test, the best you can conclude from the test is the most speed you can get, but nothing concerning reliability nor anything related to an average.
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post #38 of 53
12/6/11 at 1:12pm
I have the 32GB AT&T 4S and the service is wonderful except when im home and in Midtown manhattan.data services in manhattan are plain unusable but anywhere else in the city there pretty good.I just switched back from verizons iPhone because data was slow but at least verizons data worked in midtown where as AT&T's just craps out
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post #39 of 53
12/6/11 at 1:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post

Actually AT&T has the most dropped calls.

Can't you hear me now?

Nope...Sprint does. What is sad is that Sprint is also 6 times slower. Yeah....they say they won't throttle your iPhone....but the reality is that everyone is throttled.


http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...on.html&page=1
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post #40 of 53
12/6/11 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by noexpectations View Post

Another unscientific survey from Consumer Reports where unconfirmed participants compare apples to oranges. AT&T has far more iPhone users than the rest of the providers combined (many on this survey do not even support the iPhone).

Apple customers are probably the most demanding. How can they compare an iPhone user on one network to a dumb phone user on the other?

The following studies are much more scientific. It compares the same iPhone 4s across all carriers. They reach a completely different conclusion based on facts, not opinion.


http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...on.html&page=1


http://m.minyanville.com/?guid=4714&catid=5

On what basis are you saying what is scientific and what is not? The Law of Large Numbers states that even though an individual respondent's answers may not reflect the average reality (due to bias or other influences), a sufficiently large sample set will smooth out those deviations and the result will reflect reality. I think 66,000 responents is far more than sufficient. Heck, we predict results of Presidental elections with only a few hundred respondents!

The first study you link to is of a limited number of tests in a very limited number of locations along only the West Coast of the US. It focused almost eclusively on data speeds. While the individual tests may have been more controlled, the low sample size, and especialtly the limited geographic region, greatly limits the applicability of this study to reality for the general population of the US.

And short of seeing the details behind the Metico Wireless test referenced in the second link, how can anyone say whether it was scientific or not? For all we know, the data results where from a single test in a single location (not saying it was, just that we don't know). Same for the voice tests. How big was the sample size, how geographically diverse was it? It says that the iPhone 4S dropped 25% more calls on ATT than on Verizon. But do the tests reflect reality for the general population? (Probably much more so than the study in the first link.) I also don't think the 2nd link reaches "a completely different conclusion" as you say. Looks like pretty similar results to CR except the CR provided an overall ranking. In the 2nd link, the author even summarizes the study's results as "in depends." They simply didn't attempt to come up with an overall score.
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