Too bad NY and PA aren't on the list. When I visit rural parts of those states I'm always climbing hills looking for the barest flicker of Edge coverage. (Specifically: southwest NY and northeast PA.)
I with ya brother! AT&T coverage can sometimes be non-existent in certain parts, or very spotty at best.
I've had Verizon service for 7 years and been EXTREMELY pleased with both the coverage and the service. I am in rural Arizona and really hope I'm not forced over to AT&T. I hate AT&T. I have a plan I love and a phone I love as well and do not want to be forced by the government to change. I hate government control too. Guess I'm in a hateful mood today
I've had Verizon service for 7 years and been EXTREMELY pleased with both the coverage and the service. I am in rural Arizona and really hope I'm not forced over to AT&T. I hate AT&T. I have a plan I love and a phone I love as well and do not want to be forced by the government to change. I hate government control too. Guess I'm in a hateful mood today
Why do think you'd be forced to move from Verizon to AT&T? If you weren't on Alltel before I think you have nothing to fear.
I am glad to hear we might get better coverage in Northern Arizona from AT&T for my iPhone.. Some areas are very spotty and now maybe I have a chance to get calls and finally drop my extra Verizon phone. I won't be doing that anytime soon though until we soon what areas will get coverage. In the last year AT&T customer service has blown Verizon's away for me.
Why do think you'd be forced to move from Verizon to AT&T? If you weren't on Alltel before I think you have nothing to fear.
Well, I hope I'm wrong, but the way I read it is that any Verizon territory that had Verizon AND Alltel in the same rural area was going to have to move to AT&T. We are in one of those areas where both existed together before Verizon bought Alltel. Those are the areas that Verizon agreed to move out of and AT&T won a bid for those territories. Since AT&T uses a totally different phone protocol the phones would have to change. Hence the same reason no one can make an iPhone work on the Verizon system now.
Got rid of Alltel when I moved to Verizon and do not want to switch. You've stated exactly what I was hoping to hear. BTW, I just love your signature line. I've always said once you try Mac you'll never go back.
I had a company Verizon phone and my iPhone and I'll tell you what....I never felt Verizon had better service. In Northern WV my Verizon phone was worthless. I had 5 Bars on my iPhone there too.
I also love my roll-over minutes which is only given to me from att.
Q: Are the tower placements for CDMA (I assume these were the previous AMPS towers) also ideal for GSM on the 850MHz spectrum?
Doubtful. GSM has a 35 km limit, while CDMA doesn't, so any towers that were spaced more than 35 km apart and worked fine under CDMA are going to work not so well with GSM.
It would, of course, work just fine with UMTS (3G), since that is CDMA-based, but if you think AT&T will put any 3G in rural areas, then all I have to say is
Alltel, of course, did bring 3G in a lot of those rural areas via EV-DO. I'm sure AT&T will switch that off as soon as they can get everyone transitioned over to crusty old GSM with EDGE.
It would, of course, work just fine with UMTS (3G), since that is CDMA-based, but if you think AT&T will put any 3G in rural areas, then all I have to say is
1) Before you get attacked I'll back you up first, in saying that the first 3GPP version 99 UMTS air interface was incorporated from the CDMA air interface according to some sites.
2) I can't imagine AT&T taking this investment and not putting in at least the most basic HSDPA tech in most places, especially if their a tower spacing issue and they are planning for the long term. The US is growing and with less reason to be situated in a city due to global communications I'd be shocked if most small towns that these Alltel towers are won't get 3G.
My house is 5 miles north of the University of Iowa - a Big Ten campus and major medical center. There is ZERO AT&T signal here. AT&T has a spotty signal along I-80 - with nothing anywhere else.
I'd buy an iPhone in a heartbeat - if i could get it to work. Instead, I have an iPod touch and a Verizon cell phone - like 99% of the people around me.
My house is 5 miles north of the University of Iowa - a Big Ten campus and major medical center. There is ZERO AT&T signal here. AT&T has a spotty signal along I-80 - with nothing anywhere else.
I'd buy an iPhone in a heartbeat - if i could get it to work. Instead, I have an iPod touch and a Verizon cell phone - like 99% of the people around me.
How else do I say "frustrated?"
AT&T has good 3G coverage all over Davenport, Cedar Rapids and in your area of Des Moines. They also have good coverage along I-80, which 2 of those cities it runs through. I'm sure there are gaps in certain areas but I have never had a problem with basic coverage, only with a lack of 3G in less populated areas. I'm using my AT&T 3G right now in Davenport just off I-80 with 137ms ping latency, 1.83Mbps down and 0.81Mbps up. To reiterate, I am not stating that your area has AT&T coverage, it may very well be a dead zone.
Anyone seen any coverage maps of the affected areas? I live in southern Iowa and would love to get an iPhone. I have US Cellular now and love the service, but hate the phones. They're all the same: only does half the things you want it to do and none of the things an iPhone can do.
Anyone seen any coverage maps of the affected areas? I live in southern Iowa and would love to get an iPhone. I have US Cellular now and love the service, but hate the phones. They're all the same: only does half the things you want it to do and none of the things an iPhone can do.
You can check out AT&T's map, but you have to get in pretty close to see anything relevant and even then it could easily be wrong.
Driving in the last two weeks through North Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa, my wife and I found 3G coverage for our iPhones to be pretty much confined to Amarillo, Santa Fe, Denver, Omaha, Des Moines and the Quad Cities. EDGE was pretty spotty, even along Interstates 40, 76 and 80. By and large, I'd say the ATT wireless coverage map tends to be optimistic. Technically the boundaries for EDGE and 3G are reasonably accurate, but the signal strength in many places leaves a lot to be desired. There are some surprises in some places, however. In the hamlet of Red River, NM, at 8,600 feet altitude buried in the mountains north of Taos, we got five bars on EDGE. But overall, if AT&T is lagging this badly in rolling out 3G, 4G deployment is likely to be no picnic. Don't get your hopes up if you're out in the sticks.
1) Before you get attacked I'll back you up first, in saying that the first 3GPP version 99 UMTS air interface was incorporated from the CDMA air interface according to some sites.
UMTS uses WCDMA as its air interface, which stands for Wideband CDMA. This is a fact. If anyone would care to attack me for that, they are welcome to, but they will just come across as looking stupid since this is common knowledge and can easily be looked up on the GSM Association's web site or Wikipedia. WCDMA, as you might guess, is based on CDMA. Why wouldn't it be? CDMA is a far superior technology to the TDMA that legacy GSM uses.
Quote:
2) I can't imagine AT&T taking this investment and not putting in at least the most basic HSDPA tech in most places, especially if their a tower spacing issue and they are planning for the long term. The US is growing and with less reason to be situated in a city due to global communications I'd be shocked if most small towns that these Alltel towers are won't get 3G.
I wouldn't. WCDMA requires a really huge chunk of spectrum, and they'll already need to allocate some spectrum to GSM (for phones that don't have 3G) and CDMA (for legacy customers, as well as for roaming agreements that they're probably legally obligated to honor for a few years at least with smaller CDMA providers that currently roam on Alltel). This can make it hard to deploy. AT&T has had a ton of trouble just covering the more populated areas with 3G - I'd be severely surprised if they set it up in areas like the Dakotas and Montana.
AT&T's plans for the long term are more likely to involve LTE, which appropriately enough stands for "Long Term Evolution." That particular technology they probably will need to deploy across their network, and it'll be easier to do that if WCDMA isn't chewing up all the bandwidth.
I could be wrong, of course, and I'd be delighted if I am. But the cynic in me says that they'll put in plain old GSM/EDGE, which will have the horribly slow Internet speeds that everyone is familiar with, as well as much spottier coverage due to GSM's limitations.
Too bad they aren't touching upstate NY. AT&T's coverage around here sucks rocks!!!!
It's not great in mid town Manhattan either! Half of the time I'm on Edge
Pun intended. What's strange is that when I visit friends in northern NJ, 3g is INCREDIBLY FAST rivaling wi-fi
You'd think it would be the other way around. AT+T needs to step it up. If you tell customers they can get 3g speeds then that's what they should get not 1.4g.
My house is 5 miles north of the University of Iowa - a Big Ten campus and major medical center. There is ZERO AT&T signal here. AT&T has a spotty signal along I-80 - with nothing anywhere else.
I'd buy an iPhone in a heartbeat - if i could get it to work. Instead, I have an iPod touch and a Verizon cell phone - like 99% of the people around me.
How else do I say "frustrated?"
Hi neighbor! From the description of where you live, we are probably right up the road or around the corner from your place. My wife and I both have iPhones, and we, too, find the AT&T signal very spotty. Davenport and Des Moines (which solipsism thinks is ?our area?) may have good coverage, but Iowa City, half-way in between D & DM, seems to have less than good reception. I receive the internet very nicely in our home, which the iPhone picks up from our wireless network; however, phone calls are very spotty in or out of the house. Let?s hope the situation improves soon.
Here's an article from the Great Falls Tribune, one of those areas where AT&T is buying Alltel. It's titled "AT&T acquisition would give Montanans more service, phone options" and the key points are:
"Once the sale is complete, AT&T will spend about a year upgrading cellular towers and other equipment and converting it to AT&T's GSM network. During that time, Alltel customers won't see any changes in their service, Hopkins said.
Once the upgrade is complete, Alltel customers will need to switch handsets because Alltel's phones won't be compatible with AT&T's network, Hopkins said. Since that process is still some time out, the details aren't finalized, but AT&T will communicate with customers as the change-over approaches."
Well all I can hope for at this point is that this nightmare only affects current Alltel customers and those of us who are on Verizon can stay on Verizon. I have coverage everywhere I travel and all my friends and family are also on Verizon so everything is in network.
Comments
Why isn't NC on the list?!
BJ
Is NC on anyone's list?
(Sorry. I just couldn't let that one pass.)
Too bad NY and PA aren't on the list. When I visit rural parts of those states I'm always climbing hills looking for the barest flicker of Edge coverage. (Specifically: southwest NY and northeast PA.)
I with ya brother! AT&T coverage can sometimes be non-existent in certain parts, or very spotty at best.
About the time my current Verizon account is up, things should be going great with the new coverage!
I bought an iPod Touch, because there's basically no 3G from AT & T here in SE Iowa.
I've had Verizon service for 7 years and been EXTREMELY pleased with both the coverage and the service. I am in rural Arizona and really hope I'm not forced over to AT&T. I hate AT&T. I have a plan I love and a phone I love as well and do not want to be forced by the government to change. I hate government control too. Guess I'm in a hateful mood today
Why do think you'd be forced to move from Verizon to AT&T? If you weren't on Alltel before I think you have nothing to fear.
Why do think you'd be forced to move from Verizon to AT&T? If you weren't on Alltel before I think you have nothing to fear.
Well, I hope I'm wrong, but the way I read it is that any Verizon territory that had Verizon AND Alltel in the same rural area was going to have to move to AT&T. We are in one of those areas where both existed together before Verizon bought Alltel. Those are the areas that Verizon agreed to move out of and AT&T won a bid for those territories. Since AT&T uses a totally different phone protocol the phones would have to change. Hence the same reason no one can make an iPhone work on the Verizon system now.
Got rid of Alltel when I moved to Verizon and do not want to switch. You've stated exactly what I was hoping to hear. BTW, I just love your signature line. I've always said once you try Mac you'll never go back.
I also love my roll-over minutes which is only given to me from att.
Q: Are the tower placements for CDMA (I assume these were the previous AMPS towers) also ideal for GSM on the 850MHz spectrum?
Doubtful. GSM has a 35 km limit, while CDMA doesn't, so any towers that were spaced more than 35 km apart and worked fine under CDMA are going to work not so well with GSM.
It would, of course, work just fine with UMTS (3G), since that is CDMA-based, but if you think AT&T will put any 3G in rural areas, then all I have to say is
Alltel, of course, did bring 3G in a lot of those rural areas via EV-DO. I'm sure AT&T will switch that off as soon as they can get everyone transitioned over to crusty old GSM with EDGE.
It would, of course, work just fine with UMTS (3G), since that is CDMA-based, but if you think AT&T will put any 3G in rural areas, then all I have to say is
1) Before you get attacked I'll back you up first, in saying that the first 3GPP version 99 UMTS air interface was incorporated from the CDMA air interface according to some sites.
2) I can't imagine AT&T taking this investment and not putting in at least the most basic HSDPA tech in most places, especially if their a tower spacing issue and they are planning for the long term. The US is growing and with less reason to be situated in a city due to global communications I'd be shocked if most small towns that these Alltel towers are won't get 3G.
I'd buy an iPhone in a heartbeat - if i could get it to work. Instead, I have an iPod touch and a Verizon cell phone - like 99% of the people around me.
How else do I say "frustrated?"
My house is 5 miles north of the University of Iowa - a Big Ten campus and major medical center. There is ZERO AT&T signal here. AT&T has a spotty signal along I-80 - with nothing anywhere else.
I'd buy an iPhone in a heartbeat - if i could get it to work. Instead, I have an iPod touch and a Verizon cell phone - like 99% of the people around me.
How else do I say "frustrated?"
AT&T has good 3G coverage all over Davenport, Cedar Rapids and in your area of Des Moines. They also have good coverage along I-80, which 2 of those cities it runs through. I'm sure there are gaps in certain areas but I have never had a problem with basic coverage, only with a lack of 3G in less populated areas. I'm using my AT&T 3G right now in Davenport just off I-80 with 137ms ping latency, 1.83Mbps down and 0.81Mbps up. To reiterate, I am not stating that your area has AT&T coverage, it may very well be a dead zone.
Anyone seen any coverage maps of the affected areas? I live in southern Iowa and would love to get an iPhone. I have US Cellular now and love the service, but hate the phones. They're all the same: only does half the things you want it to do and none of the things an iPhone can do.
You can check out AT&T's map, but you have to get in pretty close to see anything relevant and even then it could easily be wrong.
1) Before you get attacked I'll back you up first, in saying that the first 3GPP version 99 UMTS air interface was incorporated from the CDMA air interface according to some sites.
UMTS uses WCDMA as its air interface, which stands for Wideband CDMA. This is a fact. If anyone would care to attack me for that, they are welcome to, but they will just come across as looking stupid since this is common knowledge and can easily be looked up on the GSM Association's web site or Wikipedia. WCDMA, as you might guess, is based on CDMA. Why wouldn't it be? CDMA is a far superior technology to the TDMA that legacy GSM uses.
2) I can't imagine AT&T taking this investment and not putting in at least the most basic HSDPA tech in most places, especially if their a tower spacing issue and they are planning for the long term. The US is growing and with less reason to be situated in a city due to global communications I'd be shocked if most small towns that these Alltel towers are won't get 3G.
I wouldn't. WCDMA requires a really huge chunk of spectrum, and they'll already need to allocate some spectrum to GSM (for phones that don't have 3G) and CDMA (for legacy customers, as well as for roaming agreements that they're probably legally obligated to honor for a few years at least with smaller CDMA providers that currently roam on Alltel). This can make it hard to deploy. AT&T has had a ton of trouble just covering the more populated areas with 3G - I'd be severely surprised if they set it up in areas like the Dakotas and Montana.
AT&T's plans for the long term are more likely to involve LTE, which appropriately enough stands for "Long Term Evolution." That particular technology they probably will need to deploy across their network, and it'll be easier to do that if WCDMA isn't chewing up all the bandwidth.
I could be wrong, of course, and I'd be delighted if I am. But the cynic in me says that they'll put in plain old GSM/EDGE, which will have the horribly slow Internet speeds that everyone is familiar with, as well as much spottier coverage due to GSM's limitations.
Too bad they aren't touching upstate NY. AT&T's coverage around here sucks rocks!!!!
It's not great in mid town Manhattan either! Half of the time I'm on Edge
Pun intended. What's strange is that when I visit friends in northern NJ, 3g is INCREDIBLY FAST rivaling wi-fi
You'd think it would be the other way around. AT+T needs to step it up. If you tell customers they can get 3g speeds then that's what they should get not 1.4g.
My house is 5 miles north of the University of Iowa - a Big Ten campus and major medical center. There is ZERO AT&T signal here. AT&T has a spotty signal along I-80 - with nothing anywhere else.
I'd buy an iPhone in a heartbeat - if i could get it to work. Instead, I have an iPod touch and a Verizon cell phone - like 99% of the people around me.
How else do I say "frustrated?"
Hi neighbor! From the description of where you live, we are probably right up the road or around the corner from your place. My wife and I both have iPhones, and we, too, find the AT&T signal very spotty. Davenport and Des Moines (which solipsism thinks is ?our area?) may have good coverage, but Iowa City, half-way in between D & DM, seems to have less than good reception. I receive the internet very nicely in our home, which the iPhone picks up from our wireless network; however, phone calls are very spotty in or out of the house. Let?s hope the situation improves soon.
"Once the sale is complete, AT&T will spend about a year upgrading cellular towers and other equipment and converting it to AT&T's GSM network. During that time, Alltel customers won't see any changes in their service, Hopkins said.
Once the upgrade is complete, Alltel customers will need to switch handsets because Alltel's phones won't be compatible with AT&T's network, Hopkins said. Since that process is still some time out, the details aren't finalized, but AT&T will communicate with customers as the change-over approaches."
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/art...+phone+options