AT&T improves 3G coverage in metro New York, New Jersey

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
AT&T, the exclusive provider of the iPhone in the U.S., announced this week that it has strengthened its 3G signal in the populous Tri-State Region, and that further nationwide network improvements are also planned.



The wireless carrier said that it has deployed spectrum in the 850MHz across "large portions" of New York City, Long Island and New Jersey, and customers in that area will have better reception and speed, as well as better coverage indoors. The company noted that the 850MHz spectrum used is considered "high quality," and has been enabled for 3G use at more than 1,600 cell sites in the New York metropolitan area.



"AT&T's ongoing investment to build broadband networks helps to create jobs, fuel economic growth and enable our customers to quickly access the content that matters most to them," said Jay Summerson, vice president New York, AT&T external affairs. "Our customers have embraced smartphones and upgrades like the additional 3G spectrum deployment allow them to enjoy the benefits of these devices and mobile broadband for years to come."



The nation's second-largest wireless carrier has plans to further improve its 3G coverage nationwide in the fourth quarter of 2009 with HSPA 7.2 technology, which will give customers faster mobile broadband speeds. The company expects that upgraded to be completed in 2011.



In addition, nearly 1,900 new cell towers are planned to be built across the U.S. this year. Customers in the Tri-State Region should also expect to see further improvements, as the company will continue to add cell sites in that area.



This year, the addition of unlimited Wi-Fi access at AT&T hotspots for iPhone users led to a large increase in Wi-Fi connections. In the first half of the year, AT&T handled 25.6 million Wi-Fi connections -- more than in all of 2008.



While the breakthrough success of the iPhone since its launch in 2007 has brought millions of customers to the AT&T network, the additional bandwidth used by the data-heavy device has had a significant impact on network performance. Some surveys have indicated that while users are happy with their purchase of the iPhone, the AT&T network is the least-loved aspect of Apple's device. Both Apple and AT&T have been sued for over-saturating its 3G network with iPhones.



In its response to an inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission last month, Apple gave a glimpse into its contract with AT&T and revealed the company's internal concerns about App Store software that might over-tax its wireless network.



"From time to time, AT&T has expressed concerns regarding network efficiency and potential network congestion associated with certain applications, and Apple takes such concerns into consideration," Apple said in its letter.



Many have speculated that bandwidth capabilities are the reason AT&T has not yet allowed tethering or MMS capabilities on the iPhone, even though other worldwide carriers already offer those capabilities. The U.S. wireless carrier has said that the features would arrive for iPhone users late this summer.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 42
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    This is a funny coincidence. I was just thinking yesterday that since I've purchased my iPhone here in NYC, July 3rd, I've had basically zero problems with reception since mid July. The exception was the first couple weeks of July (maybe 2 dropped calls). I am overall very pleased with my reception. I guess I lucked out and missed the last 2 years of aggravation that all my friends have had.
  • Reply 2 of 42
    Good.



    Now where is the MMS?!!!
  • Reply 3 of 42
    Service quality for all of August has definitely been the worst since I got my first iPhone 2G (upgraded in January to 3G). Voicemails have taken 3 days to show up, SMS arrive 1 hour late sometimes, and calls drop or fail with 5 bars all the time. I called AT&T to complain, and without having to escalate to a manager, got a $150 credit.



    I hope this decrease in quality was the result of their upgrades, and that September will be better, otherwise I'm going to call them once a month every month to demand another credit.
  • Reply 4 of 42
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member
    i'm in NYC and the only problem i have is streaming pandora in the center of a converted factory building on the Hudson River. i thought it was the AT&T too high a frequency thing until i started rebooting my iphone last week and it would work after a reboot. Apple pulling all memory apps gave me the idea.



    now i think there are memory leaks in some apps
  • Reply 5 of 42
    Reception seems OK, but I still get dropped calls (in Brooklyn especially, this is Brooklyn Heights just over the bridge) and I am now in Exchange Place Jersey (one stop from Manhattan) and my 3G Speed is 0.11 mbps right now. I'll test it at Wall St in a few hours when I get back to the office.



    Nothing to really create a headline about though.



    **edit - Did three tests



    Downloads

    0.11 mbps

    0.33 mbps

    0.22 mbps



    Uploads

    0.11 mbps

    0.12 mbps

    0.11 mbps



    So mean download is 0.22mbps (or about 27k, twice as fast as a 1980's fax machine). Great... what happened to 7mbps?
  • Reply 6 of 42
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zoolook View Post


    Reception seems OK, but I still get dropped calls (in Brooklyn especially, this is Brooklyn Heights just over the bridge) and I am now in Exchange Place Jersey (one stop from Manhattan) and my 3G Speed is 0.11 mbps right now. I'll test it at Wall St in a few hours when I get back to the office.



    Nothing to really create a headline about though.



    whenever you get to a new location try going to airplane mode and back or rebooting. i got the idea after BGR's bandwidth survey. i think what happens is that you keep a connection to a tower even if you're closer to another one when you're moving.
  • Reply 7 of 42
    I'll admit that I don't know how the signal interactions work, but I've got to wonder if ATT would get better loads if they could piggyback signals into people's wifi networks -- if your phone has a wifi, why can't ATT use a combo of cell and VOIP to blend and make a better experience?



    I have trouble imagining that this is beyond our existing techonology, but it might be a bandwidth cost issue...



    iCarbon (wishes that he had better reception in his building that has wifi everywhere)
  • Reply 8 of 42
    Now if they'd only do this everywhere else.
  • Reply 9 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by eh270 View Post


    Service quality for all of August has definitely been the worst since I got my first iPhone 2G (upgraded in January to 3G). Voicemails have taken 3 days to show up, SMS arrive 1 hour late sometimes, and calls drop or fail with 5 bars all the time. I called AT&T to complain, and without having to escalate to a manager, got a $150 credit.



    I hope this decrease in quality was the result of their upgrades, and that September will be better, otherwise I'm going to call them once a month every month to demand another credit.



    Where do you live?



    Sounds like your preferences and/or you iPhone needs a reset.
  • Reply 10 of 42
    I don't seem to be able to get the free ATT Wifi in Starbucks. It always asks me for a username pasword. I thought it was supposed to be automatic?
  • Reply 11 of 42
    And Apple is still waiting for AT&T to give them the okay to enable MMS and tethering. O2 in England, Rogers in Canada, SOFTBANK in Japan, T-Mobile in Europe, all these carriers and their subscribers are sending their location, contact information on their iPhone, voice memos, and video messages through the Messages application. I don't see as being rated as one of the premier wireless carriers in the world why it is taking AT&T so long to get with the program. This isn't the first time that they have displayed a lack of getting things accomplished. I don't have a problem with AT&T and their service, I have a problem with AT&T not following through on thier company roadmap.
  • Reply 12 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zoolook View Post


    I don't seem to be able to get the free ATT Wifi in Starbucks. It always asks me for a username pasword. I thought it was supposed to be automatic?





    I had to set it up once for it to work in McDonald's and now it's automatic...call 611 and ask ATT.
  • Reply 13 of 42
    There was an article in our newspaper yesterday that ATT has spent $350 million since 2006 upgrading their infrastructure here in Phoenix. I don't really have a problem with ATT's service, it's just seems like $93 a month for my iPhone is too much. It goes against my sensibilities to not have the iPhone available on other networks, price competition and all that!
  • Reply 14 of 42
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zoolook View Post


    I don't seem to be able to get the free ATT Wifi in Starbucks. It always asks me for a username pasword. I thought it was supposed to be automatic?



    Make sure your chosen Starbucks says it's an AT&T "HotSpot", not all are. Secondly- you have to go to WiFi preferences at manually hook on to the Wifi that says "AT&T' -at least for the first time. I know this because I went into a Starbucks last week that didn't have wifi and yesterday I went into one but had to manually access the Wifi. I'm hoping the next time I go in there it will be "automatic".



    FYI- The reason I needed Wifi access is because a friend told me that Madonna's video "Celebration" is free at iTunes yesterday and today- ONLY. You can only download it over Wifi. Since when does she ever give anything for free? So go for it. It's OK- lots of pole dancin! Watch for Lourdes at 3:15.
  • Reply 15 of 42
    Happy here in Houston, but starting to lose patience on MMS support. I never understood the hoopla in regards to copy/paste and once I got it, made me wonder how I lived without it. I have had several situations in the last few weeks that MMS would have been very useful, but I can wait a couple of more weeks. Where is my OS 3.1?
  • Reply 16 of 42
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    - way to go, regurgitating the at&t press release. http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pi...rticleid=27069



    - they were supposed to be doing the same thing for the san francisco market as well.



    - today is 09/02. mms is supposed to be here by 'late summer'. summer ends at 21:18Z on 09/22. you've got less than three weeks, at&t. get on it.
  • Reply 17 of 42
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zoolook View Post


    Reception seems OK, but I still get dropped calls (in Brooklyn especially, this is Brooklyn Heights just over the bridge) and I am now in Exchange Place Jersey (one stop from Manhattan) and my 3G Speed is 0.11 mbps right now. I'll test it at Wall St in a few hours when I get back to the office.



    Nothing to really create a headline about though.



    **edit - Did three tests



    Downloads

    0.11 mbps

    0.33 mbps

    0.22 mbps



    Uploads

    0.11 mbps

    0.12 mbps

    0.11 mbps



    So mean download is 0.22mbps (or about 27k, twice as fast as a 1980's fax machine). Great... what happened to 7mbps?



    I haven't had my morning jolt of caffeine yet, but isn't .22 mbps = 220 kbps?
  • Reply 18 of 42
    too bad I just switched to the Palm Pre.. Its Not a bad device.. and I have had ALL 3 versions of the iPhone and I wanted a cheaper plan.. so I switched and haven't had a dropped call yet, unlike my iphone. And I was on AT&T for 9 Years.
  • Reply 19 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wiggin View Post


    I haven't had my morning jolt of caffeine yet, but isn't .22 mbps = 220 kbps?



    Yes, kilobits (/8 to get good old fashioned K)...



    BUT I messed up, because the 0.22 was MBs not mbs, so you're right anyway.
  • Reply 20 of 42
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tyrnight View Post


    too bad I just switched to the Palm Pre.. Its Not a bad device.. and I have had ALL 3 versions of the iPhone and I wanted a cheaper plan.. so I switched and haven't had a dropped call yet, unlike my iphone. And I was on AT&T for 9 Years.





    too bad CDMA has this annoying feature where you can't talk and get data at the same time. i also have a sprint BB and go to roaming and back to evdo every 5-10 minutes when walking around town. i hear around DC Sprint is top notch
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