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).
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Comments
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).
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.
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.
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
For example:
Would you prefer to use our highly reliable product for this purpose, or another one which is buggy and unstable?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
Can't you hear me now?
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.
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
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.
Can a system which cannot handle voice and data be better than one which can.