Best Carrier for Cell Phone Coverage? (Atlanta, Roswell: house, transfer, live)

[StPaulEastSider]

Our cell phone plan expires next month.... since we are planning to move to ATL next year, I want to get feedback on the various cell phone carriers before I enter into a new contract.

We are currently with T-Mobile and I'm fairly pleased with them... the exact phone I desire is not available as a "MyFavs" phone, T-Mobile doesn't work with Facebook to upload photos and update my FB page. But obviously, these are minor complaints.

My PRIMARY criteria in a cell phone carrier is coverage areas and lack of dropped calls.

In that area T-Mobile excels - at least in my current neck of the woods. I consistently have at least 4 bars, my husband can even make calls from INSIDE the elevator at his job located dwtn St. Paul. I never drop a call unless I am traveling in a vehicle down the Interstate - at one particular spot I always drop the call, I figure calls can't make the jump from one tower to the next at that specific spot.

OTH, a friend of mine has Sprint - she is ALWAYS dropping calls. Another friend of mine has Verizon, after Verizon bought out her original carrier, and she can't even get a signal at her home unless she goes outside and stands at the end of her driveway - remember, this is Minnesota! Not good.

The "best" cell phone carrier in one part of ATL may not offer the best coverage in another part of ATL, it all depends on the infrastructure each company has managed to put in place...

I'm specifically asking about the coverage provided by various carriers in the following areas:

ITP, just west & south of Dwtn ATL and into the northern OTP suburbs - reaching as far north as Alpharetta.

[For those who feel compelled to point out the fact an ITP to Alpharetta commute is sure to be "hell on wheels"... - we know. He is transferring with his current company, in his current position, to facilitate our move to ATL... he will make the commute until something else pans out for employment. I know it's kind of backwards planning, but it's what works best, overall, for our situation.]

[Edit: I'm dreaming of an I-Phone.... any experiences w/ I-Phones in the areas I mentioned would be appreciated!]

TIA

[DoveDiva]

I'll probably get neg rep's for this...but Sprint works well for me. I used to have Verizon and Cingular...and calls were dropped left and right all over the metro. My church is located on the west side ITP area and I have no problems with my phone. (receiving and making calls, sending texts, accessing the web, etc)

[rcsteiner]

T-Mobil coverage sucks in southern Cobb County, at least in the "hilly" areas where I tend to spend time. If it wasn't for the Wifi support in my phone, I wouldn't be able to use it inside my house at all.

The only reason I'm using them for my cell phone is because my employer pays the bills. Of course, it was also their choice of providers, their choice of phones, etc.

AT&T was better, IMO, and Verizon seems excellent in terms of coverage (my wife seems to never be out of range, while I've found myself losing signals in several places).

Central Cobb (around Marietta) isn't as hilly, so coverage may not be so problematic. I can't speak for Atlanta proper, as I've only been inside the city limits a few times in the past six months.

[rackensack]

I have a T-Mobile Blackberry provided by my company. I live near East Roswell Park in Roswell, a couple of miles east of GA 400 just off Holcomb Bridge Road. I have very weak T-Mobile reception much of the time in my basement home office. I'm sort of in a ravine with 80-ft pine trees behind me, so it's not surprising, but it's frustrating at times. I never have more than one or two bars, and I spend quite a bit of time on "Searching . . .". I rarely actually drop calls, but often do have to retry dialing calls or walk around the basement or go upstairs to get a solid enough connection to make a call. If I go to the coffee shop less than 1/4 mile away across Holcomb Bridge, however, I generally have 4 or 5 bars.

My personal cell phone, with Verizon, is solid 100% of the time in my home office, and just about everywhere else I've ever had occasion to go.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by StPaulEastSider

My PRIMARY criteria in a cell phone carrier is coverage areas and lack of dropped calls.

Me too, and therefore I chose Verizon (based on anecdotes like this) and I've been very satisfied with them.

[DPAT]

I have experience in the Atlanta area with Tmobile, Sprint, and Verizon. Verizon, by far, has exceeded the others in terms of call quality/dropped calls. In fact I have had Verizon for 7 or 8 months and have yet to drop a single call. On side note, Tmobile was definately the worst.

[StPaulEastSider]

Wow!

I am so glad I thought to ask this question prior to renewing our contract with T-Mobile. It looks like T-Mobile is out of contention. Verizon is getting the most rave reviews here, with four votes thusfar.... and one vote for Sprint [thanks DoveDive] and AT&T was noted to have better coverage than T-Mobile, which, apparently, is not saying much!

I will not be making a decision for another couple of weeks, so keep posting to this thread and I will keep monitoring it.

I am especially interested in hearing from a few more people who have experience with ITP on the westside of dwtn - specifically West End, Westview, Capitol View, Washington Park, Adair Park. West End is our top pick - at least as of today.

Great initial response - THANK YOU!

[RoslynHolcomb]

I'm just OTP in Dunwoody and I hate AT&T with the heat of a thousand suns. Keep in mind that my use is very sparse, primarily of the 'Honey pick up a gallon of milk on your way home,' variety. Even so, we get at least one dropped call or a network busy signal every day. We kept AT&T when we moved here because we had them in Huntsville and they were fine, but we'll be switching to Verizon ASAP.

[BobKovacs]

I've got Cingular (now AT&T) on my Blackberry/phone at work, and my wife has them for her cell as well. We've had no problems at all with dropped calls or lack of coverage. I've got several friends with Verizon as well, and they dont seem to have issues either.

[Legs1357]

I have T-Mobile and I don't get service while in pretty much any building on Emory's campus/just walking around the Clairmont campus....if it's that bad there I can't imagine it's that reliable around the rest of the metro area (wish I could comment further to your particular criteria but I don't wander to the suburbs very much)