Cell phone reception?

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

Originally Posted by MeinGlanzendMotorrad

iPhones are for people who want to be seen with their phone.

Painting w/ a broad brush, are we? I've had my iPhone 3GS now for 2 years. It works as well today as it did 2 years ago....no noticeable degradation in battery life and use it extensively. Never had a problem with reception anywhere in the Pittsburgh area, either. I have AT&T and while I'm usually not thrilled at their customer service, I've never had a problem with reception.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by calgal198

Hi everyone,
We just moved to the area and I have to get a new cell phone. What network seems to be reliable in these parts? We'll be living in Wexford if that matters. Ideally I'd like to get an iPhone, but if those don't work here, I can get something else too.
Thanks

Verizon Wireless's regional headquarters is in the Wexford area, service is great.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I have AT&T and my calls are CONSTANTLY dropped from inside my apartment. I'm not a happy camper. You'd think one of the nation's largest metro areas would have better coverage from AT&T, but apparently they don't care about competing with Verizon here.

That hillside spot is a tough one probably. Reception would be better if you were all the way in the valley, or on top of the hill. In the middle is often the worst. Have you tested another company's phone there? I wonder if you might have the same problem with all of them.

From what I understand it's not the type of system that the companies use but more the frequencies they use them on that makes a bigger difference in stuff like penetrating buildings. (Sometimes it's the location of towers, but often enough they can have antennas located on the same towers.) Still, there are frequency differences in AT&T vs Verizon and that is why Verizon signals sometimes in the same spot be better at penetrating buildings. But it's not universally one better than the other, as SammyKhalifa can attest. Soon enough AT&T and Verizon will both be on 4G LTE (you can get a couple Verizon phones on this now, plus data service that's really fast), but this alone won't resolve all reception differences.

[robrobrob]

We have had Sprint for 6 years. Frankly, we haven't had a problem with it. I realize that iPhones, AT&T and Verizon are more popular but we don't need the latest technology so they work for us. If you want to save a few bucks I would consider Sprint. In a city like da Burgh pretty much any carrier will be ok.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Originally Posted by SammyKhalifa

For what it's worth, I absolutely hate hate HATE Verizon and its customer service. Especially the customer service. I've never had the "pleasure" of dealing with such people until I had the audacity to try to buy Internet service from them.

I just can't switch my phone because I'm grandfathered into a deal that's too cheap for me to drop.

Every time I've called Verizon customer service they've been friendly, pleasant, and helpful. One month I forgot to pay my bill and even the collections guy that called me was terribly polite.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by greg42

From what I understand it's not the type of system that the companies use but more the frequencies they use them on that makes a bigger difference in stuff like penetrating buildings. (Sometimes it's the location of towers, but often enough they can have antennas located on the same towers.)

That is largely correct, but the FCC has tied together the frequency and technology in the way it grants licenses. All that is also entangled in tower locations, because often in rural locations AT&T/TMobile would actually need a lot more towers to provide the same coverage.

[gg]

I find it interesting this discussion. I have ATT and never have dropped calls. I even go to very rural areas in Northern PA and ATT was the only provider where my dad lives, so everyone had it.

I was talking to a few people at an ATT store and they said it depends on the phones you use. Iphones aren't very good with ATT system, but Nokia's are great. I have had Nokia phones for a very long time and never want to change them due to the great coverage I get.

All I can say is this has been my experience and others that work in the stores at ATT. No idea why and don't really care as long as the phone I use works well. If I had an Iphone, which I never will, I would use Verizon, but I have had a cell phone since the mid '80's and really don't like them. The novelty has long ago worn off and my use of cell phones have dropped to almost no use.