Honestly who has better service... Verizon or AT&T

[hazydave]

So honestly who has better service? With the ad wars going on and verizon dropping (in my opinion) one of the best phones ever... who has better service?

What "best phone ever" did version cancel/drop? I never saw a smart phone at Verizon that was good, not to mention great. My old Treo made it all the up to "acceptable"...

*Phone Service (bars)
*3g Service
*3g Speed

I get Verizon everywhere. At my house, I can't see Sprint at all, I may have to go to the end of my driveway for T-Mobile. AT&T is ok outside, sketchy inside. Verizon works in my cellar.

On vacation on an island in a lake in New Hampshire (where comms are actually often more critical than, well, your average fully modern travel destination), it's rough. I get Verizon inside my cabin... back when I had VZW wireless internet, I set up a hotspot that reached to the beach. I tried my sister's iPhone last summer, and I managed to get a weak connection wandering north and sitting on a tall rock. T-Mobil is very sketchy there, and I never met anyone using Sprint (I have been going there every summer since 1973), so I can't comment.

*Customer service
*Phone call quality

If the company is doing well, you never need customer service. With that said, the typical response from VZW is usually something on the order of "why is an amoeba like you taking me away from my Solitaire game". But the VZW people at the Verizon stores are freaky.. they're nice to you, and they actually know their stuff. Very rare in retail, but I never had a problem with Verizon that wasn't fixed in minutes at the store.

Call quality is excellent.. I have probably had a dropped call, but can't remember when. My sister and I talk all the time, she's constantly being dropped by AT&T. Could be her 2G iPhone... not a great phone, from what I hear. Thing is, I live in the frickin' boondocks of south-western Jersey (Salem County.. the gateway to Delaware). She lives in Princeton.. actual civilization. I have not been on AT&T as a carrier -- this is my lone experience with them on a regular basis.

and is there anyway to actually verify the statements each of them make about there service?

You've probably seen the coverage maps, but who knows. I have found, personally and in reading, that Verizon seems to be generaly accepted as having the superior network. This makes sense.. they were one of the only two carriers allowed in many, many locales in the early days of AMPS (850MHz analog cellular), so they have sweet spots for long range connections in many areas. Since there are only two slot at 850MHz, carriers have to get you on 1900MHz otherwise. There's way more bandwidth there (more channels), but the signal doesn't travel as far. This is US-centric, it's 900MHz and 1800MHz in Europe.

 

[aacanela73]

Verizon actually has employees that drive around the country and check the coverage areas. They check data they check voice, they check it all. Have you ever seen the white verizon wireless cars?? I have never seen an ATT car at all. Granted coverage for any network is not complete it does vary from one company to another. I know that the price may be alittle higher but I deffinately think that the service is well worth it.

 

[Slothead]

In the area where I live I have never had a dropped call with V'zon, but I have had many with AT&T. I am in suburban DC so the coverage shouldn't be an issue at all.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico the coverage is weak with both and sometimes have a problem even getting a connection to V'zon.

 

[savageseas]

Vzw ftw.

I and 99% of my family and probably 90% of my friends are on VZW. I used to have ATT/Cingular - what a crappy existence THAT was. I want to say I moved to VZW in 2000 when I moved to Orlando for grad school. I moved off my parents' ATT plan and got my own Verizon one (better coverage!). My parents soon followed as did the rest of my family. I love it. 10 years is a pretty good record.

This may not be the fairest forum for this question, as it IS a DROID forum which only exists on the Verizon network, but still somewhat interesting.

I pitted my DROID against an iPhone 3GS on loading webpages while at SeaWorld one day. The DROID was faster on every page it loaded - much to the surprise and dismay of its owner. (Suck it ATT!) The speed IS different based on location.

Its funny, four of my very good friends are on ATT just so they can have iPhones. (Actually this is 2 couples, one of each couple has an iPhone, other doesn't). We have been at war about carriers for years. I simply can't talk to any of them while they are driving b/c the calls constantly drop, texts don't go through, etc. They keep saying its verizon, I know its not and say the opposite. One of these 4 has an iPhone and is a tech geek and ATT supporter. I can't wait for him to play with the droid or another android phone.

Its funny to me just how they poo-poo the Verizon commercials and cheer on ATT and blame our communication problems on MY network. Maybe one day they will wake up. Probably not though. Hehe.

Just my 2 cents.

~J

 

[zakany]

In service im talking about:
*Phone Service (bars)

Location dependent. Usually Verizon. Most places, it's a wash.

*3g Service

Also depends on location. Again, usually Verizon is better.

*3g Speed

AT&T wins on theoretical speed. However, coverage trumps no coverage.

*Customer service

None of the above. They all suck.

*Phone call quality

Depends on the phone. No cell phone comes close to landline fidelity.

*Map coverage

No contest. Verizon.

*Phone quality

Depends on what you prefer.

and is there anyway to actually verify the statements each of them make about there service?

Not when they use marketing terms that are largely meaningless.

 

[hookbill]

In service im talking about:
*Phone Service (bars)

Location dependent. Usually Verizon. Most places, it's a wash.

*3g Service

Also depends on location. Again, usually Verizon is better.

AT&T wins on theoretical speed. However, coverage trumps no coverage.

None of the above. They all suck.

Depends on the phone. No cell phone comes close to landline fidelity.

No contest. Verizon.

*Phone quality

Depends on what you prefer.

and is there anyway to actually verify the statements each of them make about there service?

Not when they use marketing terms that are largely meaningless.

On your point about customer service, I totally disagree. I think Verizon Customer Service is excellent. Have I ever had any problems. Yes 1 time but I've been with Verizon for 6 years now. Nobody is perfect.

 

[DRILLINDK]

Verizon.

AT&T is dying a slow death and when Verizon finally gets the IPhone, AT&T will become absolete.

 

[Tabs]

My brother has an iPhone on AT&T in San Francisco and his calls to me drop ALL the time. It's ridiculously bad. I have no doubt Verizon is better overall.

 

[Nedaroth]

Why do you guys respond so easy to troll bait.

 

[DROIDMASTER]

A great exampe of how good Verizon is this.
at my school there is a cell tower blocker and is supposed to block all cell phone signals. My Droid defies these laws and still gets 3g coverage. I don't know how but it seems the Verizon phones get service by the blocker. LOL its insane!

 

[Hamsteak78]

For call quality, I think now a days it's more dependant on the phone itself than the carrier.

 

[aaf709]

Get the January 2010 issue of Consumers Reports. It has a lot of good information about the carriers and includes several cities in their study. It came out to something like:

Verizon
T-Mobile (very close to Verizon)
Sprint
AT&T

I remember one of their reports when the iPhone first came out; one of the marks against the iPhone was that it was linked to AT&T.

 

[RW-1]

OP was drinking when posting right?

difference between the two is like, well, night and day.

 

[JamesX]

Friend when doing rounds in the hospital will lose connection on his iPhone.

Verizon can be received anywhere in the hospital.

 

[Itamar]

The main question is what are you using the network for. If you live & work in one major city and don't travel, then just about any service provider will do the job for you. For me, things are much different. I'm a trucker and rely on mobile broadband coverage to receive & send much of my paperwork to & from my dispatcher. In the old days I used to have to find a truck stop & get stuff faxed, but now I just use the mobile network. Some of my co-workers that use AT&T don't have it nearly as easy as I do. They still have to hunt down a WiFi connection when their network doesn't have coverage (which usually means finding a truck stop). As a result, my mileage averages about 20% more than theirs. More miles = more $$. As far as I'm concerned, there is no other option.