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

[bossrogue]

I used to have AT&T, and they were great for me, never had a single issue with them. Service was always there, and everywhere I went. I was with AT&T for years, when they were Cingular. The only thing I hated was all of their phones were crap, except the iPhone. I switched to Verizon in December 2009, just because I wanted to get the Blackberry Storm 2 (it was either that or the Tour) I have to say that I like Verizon a lot better. One thing is for sure, well in my personal experience anyways, was AT&T did have a faster 3G. Even on my Droid the 3G seems a little sluggish. Now that I'm with VZW, I'm staying.

 

[Adlerson]

I had AT&T (Cingular before that) for.. 6 years now? 7? I only switched to Verizon when I got my Droid back in November. Furthermore, I'm a pilot, so I travel all over the country, including remote areas and airports, so I've gotten a lot of comparison between the two.

So far I'm pretty happy with Verizon. Then again I was pretty happy with AT&T too. Verizon's coverage IS a bit better than AT&Ts, as I travel the 3G symbol appears to be present about... 20% more than with AT&T. Another thing that I have noticed is that Verizon's data connection is more responsive. Ie, the latency in their network is smaller. I did ping tests with my iPhone on AT&T and it would routinely come back 400-800ms, whereas on Verizon it's between 50-100ms most of the time. (Someone explained this as being because AT&T turned up the cache use in their cell relay network to cope with all the data traffic from the iPhone users. This gives a higher data throughput, but decreases responsiveness.)
I do miss being able to always be connected with data though, even when talking on the phone. Not that I would talk and surf at the same time all that much (I HATE the AT&T commercials making it seem like you can't live without surfing while talking.. The need doesn't come along all that often!) but items such as IMs will disconnect on the Droid when on a call, and they won't always connect again once you're done talking, like they would on the iPhone/AT&T. A limitation in Verizon's 3G technology though, so we're stuck with that til 4G comes around.

Anyway, to sum up, on a scale from 1 to 6 I would give AT&T a 4, and Verizon a 5. I was/am happy with them both, but Verizon has the edge.

 

[strobez395]

I'm on Long Island and commute to the city everyday, I have verizon and have always had it and never had any service problems. But about half my friends have Att and have no complaints about service either around here. My girlfriend on the other hand goes to college upstate and if you don't have verizon you can't make a call most of the time. She even has trouble with verizon in a couple of areas up there.

 

[hazydave]

Location is key. Verizon is much better in my area for overall coverage, but they also only have 1X having just taken over Alltel.

Prior to the takeover, 76% of Alltel's network was 1xEvDO Rev 0 (not 1xRTT, which is the 2G version of CDMA's data link). That's 2.45Mb/s, while Version's is supposedly all EvDO Rev A, delivering 3.1Mb/s. This was at least 82% by the end of last 2008, and they were in the process of upgrading to Rev A. So, while I can't say for sure that there aren't a few non-G3 towers from Alltel left, chances are, if you see 1x on the phone, it's due to range, not a lack of 3G on the tower.

That being said, AT&T claim high speed in my area, but it was pretty sad when I had my Iphone. AT&T is also very limited in distance. They were fine right in my town, but get anywhere outside of it and you are screwed.

Like all 3G protocols, AT&T's steps down in speed for greater range. When they promise you 3.6Mb/s or 7.2Mb/s downloads, those are essentially measured with you standing next to the tower. As you move away from the tower, the higher speed connection will start failing, and the tower will drop you down to a lower speed. This is not unique to AT&T, HSPA, 3G, or even cellular. You'll get this on EvDO (there are something like 13 or more different speed levels), WiMax, LTE, even Wifi does this. The whole idea is that any connection is much better than no connection.

 

[hazydave]

Another thing that I have noticed is that Verizon's data connection is more responsive. Ie, the latency in their network is smaller. I did ping tests with my iPhone on AT&T and it would routinely come back 400-800ms, whereas on Verizon it's between 50-100ms most of the time. (Someone explained this as being because AT&T turned up the cache use in their cell relay network to cope with all the data traffic from the iPhone users. This gives a higher data throughput, but decreases responsiveness.)

That makes sense. The iPhone, as successful as it's been, has been a big problem for AT&T. Nearly all of their 3G bandwidth is due to iPhone users. The iPhone actually accounts for 50% of all 3G traffic, world-wide, by some estimates (AdMob, October 2009, http://metrics.admob.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/AdMob-Mobile-Metrics-Oct-09.pdf). The same study put Android at 20%, RIM at 12%, Palm at 5%.

I do miss being able to always be connected with data though, even when talking on the phone. Not that I would talk and surf at the same time all that much (I HATE the AT&T commercials making it seem like you can't live without surfing while talking.. The need doesn't come along all that often!)

Of course not. But they are correct... EvDO originally meant "Evolution Data-Only".. there's no voice protocol over EvDO, there is over 3G. One might assume that the original intention was for VoIP, as it's often been claimed for all of the 4G stuff. And yet, there's a group still discussing a separate voice protocol for LTE (it's no in there yet, but it could be), rather than moving to all-IP.

A limitation in Verizon's 3G technology though, so we're stuck with that til 4G comes around.

Or use VoIP. That may also be the answer for 4G, but at least then, everyone but Sprint will be using the same technology (though Verizon has the sweetest 4G spectrum, followed by AT&T.. both winners of the 700MHz auction).

 

[airwolf]

My wife and I have been with Verizon for 8+ years now. I just got my Droid last week as I was waiting for my New Every 2 upgrade to kick in. I LOVE MY DROID!! Incredible phone!!!

We live in Central Illinois, in a rural area about 20 miles from Decatur. I work in Decatur, so I am there everyday. When I am sitting in my living room, I have 3G coverage! Now, most of the time I don't use that as I kick over to my home Wi-Fi, but it is still nice to know that I have access to 3G at home.

Last week, I was at a meeting with some guys and I laid my phone on the table. Everyone was making ooohs and aaaahs over the Droid. One guy pulled out his Iphone and wanted to know what kind of 3G coverage I was getting with it. I told him total coverage. Showed him the phone with the 3G icon active. He said he had been from one corner of town to another corner of town and that he found out from the local ATT store that the ONLY place in central Illinois that has 3G coverage is Springfield, which is 45 miles from Decatur. I told him I even had 3G coverage when I sat in my living room at home and all the color drained from his face. By the end of the meeting, he was talking about paying the early termination charge and switching to Verizon. He was also VERY impressed by the Droid saying how he liked the look and the feel of it compared to his Iphone.

I have to laugh when the ATT commercials come on showing their "coverage" maps because I know they are lying! They show all of central Illinois as being covered, but I know for a fact that they are not. Now, I know that their maps are not representing 3G coverage because it says so in that tiny print at the bottom of their screen, BUT they are implying that in their commercials.

As long as they keep cranking out phones like Droid, I'm staying with Verizon!:icon_ banana:

 

[hazydave]

We live in Central Illinois, in a rural area about 20 miles from Decatur. I work in Decatur, so I am there everyday. When I am sitting in my living room, I have 3G coverage! Now, most of the time I don't use that as I kick over to my home Wi-Fi, but it is still nice to know that I have access to 3G at home.

I'm in rural South Jersey (not the part of Jersey most folks know... my area had filled in for Kansas in films, even), and Verizon here wins. Big. I can get 3G in my cellar (my home office and lab are in the cellar, so it's useful). AT&T kinda-sorta works in the house, some of the time, and always on the back deck. Not sure about 3G... I have loads of iPhonie friends, but have not asked about that specifically. T-Mobile often works on the back deck, but occasionally, you need to go down the driveway. Sprint works at the end of the driveway, last I checked. Don't know about 3G on either of those, but given the weak signal, it probably wouldn't function anyway.

I have to laugh when the ATT commercials come on showing their "coverage" maps because I know they are lying! They show all of central Illinois as being covered, but I know for a fact that they are not. Now, I know that their maps are not representing 3G coverage because it says so in that tiny print at the bottom of their screen, BUT they are implying that in their commercials.

You know they're playing games. Verizon is showing 3G maps, and trusting on the intelligence of their potential customers to get that -- it's not THAT complex. AT&T sued to get Verizon to stop, but lost. So now they're showing 2G/Voice maps, and essentially trusting on the stupidity of their potential customers to not understand the difference. That's no way to run a company. Then again, with recent reports suggesting that as much as 50% of all 3G traffic comes from iPhones, maybe Verizon wants less intelligent people as customers, figuring they'll use less data.

As long as they keep cranking out phones like Droid, I'm staying with Verizon!:icon_ banana:

They're a very different Verizon than they were a year ago. When my contract ran out in February 2009, I was really jumping to get an Android phone. But it wasn't practical here... it was only T-Mobile at the time. I had tried to get them to put up a cell tower in my forest (I have 26 acres here), and they seemed somewhat interested, but I'm sure it was the usual thing... we're not building a tower to support 10-20 people. Anyone driving down US40 will get their connection back in a mile, if they lose it at all (it's there, but really weak).

Verizon, on the other hand, had the absolute worst collection of smart phones: Blackberries (anyone not forced to use one by their business but does anyway is nuts), WinMo and old Palms (I had a Treo 700p, liked it enough in its day, but Palm abandoned support for this line years ago).

When I heard about the deal with Motorola, I was glad I waited. My wife was saying "Just get the dang iPhone" all summer, but I didn't want an iPhone.. I mean, what good is a smartphone that can't run a Commodore 64 emulator? The DROID isn't quite perfect, but close enough... I've VERY happy with it. And finally, very happy with things about Verizon that don't really just come down to "well, at least they have coverage".

 

[huskur]

As a "whole".....Verizon wins by far. no questions asked

 

[bossrogue]

I read in an article in Consumer Reports that "if Verizon is available in your area, you should go with them, they are the best you can get, and they are the largest carrier in the U.S."

 

[drew]

I've been with Verizon for over 6 years now. I had one "dead spot" in PA that I knew about. A particularly gnarly stretch of road that was awful in winter time. Since moving to Florida over 3 years ago, I haven't dropped a single call.

My boss is on AT&T (Iphone) and every time he calls me from California, he drops our call. Each time he's like "what happened"...my "there's a map for that" joke has worn kind of thin on him.

 

[Postnsons]

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?

In service im talking about:
*Phone Service (bars)
*3g Service
*3g Speed
*Customer service
*Phone call quality
*Map coverage
*Phone quality

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

I had att for about 2 n a half years and iv had verizon for 2 years and about 80% of people i know have att and iv observed that verizon is superior in all areas. There has been a couple insedents that my friend had service with his iphone and i didn't.. but then again i didnt have my droid!

ATT states in their commercials they cover 97% of Americans.

However, 97% of the population is not evenly distributed over the 48 states, they are in the heavily populated cities grouped together. ATT makes it sound like they are covering 97% of the area, where in fact they are covering the current population.

Talk to any over the road trucker, and they will confirm that Verizon covers the greater Area of the 48 states. ATT does well in coverage, but still comes in 2nd.

I like the voice quality of Nextel/Sprint and I used them for 10 years, but when I started traveling the States, Verizon simply kicked butt on coverage.

I can deal with a scratchy conversation, but I cannot deal without a signal.

 

[ChugIt]

Verizon hands down. Indianapolis to Flagstaff, Arizona and back home I had great service 98% of the time.

 

[Rindaen]

In Georgia , As someone else stated AT&T has very good coverage.
Fom Atlanta to Orlando , Or Birmingham, or Kentucky no problems at all.
From Atlanta to London UK , From Atlanta to Trinidad No Problems at all.

We are looking to switch to Verizon soon , my only real complaint and concern is that the Verizon Phone will be nothing more than a papperweight when I travel.

Verizon Needs service outside the US.

Not sure where the ATT map came from that someone posted but the map on the site is much different.
http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/?wtSlotClick=1-001KT9-0-1&WT.svl=calltoaction#?type=data

 

[RETG]

I can tell you my personal experiences with AT&T, (Sprint) and Verizon, but it boils down to Verizon has had the best coverage and Verizon has had the best customer service. I can also state that out of the people I know, most have Verizon, some have Sprint and only one Apple die-hard I know of still has AT&T and bashes it every time I talk to him and he is always cutting out (this was true before he blindly followed his idle and purchased the 4; so it must have something to do with the coverage too).

I also know of no one who has switched from Verizon to AT&T and not gone back or jumped over to Sprint (except for my brain dead friend with the Apple). I know quite a few who have jumped to Verizon from AT&T. Some of these are due to coverage since I do know a lot of people who live in the middle of nowhere, and I will say here, where I currently live AT&T phone service is basically non-existent and 3G coverage is totally non-existent; I have a choice of Verizon or Sprint.

In addition, since I work for Uncle Sam, and US wide coverage is really needed in my job, there must be a reason they issue me a BB on Verizon's system.

I believe that the larger companies such as GM issue Verizon to their employees for the same reason, better coverage, less dropped calls in the USA.

As for Verizon's phone being a paperweight overseas, it depends on the model. My BB tours - Personal and Gov't issued (personal is going away in a few months; thus my reason for being here) also contains a SIM card. I can use them worldwide. I guess from reading here, non of the Droids or even Androids offer both GSM and CDMA coverage. Not a problem with me since IF I have to travel overseas, it will be on businessl; thus the issued BB will work.

But, this debate is similar to Chevy Trucks vs. Ford or Dodge, Beretta or SIG, HP vs. Dell, etc.

 

[jsh1120]

There is simply no answer to this question. In addition to the fact that quality depends on where you are, the question of "quality" depends upon whether you're talking about voice, data, service availability, or quality when service IS available.

The major carriers all differ on all of these dimensions and in any one place one carrier may have great voice quality and lousy data quality.

The only semi-reliable information on these issues I know of comes from "Root Wireless," a firm that compiles actual user data (real time) for a number of cities in the US. Their app can be downloaded to your phone and reports repeated tests of cell network and data network performance.

For what it's worth, here in my Seattle suburb based on aggregated user experiences, AT&T significantly outperforms Verizon. And depending on whether one is focusing on voice, data, or availability, so do Sprint and T-Mobile.

If you're interested in participating in the program, go to the following website. If you happen to live in one of the cities they've already accumulated enough data to "map," you can compare the various carriers.

Root Wireless