I have had it with AT&T. Suggestions welcome.
 

I am about 18 mos. into our two-yr. contract with AT&T, which I switched to from Verizon (what a fool I used to be) because my wife really wanted an iPhone and my work Blackberry (AT&T) totally saved my ass when I got stranded in the desert two yrs. ago, when my Verizon phones did nothing for me. Since making the switch we moved into a new house, which is less than a mile from an AT&T tower, but which lies in a dead zone. We have zero AT&T signal here. My company switched my Blackberry over to Verizon and I sprung for a Microcell, which gives me perfect AT&T coverage in the house. Just returned from a week on the east coast and had just about no AT&T coverage anywhere. It was just a joke. I can't take it anymore. I plan to call them, raise hell and demand to be let out of what's left of my contract with no early termination fee. But I'm not positive I want to go to Verizon. If I go to T-Mobile, I'll probably end up back with AT&T when their merger happens. Wifey and I can probably sell our iPhones on Craigslist for twice what Verizon will give for them on a trade-in deal for new iPhone 4's. What's the best route here?

there's a contract clause that says if you don't have signal in your house, u can get out. check your contract and call customer service

I had AT&T for over a year and the service was great for the firs 3+ months, then the signal started dropping where I live and work. It was great everywhere else, but I started suffering dropped calls. Went to AT&T and they said they'd look into it. Nothing happened. Went back. They said "turn off 3G." I tried toggling 3G for important phone calls, and it helped, but of course, hobbled the data connection. In late 2010 and into 2011, I was getting dropped calls regularly. Upgraded to a 3Gs phone, and it was a little better, but not acceptable. Switched to Verizon the day the iPhone became available. One dropped call in 4 months. The incoming call handling sucks and the inability to use the internet during a call is a small tradeoff. The data speed on Verizon is about 60% of what it was on AT&T. Net: it didn't solve all the problems, but the iPhone is 100% better for making calls on Verizon than AT&T.

fwiw, I have Verizon, and one of their (old) "world phones." This allows me to use the same phone in Europe or the US. --I can set it to roam on GSM or CDMA networks where ever, or use only a GSM or CDMA network. Point being, I'm not relying on just one network standard/frequency. ..making that "stranded in the desert " scenario less likely. ...and travel abroad easier.

Well, I don't care about using the Internet while on a call. I really don't use my iPhone at home much, as I work from home and so just use my Verizon Blackberry (company pays the bill, I never see it). My beef with AT&T is that they have such sucky coverage everywhere, not just at my house. I'm pretty sure I'll get out of my contract, but when they pull my address up on their computer, they say there's a tower right nearby. Luckily, I complained about this a lot last year when I moved into this house, so they should have a record of it. I need to consult with the wife, as she uses her iPhone way, way more than I use mine. But I need to find an alternative here. Gawd, I hate AT&T.

It's funny, I don't get dropped calls here in Houston. But my parents are back in San Diego for a few days and they are having terrible trouble with AT&T.

I guess I can add a datapoint in a couple of weeks when Tour de Taco does the Cape Cod MS150.

FWIW, my iPhone worked great in Europe two weeks ago. Obviously, it had nothing to do with AT&T, as my GSM took over and just connected with O2 or Vodafone, wherever I was. Unfortunately, my work Blackberry is a Curve (CDMA), and so it would not work at all in Europe and I had to use my laptop wherever I ended up for the night. My company gave me an AT&T aircard for my laptop and it totally sucks too.

I do not believe this is accurate. I was trying myself to get out of my AT&T contract for similar reasons and was unsuccessful.

They did send me a microcell and it has made a difference in the house (though certainly not 100%) but in my neighborhood I still have a huge deadzone.

AT&T was unwilling to let me out of my contracts (wife and myself).

I did not realize that Verizon was offering trade-ins - maybe I'll have to look into that. I actually DO need the internet and phone at the same time (Webex) but I could probably live without it.

The microcell is helping; I can actually use my phone at home.

I used this number to get to someone who could help me:
Gina Cain
866-220 8446 ext.1047

From this link:
Reach AT&T Executive Customer Service - The Consumerist

I really whined and moaned about their not giving a microcell. They said no dice. I got a like-new one on CL for $70, which I know I can sell for more. But the microcell does nothing for me when I'm not at home.

First of all T-Mobile is THE worst coverage anywhere, but maybe that will change when the merger goes through. Actually, it should really help ATT's coverage also, but I have had ATT for 10+ years and rarely have a problem. I travel extensively for my job and 90% of the time when no one else has coverage, I, with ATT, always have it.

Easy call - switch over entirely to to VZ, they have iPhone and BB, better coverage, ahead of ATT in 4G/LTE deployment and 3G coverage. T-Mobile is going to be folded in ATT in time, no escape there. Sprint I'm not sure about.

A contra-argument would be if your wife has a grandfathered ATT unlimited data plan for her iPhone, but I don't know how long ATT will honor those and if it even matters for her usage?

Cellphone choices are very personal, because coverage is so variable. My ATT coverage has improved remarkably in the past year, and I get tolerable coverage to the places I travel (NYC, Boston, SF - all downtown) - but that doesn't do squat for you . . .

Another choice - more money but maximum coverage - would be to add a MiFi or similar cell/WiFi hotspot, if you can't get cell coverage on the phone you can get data coverage on the MiFi (being on a different carrier) and use Skype. I carry VZ MiFi and ATT iPhone when I travel, so that I can get coverage everywhere. Sucks to have to do it, but . . .

If I look at Verizon's 1400 min. per month, family share plan with data X2, it's $150 per month. I get 15% off that through my company, so that puts Verizon at exactly the same price as AT&T for me. I don't think either of us use enough data to need any add-ons. Now, what happens to all my iTunes on my iPhone?

Assuming you sync your phone to iTunes on PC/Mac, they should sync to the new iPhone just fine.

That is how we got rid of att, no signal at our house even though we were smack dab in the green coverage area. They suggested I buy one of their repeater stations and place it on the hill in the back of my property. Basically they wanted me to set up a repeater station for them to improve their service areas at my cost. Poor little company, they even complained they were going to lose money if we left them. I felt so very sorry for them.

I do not believe any of them are great on service and there are now fewer competitors in the marketplace. Wish I had a good option for you but everyone is diminishing service in that industry.


At least with Apple you will be able to move everything from one iPhone to the next.

The Verizon iPhone won't go to Europe .... it's a CDMA only phone.

Verizon does have a whole slew of CDMA/GSM "global/world phones." ...or maybe you should keep your old iphone for traveling. ...else, you could get something like the HTC Trophy (another easy to use cap-touch phone, but is CDMA/GSM Windows Phone 7) ...or any one of the android world phones.

Funny, in my area AT&T coverage sucks and T-Mobile rocks YMMV.

Like you I presume if/when they merge they will share towers and have better coverage.

If you want to sell the microcell, let me know.

I have no problem at all with dropped calls, had two in the last six months... and I travel everywhere.

Sounds like Rick is pretty set on the iPhone and as already pointed out the Verizon iPhone does not travel.

Is the Verizon iPhone not GSM? I could still use my ATT iPhone on Verizon, no?