Best quality service for New York City

[newdreader]

I have had AT&T Wireless for some time. I recently moved to a high floor on the lower east side and the service is essentially unusable in my apartment. Then I visited a client on a high floor in downtown Brooklyn. Same thing. Either there is no service or the calls cut off in the middle.

A friend with a Verizon phone has good luck with it in my apartment. Does anyone have good information about wireless quality and reliability in the city (and decent performance elsewhere)? Is there a website with statistics on the various providers?

Thanks.

Linda

[Codepyro]

verizon works very well in the city overall...they have a trial period for about 14 days...the most suggested color for is the vx6000(color phone) if you dont travel to rural areas or the vx4400 is you travel to rural area..the best phone for reception is the v60i..but its black and white..

[njsvrzncdma]

verizon...hands down...verizon....

[bobolito]

In NYC you only have two choices for reliable coverage: AT&T (TDMA) and Verizon because they are the 800Mhz carriers. So if AT&T doesn't work, your only choice is Verizon. If Verizon doesn't work, then nothing else will.

Is there a website with statistics on the various providers?

You are on it right now!

[newdreader]

Thanks for the info.

Where can I find these statistics on the site?

Linda

[bobolito]

You just did!...LOL!

[njsvrzncdma]

dude you dont need statistics, take it from someone thats been in the businessfor quite some time. I sell tmobile but my personal carrier is verizon...what does that tell you !

[lilprincess2]

It's a dudette Nj did'nt you see her name is Linda?! lol[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

[t720]

The only advice I can give you is do NOT use Sprint in NYC. It's a horror story.

[budney]

Originally posted by: t720 The only advice I can give you is do NOT use Sprint in NYC. It's a horror story.

hmm... That is suprising. When I went their on vacation in July I had great coverage there & on the Island.

[bobolito]

Sprint is not bad in NYC. I know from first hand experience. It is not perfect, but I wouldn't qualify it as a horror story either.

[YelloMunky]

From my experience in the LES, Verizon works great from the area between the bars on Orchard to the Williamsburg bridge.

[JayFREaZyNyC]

How about t-mobile? I've herd that their service has gotten incredibly better in the NYC area, can any one vouch for that? I was thinking about getting it because they have a nice 49$ plan for 1000m unlimited nights/weekends. Plus, I really like that new side kick color phone. I also herd they too now have a 14 day trial period. Anyone know that for sure?

[bobolito]

Incredibly better? well, coveragewise it has improved, but now they are facing inminent capacity problems so basically, their service along with Cingular's is going down the drain as more people get "system busy" messages much more often than before. Remember that Cingular uses the same network.

This will be "California part II" for Cingular and T-Mobile.

[Matt]

Any evidence of capacity issues bobo? My family has not reported any.

[Rasputin]

I have had great coverage with Verizon when I am in NYC, I did not have any busy signals and dropped calls like I had with ATT.

[bobolito]

Originally posted by: Matt Any evidence of capacity issues bobo? My family has not reported any.

Because they live in NJ. We are talking about NYC. Just look around in Howard Forum and you'll see people complaining all about the same issue.

[Matt]

I read HoFo all the time. I have not noticed an increase in complaints in NYC. Someone will always be unhappy. Same thing for DC. Those threads pop up once in a while, even in places I travel frequently. I guess I wonder how legitimate some people's complaints are.......(not yours specifically, that is a general comment). I got a "network failure" last night when I tried to place a call. It worked the 2nd time. Should I make a thread and b!tch about it? Again, not a comment towards you.

edit: Perhaps my expectations are too low with technology. I don't expect 100% success or reliability b/c I know it won't happen. I know that my DirecTV will go out for a couple minutes in the summer sometimes when the storm comes, or my satellite radio in my car will skip when I go under a tree-lined rural road......or I might get a netwok busy once in a while. I guess I'm a bit opposite of those who have nothing but cordless phones at home, or no landline at all. I have a regular old phone, and I used it this week when the power went out after Isabel. My TM phone still worked, but of course I couldn't charge the battery so I wanted to save it.

Pardon the rant!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[Letitride]

I drive & walk pass 86th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn on a daily basis at various hours & days of the week and my observations for all the wireless store locations on the block are:

In the VZW store, there are 3 customers waiting in line for every 1 available CS rep. In all other wireless stores, there are 3 CS rep. available for every customer as soon as they walk in the door.

Closer to home in Queens on weekends, you have to get a ticketed number and wait in the store for the next available CS in the Verizonwireless corporate store. Same story for mid-town locations.

And, of course, VZW phone prices have gone up and they are NOT giving anything away for free in their corporate stores. Pretty phones & cheap plans don't count at all when you get unreliable service - VZW wireless services are part the medical center's - where I work - 6 steps emergency communications backup system in case our UHF system and other internal network are all down and/or lose power.

[budney]

I think T-Mobile in NYC is OK, but out on Long Island coverage is poor.

[cll]

I dont know why there are so many questions about TMo's service. I have used them as my back up for the past few years and have found their service to come thru where others have not. On Long Island I had good to excellent signal strength in places where ATT and Verizon failed. In some rural parts of NJ where nothing else works I actually got TMo signal. As an overall package I think they are probably the best offering out there- between price, phones, and coverage.
My primary phone is the $99 unlimited ATT plan but when that expires I am seriously considering migrating my number to TMo if ATT doesnt come up with a worthy replacement plan.

[JayFREaZyNyC]

Hey, thanks for all the help guys. I think im going to go to t-mobile just for that 14 day trial period. Besides that 39.99 plan for 1000m unlimited n/w, i really like that danger sidekick 2way/phone. Anyone have it or tried it? I was reading pc magazine a few months back, and it was named the #1 invention of the year or something like that (correct me if im wrong). So, im basically going to t-mobile for the plan and phone. I have to try out their service, but it seems everyone doesnt think its horrible like sprint or anything. So, has anyone tried the danger sidekick phone?

[Matt]

I have read the sidekick isn't the best device for RF phone use, but I have never used it.

[bobolito]

People's opinion of a carrier's reliability depends mostly on the areas they travel. So normally you have one person saying one thing and then another saying something else. However, when you have many people complaining in unison, then the situation changes. In NJ, experiences are going to be different and mostly related to coverage issues. However, you will not find capacity problems in NJ. I am specifically talking about capacity issues in NYC. I am very surprised that with 40Mhz of spectrum in this market and GSM being so spectrum efficient as they claim it to be, they are having these issues. I have also been a witness of it. There were times when I got a "network busy" on my Cingular GSM phone I could use my TDMA phone just fine in NYC. So definitely, something is going on. Since you couldn't find who's complaining, here are a couple of examples. This is not just one person being b..... about it. A sudden wave of people complaining about the same issue seems to indicate that there's a problem in the area, in this case due to capacity issues, not poor coverage. Just look at what many are saying:

"I've been having to re-dial calls a lot to get connected to the other side."
"It seems to me that problems would begin around 9 PM as that's when unlimited nights kick in for both TMo and Cingular."
"I have the same problems. Its driving me nuts. Sprint PCS was so much better. I dont know why I switched."
"Yup and I'm thinking of leaving. The service sucks lately. IT has really gone downhill "
"he left me a voice message when my phone didn't even ring (and I was in a strong signal area too)"
"Unbelievable. T-Mo/Cingular service in NYC used to be pretty good. It was never spectacular but it was quite decent. Something is going on. It's gotta be capacity issues."
"often times when people call me around 9 or 10 PM, even though my phone is showing full service, they get a message that all circuits are busy now, please try your call later. It usually starts around 9 PM so I can only conjecture, I have no proof of this obviously, that it has something to do with the unlimited night starting at 9 PM."
"This is getting ridiculous. Something is obviously wrong. Even the T-Mo crowd is getting furious over this."
http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...hreadid=203123 (Cingular Forum)

"I've been getting calls that go to my voice mail without my phone ringing. It takes me 4 or 5 attempts to make a phone call."
"T-mo's been sheet since monday this week. WTF is going on? NO calls can be made from 9pm till about 2am."
"Service has been down in gerneral lately. This week is nothing different!"
"everyone i know with t-mobile have been expereincing the same problems reported here"
"The network is jammed after 9, calls drop, signal strength has degraded..."
"I'm really sad T-Mobile has gone down hill like this. They used to be good"
"what's going on in nyc? i'm in queens and it takes more than 5 attempts to place a call, and when somebody call my number, it goes to voicemail without my phone ringing."
"I just got off with T-Mobile..... The CS rep said that the problem is primarily in the New York and New Jersey area."
http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...hreadid=204895 (T-Mobile Forum)

Against all of these complaints of all these people, there were only like two people in the threads that claimed not to have any problems. So do the math and decide if something is really going on, or if all these people are just exagerating.

[ehcruzan]

Can this be the result of insufficient T1 trunk capacity? Whatever it is, it seems like Cingular has a bad habit of overselling their network (or, as is the case here, other people's network). T-Mobile and Cingular better not forget November 28th is right around the corner.

[njsvrzncdma]

Originally posted by: lilprincess2 It's a dudette Nj did'nt you see her name is Linda?! lol[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

sorry !! "damn glasses" wait i dont have them on....AHHHHHH

[njsvrzncdma]

Originally posted by: Matt I have read the sidekick isn't the best device for RF phone use, but I have never used it.

oh god its not.. i used it for 2 days to try it out anywhere there was tmobile signal (the little one bar that around here) unless your in my store that has a tower directly behind it. The signal was not even close to a regular tmobile phone. The phone showed full bars and the sidekick was only 1-2. i tought i t was the sidekick so i took out another one., same thing. so i deduced it was the sidekick. if this thing was on verizon i might actually think about getting it.

[bobolito]

Originally posted by: ehcruzan Can this be the result of insufficient T1 trunk capacity? Whatever it is, it seems like Cingular has a bad habit of overselling their network (or, as is the case here, other people's network). T-Mobile and Cingular better not forget November 28th is right around the corner.

But if you want to jump ship, you have to be out of a contract and most people normally are in a contract. If you are still in a contract NP won't save you from paying the ETF.

[Matt]

bobo, I've read those threads You didn't need to cut and paste. What I said was that the level of complaints is about the same as it always is for NYC. I am not going to spend the time to seach 6 months of threads, but I would expect to find about the same number of people complaining about TM/Cinglular GSM in NYC. Maybe it is an increase from a year ago, I don't know.

[bobolito]

Really?....I've seen sporadic threads about an issue with someone in specific, but I found it rather strange that all the sudden everyone jumped in to complain about the same issue. I don't remember threads like those in the past months.