Alltel=crap!

[Airb330]

I have *NEVER* experienced such a TERRIBLE wireless network. I am SO frustrated right now. I do not get service anywhere it seems. I was on 2 major highways here in Myrtle beach last night...1 bar of service the whole time...and couldnt call out. This is terrible. I was on the major road "grand strand" where all the stuff is with 6/6 bars....couldnt call out and it dropped my calls 1000's of times. I have noticed anyone with Verizon having crap service here. Alltel should be stripped of it's licenses ugh. I wish Verizon roamed on Sprint here...it's much better. Well I called 611 and they said its a known problem area for their partner...well fix it! Of course my call to 611 dropped...! They put a note in my account, as I will be emailing the executive office when I get back. I pay for good nationwide service, and if they cannot provide it through their roaming partners...then that's sad imo. I better get some $$$ off my bill. Alltel sucks!

EDIT: I do not get voicemail notifications either. I can text but when I receive I usually get the message 2-3 times, grr, wasting my SMSs. Of course, no signal here in the library either. I mean I go OUTSIDE and I cannot complete calls....

[futureMD]

Does Alltel actually sell service in Myrtle Beach? Did you see any Alltel stores? It seems if their service was this terrible, they wouldn't be able to sell a single plan.

I read in another thread (I think roamer1 posted it) that Verizon has purchased 30 mHz in that area. Any idea when it should come online? My grandparents own a beach house at Myrtle Beach, and I'd like to know if I'll be able to use my phone when I'm there. From Airb330's account, it's not looking hopeful! Also, according to jayc in the same thread, he hears from almost a person a day complaining about Verizon's coverage there. What more would it take to warrant a roaming agreement with Sprint or stepping up Verizon's OWN coverage in that area?

[jayc]

Well according to WirelessBeachBum VZW should launch in that market before 1Q 2004. It must be horrendous... makes me wonder if Sprint doesn't want VZW to roam on them there, this would cause over capacity problems for Sprint if I had to guess.

Jack Plating says: "Expanding and enhancing our network coverage is another crucial part of our success. In the first half of 2003, the South Area network team activated 262 new cell sites with an additional 340 scheduled to be added in the second half of the year. We have the best wireless network and we continue to grow our lead in the industry. J.D. Power announced this week the results of a customer survey that gave Verizon Wireless the highest
rating for network quality."

Maybe some of the remainder of the 340 will be myrtle beach. It's quite impressive in the South area alone there will be 602 new cell sites activated. I've also be hearing strange new reports of VZW native coverage in rural areas in KY... hmm what's to come? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[roamer1]

Anywhere specific in KY? Some of the "new" coverage could be the result of the Northcoast deal...

It looks like about all VZW needs to fix is Chambers County AL and Johnson County TN! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

-SC

[MrFlashport]

I have been in Charleston with my former phone (Star-Tac 7868W) and had no such problems. The only thing with the Star-Tac is it doesn't have the ERI, so it said I was "roaming", I was NOT charged and all calls were included with my America's Choice plan. Same thing in Arkansas, Alltel is superb there (roamed on them as a Verizon customer about 40 miles outside of Memphis) and used it extensively while in Osceola, Blytheville, and Jonesboro AR and nowhere did I not have full RSSI, all calls rang, and I got my VM notification, Mobile Web worked, everything worked. Same deal in Charleston (was in Charleston back in June visiting their 911 center). I had no dropped calls or missed calls in either state. Never having used Alltel before, I was quite impressed. I wonder what happened...

[Gadget123]

What part of Myrtle Beach were you in and what sid where you on? I go there 4 or 5 times a year and I never have problems being with Alltel there. There are 14 Alltel towers just in the city of Myrtle Beach. 27 Alltel towers in Horry County (where MB resides) 6 of those are being built this year. A few are on and a few to go in the next month or two. Curious of the area you are in. Where you calling local MB numbers, LD, MM? I'm going there in 2 weeks, so I'll see if it has changed since May.

[jayc]

Stanley: If memory serves me correct they were in Grassy Creek, KY... yes Grassy Creek [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

When I looked it up on GIS (our coverage mapping tool) it did show extended network analog in that area. I asked the people 3-4 tiems specifically if it was in digital and asked them if they had the D etc because I was in somewhat disbelief that there was digital VZW coverage in grassy creek. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] These people were RVers so I guess they knew what was going on.

[jas16]

Originally posted by: futureMD
Does Alltel actually sell service in Myrtle Beach? Did you see any Alltel stores? It seems if their service was this terrible, they wouldn't be able to sell a single plan.

Yes Alltel does sell service in Myrtle Beach. I just don't know what to say when it comes to Alltel's service. Sometimes I think their analog network is better than their digital network. In where I live I noticed that they have add their signal to a lot of Cingular's towers but dropped calls is still happening.

[Gadget123]

Jas16
What part of SC are you in and how can you tell Alltel added equipment to Cingular's tower?

[jas16]

Alltel has added some of their equipment to Cingular's towers in Georgetown County. The reason why I know is because recently on some of Cingular's towers (Cingular being the only carrier on the tower) someone was adding new equipment to these towers. A friend of mine uses Alltel and a little while after the installation was complete, when they traveled by the towers they got full signal. The signal use to be very awful in these areas but now it is better.

[Airb330]

Originally posted by: Gadget123
What part of Myrtle Beach were you in and what sid where you on? I go there 4 or 5 times a year and I never have problems being with Alltel there. There are 14 Alltel towers just in the city of Myrtle Beach. 27 Alltel towers in Horry County (where MB resides) 6 of those are being built this year. A few are on and a few to go in the next month or two. Curious of the area you are in. Where you calling local MB numbers, LD, MM? I'm going there in 2 weeks, so I'll see if it has changed since May.

I stayed on route/road 9 in Horry County, do not really remember if the area had a name or not (about 10 miles from North Myrtle). Had to go outside to call out and it dropped 24/7. Even in town service sucked (grand strand, etc). Mobile Web (free) didn't work, SMS was flaky, no VM notifications, and crap service all around, oh and the network was Digital only, not 1x, which doesn't really matter. I do not remember the SID though I had my test screen up alot to see if I could actually call out. I'm emailing Verizon here in a minute. My uncle on his Moto 120c had the same problems on his AC plan.

[jayc]

Just an update- I looked this up on our mapping tool... Does show "future coverage" in the Myrtle Beach area... should be sooner than later. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]