Pretty Good Website with which to check for dead zones in your area

[ShoresGuy]

This is a website I came across over at Howard's Forums. I've checked the dead zones for my area in the San Francisco Area and some of the listings confirm the dead zones I have come across.

Dead Cell Zones

Hope this is of some use to you,

Cheers [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[OCDhelp]

Very informative! Thanks.

[chefofthefuture]

I've pretty much written off this site... it's unfortunately inaccurate and never updated. It has no record of when a dead zone was first listed.

When I first heard of this site over a year ago, I searched for AT&T in Burlingame. It lists "El Camino and Broadway" without any more description. Guess what... I'm at that intersection every day and had AT&T from 1999 to 2002 with never a dropped call or problem. I tried to fix this listing way back when, and just now tried to fix it, but that dead spot continues to be listed erroneously.

[ZaphodB]

I agree with chefofthefuture... this was a great idea in theory but unfortunately in practise it sucks.

Let's see... T-Mobile in L.A.

Barrington and Sunset... wrong.
Clybourn and Kling... wrong again.
Coldwater Canyon and Victory? Coldwater Canyon and Sherman Way? Lankershim and Sherman? I'm moving there in six weeks. I have full reception in every room in my house.
Dumetz and Topanga Canyon -- there's a friggin' tower not ten metres away!
Olive and Glenoaks -- there's a friggin' tower on the police station three blocks away.
Universal CityWalk -- this used to be true but they put in a tower before tourist season this year.

Some are right -- there is no coverage at all on Oro Vista south of Foothill. There is a nasty dead spot on the 60 near the reservoir. Sand Canyon sucks because of the topography.... but the fact is it's not reliable.

[larry]

I also agree with chefofthefuture. I have found numerous reported dead zones to be inaccurate and/or outdated. With the way carriers are expanding their footprints these days a dead zone doesn't stay dead for very long.

[ShoresGuy]

It is unfortunate that this site is outdated quickly but a couple of their records do correspond to dead spots I have encountered myself. Even with such a site, the advance of new cell technology and as most of you have stated, the providers are going to be quick in correcting most dead spots.

[ILUVSOCAL]

I submitted the dead spots for Verizon in Lake and Mendocino Counties, and as of Monday of this week, they were still dead, nothing changes with them lol They may pay attention to those bad spots in other areas, but not here, I think our Verizon is not the same Verizon they have in SF, or even SAC [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] The same dead spots remain, year after year, and that's the honest truth. I would list Edge's dead spots, but they are not listed as a choice for providers, and at the rate they are filling in gaps, it'd probably be out of date pretty quick. This week, I noticed Edge filled in a big gap from Upper Lake to just before Lakeport. So while I can't speak for how accurate or inaccurate that site is for other areas, for mine, it is on the money. I don't have US Cellular, so I can't speak for them, but they do have pretty good coverage here, I guess I'll have to check their coverage out again one of these days. I guess the best way to use that site is to submit dead spots you find in your local area, check out the others reported and see if they are still dead, and report your findings to the web master. I requested a dead spot be removed that I had submitted, and it was done, so there are live people running the site [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[chefofthefuture]

Heh. ILUV, you should make your own website regarding Lake and Mendocino counties and verizon. Or we could open up a forum for it here [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Anyway, my question to you is, would you be satisfied if Vzw was able to add US Cellular to America's Choice in L+M counties? USCC is still TDMA there right? When are they going CDMA?

[jmyeosf]

Not accurate at all. Especially with Sprint's coverage, there is always new towers being set up every month.

[ILUVSOCAL]

Lol Yeah, we should. I have thought seriously about putting up a site for this area, but things come up and it doesn't get done, they could really use something like it here too, the cellular sales people here are nice, but not too clued in on what's going on, actual coverage, features, etc.. When I was at Radio Shack, I was the one everybody came to about cell stuff, and guess who go to fix their boo boos? Yep, yours truly lol You know, if Verizon would add USCC to AC here, it would go a LONG ways towards making them a bigger contender here, it would allow people to enjoy good coverage on USCC where Verizon didn't have it, until Verizon was able to build the sites they need to here, and I believe they will someday, it is just taking them so long to actually do it. USCC is indeed still TDMA in Lake and Mendocino Counties, along with Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity Counties, though they are running CDMA and TDMA in Siskiyou, Lassen, Modoc and Plumas Counties, so in this area if you are able to switch your phone over to USCC via Auto A, you will pick up on their analog, but no digital yet. They said they plan on having all markets running with CDMA by early next year sometime, but they seem to keep putting the date back, so who knows, USCC is not know for being on the forefront of technology. Even when USCC turns on their CDMA, I doubt it will support data or sms features for roamers, just like Sprint and Verizon don't support them when roaming on each other's network. USCC is running a data service in selected areas now, called "EasyEdge", a brew application, though all it is a Get it Now like front, with NO access to the real internet, unlike Verizon's, like AOL kinda. So I guess until Verizon gets better coverage here, or until data and sms features work across networks, they will stay a second string player, I think Edge, Cingular and USCC will stay in the lead for some time to come, but you never know, it could all change suddenly, then again, maybe not [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[stunna]

A lot of the Sprint "dead spots" in SF are places I've been using my phone for the past year without any problems (even yesterday). Maybe they had a sorry phone when doing this test?

[larry]

Many of Sprint's towers in the Bay area were built in the past 3 years so what could have been a dead spot a couple of years ago is probably no longer a dead spot today. Same goes for Orange County and LA. I've noticed many reports in these areas where I am able to use my phone just fine.

[Tony E!]

let's not forget the San Fernando Valley, which also has improved alot.

[ZaphodB]

Like, totally, fer sure!

[ILUVSOCAL]

Mr.Spicolli, Mr.Hand would like to talk to you! LOL

[larry]

Fast Times at Ridgemont High! I first saw that movie in the summer of 1982 I think.

[ILUVSOCAL]

They filmed it right near me in West Covina too, at Montclaire High.

[cwt137]

What we need is a site with maps of towers just like Sprint had. But for all carriers and have people with GPS to email in where towers are. I'm a novice web developer and I was thinking of building a website like this but I'm having trouble finding a free web map service or a free web map server.

[larry]

I have good reason to believe that the Sprint tower map will be back very soon.