Cingular STREET LEVEL Coverage Map

Re: Cingular Street Level Map

Jones,

Great find!!!! I tried my house and it works, great detail too.

Thanks,

P.S. It shows roaming partners and 3G too!!!

 

Re: Cingular Street Level Map

Hey! Thanks for this link. Of course, I take issue with some of the data - I can tell you places in Metro Boston, represented as Best or Good, where my Nokia (good to very good RF in general) routinely drops calls. However, it's nice at least to be able see what Cingular thinks is their coverage strength.

Basically, any map like this is based on a set of data points and if there is a local dip in the signal that is between the data points, you won't see it. Further, you need to do some averaging to make the map look pretty and to boil the data down to just four levels. This obscures some details, but that's the nature of things.

 

Re: Cingular Street Level Map

Thanks jones, great find, I have never seen one with this degree of detail, it shows more detail than my GPS does....

Looks like all of Racine county has great coverage and that does agree with how my Cingular phones behave.

 

Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

I've found it! Cingular now has a detailed service/coverage map viewer just like T-Moible.

The website is http://63.241.153.180/coverageviewer/B2B.html

This might be a repost - but its awsome! Post this all on HoFo (someone for me... i don't have a HoFo account that is why...)

For anyone who wants to know T-Mobiles detailed service map is at: http://t-mobile.com/coverage/default.aspx?zip=24571

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

Awesome! I think it is kinda too optimistic with the coloring, though. I know areas that are weak and they show "good" signal. It's interesting you can see the marked differences in coverage between the areas that are 1900 versus the areas that have 850.

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

Thanks & Welcome to WA.

You are right it is a repost, here is the original post...

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

I agree with that sentiment also; when I strayed off the beaten path in my area (just a few miles from town) with my Cingilar prepay device, the service was either spotty or nonexistent despite the dark orange coloring for my county

Something is better than nothing....

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

FINALLY! Thank you Cingular!

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

Great map; however I would say that it is a little optimistic in areas I know of. However, it is great that carriers are going more and more in the direction of offering maps with more detail.

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

This raises some of my questions about the map - Does the map show the strongest of the two frequencies in a given area? That's the only approach that seems to make sense.

Also, since the map doesn't distinguish between the two frequencies, what areas are you using for comparison? Thanks

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

concurred!!! I live & work in areas that are in the righteously awesome orange colored areas. Unless Cingular has done some mondo upgrades recently, This is waaayyy optimistic. But in all fairness, Its been almost 2 years since I tried Cingular...

 

This is a great page, but has anyone actually found coverage viewer on the Cingular web page? Or is this underdevelopment on some cingular server?

I would think Cingular would want this page highlighted for new customers just the way the other carriers do.

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

Cingular does have a more detailed map. But it's only available to us cingular reps. They have the link in our POS system. If you want a more detail account for a certain area just go to your local store and ask them to show you.

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

I was about to say the exact same thing.

 

I think how Cingular defines their coverage in interesting.


BEST: In general, the areas shown in dark orange should have the strongest signal strength and be sufficient for most in-building coverage. However, in-building coverage can and will be adversely affected by the thickness/construction type of walls, or your location in the building (i.e., in the basement, in the middle of the building with multiple walls, etc.) This Cingular owned network provides GSM, GPRS, and EDGE service.

GOOD: The areas shown in the medium orange should be sufficient for on-street or in-the-open coverage, most in-vehicle coverage and possibly some in-building coverage. This Cingular owned network provides GSM, GPRS, and EDGE service.

MODERATE: The areas shown in the light orange should have sufficient signal strength for on-street or in-the-open coverage, but may not have it for in-vehicle coverage or in-building coverage. This Cingular owned network provides GSM, GPRS, and EDGE service.

PARTNER: The areas shown as an tan color represent the coverage of unaffiliated carriers and should have sufficient signal strength for on-street or in-the-open coverage, but may not have it for in-vehicle coverage or in-building coverage. Data services may not be available.

 

I would call that:
Good
Iffy
Poor


Explains many of the above comments on Cingular being too "optimistic". These definitions are actually quite cautious and were probably written by an engineer. The one word label is the optimistic part. It was written by Marketing.

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

It could be upgrades...a place I go in Kentucky each year....is now shaded in GOOD for dark red color, so I would take it I could get full bars there. Just last summer...it was 1-2 bars.....MAYBE 3 if I got lucky somewhere outside. Maybe they threw more towers in Kentucky...and Arizona :hyper:

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

I mean look at this, for example. Not many of you(if any) will be familiar with the following area I'm about to post. This is West Jordan, UT, an area that I frequent and I used to have Cingular until a few weeks ago and have a best friend that lives there with Cingular. T-Mobile has a cellsite on top of the "Sugar Factory"(posted in the gallery) covering her neighborhod excellently, whereas Cingular has the nearest site exaclty where Verizon's is, and while we get full service outside if we are lucky, we get only a few bars inside with Cingular and voice quality whether inside or outside is horrible. In the comparrison areas posted Cingular has less cell sites than T-Mobile and does not have great coverage, even outside everywhere as posted on this map. T-Mobile's map is way to conservative as their coverage and call quality is excellent throughout the area.
I mean don't get me wrong; it's great to post a detailed coverage map online and I hope all carriers would do this, but I think it is, at the same time, misleading especially in major metro areas where most of the city is marked as great coverage. I still have a copy of an MTI coverage map I was supplied with on my laptop and it's much more accurate.

 

Thanks Jones, great site and helpful I have good coverage but not great.

 

Ugh, this is jsut as bad as Verizons coverage map. It claims coverage everywhere!

 

thanks great find,

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

If you look in the Carolinas, where Cingular only has 1900Mhz service, you can see the difference compared to other areas such as the northeast where Cingular has 850Mhz everywhere. You can see that in 1900Mhz areas, there are clearly distinct spots that show the tower locations. On areas with 850Mhz it is barely obvious where towers are located. You can only distinguish tower locations in 850Mhz areas if you are looking at a relatively rural area. But most suburban and urban areas are seamlessly blanketed in dark orange.

 

here in the greater okc, area we have 850 only, can you guess where i live.:browani:

















notice the little town of fallis, to the right.

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

I think there are some differences that contribute to the percepted innacuracy of this Cingular map.

First, one thing is we have to understand the color definition. Dark orange doesn't mean you have full bars everywhere in that area. It means you have sufficient signal strength to make and receive calls whether indoors or outdoors. That could be just one bar in your phone if that's all that it takes to make your phone work. So in the light orange areas, according to the color definition, you will not have coverage indoors, which means that outside you probably have 1 bar which they claim should be sufficient to make calls.

Second, the Cingular maps only have 4 color levels, which takes away some accuracy. By contrast, the T-Mobile maps have 6 color levels.

Third and last, having signal in your phone doesn't mean the call will go through or that it will be clear. This map only represents areas where you will have signal. The map does not represent areas where calls will be clear and reliable. So even if you drop a call or the call sounds garbled they can still color it dark orange because dropped calls are not always caused by lack of coverage. In fact, I don't remember the last time I had a dropped call due to weak signal. Dropped calls are usually the work of stubborn handoffs or handoffs that shouldn't have happened, not because there is no signal where you are. In fact, some drops happen because of too much signal! otherwise known as interference.

In conclusion, we should not look at this map to estimate signal strength or call reliability. That's not what the map is telling us. The map is only showing estimated service areas regardless of how many bars your phone is showing.

Still, while this is a wonderful resource for users, and I am glad Cingular is offering it, I still think some of the coloring is a bit optimistic. I know areas where I know there is no indoor service but still it is colored dark orange.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Cingular locks this down and put a password on it until they finish developing it or until they decide it is time to bring it out in the open. I say this because this map is not released yet to the open public and we can be causing a drag on the server while they are working on it, and they don't want that until the product is finished. Before T-Mobile released its street-level coverage mapping tool in the open, they had it locked down with a password. When it was time to release it, they removed the password security and integrated it to their main website. I'm just saying Cingular might do the same.

 

Re: Cingular now has a detailed coverage map search.

That's interesting. I checked out Greenville, SC where my Dad lives, and at the City zoom level I can really see what you are talking about.

I assume this also means that in areas with both frequencies we are only seeng the strongest one at any given location?

 

the more you drill down, the worse the coverage is, it seams.