Feelings on Verizon in the chicago/west suburbs area....

can't talk about chicago...i've travled ther and had good coverage but i don't live there...buy as for nj/ny...verizon has extensive coverage..most peopel in nj/ny will tell you that verizon has the best coevarage in this area...the only thing that comes close is AT&T TDMA(not GSM)....

 

Welcome to the Windy City!

You should keep Verizon until the end of your contract at the least - there's no need to severe the contract at your loss. The west suburbs of Chicago is quite good for Verizon but ensure you have at least a decent phone instead of the crappy and low-end Motorola 120c or something like that. Are you also planning on working in the west suburbs? Yeah I live in the west suburbs and have used Verizon is such places as Schaumburg, Barrington, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Arlington Heights, Bloomingdale, Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream, Oak Brook, Lombard, Warrenville, Wheaton, Naperville, Aurora, St. Charles, Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills, etc, etc. There are a couple of dead spots in the Woodfield and Fox Valley malls but other than that, it's been quite good...I've been able to use my phone inside some of the movie theatres (of course not when the show has started).

 

I've found a few Sprint dead spots in the Fox Valley food court, but good lord... that's basically a bunker! I don't know if <u>anybody</u> gets a strong signal there other than U.S. Cellular, and that is only because they have some "help" in that respect. My Verizon phone has always had at least one bar, and I was able to place a call at will.

So far, I haven't found anywhere in Woodfield that I couldn't get a signal on Sprint, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon. The Rainforest Cafe and the "gas station" themed restraunt are sometimes iffy (dropped calls) for Sprint, but I haven't had problems with either Verizon or U.S. Cellular.

The only place in the western burbs that I've found consistant problems with Verizon is near Fermi Lab, and then only when the ring is hot. What kind of problems have you found?

-PatP

 

Pat, do you still have Sprint PCS now? How's their service overall, including downtown Chicago (if you happen to use it here)?

Actually, one of the spots I recalled having some issues with Verizon at the Woodfield mall was when I was in the heart of the Sears store in a certain section. The signal is also very weak (0 bars) and sometimes not usable and sometimes it is when you are deep within one of the women's clothing store just outside the fitting rooms (I forget the name of the store).

Another spot that causes problems for all carriers is deep within the Metra Union station.

 

Verizion is the only carrier that works inside Union Station, although once you reach street level pretty much everything comes back to life.

Sprint doesn't work on the river well... If you take a river taxi to the lake, you can have a few more minutes of peace before you get to the Pier.

Sprint doesn't work at all in the 400 block of Michigan Avenue (just north of the river). This is a flaming pain for me, because that is an area that I hit pretty often. Once you get up to Nordstroms, they work fine again.

The biggest problem I have with Sprint downtown is that the only way to know if you phone is working is to place a call. Looking to see if you have tower signal only shows if your phone can see a tower, it doesn't tell you squat about whether that tower can place a call at this particular moment in time! Sprint has this problem everywhere, it is just <u>much</u> worse downtown than it is in most places in Chicagoland.

-PatP

 

Hope you enjoy Chicago...I no longer live there but did for about six years. While there I used both Verizon and Sprint (long story). I had no problems w/ Verizon and as an earlier responder suggested, there should be no urgent need to change or reason for concern. Having Verizon in Union Station is worth considering if you will be a train commuter. I lived and worked downtown and whether or not Verizon or Sprint work depends largely on where you are standing and/or which side of a large building you may happen to be in. I got better service at State and Madison w/ Sprint but not significantly. Sprint did not reach my apartment (51st floor near 700 N. State) and Verizon was poor. On the other hand, Sprint worked at my apartment 750 N. Rush and Verizon didn't! They both worked fine outside at street level. Go figure. I used to travel from Chicago (majoy highways) and found, at the time, Sprint was more reliable (due to the patchwork of analog and roaming situations on Verizon) - that may be improving now.