Horrendous AT&T cell service
- Thread starter JHZR2
- Start date
I had AT&T for over 12 yrs, I got tired of the overall lousy service. I switched to Verizon and its a little better but the customer service is still bad.
I dont think any of these cell companies can actually deliver anything close to what they claim.
I dont think any of these cell companies can actually deliver anything close to what they claim.
Verizon is the only game in town. Poor coverage at that.
What I don't get is how I can have 3 bars of service (4G phone) yet it can't send a text. Supposed to be a low bandwidth, low content thing, I would expect it would try multiple times to get through. Nope.
But I use prepay so I'm going to pull out my tinfoil and assume it's related to that--I don't pay enough, therefore my service is going to be lousy.
What I don't get is how I can have 3 bars of service (4G phone) yet it can't send a text. Supposed to be a low bandwidth, low content thing, I would expect it would try multiple times to get through. Nope.
But I use prepay so I'm going to pull out my tinfoil and assume it's related to that--I don't pay enough, therefore my service is going to be lousy.
It's obvious the cell companies are "staking claims" to certain areas, and letting each other have certain locales, because there isn't anyplace where every carrier has supremely happy customers, nor any areas where every carrier stinks (where there is service at all). One area will be great for one carrier but terrible for another, yet in other areas the alternative providers have superior service. Not only does it confuse the consumer, but it also induces subscriber churn. And what happens with subscriber churn? Ah yes, increased revenues as new devices are bought and termination fees are charged.
Wait a year or two, collude with the competition again and perform some service "upgrades" in an area which in reality destroys the quality of service, and voila! More subscriber churn and device fees, etc.
Wait a year or two, collude with the competition again and perform some service "upgrades" in an area which in reality destroys the quality of service, and voila! More subscriber churn and device fees, etc.
I think it's probably a case of two things:
1)Stuff breaks
2)Nobody fixes it
I see a lot of that sort of thing, all over. I don't care to speculate on the cause.
Try not using the 5G portion of your phone in those area and report back if 4G works good there.
I think, in addition to 5G being very poor for coverage in general, the service providers latest cash cow is to share their towers with local cable companies. Around here it's Spectrum. Nobody can tell me that Spectrum went out and built a bunch of cell towers so they could offer phones for $29.95/month. I'm also certain that Spectrum relies on WiFi calling a LOT. So much that they can use your WiFi service (provided by Spectrum) even if you don't supply them with a password for your equipment.
Similar to Google "sidewalk".
At any rate, here, Verizon is much better. In fact, in my travels in Pittsburgh, Marietta Ohio, and now Florida, I have never dropped a call on Verizon since 1998! This includes driving up and down I95 and I77 many times.
Meanwhile, my neighbor, an AT&T customer, has had to install a rooftop antenna and repeater in his home to get cell service.
Similar to Google "sidewalk".
At any rate, here, Verizon is much better. In fact, in my travels in Pittsburgh, Marietta Ohio, and now Florida, I have never dropped a call on Verizon since 1998! This includes driving up and down I95 and I77 many times.
Meanwhile, my neighbor, an AT&T customer, has had to install a rooftop antenna and repeater in his home to get cell service.
There is so much bad information happening in this thread, it makes my head hurt. 5Ge is LTE with multiple channels bonded. 5Ge is a marketing term just like Comcast marketing 10G. No carrier likes churn and they don't make money from it.
Consumers want everything cheaper and some believe services should be almost free. Cellular networks cost HUNDREDS of $BILLIONS to build. There is an incredible amount of price pressure on the providers, so where there isn't enough revenue to cover expenses, customer service is one of the first things to go. Consumers get what they ask for cheap, cheap, cheap, but they don't understand customer services will be cut sharply and the consumers will complain as they shop around for a another provider that also is under extreme price pressure. The next carrier they chose will have bad customer service, because they cut their customer services to the bone. As the dissatisfied consumer shops for their next provider, they will shop on price. The dog keeps chasing its tail. See how the drive for cheaper has killed customer service?
Consumers want everything cheaper and some believe services should be almost free. Cellular networks cost HUNDREDS of $BILLIONS to build. There is an incredible amount of price pressure on the providers, so where there isn't enough revenue to cover expenses, customer service is one of the first things to go. Consumers get what they ask for cheap, cheap, cheap, but they don't understand customer services will be cut sharply and the consumers will complain as they shop around for a another provider that also is under extreme price pressure. The next carrier they chose will have bad customer service, because they cut their customer services to the bone. As the dissatisfied consumer shops for their next provider, they will shop on price. The dog keeps chasing its tail. See how the drive for cheaper has killed customer service?
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Found out recently that AT&T account information is not available on Chrome unless you change some security setting. AT&T account info works perfect on Edge. It is the only way I can get my paperless bill in detail. Games people play
Although I must say the 1/2 gig fiber internet is da bomb. I pay $15 a month after ACP, Yes I'm poor
Although I must say the 1/2 gig fiber internet is da bomb. I pay $15 a month after ACP, Yes I'm poor
Yeah I had this issue with Sprint many yeats ago. This was with a flip phone. Not 100% sure but on many older phones you could force it to pick one of or all of the bands. Another thing that I accidentally found years ago is to update prl software. It's usually a separate option under updates.
It's PRL update on VZW — updates the roaming list. AT&T may periodically push some updates out automatically, but generally speaking it's not required on GSM. You can however call AT&T CS and request that update is pushed to your phone
Yeah but competition spurs innovation and brings the price down. Canada from what it sounds like has some of the highest costing cellphone services in the western world. In the USA we went from 6-8 companies to the big three plus a few smaller companies that piggyback.
There is no PRL on AT&T's network.
There is massive innovation going on in the cellular world and innovation costs huge $, billions. The cellular industry is a maturing industry, which by definition will approach an economic profit of zero. You want innovation and cheaper prices and good customer service? So do I, but it doesn't work that way. Consumers, in the end, drive everything. Most want more for less. They have gotten a huge amount more for less and some unintended consequences.
I use Straight Talk and am on AT&Ts network. The last few months my service has gotten worse. Takes time to send a text, can't get on the net and signal disappearing. I've had it for years and used it all over the country. I'm in a rural area where there's not a lot of traffic like there would be in NJ. thinking about switching to T-Mobile. They have strong 5g signals around here. I think they have better coverage through out the country. Any opinions out there on TM?
If you are considering trying T-Mobile, you should look at the current promotion bring offered by Mint Mobile which operates on the T-Mobile network. In fact, T-Mobile just purchased Mint Mobile and will be integrating them into the T-Mobile family as their MVNO branch. Here is a 90 Day trial membership that can't be beat if you want to test the Mint waters:
$45 Mint Trial Unlimited for 90 Days
I have been using Mint for the past year after cutting Verizon loose for their exorbitant and ever escalating costs. I see no significant difference in my current service/coverage area as compared to the past 15 years on Verizon.
Thank you!
I have Consumer Cellular and they use ATT or T-Mobile. I was using ATT for the phone and T-Mobile for my Internet hotspot at home. T Mobile was closest and had a better signal and it was what my wifi used for Internet. Well they dropped T-Mobile for me and forced me to ATT for the hotspot and it really sucks. Now when the phone is down so is the Internet.
Just looked at Verizon with their 100GB Hotspot Ultimate plan and their cost was almost double with me bring my own hardware at $170 a month.
Just looked at Verizon with their 100GB Hotspot Ultimate plan and their cost was almost double with me bring my own hardware at $170 a month.
JHZR2
Staff member
I have Verizon as my work phone, and use it tethered a lot. It’s no better IMO.
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