Horrendous AT&T cell service

[alarmguy]

T mobiles 5g isnt as fast as Verizon nor AT&Ts. There have been a few articles laying out that T-mobile went a cheaper route. I've had off and on issues a couple of weeks ago. For two days all my text messages failed and calls were hit or miss.

This is not entirely correct, it wasnt a matter of cheaper vs faster.
Again, it's all location specific and one must understand the reasons for different bandwidth's and their relationship to distance.
All cell phone providers have a slower lower 5g bandwidth and a faster upper band 5g bandwidth.

If you have an iPhone (and very possibly any android) next to the symbol on your cell phone it will tell you ex. T-Mobile 5g OR 5g UC for ultra capacity) For Verizon it is 5g and for the faster band 5g UW

The ultra 5g bands are super fast but only travel a short distance, the regular 5g bands are fast enough and travel much further.
This goes for all three, ATT, TMOBILE and Verizon. As I post Tmobile in the past was light years ahead of Verizon in 5g deployment and now "Verizon is catching up quickly."

Here are some sources, I didnt really read through them but it's what I am talking about. It's, always about your location to the tower.
I have posted in here a long time ago screen shots of 170 Mbps download speed tests on my iPhone 13 with TMobile service when it was on 5g UC near a cell tower.
At the same time plain 5g will get you 40+ Mbps can be more or less depending on traffic but all this is irrelevant for a cell phone. The purpose of these high speeds other than marketing is the future and it's not directly about the cell phone.

It's about the many uses of the up and coming 5g network. In order to have 5g UC coast to coast will take a decade of more (if ever) and by then maybe there will be something else. Since the range of 5g UC or 5 G UW is so limited it will not be full coverage until the day you start seeing round cell antennas mounted on light poles and utility poles in your community and local roads.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/what-frequency-is-5g-all-the-different-5g-ranges-explained/

https://macreports.com/what-the-uc-next-to-5g-on-iphone-means-other-5g-symbols-explained/

 

[wpod]

ATT stocks are doing poorly. Yet the CEO gets his millions.

 

[Joe1]

Ive had ATT for a long time. We have a good plan, unlimited, etc. But more and more Ive found them to be completely unreliable.

Too often Ill have 2-3 bard of 5G or 5GE and I can’t get anywhere. I can’t get onto this site which loaded perfectly and fast with 3G data.

There’s one locstion, in a well traveled area, that the data is non existent. It says you have bars of 5G but it will absolutely not go out, and no app, Speedtest, etc all say the phone is offline. No internet data at all. Don’t do a single thing but drive a half mile in either direction and it all works.

Calling ATT in that one spot and theynsay that there’s more LTE coverage and to force it on my phone. No difference. Is there a way to complain about service issues in a particular spot?

I was someplace with my brother who recently changed to t-mobile. I wanted to check the weather. It wouldn’t load on ATT.. He got it instantly on t-mobile.

I travel a lot, this is the same everywhere… And Verizon isn’t much better…

is anyone else experiencing big issues with ATT?

I'm a bit late here, but which ATT plan are you on? ATT plans (and others) have different data prioritizations. Is your plan on QCI 7,8, or 9 based on the below?

In my case, both me and my wife use the same carrier, but l have a deprioritized plan on QCI 9. My wife gets priority data (and pays more) . Her data is always lightning fast while mine is usually pretty slow. My slow speed could be resolved by upgrading my plan on the same carrier, but the service is "good enough" for my needs.

-----------------below copied from Reddit---------
ATT

AT&T has shifted their policies a bit. They use 6, 7, 8, and 9 but only 7, 8, and 9 are available for consumer grade plans.

QCI 7 is only on ATT's postpaid Unlimited Premium plan. This is their top of the line, most expensive, consumer postpaid plan. If you demand the best performance and you're not eligible for FirstNet or a business plan, this is the plan you want.

QCI 8 is assigned to the majority of ATT's plans as well as their own branded prepaid (other than the Unlimited plan), the Cricket More plan (their most expensive), and plans offered by H2o, Consumer Cellular, and PureTalk.

QCI 9 is assigned to ATT's Unlimited prepaid and Unlimited Starter postpaid plans, as well as all plans once their data bucket is exhausted. Unfortunately most AT&T MVNOs are now QCI 9 as well. This includes Red Pocket and Boost. Many that used to be QCI 8 will need to be tested but probably should be assumed to be QCI 9 by default.

 

[PandaBear]

It is really about location. In my area ATT is still better than TMO and Verizon is not really any more reliable but much more expensive. I still ended up switching to TMO as it is a better deal for me due to the need for an Apple watch for my soon to be middle schooler on a standalone phone number on LTE, no MVNO plan because of that.

TMO used to be way worse as they didn't get the quality band for a long time, but eventually they added the 600MHz band that penetrates much better than the other band they used before. If you have a relatively new phone they work well. For those with ATT I wonder if they got bad reception because ATT switched band lately, after their 3G shutdown last year or two.

Due to the band change reason I would never buy a high end old phone, unless I am using it only as a tablet and never bring it out to use as a phone.

 

[bullwinkle]

We have an ATT business plan & there are literally whole areas of major cities here where data & cell service disappears-west side of Dayton, in my area of central Cincinnati in the valley, it just goes away. Not sure if their MVNOs are overloading the network, but it becomes WiFi calling/data time. Home phone has been Spectrum Mobile (Verizon MVNO), & Mint, & now Tello (T-Mobile MVNOs) and they’ve been fine. ATT is a MAJOR crapshoot!

 

[Bill7]

Ive had ATT for a long time. We have a good plan, unlimited, etc. But more and more Ive found them to be completely unreliable.

Too often Ill have 2-3 bard of 5G or 5GE and I can’t get anywhere. I can’t get onto this site which loaded perfectly and fast with 3G data.

There’s one locstion, in a well traveled area, that the data is non existent. It says you have bars of 5G but it will absolutely not go out, and no app, Speedtest, etc all say the phone is offline. No internet data at all. Don’t do a single thing but drive a half mile in either direction and it all works.

Calling ATT in that one spot and theynsay that there’s more LTE coverage and to force it on my phone. No difference. Is there a way to complain about service issues in a particular spot?

I was someplace with my brother who recently changed to t-mobile. I wanted to check the weather. It wouldn’t load on ATT.. He got it instantly on t-mobile.

I travel a lot, this is the same everywhere… And Verizon isn’t much better…

is anyone else experiencing big issues with ATT?

My service with AT&T has been outstanding.
I live in a rural area. I've tried all 3 carriers.

AT&T has 2 to 4 bars throught my town and fast 5G and 4G.
Verizon has 1 to 3 bars but struggles with several dead zones.
In rural areas, Verizon seems to space their towers farther away from each other, so you end up with more 1 bar coverage areas.
AT&T seems to always have >= bars that Verizon has in my town.

T-Mobile is terrible: More dead zones than actual coverage in my town..

I also asked several people in my town who they think has the best coverage.
The 5 people I had asked in my town all said AT&T.

I plan to stay with AT&T forever since in my experience
it has the best coverage in rural areas, and I don't like having dead zones.

 

[JHZR2]

My service with AT&T has been outstanding.
I live in a rural area. I've tried all 3 carriers.

AT&T has 2 to 4 bars throught my town and fast 5G and 4G.
Verizon has 1 to 3 bars but struggles with several dead zones.
In rural areas, Verizon seems to space their towers farther away from each other, so you end up with more 1 bar coverage areas.
AT&T seems to always have >= bars that Verizon has in my town.

T-Mobile is terrible: More dead zones than actual coverage in my town..

I also asked several people in my town who they think has the best coverage.
The 5 people I had asked in my town all said AT&T.

I plan to stay with AT&T forever since in my experience
it has the best coverage in rural areas, and I don't like having dead zones.

Generally I’ve been happy with ATT as well. But its performance has been going wrong.

It definitely is location-specific. But when a location I frequent has absolutely zero service, useless connection (despite showing two bars), it’s just plain worthless.

T-mobile works there. I have a data point there that works.

I’ve also found in congested areas Tmobike works much better. My brother who has T-Mobile, and I, were standing next to each other and I couldnt load weather (that simple, not streaming video or anything), while his was instant. That’s unsat.

 

[Bill7]

Generally I’ve been happy with ATT as well. But its performance has been going wrong.

It definitely is location-specific. But when a location I frequent has absolutely zero service, useless connection (despite showing two bars), it’s just plain worthless.

T-mobile works there. I have a data point theI think T-Mobie is best re that works.

I’ve also found in congested areas Tmobike works much better. My brother who has T-Mobile, and I, were standing next to each other and I couldnt load weather (that simple, not streaming video or anything), while his was instant. That’s unsat.

I think T-Mobile is very good if you live in large cities with congested towers.
I tried T-Mobile for 6 months as their store at the mall gave me some incredible discounts.
But in my town I only got 0 to 1 bars, with data speeds maxing out at 3MB/sec download speed on a good day. I also got the free netflix and $60 off annual AAA membership.

But in the end, dead zones or lack thereof became the most important criteria for me, and T-Mobile was the worst at that.

 

[JHZR2]

I think T-Mobile is very good if you live in large cities with congested towers.
I tried T-Mobile for 6 months as their store at the mall gave me some incredible discounts.
But in my town I only got 0 to 1 bars, with data speeds maxing out at 3MB/sec download speed on a good day. I also got the free netflix and $60 off annual AAA membership.

But in the end, dead zones or lack thereof became the most important criteria for me, and T-Mobile was the worst at that.

That’s interesting because it isn’t what the map shows.

 

[MNgopher]

I'd recommend using some of the other sources for data on cell service in any given particular area to get an actual look at whether your carrier has an issue in any particular location. Of course the trick with most of them is they are crowdsourced, and if nobody has been mapping in your area, then you can't draw any conclusions unless you do it yourself.

Options include OpenSignal (typically can only see maps on the app on your phone) or CellMapper (I use the latter). Cellmapper can help you find tower locations, etc, and pinpoint better service or locations where booster may serve your needs to get the signal where you want it (not atypical in NE Minnesota where I spend time). (Cellmapper does not offer a lot of help our guidance, making it a bit user unfriendly at times, but its the best I've found).

 

[Bill7]

That’s interesting because it isn’t what the map shows.

I'm convinced the only accurate way to judge coverage is to get the service for a few months and see for yourself all the dead zones you face with any particular service.

So, "in the middle of nowhere" rural place where I live, ATT is best, Verizon is adequate, T-Mobile is unusable.
Since I'm likely to live in this same area for the rest of my life, it's likely I'll be a lifetime perpetual user of AT&T.

One interesting feature of AT&T with the plan I have has unlimited talk/text/data in Latin America and South America, where you can use the phone the same way you would use it in the USA at no extra charge for using it in those Latin and South American countries.

 

[alarmguy]

I'm convinced the only accurate way to judge coverage is to get the service for a few months and see for yourself all the dead zones you face with any particular service.

So, "in the middle of nowhere" rural place where I live, ATT is best, Verizon is adequate, T-Mobile is unusable.
Since I'm likely to live in this same area for the rest of my life, it's likely I'll be a lifetime perpetual user of AT&T.

One interesting feature of AT&T with the plan I have has unlimited talk/text/data in Latin America and South America, where you can use the phone the same way you would use it in the USA at no extra charge for using it in those Latin and South American countries.

Also to note, depending on your usage and if you dont need perks provided by the 3 majors you can get ATT service through RedPocket for everything unlimited at $40 a month or $30 for 20Gb per month and so on for individuals, they also have family plan rates.
They are also coming out with a program where you will be able to switch networks right from your account if you chose, since they carry Verizon, ATT and T-Mobile networks.

Just mentioning it so if you're ever dissatisfied with ATT pricing, you have options and can stay in ATT network. Meaning you never have to feel stuck with them.

We have T-Mobile in a rural coastal area of NC... well, not as rural as one might imagine with all the building but rural in the sense we have no large stores here, its 10+ miles to anything major, whether home improvement or even Walmart.
Very few areas, actually cant think of one off the top of my head that gives us a problem. 55+ deal is nice for my wife and I. Plus they pay for basic Netflex and we optionally pay the difference to upgrade to the mid-tier Netflix. SO with that and the 2 mostly paid for iPhone 13s the cost was close to RedPocket but RedPocket is an option for us March 2024 when TMobile is done giving us bill credits that have paid for our iPhone 13s 1.5 years ago when we traded in our old phones. It was an even trade except about $300.

 

[Pablo]

If you are old fertish (over 55? 60?), T-mob has a great plan and I am astonished by good coverage. Their coverage 10 years ago was TERRIBLE. Magenta Geezer Depends plan or some name they keep changing. Great rate. All you can eat. Plus Canaduh and actually international (some limits there though like in Italy 1.5Gig per day I think)

 

[mk378]

If you are old fertish (over 55? 60?), T-mob has a great plan and I am astonished by good coverage. Their coverage 10 years ago was TERRIBLE. Magenta Geezer Depends plan or some name they keep changing. Great rate. All you can eat. Plus Canaduh and actually international (some limits there though like in Italy 1.5Gig per day I think)

It looks like you have to buy exactly two lines on the 55+ plans.
https://www.t-mobile.com/cfd/seniors/

 

[JHZR2]

Also to note, depending on your usage and if you dont need perks provided by the 3 majors you can get ATT service through RedPocket for everything unlimited at $40 a month or $30 for 20Gb per month and so on for individuals, they also have family plan rates.
They are also coming out with a program where you will be able to switch networks right from your account if you chose, since they carry Verizon, ATT and T-Mobile networks.

Just mentioning it so if you're ever dissatisfied with ATT pricing, you have options and can stay in ATT network. Meaning you never have to feel stuck with them.

We have T-Mobile in a rural coastal area of NC... well, not as rural as one might imagine with all the building but rural in the sense we have no large stores here, its 10+ miles to anything major, whether home improvement or even Walmart.
Very few areas, actually cant think of one off the top of my head that gives us a problem. 55+ deal is nice for my wife and I. Plus they pay for basic Netflex and we optionally pay the difference to upgrade to the mid-tier Netflix. SO with that and the 2 mostly paid for iPhone 13s the cost was close to RedPocket but RedPocket is an option for us March 2024 when TMobile is done giving us bill credits that have paid for our iPhone 13s 1.5 years ago when we traded in our old phones. It was an even trade except about $300.

Other than the recent t-mobile freebies (airline data is the one compelling one to me), I’m not sure what other perks one gets. The ability to swap between carriers is interesting. However, I suspect a plan like this is always deprioritized over people on the carrier’s own plan…

 

[alarmguy]

Other than the recent t-mobile freebies (airline data is the one compelling one to me), I’m not sure what other perks one gets. The ability to swap between carriers is interesting. However, I suspect a plan like this is always deprioritized over people on the carrier’s own plan…

Oh, yes, I forgot about that, airline data. Up until 1.5 years ago we as a family have not used a main carrier for over a decade.

I know and acknowledge it gets brought up all the time, but we have never had data slow downs and if we did they weren't noticeable.
We have had Straight Talk for years on ATT network, then onto ATTs own cut rate "Cricket" service and then onto Red Pocket with ATT. Before the kids were grown and now on their own we had 4 phones on these plans. (as you can tell we liked ATT in our area, though we find T-Mobile just as capable now)

Never a data issue, not kidding, not one. At the same time my company supplied iPhone Verizon work phone I would use side by side with the above mentioned services on my personal phone, never a difference. In fact back to cell service areas, I could be in some of the most remote areas at times, and at those times, it would be random that my ATT Cricket or Redpocket service would work if my Verizon didnt and other times that the ATT RP or Cricket wouldnt work and my Verizon did.

With that said, yes, good point on the rest of your post. Enough that we wouldnt be in any rush to get rid of T-Mobile and the 55+ plan is amazing. There are perks we use and you brought up another good one with airlines which we will be traveling internationally next year. In addition I think it includes overseas text but haven't gone that much into it yet. As my wife communicates with her family overseas using Viber which is absolutely amazing.

Ok, time to head to the beach!

 

[Bill7]

Also to note, depending on your usage and if you dont need perks provided by the 3 majors you can get ATT service through RedPocket for everything unlimited at $40 a month or $30 for 20Gb per month and so on for individuals, they also have family plan rates.
They are also coming out with a program where you will be able to switch networks right from your account if you chose, since they carry Verizon, ATT and T-Mobile networks.

Just mentioning it so if you're ever dissatisfied with ATT pricing, you have options and can stay in ATT network. Meaning you never have to feel stuck with them.

We have T-Mobile in a rural coastal area of NC... well, not as rural as one might imagine with all the building but rural in the sense we have no large stores here, its 10+ miles to anything major, whether home improvement or even Walmart.
Very few areas, actually cant think of one off the top of my head that gives us a problem. 55+ deal is nice for my wife and I. Plus they pay for basic Netflex and we optionally pay the difference to upgrade to the mid-tier Netflix. SO with that and the 2 mostly paid for iPhone 13s the cost was close to RedPocket but RedPocket is an option for us March 2024 when TMobile is done giving us bill credits that have paid for our iPhone 13s 1.5 years ago when we traded in our old phones. It was an even trade except about $300.

Thanks Alarmguy. I got grandfathered into a great deal with AT&T and plan to stay with AT&T forever.

 

[loneryder]

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.

So I am trying the Mint service. Their maps show great coverage in my area. I usually have 1 bar and it has disappeared as I walk in my house. It is worse than Straight Talk on AT&T. My daughter is coming tomorrow and she has T-Mobile 5g. If that does well around the house, I may have to get a new phone. I'm also thinking that the majors are de-emphasizing these 3rd party providers more than they used to. They may have quietly restricted service according to plan prices.

 

[alarmguy]

So I am trying the Mint service. Their maps show great coverage in my area. I usually have 1 bar and it has disappeared as I walk in my house. It is worse than Straight Talk on AT&T. My daughter is coming tomorrow and she has T-Mobile 5g. If that does well around the house, I may have to get a new phone. I'm also thinking that the majors are de-emphasizing these 3rd party providers more than they used to. They may have quietly restricted service according to plan prices.

Hmmmm well I have to wonder what phone you have and your daughter once she arrives.
Mint is owned by and on the T Mobile network

 

[J Dubbs]

5G is the worst advertising scam/excuse to raise rates ever seen in the cell phone industry. They're killing 4G/LTE to make room for 5G, which is useless across most of the nation, and ruining service in all scenarios, just to be able to say "look, we have 5G, now you need to pay more ".

And in AT&T's case they don't actually have 5G in the majority of their coverage area's, they have the fake 5G+ I believe they call it. We're grandfathered into AT&T with an older cheap limited data plan that's 4G/LTE only, and it's still working reasonably well in our area... while our friends and family, with the shiny new expensive 5G plans, are complaining like everyone else about the terrible service now. I'll never pay for 5G.