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Comparisons of Cellular Service Quality?

Posted by Cliff on from the can-you-hear-me-now? dept.

dmr asks: "What are the best sources of information for cell phone service quality? Is there a source out there which can give a reputable ranking of service, coverage, dropped-calls, etc, for the major cell phone providers, broken out by region? There's a huge pile of anecdotes and tall tales out there. Where can someone find out which providers work best in his hometown? Bonus points for assessments of capital improvements to equipment, as well as trends from the past."Update: A commenter points out that MyRatePlan has a great coverage map comparison tool.

3 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. For anyone in Ontario, Canada by IanO · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This site provides pretty good information about all the providers and their coverage throughout parts of Ontario.

    There are also pretty good reviews on the different handsets. It's probably a pretty good format for other people looking to start a site on cell coverage to follow.

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    Objects in Mirror are Losing!
  2. Depends where you live by jht · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Here in Boston, the Boston Globe did an excellent comparison recently of services and coverage. I wouldn't be surprised if the major papers in other cities did the same.

    As for resources, the letstalk.com and howardchui.com sites mentioned elsewhere are good resources. Consumer Reports magazine has occasionally hit the topic as well. Another thing you can generally do in many states is pick up the phone you expect to sign up for and sign the contract - in MA and many others there's a right to return it for a couple of days if you find that it sucks.

    As for me, I just switched to VoiceStream (soon to be T-Mobile) after about 5 years with Verizon, even though I'm a CDMA bigot. With a newborn, I decided my wife and I should both have cell phones, and I liked their family plan the best. I also have a couple of friends on the VoiceStream network, and calls to/from other VoiceStream customers are free on most of their plans. Coverage has so far been excellent in most places I've been with one exception - I was returning some unused shoes at the local Macy's for my wife and I couldn't get a signal at the counter. With that one exception, I've gotten very good coverage everywhere else, plus they cover the areas where we typically travel.

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    -- Josh Turiel
    "2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
  3. I solved the problem with this.... by MrIcee · · Score: 3, Interesting
    As other posters have pointed out, quality is dependent on where you happen to be at the moment.

    I live in a place that varies from sea level to 13,500 ft in 20 to 40 mile jumps... so reception is very spotty. Of the three carriers here, none could provide coverage for the entire area.

    I searched the internet and finally found this 3 watt cell phone booster. It came a week ago. It still doesn't give me full area coverage, but it has helped alot. My cell phone was unuseable at my house, and with the unit I get 4 (out of 5) bars now. Similar results in many other places around here. Driving with two cellphones, one plugged through the unit and one not (same carrier) provided at least 2 to 3 bars better performance on the 3-watt boosted cellphone.

    BTW, the package came from Trinidad (?!?).

    Just don't stick the antenna near your head :)