Ride Along With a Real Verizon Wireless Tester

jonknee writes "So you're probably sick of the Can you hear me now? ads, but here's a new article about a real-life Verizon Wireless network tester. This guy logs over 3,000 miles a month in a station wagon decked out with over a quarter-million dollars worth of network gear (I dare say the most valuable station wagon ever?). An audio file is linked at the bottom of the article that has a few minute sample of the audio Verizon tests with. It's bizarre!"

Comments

Can you hear me now?

[jmcmunn]

Uh no, not inside a building.

That's why I no longer have Verizon. Who cares if some jackass on a commercial can talk when he's in Death Valley...I couldn't get a signal inside. Now with my Sprint phone, at least I get one bar, which is just enough to get calls and head for the window. Verizon has nothing on Sprint or Nextel, both of which consistantly get better service here in Michigan. (at least for everyone I know)

Re:Can you hear me now?

[fm6]

I doubt if Sprint or Nextel has special inside-building towers. More likely they just happen to have a tower that's close enough to the various building you go into, and Verizon doesn't.

One sad thing about the U.S. cell system is that all there are so many incompatible cell protocols and systems. You get a phone that handles 3 or 4 different protocols, you worry about "roaming" charges -- and you still often find yourself in places where your particular provider just can't serve you.

The Europeans did the right thing when they agreed that all their providers would have to use GSM, so everybody's phone would work with everybody's network. U.S. providers complain that GSM doesn't use bandwidth efficiently. But from the consumer point of view, their hodge-podge of GSM alternates is really inefficient.

3,000 miles a month?

[Anonymous Coward]

Only 3000? Not so impressive. I know peole who commute that much.

Re:Nice map

[RevRigel]

That's their way of telling you to get off the god damn phone while you're driving.

The 3/4 million car...

[s-orbital]

Um... are you sure its a good idea to publish a pic with the license plate number of a car carrying $750 000 worth of stuffZors?

or maybe you're blind

[DarkTempes]

most of the equipment looks like it analyzes and stores information from the phones...
if you actually RTFA and looked at the pictures would see a bunch of expensive equipment plugged into 4 different phones (one for each different company)

he doesn't have any special external antennas to boost the signal or skew the results.

the only possible thing i could think of is the phones may be getting a WORSE signal because they are all lying down inside of a metal case...

I also do this...

[OverkillTASF]

It paid $15/hour, which I thought was great. I mean, all I have to do is drive, right? Well, when hours are from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and you factor in the potential cost of meals and lodging... Not to mention the fact that sitting in one precise position for that long is KILLER... I drove 550 miles in one day, and didn't actually end up going anywhere, because we just drove every road back and forth to cover an entire area. I don't think I was ever more than 30 miles from where I started. It's really crippling, psychologically, to be all "Wow, I can't wait 'til we get there!" because you feel like you're on a road trip. And then you realize... "Oh yeah... I'm just gonna end up back where I started." After a while, it was pretty enjoyable though, because I went nuts and was entertained by everything I saw on the side of the road.

Didn't really learn much as far as wireless goes, though I talked to the engineer a lot... Long car trips not to. Here's what I don't get...

Sprint wants to test their cell reception and compare it to their competitors... They hire company A to do it. Company A calls Company B for staffing. Company A pays Company B, and Engineer is hired, and paid by Company B. Company B then calls Company C to inquire about a drive. Company B pays Company C, and Company C find and pays the drive. Turning in hours was maddening. And think about how freaking expensive these drives are when you figure that everyone is making a profit in that multi-tiered platform. Sheesh!

P.S... Normally, the signs say "Watch For Children". But there were a few in the Blacksburg area I think that said "Watch Children". I was quite disappointed when I didn't see kids on the side of the road twirling plates, juggling chainsaws, and performing magic tricks for my entertainment.

Re:No wonder their service sucks...

[radish]

Yeah, because the guys who run nationwide cell networks with thousands of nodes and millions of subscribers would never have thought of that. My god man, credit them with some intelligence!

Re:Nice map

[daikokatana]

I have to agree that phones are not the only evil distraction in a car, but I do not agree with what you are saying. You would not believe how many drivers are out there talking on the phone while not paying attention to the road. Besides, where do you draw the line? If talking on the phone is allowed, then why not drunk driving? Both of which have been proven to influence the level of concentration a person has.