Comments on: Poll: Friends Don't Let Friends Buy AT&T's iPhone

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:09:21 +0000

I have been using the iPhone instead of my BlackJack II for 6 months now all over CT,
and have been stunned by the overall coverage as well as the speed of the 3G connection
(I am getting 1.2-1.7 Mb/s down and 0.2-0.25 Mb/s up indoors routinely).

As far as reliability, I have found I can drive from NYC to UCONN without dropping Pan
-dora at all. I rely on streaming Pandora, NPR Mobile, and the native Maps throughout my
day.

I realize this part of the East coast is one of the densest parts of the US though, and
have noticed poor service sometimes when traveling to IL and FL, so I’m sure any of these
complaints posted are well founded.

** I am not a Mac fanboy at all,
** (I cannot stand using their computers and have never bought an iPod in my life)
** this is just the best option for a lot of people and I’m inclined to defend it with some
objective observations.

Overall I feel that I am getting more than enough from AT&T for what I pay each month,
and I’ve been with them for 6 years now.

By: GNC-2009-03-27 #463 Live from Colombus Ohio « Technical Support Geek

GNC-2009-03-27 #463 Live from Colombus Ohio « Technical Support Geek — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:59:56 +0000

[...] 192gb of Ram Please Skype for iPhone Soon Rock Band 1 Billion in Music Sales 7 inch USB Monitors Friends don’t let Friends buy iPhones Adsense Tips Facebook Needs more Money Windows 7 RC in May Google Webmaster Tools Variable iTunes [...]

By: Benjy

Benjy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:00:06 +0000

I’ve been experiencing “No Service” or maybe 1-2 pixels on first bar on my iPhone in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago for the past month or so. I live and work in Lincoln Park, which is the neighborhood just south so I am in Lakeview many times a week–seems like once I cross Diversey Ave. all coverage drops to nothing. I called a couple weeks ago, and was told 2 towers had been down — one was repaired and the other would be in 3-4 days. That was two weeks ago and I’ve noticed no improvement…

By: andrew

andrew — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:32:27 +0000

service BLOWS in 90232 – culver city and many parts of LA. I am at my breaking point.

By: hwertz

hwertz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:06:24 +0000

From what I’ve read, Verizon did not dismiss Apple. Apple initially was going to do an Iphone for Verizon.. but Verizon and Apple are both control junkies… Verizon wanted to make UI changes as they so love to do, Apple (i.e. Steve Jobs) wanted absolute control over the phone, and neither would compromise. So they didn’t.

By: luis

luis — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:39:10 +0000

No problems in Atlanta, GA, which used to be bellsouth before it was ATT.

I do travel to SF every other week and notice that the network is not as reliable. I believe SF used to be SBC network which used to be Pacbell before that. Maybe that has something to do with it.

By: Bob Woods

Bob Woods — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:05:26 +0000

I’m running a 1G iPhone on T-Mobile, and it works fine. I bought mine used, but in new condition from someone who was sticking with AT&T, and he went back to his old Blackberry. I don’t think Apple or AT&T have anything to say about my using it there, the iPhone was unsubsidized, and AT&T didn’t lose a customer.

The thing I like best is that while not having to use AT&T – the cost of my service plan, plus my wife’s phone, PLUS the data plan is less than I’d be paying AT&T for the iPhone alone.

By: Scott G

Scott G — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:51:02 +0000

I abhor the AT&T network, but after even worse experiences with Verizon and Sprint I only wish that Apple would open up the iPhone to other domestic GSM carriers (such as T-mobile). A truly international iPhone would be a joy to use both in the US and other markets. I don’t want it bad enough to endure the technical turd that is CDMA, so I’m staying put until a more technically forward solution is available.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:17:25 +0000

I am a Blackberry guy, so I won’t comment on the iPhone, though I do look at it some days longingly :-)

As for the poll, listen, I am a pioneer in the field of online research and web surveys, and yes, the poll could have been better formulated, but, I assume (always dangerous) that the author is not a market researcher, so, what you see is what you get.

The bottom line is simple. Things like iPhone’s draw a lot of passion from respondents, so I suspect that no matter how the poll was constructed, some people would be unhappy with it.

This is a HUGE issue for the market research field as “free” (nothing is free!) or low cost web applications further proliferate the marketplace.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:42:23 +0000

I’m very happy with the iPhone device and my phone service. I was really expecting not to be after reading a lot of the reviews but I quickly came under the impression that where I live (Minneapolis/StPaul) it was a non issue. Sure enough, friends and coworkers began buying the phone and not having a single issue.

I’m probably the power-user amongst my friends and coworkers so after getting it I really put it through its paces. I did find the network lacking speed and calls unreliable but all of that seemed to clear up with the next update. I’m really happy with it now; even in an Edge only area I find little problems making calls or listening to streaming radio.

By: ChromisZach

ChromisZach — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:22:04 +0000

When someone asks me (which I get asked this at least once a week) “How do you like your iPhone?” I always answer this way… “It’s the greatest mobile device I’ve ever owned, and the worst mobile phone I’ve ever owned.” I do drop calls frequently, i.e. network is to blame… But it’s not enough for me to give it up… 90% of the time the phone does what I want it to do, make and receive calls. It’s the 10% of the time that does cause frustration and gives the iPhone a black eye. 100% of the time the apps that I use work flawlessly and make me more productive. Again, I’m addicted to my iPhone and I don’t know what I’d do without it…

By: mudman

mudman — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:12:55 +0000

There are perhaps _thousands_ of iPhones running on T-Mobile. Yes, you don’t have the 3G goodness – but you don’t have the $30/month data plan either. So, there are network choices, from what I understand. Not that I have any personal experience with T-Mobile ;-)

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:58:27 +0000

I suspect that it is an AT&T network capacity issue. Most carriers have been caught off guard by the hockey stick in data demand brought on by web friendly smart phones such as the iPhone. I’m in Canada and it took Rogers about 9 months to get caught up to the rate of growth and now be able to pace with it.

Much harder in the US as the densities are higher in the larger cities and capacity upgrades can take a lot more time for a number of reasons.

Gary.

By: Ted T.

Ted T. — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:28:55 +0000

I am in NYC, and yes the AT&T network is abysmal in certain locations. I rode the Staten Island Ferry last night, and any time there is a large number of iPhones (and presumably other AT&T devices) in one spot you know there will be awful problems.

That said: I have no evidence that AT&T is any worse than T-Mobile, my previous carrier. Indeed they may be better. And I wouldn’t go to Verizon under any circumstances: I travel, thus a CDMA phone would be useless to me, I need GSM. And Verizon’s customer service is just beyond bad. They’re still my ISP/land line — I have no words for how horrific their support is. I was a Verizon customer before T-Mobile (and back then Verizon’s network sucked too — presumably they’ve improved).

So bottom line, yes, AT&T has huge problems, they really, really need to improve, but the competition is not exactly great either, They all need to make huge improvements. Wireless service quality in European countries is so superior to what any US provider offers it isn’t funny.

And lastly, the iPhone for all the AT&T problems, is so much better than anything else, there’s no much of a choice, for me, anyway.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:25:06 +0000

Surveys a joke!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:19:39 +0000

Apparently, OM just needed a little flame bait for more traffic on his site. It worked as this stupid survey is all over the net already. This is why his blogs are so successful. I guess I should learn from his baiting tactics.