att service vs veriz wireless

Simply put AT&T and Verizon are the two biggest providers in the USA. If either of them were that horrid do you really think they would either be at 50 million subscribers plus?

If you know an AT&T subscriber, the best thing to do is ask them.

In addition, you can become an AT&T subscriber with a free phone that is subsidized by AT&T signing a two year contract - with a new number assigned by AT&T or by porting your number from Verizon - which AT&T will handle. You have 30 days to test AT&T's service - you can cancel your contract within the first 30 days without paying a penalty but you must return the subsidized phone. If you decide to cancel with AT&T and if you port your number from Verizon, Verizon will port your number back.

If AT&T's service is acceptable, you can purchase an iPhone and transfer your number to the iPhone via the iPhone activation process with iTunes. You must agree to a new 2-yr contract effective on the iPhone's activation date and there will be no penalty for doing so. You will be able to keep the original phone subsidized by AT&T which you can use with your iPhone's SIM card if needed or wanted. So you will have two phones out of this deal if AT&T's service is acceptable to you.

NYC has excellent ATT service

Why don't you try the ATT forums at wireless.att.com?

Both have good and bad locations. At one time Verizon had clearly superior coverage, but Verizon has become overloaded in some areas and AT&T has done a lot of work building out their network. E.g., a coworker has had a Verizon EV-DO laptop card and has used it going to and from work, Manhattan to Spring Valley NY by train. He used to get 750 kbps all the way, but in the past 6 months its dropped to 300 kbps, with periodic dropouts with no connectivity. Meanwhile AT&T has deployed HSDPA (3G) in the area, and I get 1-1.5 mbps in the same area using my laptop card.

Around NYC and Northern NJ I get excellent coverage from AT&T. There are some exceptions; Verizon has installed microcells in many subway stations, but AT&T has no coverage in the subway. Same for the Museum of Natural History; AT&T coverage is spotty, but Verizon is solid. On the PATH system, however, AT&T has coverage in most stations.

So my perception is that Verizon has slightly better coverage in the NYC area, but AT&T meets all of my needs.

Well....as a long time Verizon family user, I have just switched our Family Plan to AT&T, (5 iphones). We live in a relatively difficult cell area, (Idaho), and our reception/service with AT&T has been excellent. One daughter is in college in Washington, and her service/reception is likewise excellent. We took a trip to the Caribbean over the Christmas holidays, and at all locations, our signal etc... was great. My conclusion... No downside in wireless service/connection with the switch....

JTH

I used to have Verizon and I switched to AT&T when I got my iPhone.

Verizon has far superior voice quality and call reliability than AT&T. If I had a choice, I would go back to them in a heartbeat.

For me, however, the vast superiority of the iPhone over any other handset on the market means that I am willing to endure AT&T's crappy service in exchange for having the iPhone. AT&T's network is just barely "good enough", and is far better than T-Mobile's or Metro PCS'. Their customer service & support, again, are inferior to Verizon's, but better than T-Mobile's and infinitely better than Sprint's.

ATT's service is excellent and the customer service is by far better than Verizon/Sprint.

As for the iPhone if you can live with MMS GPS then go for it.

Cubus25 wrote:
As for the iPhone if you can live with MMS GPS then go for it.

You mean live without MMS or GPS. Technically, Google Locate provides pseudo-GPS functionality.

Sorry without. The Locate Me feature is junk if you don't live in a major city...

Yes. but this OP is in NYC where it works amazingly well.

Verizon has far superior voice quality and call reliability than AT&T.

This is relative based on location. I'm a former Verizon subscriber for personal use and I continue to have a business phone with Verizon that I carry along with my iPhone so I always have a side by side comparison. At my house and at my office, Verizon reception and voice quality stinks - AT&T's is much better. I made a trip to West Texas to visit a friend at his ranch not long ago and during the drive there and back, I completely lost reception with Verizon at several locations but not once with AT&T. I didn't have reception with Verizon while at the ranch but I did with AT&T so again, this is relative.

I can direct you to some websites where some existing and former Verizon subscribers are singing the same tune as you about Verizon - crappy customer service and support, etc. which is also relative.

I've had one major complaint with Verizon's customer service since the summer of 2001 which I won't get into here, but since becoming an AT&T subscriber 3-4 months prior to the iPhone's release date, the few times I've contacted AT&T customer or technical support, my experience was excellent with no complaints.

Agreed, mobile service can vary depending on location.

Based on my experience in South Florida, Verizon has better and more dependable service. One way to put it is that with Verizon, so long as I was in an area with good coverage, as indicated by the bars on my phone, I could expect excellent call quality and reliability.

With AT&T, however, I get consistently lower voice quality regardless of location and signal strength (GSM vs CDMA issue perhaps), and even when the phone says I have a good signal, I will sometimes get intermittent or dropped calls.

Anecdotally, this perception is reinforced from comments I get from friends using both carriers.