Coverage Reviews for Phoenix, AZ

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Rating | Carrier | Location

AT&T

General reception in Ahwatukee is terrible. Cannot use in my home and service is really sketchy in my neighborhood. I'm emabarrassed to use my phone in these areas. Service has not improved in 5 years. Don't expect it to anytime soon. My contracts have expired and I'm switching to Verizon. Even though their plans are not as good as T-Mobile's I can use their service from my basement and hear much less that is negative about Verizon's service. Oh yeah, Cingular's Customer Service is even worse thn AT&T Wireless' ever was! - And AWS customer care was pretty bad...

Virgin Mobile

Dropped calls in a high rise in Honolulu, but it was fine on the lanai. Never had a problem in AZ, good reception everywhere for me. Good value if u don't use a cell much! (Can't beat $5 a month!)

AT&T

Over all I have say that At&t / Cingular wireless service coverage is as good if not better than most or all the other cellular services in the Phoenix metro area, Yes There are some areas where I have little to no service. But No carrier has a complete 100% flawless blanket anywhere, with any of the current Technologies out there. I have had Sprint service With a Samsung flipfone because of work while at the same time having my AT&T wireless service. And dwould drop call just from tilting my head the wrong way and would have to use my personal phone to continue working. It seemed as thought if you looked at the Sprint phone the wrong way it would drop a call. I have noticed sence I have had to replace my phone several time due to the abuse that my phone endures each day, and have used Other phones from manufactures LG, Motorola, and currently have been using a NEC 525 while I am waiting to purchase a new Nokia directly from nokia. That with the other phones I do not get the same coverage in the same locations as that I did with the Nokia phones. If it were my guess if you look at the reviews of most of the people saying that they had Below Average, Poor, and No Reception, with At&t / Cingular / Tmobile GSM service a good majority of the complaints come from people who got the lowest priced if not Free give away phone at the time, and usually 7 out of 10 times they are Motorola phones. To add one last thing to back up my oppinion of the persons cell service directly being effected by the Phone its self, One of my previous roomates had Sprint service at the same time that I had Sprint service bacause of work He had a Nokia phone while I had the Samsung and he had significintly better coverage, to the point were we would both be on the a call at the same time and I would drop the call and have no reception whatso ever, and he would still be chatting away like nothing.

Alltel

My alltell phone works great through out the house. My wife's Verizon only works outside.

T-Mobile

I have had nothing but perfect service from T-Mobile in the last 3 years. Many complain of crappy service in the valley, but I have found that most of the time this is because of the phone. If you pay a little extra to get a good phone, you can expect to get good service. If you simply hop to a different cell phone provider every year or two and take their offers for a free phone, you will never find a service that meets your expectations. I haven't dropped a call in the last 6 months or so. I have never had a call that didn't go through due to network congestion. T-Mobile is a solid network. Just take one piece of advice... Use all the money that you are going to save at T-Mobile to buy a really good phone that has gotten really good reviews. The freebies are just crap that all of these companies must offer to remain competitive... don't get sucked in! You won't regret it.

Sprint

Poor to no reception 1 / 4 mile south of Rustler's Rooste on 47th Place

Alltel

I've been with Cellular One / alltel for almost 8 years. I have occasional dropped calls in buildings or when going between mountians but it's LOTS better than my husband's AT&T / Cingular GSM. I've traveled within AZ to Cottonwood, Cornville, Sedona with average to good reception almost everywhere. I also traveled to MN this summer and had good reception in almost all the areas in South Twin Cities metro area as well as Rochester. I look around but I don't think that I can beat what I've got.

Qwest

This area is fairly a dead area for Qwest it would seem.

Sprint

If you are thinking of getting Sprint and work at that large complex at 56th St. and Mayo, dare I say the name - AMEX ? then do not get Sprint. No one in our building can use their Sprint phones. The phone spends all day seaching for a tower and by 3 in the afternoon the battery is dead. Step outside and reception is clear as a bell. But what good is a cell phone if my family needs to reach me in an emergency and I am away from my desk if this phone does not ring or even let me know I have a voice message ? I am changing, I don't know to which company yet, they all give 14 day cancellation and I will use it to the fullest to get the company I like best.

AT&T

Varies between 1 and 0 in this area. Wife's T-Mobile reception seems much better

AT&T

I moved here from MN and it looks like people who join Cingular from outside AZ have good quality and those that sign off in AZ have bad reception. I am overall satisfied with Cingular. Once in a while the call drops else the service is fine both at home and office in Squaw Peak

AT&T

Cingular is awful!!! ATT used to be so good. I will cx my service and I supposedly have a high grade phone. Do not sign up with Cingular!

AT&T

This phone is a nightmare. Dead spots in my home, dropped calls, and wherever I am, It sounds like the other person is in a tunnel! Terrible!

AT&T

I was an AT&T Wireless customer for over 5 years and was very happy with my service. Ever since Cingular merged with AT&T my service has declined greatly. I have virtually no service in the Central Phoenix area. Dropping calls is a way of life. If you are talking to another Cingular customer it is even worse! And every time I call the customer service reps give me a different answer. Everything from it's my phone (which I have had exchaged twice) to, it's because I am not a REAL Cingular Customer and still have an AT&T Phone (supposedly you have to transfer to Cingular Service to get better service) It doesn't appear anyone really knows. Myself along with my friends and family who have Cingular intend to switch to another carrier as soon as our contracks are up. So of the places I have experienced no service: along 7th ave between Osborn and Missouri / Central and Van Buren / I 10 at the Broadway Curve / I 10 and 40th St. / I10 and the 51 / 202 and 143

Sprint

No problems with Sprint PCS. Reception good and no dropped calls. Internet access is good. Satisfied with service.

AT&T

Cingular SUCKS! Don't fall into the Raise the bar ad crap - no signal anywhere I hate this company.. as it shows.. RUN!

Alltel

I live in an apt, so maybe that's the reason I always drop calls. Good reception outdoors, very bad indoors. However, my girlfriend has Cricket, when she uses her phone in my place she has no problems. I'm thinking of switching carriers.

AT&T

Cingular sucks everywhere in Phoenix. I lose calls constantly, and their support is bad. Verizon gets 5 bars where I'm getting 1 in Cingular. Their support is annoying, but not as bad as ATT, however with a phone who the support reps have repeatedly said was terrible, they've refused to replace the bad phone. Screw them, I'm moving over to Verizon with the E815. A real speakerphone and a good phone. Good. To. Go.

Virgin Mobile

Virgin uses the Sprint PCS network--which has spotty reception in Phoenix. Where it works, it works very well, but there are many gaps. Also, this phone has poor reception in marginal areas. I've read that later Audiovox phones are an improvement.

AT&T

Using the old AT&T (now Cingular) TDMA network, I have many dropped calls in my house. Reception is good once outside. This phone worked well at my old place, but now I need to look at alternatives. Based on comments from friends, I don't believe that Cingular's GSM network in Phoenix is mature. I'm going to try Verizon.

AT&T

Cingular claims to have more bars in more places Bwah hah hah hah. What really sucks is I have a 2 year contract. I lived in CO and Cingular worked best there, but since moving to Phoenix, well lets just say I am going to have to have 2 cell phone carriers. Thanks so much, Cingular.

AT&T

Coverage is spotty... Reception goes in and out frequently. If it were consistent it wouldn't be so frustrating, but it's not. Full signal, no signal. Leaning towards one, two bars normally.

Verizon

It's getting a lot better when I first got here in November my cell phone didn't get any signal and now I loose calls if I move around a lot but much better

T-Mobile

For about 14 months I got NO service at my house; then one day all the bars appeared. T-Mobile must have brought a new tower online that they were promising. Now I can roam through my house with great reception. (Just got the Samsung phone / previous phone was the Motorola V300; I've heard Motorola phones don't have good built-in antenna reception.)

Cricket

The houses in our neighborhood are on a hill that blocks reception from cell towers in the area. Line of sight could hit a tower at 22nd St.and Glendale if anyone decides to drop a cell in the area. Closest cell to best of my knowledge is at Glendale and the Squaw Peak freeway. (NOT ON the MAP) The tower is pretty huge and is owned and operated by (I believe) Arizona Department of Transportation (as are many cells along the freeway, which was built with some serious fiber trenched along it.) I can't get calls usually inside the house. If I go out on the driveway, in one or two spots I've found, I can keep calls from disconnecting every few minutes. HELP!

T-Mobile

No reception traveling 56th St. between Indian School and Camelback, continues west on Camelback to 44th St.

AT&T

Cingular service is not clear where I live. I can't take phone calls inside my own home. When others try to call me they tell me that I am constantly breaking up, that I sound like I'm a robot, or that they can barely hear me at all, and I'm practically screaming into my cell phone. I had Sprint before I switched over to Cingular. I would not recommend Cingular to anyone living in the Central Phoenix to North Phoenix area.

Sprint

Occasional dropped calls (once or twice a month) apparently due to capacity issues (evening rush-hour, etc.). It seems like Sprint has greatly improved their coverage on the major corridors in the past 2 years.

AT&T

no reception practically indoors. barely outdoors. practically useless. Whats a good carrier brand to use anyway?

Verizon

Except for T-Bird between 7th St. and Cave Creek, I NEVER have a dropped or lost call outside of my house, including Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, Peoria, Paradise Valley, etc. But in the house - 1 bar signal, or it goes into Analog, or I lose it all and hear my phone beeping for voice mail! I love Verizon.. I wish they'd improve the signal strength around here!

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