I've had few problems with reception here.

Zero to 1 bar above Hwy. 13 on Thornhill. Not useable.

Not good reception. Only 2 or 3 bars. Calls easily drop.

Very variable from none to three bars. Dropped calls area problem.

My metro phone worked great all over San Francisco. In my new home in Oakland it is useless. Going outside doesn't help, I have to walk several blocks. Sometimes a call comes through, but they always get dropped. My roommates Verizon works well so I'll try that. I used to have Cingular. It was terrible too. It worked great in new York City though.

I have had cellular one, sprint, Verizon, and now Metro PCS, in this area. Cellular one is now AT and T. Bottom Line Verizon Wireless and Metro PCS have the best coverage and clear in the area. Yes Metro PCS, they both use cdma and they both share some of the same wireless lines in the bay area. Verizon first, then Metro PCS second as far as coverage. I have a Motorola v323i it has three modes, two of the modes happen to be digital and the third is analog. Analog helps in areas where digital doesn't carry a good signal. This phone by far has the best signal and most clear all over the bay area. So v323i if you have Metro PCS go with that phone. If you have Sprint go with the sanyo 8200 In the Golf Links area all the phones can be crappy. But the best two models phones in this area and other areas of Oakland, are the Motorola v323i for metro pcs, and the Sprint sanyo 8200 for sprint. Cheah!

In this area of the town, cell reception for all carriers seems to be bad. I have used a Verizon vx9800 and it has been only 3 times that I was able to make it up golf links and almost half way up Elysian Fields. I have a friend that has a Sprint sanyo 8200 that who was able to make calls 75 percent of the time. I had the vx9800 LG phone for a year, it worked well in places where my sanyo 4900 didn't all over the bay area. I will write about my new phone with metro PCS next.

I am on the old AT&T TDMA network. Years ago I had Cingular and could not get any reception inside the house. I switched to AT&T and their TDMA network and it has worked perfectly everywhere for years, until recently, when calls are now starting to drop -- primarily on the west end of the bay bridge. Cingular is now phasing out the TDMA network, and after reading all of these comments, I'm sorry they are doing so, since from the sounds of it, this TDMA service is the best thing going in terms of reliability. What use is a cell phone if one can't get coverage in the house / office?

I had Sprint and only was able to make / receive a call from my bedroom (luckily) and switched to Cingular not too long ago. Now I average 2-3 bars and can walk around the house without dropping the call. Although occasionally, the other end has a hard time hearing me in certain areas (especially the basement). Before I switched I checked the Cingular website for their maps and it seems to be fairly accurate. Also, my wife has Verizon (Motorola) and she says reception is terrible. Once her contract is up, she's switching to my Cingular family plan...

I have Verizon and occasionally get one bar but it's not enough to get or receive a call. They said I could cancel without penalty. I don't think anyone gets reception here. I got good reception when I lived on Snake Road.