All other services work in my building - Only Iphone users have trouble - can't receive or send.

Very bad reception all around the city.

Terrible AT&T service. Have had a long battle with AT&T over the service here. Essentially on the Shrader block between Hayes and Fell there is little serive on the north end of the street. In my home we have maybe 1 bar. Calls can make it in about 1 / 4 of the time, and maybe some texts. We have tried 5 kinds of phones, iPhone, feature phones, Windows phones, Androids, all have the same issues. This is not a hardware issue, its a service issue. I got 2 microCells and they only marginally helped. After much escalation and a BBB complaint, they finally agreed to terminate my contract sans ETF since there is nothing they can do to fix the issue.

Things were okay until AT&T started replacing almost all of their Edge towers with 3G towers. My phone is too old to use with 3G. Additionally, just about everyone I know on AT&T has HORRIBLE reception near the ballpark and in SOMA.

Reception has been bad within the last week. down 1-2 bars, no service in some rooms of my apt. (Laurel Village). What gives?

It's been really poor reception for the past week. Call quality was never like this until recently. Getting ready to throw my phone out the window. Anyone else having this problem?

Zero

We had to BUY an AT&T "Micro-Cell". With that, my wife can get calls, but if she moves to the back of the house, they are dropped. >_<

Last several month, reception on this area went very bad. 4 out of 5 calls over 5 minutes talk, calls drop in the middle. What's worse is even with 2 bars up, phone doesn't ring and voice msg pops up hours later. I'm missing a lot of in-comming call without me knowing at all. Calling out is just like waiting at deli counter holding the number ticket. After pushing call button, you have to wait 20-30 sec. then finally it starts ringing or sometimes, "Call Failed" shows up. Once customer service said that a lot of people are using cell phone around me so lines are congested, but AT&T will KINDLY credit for that call (and I guess I should thank for such a kindly response ?) Hell I don't need your few cents back. I'm paying $100 every month for my phone because I need to Communicate RIGHT NOW otherwise I will send a post card.

Just moved in to a new place at the top of 18th Street, and, of course, I have no AT&T cell coverage in my own home. It's absurd! I'll pay the costs to switch to Verizon and hope for the best.

No data reception when I'm sitting in the bus on Davis St.between California St. and Pine. Reception comes back when my bus (the #38 Geary) goes 3 blocks outbound on Market St.(at Kearny).

I'm at the 26th Floor of 101 California Street. Spotty connection for voice calls. No connection at all for data. Slightly better connection when I walk towards the window. I got no problem at all with my Blackberry on Verizon (company phone). Shame on you, AT&T. I can't wait for my contract to expire (another 11 agonizing months to go).

Totally sucks. Varies from 0->1 in my apartment. When Dolores park is busy, Forget it. Gets even worse.

Walking up Stanyan, I got 4 dropped calls using my iphone. The person I was talking to has AT&T also and their reception was no better. We went back and forth for 20 minutes trying to have a conversation. Wasn't this what it was like in 1995, not 2011? There's no excuse for this crap considering how much they charge. How about a law that reduces your monthly bill by 5% for each dropped call?

I get ZERO reception in my office on one of the busiest intersections in San Francisco. What a joke AT&T is! What kind of service is that? I have to WALK around the neighborhood in order to make a call on my cell phone. The CEO should be fired. How could a company be so horrible and still make so much money? I pay over $100 / month for this horrible service.

I have lived in this area for 3 years and AT&T service has been terrible the entire time. I am going to Verizon. AT&T has abused my confidence and trust, taken my money, promised fixes and filed reports that go nowhere. After many reports of coverage problems, they still claim good coverage in my area. I myself have filed numerous reports. They simply lie about it.

worked "att fine" for last couple years and the last 10 days its gotten so bad there are large patches of the day where nothing works - no calls in or out and no messages same on all phones - iphone, android and others

I've turned 3G off and always on 2G (edge network). Go to network settings and turn it off. On 3G, cannot call out, send SMS, surf AND cannot receive texts or calls.

Next to the big ATT building. I can't make calls and calls or text never make it to me. Switching as fast as I can.

Reception per se is not a problem - always 5 or 4 bars. But calls are dropped all the time, SMS do not go through, 3G is dead slow or nonexistant, etc. etc. The cell phone becomes practically useless, I am tempted to start looking for old good payphones...

Good luck making or receiving any calls, texts, anything in The Haight. I live here and even in my house I get 0 to 1 bar. I complained for two years to ATT and finally they allowed me a MicroCell Tower free of charge when I called wanting to leave ATT one day. The Microcell doesn't provide 5 bars throughout my house as the ads state. It gives me 4 or five if I am literally on top of it, and 1 to 2 bars as soon as I leave the room I have it in. ATT in SF is atrociously (unbelievably, unacceptably) bad and I cannot wait to switch my plan and my family's plan over to Verizon.

The reception for the iPhone has gone from bad to almost non-existant on my phone in the Richmond in the last two months. The only place I can makes calls in my house is in one room with my head turned in one direction. If I turn my head, I drop the call. The phone doesn't ring and texts won't send. Addtionally, in the last two months my reception at work during the day at Levis Plaza is also terrible. My phone no longer rings and sometimes voicemails won't show up until hours later.

Really bad reception all over the Upper Haight neighborhood. 1-2 bars on the street, and if I go inside a restaurant or bar, I'm lucky if I get a signal at all. My GF has Sprint, and she has no problem.

Deplorable service with iPhone 3GS, then iPhone 4. I moved here from New York in August - I had my share of problems in NYC but that was paradise compared to the lack of service I experience in San Francisco. Many totally dead zones, especially upper Market, Cole Valley, Hayes Valley areas. Text messages stall and sometimes refuse to go through - it's guaranteed that they'll take a minute or two to send. Getting the iPhone app that's supposed to alert AT&T of problems is such a joke... it's like saying "If you don't receive this letter, simply mail it back to us." AT&T deserves the mass desertions it's going to experience when Verizon offers the iPhone 4. The company has done nothing to improve service despite major public outcry.

About six months ago my reception dropped to 1 bar or no service in my house--previously it was about 3 bars. Still works OK outside--the signal just doesn't seem to have the strength to make it through walls anymore. My wife has an iPhone 2G which fares a bit better, but never more than 3 bars. Call drops are frequent and data is pretty slow as well. It pretty much sucks.

About six months ago my reception dropped to 1 bar or no service in my house--previously it was about 3 bars. Still works OK outside--the signal just doesn't seem to have the strength to make itn through walls anymore. My wife has an iPhone 2G which fares a bit better, but never more than 3 bars. Call drops are frequent and data is pretty slow as well. It pretty much sucks.

AT&T data rates in the BART tunnel from Embarcadero until signal is lost between Civic Center and 16th Street / Mission are incredibly slow; worse when there are crowds. That they finally put service in there is good but data rates remains awful. I try to use Nextbus to plan where to get off and which bus to take but often that's an exercise in futility with this network. I'm done with AT&T.

Horrible reception. Had to consistently walk 2+ blocks for service to place calls / texts. Sporadic and intermittent vm / txt notifications at random hours. SFSU yielded better service but it was generally poor as well. I absolutely hated ATT and their customer service.

AT&T has been getting progressively worse for the past few years. It was great 5 or more years ago but honestly at SFSU I have zero reception, the Financial District is constantly going between 0-1 bars, and my house has only 1 bar in the Fillmore. And like someone else said, Hayes Valley is the Valley of no reception.

As a phone, the iPhone is a great PDA. I used to have Verizon for about 4 years, and before that, Nextel for about 5 years, and so I expected to be able to use my phone wherever and whenever. Wrongo! It is truly a testament to how many cool other features the device has that I have put up with worse phone service than I used to get with my old Sprint brick phone more than ten years ago. I can't use it in my home office... I have to go to the top floor in the building and stay on the side nearest the street to be able to use the phone at home. My wife won't talk to me on the phone... she'll say "call me from the land line when you get home." And don't try to use your AT&T phone at AT&T Park. Astonishing that they don't put a freaking cell tower in their own ball park! Wow. Wow.

Completely unable to make phone calls in my apartment, even standing near a window on top floor with line of sight over buildings. I have given up even being able to talk on my phone at home. How ridiculous is that!? Entire area of Lower Haight and Hayes Valley horribly bad. Driving through that area last night I went a good 12 - 15 blocks with 0 - 1 bars reception after it dropped my call. Terribly dissatisfied and frustrated.

I bought an iPad 3g hoping to access my favorite web radio station at work (since my employer blocks it on their network), at first I was able to access it, but after a couple of weeks there was no longer any signal. My secretary who sits across from me says she needs to find a window and wave her iphone around to try to detect a signal if she wants to make a call.

Consistently can't make calls or have calls dropped, it says I have 3G but I usually only see the spinning wheel when I try to access data network. Wretched, wretched, wretched. If it doesn't improve when Verizon comes on board, I'll (reluctantly) go to an Android.

At Waller and Cole, reception is spotty to nonexistent. Some Nokia models get a bar or two extra, but most phones can't get a signal as you walk around the neighborhood. The entire Haight and Cole Valley are pretty awful. ATT kept saying they were 'building out their network' and would be done by this fall, but I've seen no change in service. Sitting by my window in my apartment I often get no signal at all. I bought a MicroCell for my apartment, so I'm paying AT&T for the privilege of using my own network to make calls. Also, AT&T just changed my rate plan, since they decided my $115 / month wasn't enough, since they now recognize the Nexus One (which I bought at full price from Google, of course) as a Smart Phone, which means I have to pay $45 for text+data instead of $30, even though I use the same amount of data. It just gets worse and worse, and I've been a customer with AT&T / Cingular for 8 years. I like the idea of a class action lawsuit - they want more and more money for NO service in many areas, in the center of San Francisco even. Is it greed? Incompetence? What?

Live on Beulah b / w Stanyan and Shrader. Is AT&T going to do something about this? If not, they are deplorable. We had to get land lines because we cannot make or receive calls in our apartment. Will pay whatever $$ fee there is to leave AT&T whenever a new carrier picks up iPhone.

No AT&T reception at all at Mississippi and Mariposa where I work. AT&T is useless, a real ripoff in San Francisco.

Terrible service from AT&T. I rarely can use the phone, and rarely can I get email or use the web. This service is a rip off, they should be sued for cheating their San Francisco customers. I am going to use my Iphone as a ipod touch. I need to buy a phone from a real cell phone service.

AT&T has several very distinct dead zones in SF. Another is Hayes Valley and other spotty zones include the inner Mission and some of Haight Ashbury. THE WORST cell phone service I have ever experienced. Major frustration many times per week.

Inside the 5th floor of a building facing the intersection I mentioned. My desk is near a window, but my cell has no bars and no 3G. In some days, I get lucky with getting three bars and GPRS, but they don't last long. Frustrating.

I used to have reception and now I have almost none. AT&T really does suck in SF!

It's worse when it shows you that you have full bars but then it doesn't work. Or you're on the Edge network when you should be on 3G. I've called AT&T about it and one lady just kept on insisting that this is normal... it's been like this in this area since the beginning of August when I noticed it felt like I didn't have a phone... for the lack of usage.

If you live in San Francisco *DO NOT* go with AT&T. The service is absolutely atrocious. A complete waste of money. I had a T-Mobile phone for six years prior and I may have had 5 dropped calls the entire time.

Att reception is so poor in Cole Valley. It's not possible to keep my account with ATT after 3 years of living here. Apple makes an amazing phone but it doesn't matter because the cell service is so bad. My calls never come through until I get a voicemail, and I can't just pick up my phone and call someone. I have to drive down the street to get reception. Isn't this suppose to be the most technologically advanced city in the country?

Sitting high on top of the hill and still reception is terrible. Sometimes get 2 bars, sometimes 4. Calls drop or we don't even hear them ring. Looking to go with Verizon possibly

Data and voice signal strength in this area is abysmal and has gotten worse in the past week. I can barely get an Edge data connection in the Diamond Heights Safeway area or my home a block away. A few months ago signal strength was better - not great, just better than it is now. I could get 3G connections that would last a while.

AT&T sells services they cannot provide. It is fraud and there should be a class action lawsuit against them. Forget about making phone calls through AT&T in SF! G3, G4 downgrade to G1... it doesn't matter you will not be able to make or receive calls within an 8 mile radius of the downtown SF Apple Store where I was told to get another phone if I needed to make phone calls! And they didn't mean with AT&T!

The last month my ATT Service has gone down hill, I basically told them to stuff the $500 a month bill down their throats if it did not improve, so the ATT store gave me a new Iphone 4 to see if the reception was better at my office. No such Luck, called them and asked what I should do and they said as of Aug 15 and Aug 17 there are two towers out in the area. Truth or a Lie? Every time I call and ask why my service sucks they say there are towers down. I asked when can I return my phones and cancel my account they said it would be fixed by Friday, another lie. I asked them so since I am getting partial service maybe I should pay part of my bill. Silence, I mentioned if this was a car and every week it did not work, there is a law I can return it, silence. I asked if I am getting progressively worst service from ATT then I want to cancel may service, she mentioned if the towers are not working then we could talk about that at a later date. BS I say. Apples biggest mistake was going with ATT... T-Mobile sucks in SF but its better than ATT service.

5 bars and no reception. How does that work exactly?

The AT&T reception is so unrelieable as to be completely unusable in my appartment. I would be better off with two tin cans and a piece of string. I cannot maintain a conversation for more than five minutes without dropping a call. Many times I make calls it fails without connecting. This is with the iPhone 3G, iPhone 4 and other phones I have tried. Seriously I am going to have to switch to a landline or use Skype for my calls - how lame is that? If you live in San Francisco avoid AT&T like the plague. Until they can put some new towers in the service is completely unusable.

Safeway in Diamond Heights is an AT&T cell phone dead zone. Calls elsewhere in the neighborhood are a gamble--sometimes I get a signal, other times I don't. When I do get a signal, the call sometimes drops. My roommate has T-Mobile. He has no problems in the same area.

In the SF financial district, you will see 4-5 bars on 3G with the iPhone, but cannot make or receive a phone call, cannot access voicemail, cannot get texts, cannot use Internet. They like to blame the buildings, or "hills of SF", but after 7pm, I can use all voice and data functions on the iPhone as expected. Sitting at my desk I can confirm that I cannot get voice or data connection during normal work hours, then after hours my iPhone can be used for voice and data.

I have fairly good reception in my apartment at this location. At least it's usable. The weird thing about AT&T reception in San Francisco is that it is unpredictable. There are lots of dead spots, especially in the Financial District. The 3G reception is particularly unpredictable. In the Financial District, you are lucky if you get 1.0 Mbps download. Usually, it's 0.5 Mbps. But, I was in South of Market, at Harrison and 6th St.the other day, and there I was getting about 2.0 Mbps.

My AT&T service has gone from bad to non-existent - or nearly so. I cannot talk on my phone unless I am in my backyard, and even then I am guaranteed a drop during every call. My 3GS service has also gone downhill and is spotty at best. Like many here I love my iPhone, but it's basically useless and I can't entertain the idea of signing another 2-year contract with AT&T and rewarding them for such poor service. Maybe Apple needs to lose a bunch of cutomers to wake it up. I'm switching to Verizon. Thanks for eveyone's comments. This site really helped me out.

Disaster. Two great phones, most of the time cannot even connect to make a call. Try getting voicemail. Forget about it. Wont connect after 10 tries. I have Verizon here for my work mobile. Works perfectly with an old Treo 700p. The calls on AT&T that do go through are of poor quality, and you can pretty much guarantee that you will have to redial (not necessarily with success) every two or three minutes. This is completely unacceptable. I cant believe Im letting myself get ripped off like this by these fools. AT&T - worst company ever.

AT&T is a joke. I live in SF, 3mn driving from the Castro (one of the main district of the city) and I have no reception whatsoever. One could think that I am one of the unlucky exceptions, but hold on: - From my place to the Safeway in Diamond Height (another area of the city, distance = ~ 1mile), there is no coverage whatsoever. - I work in Sausalito: no coverage at my work either - When I commute between SF and Sausalito (on US 101), calls drop ~5 times The iPhone itself is an excellent device, the poor quality of the network in one of the US major city is really what kills it. Basically, from anywhere I call (even when I have full bars), I consider myself lucky if my call goes through the first time. It usually takes 2 to 3. And this is with any phones I used on AT&T. I am from Europe when cell phone quality is excellent in most locations (including tunnels and metros). This is only a matter of AT&T spending its money on extending + upgrading its network rather than paying for prime time ads pretending they are the best carrier. "We cover 97% of American" (maybe if they don't move); "Our 3G is faster than Verizon" (but you need to be at the right place and not move).

I can only use my iphone if I lean out my kitchen window. A lot of money for little service. Not good. The iphone itself is fabulous with its many easy to use features, it's ability to sync with mac and other advantages, but the connection... there are no words to tell how really bad it has been.

I used to love my iPhone before I moved from the Peninsula to SF. Now, I can't receive or make a call and I go from 0 bars to 5 every few seconds. The phone is useless in my new home. Everything drops..internet, downloads and calls. I'm buying a droid, which is a shame because I think the iPhone is the most intuitive phone ever produced.

My data service is slow as molasses and often takes so long to load a page that it times out. There is NO 3G coverage. My phone is pretty much always on "Edge" which is 2G. So crappy. Also, my calls are always dropping. I'm going to suck up the termination fee and get Verizon. ATT is terrible and the customer service is awful too. No customer appreciation or concern.

AT&T service is extremely poor. You get service when the wind blows in the right direction and then poof its gone.

I only get reception in half my apt. and half my work by Levis plaza, sometimes less than that. AT&T sucks sooo much, why did Apple have to pick them. The day Verizon gets the Iphone i'm switching!

I have never been more dis-satisfied with a service provider than with AT&T. I have had their service since my first mobile phone and the last two years living in San Francisco Bay Area have been VERY UNPLEASANT on the mobile service. I can't finish a conversation (or even start one in many cases) because of the poor poor service quality around the city and throughout the region. I plan to switch this weekend asafp! (finally... it should have been done years ago.) I am only hoping the grass is greener on the other side, we will see.

I've never had a dropped call in the city, and get 3G almost everywhere. Maybe I'm living in a bubble, but AT&T has always been great for me!

I have had several people ask me to not call me from my cell phone because of how often calls get dropped in the city.

AT&T should be sued and Steve Jobs should be slapped for locking the iPhone community into this horrible provider. I have heard that AT&T has oversold their network. They cant handle all the iPhone users and can't handle all the traffic on their network. This is why they are dropping calls and often times when you try to place a call and the call fails it's because your battling other users for air time... .Love the iphone hate the AT&T service.

There needs to be a class action lawsuit on ATT. I get virtually no reception during the day and when I do, its EDGE or even at GPRS level. Thats why I gve it a 0, no 3G. Dismal. Sad and depressing. My co-workers with Verizon have no issues at all.

In the past 2.5 years, my reception has gone from bad to worse. Today, I have zero bars, "No Reception" or "Searching... " in the upper left corner of my iPhone 3GS. I rebooted it once just to make sure that it wasn't the phone itself. I love my iPhone but absolutely hate AT&T's coverage in this area. In contrast, my friend visits with his Sprint phone and has 3-4 bars and good reception. I'm in a condo building less than 500 feet from AT&T Park - yes their namesake. Wouldn't you think that they would make sure that they had great coverage around a major baseball park in their name?! Steve Jobs, please ink a deal with Verizon soon.

3G claims 5 bars. GSM claims 5 as well. But that itself doesn't match reality. inside building (about 30 ft from windows) incoming calls last for about 10 seconds until they terminate. same with outgoing. no data service.

ZERO coverage in the entire Mission Dolores area. Love the iPhone but strongly considering jailbreaking it or moving over to a Palm Pixi on Sprint (I hate the Pre). I would love to move over to Verizon phone but I hate the Droid and the Crackberry.

I am so frustrated with AT&T's dropped calls. drove between cole valley and teresita and had the call drop 9 times. Verizon here I come. AT&T should be forced out of the city for the sHeety coverage that they have been providing for years. I guess telephone deregulation really works. (sic)

dropped calls, no service, scratchy

inside our condo we get no AT&T service. have to go outside to talk on the phone. hope to switch to some other servcie asap.

My phone usually doesn't even ring in my home. Making a call near my Upper Market home is a fool's errand: The call drops every single time. It's necessary to have a land-line in this area because AT&T's service is so unreliable.

Ridiculous! I have to reset my iPhone several times a day because it doesn't detect any cellular signal. I never had this many dropped calls or calls that simply don't go through with Sprint. Granted, I've never complained to AT&T. I say we deluge them with letters. :P

I hate ATT for many reason, but get perfectly decent reception in most areas including the Canadian Rockies on vacation. I get 3-5 bars in my SOMA apartment even in the section that is below ground level. The fact is that the specific phone plays much of the issue, and the iPhone's reception SUCKS! All my friends who have one have issues, but those of us that stuck with older phones have little to no problem anywhere. Of course I did have bad reception around Kanab Utah, but look it up on a map and you'll understand why. No problem in Page, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona or Phoenix areas.

ATT is a joke. Drops at least three calls every day driving home from work. Fails to make callls, voicemail doesn't show up for hours. Why did I switch from Verizon???

Calls drops a lot, constant buzzing sound in background, VM sometimes not delivered for 24h or more. Have to step outside to get semidecent signal.

All of the sudden, iPhone releases it's MMS software and my AT&T service sucks nearly everywhere in San Francisco, including my house which has always been dependable. Coincidence with the mms option for iPhones-- I have no idea, but AT&T sucks regardless.

Mostly get 0 to 1 bar inside, at any location near Cole Valley, UCSF, Inner Sunset. No bars inside or out at Diamond Heights, Twin Peaks and most of Corona Heights. Customer service at AT&T is a joke, rude and major time suckage. I put off getting the iPhone because AT&T has a monopoly and am glad I didn't renew my contract with them. I have all services with them right now but am switching to Verizon's 3G, TV and internet tomorrow.

No reception in my place, have to go outside to my backyard to get reception! :(

Have had my iPhone since Sept '07. Generally decent service around Union Square, Lake Merritt and other specific areas. Being out for a hike on Mt. Tam, you don't expect service... but living in the Inner Richmond is not exactly remote and I'm lucky to receive a voicemail within the day it was received. My AT and T issues started a few years ago when they wouldn't remove an unused FamilyTalk plan, and then as of two months ago my phone doesn't work anywhere near my house: texts go through (very slowly, if at all) but no calls, voicemails can take up to a day to show up and missed calls happen with the phone just sitting next to me. I love my iPhone but I'm looking for a phone that works -- sounds like Verizon is my new carrier!

AT&T is the WORST in the Bay area... have to give up my iphone for verizon.

No reception. Since "upgrading" to 3GS I have had more dropped calls throughout the City than I did with the old 3G. Furthermore, reception is often poor.

WHY oh WHY did I sign a 2 year contract with AT&T?? I want to throw this useless device through a window. Why on earth did Apple who are only based an hour away- sign with AT&T when they have the worst service in the city! I don't even get missed calls in my apartment, VM delays 24 hours, dropped calls every single time, and even standing out in the middle of the street I get 2 bars at best. DO NOT SIGN WITH AT&T, I should've stuck with Verizon!

Since the SOMAGrand and first Trinity Apt. Tower went up, AT&T reception has diminished considerably. Both Palm Treo 650 and new iPhone 3GS reception are awful. Am considering a booster for the building. The Clear Voice 800 or jdteck devices. They run about $200 - $300. Anyone have experience with these?

I work on the corner of Mission and 13th and the AT&T reception is horrible! Everyone at my office complains about how their AT&T phone don't work at all in theis building. And outside, I can only get edge at best for data speed!

Signal strength is spotty in my 1st fl apartment and around my building. Out on the street the signal gets decently good, however, the data network (edge) is unreliable. Additionally, both voice and data reception is hit and miss all the way on the inbound on the J train from Upper Noe at least to the Castro.

Terrible! The service is awful everywhere in this city. Get AT&T only if you are a) not relying on cell service for business b) nostalgic for the land line days because you will need one c) a masochist. I only wish I didn't sign up for that two year contract.

In the Richmond District, I basically teeter between no reception and one bar (on Edge). I rarely land on 3G and when I do, it is usually when I am downtown or driving down 19th Ave through the Sunset District. AT&T is disappointingly unreliable; I wish I could switch carriers but I'm tied to this 2-year contract. Avoid going with AT&T if you plan to live in the city.

AT&T = Worst carrier ever! Constant disappointment. If I had a dime for every dropped call I'd be a millionaire. Phone works fine in some other markets... there's nothing wrong with the phone.

the iPHONE 3GS has been a big disappointment. For all the money we pay per month it's not worth it. It drops calls all over the place especially at home in Emeryville. No reception. It switches between Edge and 3G while I'm in the same spot. ATT and APPLE owe us money back!

went from Verizon to AT&T last year---only because I wanted an iPhone. while I love the device, the AT&T coverage---both call reception and 3G coverage---is extremely spotty. during my time with Verizon the call quality was near perfect. with AT&T there are dropped calls, ghost voices (echoes), and unreliable 3G even in the middle of SF or Berkeley. if apple was really savvy they would unlock the phone or at least get it over to verizon. rumor is they will----i'll believe it when I see it.

My reception has improved over the last several months. I get decent 3G reception. However, once I start to use the 3G it usually kicks back over to EDGE. At least I am able to talk on my phone these days, that's an improvement from a year ago.

The phones don't work on the top of Protrero Hill. I called AT&T and they said the cell towers or on the bottom of the hill!

Had to return my iphone after 1 day as there was no reception at my house. Went back to Sprint and the Palm Pre which has a weak signal here but at least has some coverage.

Barely works on the south side of the house closest to the street. Doesn't work at all on the North side of the house.

i work at the garage and ATT seems 2 be the carrier with the strongest signal as well as the entire airport

Dead, dead, dead. Market St.between Clayton and Diamond Heights is a zero-bar AT&T dead zone. Diamond Heights Shopping Center: Never completed a call with o a drop.

I have 2 bars at best. My phone won't even ring at times and goes automatically into voicemail. Then I won't even get my voicemail messages until the next day if I'm lucky! Same for text messages.

Horrible coverage, and I'm downtown San Francisco. I barely one or two bars and calls are constantly dropped. At times my phone won't even ring and goes directly into voicemail. if someone leaves me a voicemail I don't even get it until a day later...

I get 1 bar of 3g but that is only until I try and use it. The phone usually pauses for 10 to 30 seconds as to tries the 3g and then eventually falls back to edge. Basically any incoming call requires waiting for all of this to happen before either of us can communicate. On an outgoing call it takes 30+ seconds for the call to go through if it goes through at all. It isn't the phone. It works better in other locations that are less populated.

Poor reception in home. Need to move from one room to another to find good reception. Often unable to hear clearly so end up missing at least a quarter of the conversation.

horrible reception right at my building, dropped calls in apt. was never a problem with the old phones pre-pda / smart phone.

Castro - Eureka Valley near 18th and Market. Dropped calls or straight to VoiceMail. Dropped packets - garbled when calls do go through. Impossible to give up landline. 3G nonexistant. Edge erratic and uselessly slow. Ask for 50% rebate on your data plan as their map shows 3G available everywhere.

Seems like in the last year the phone reception on our AT&T Tilt has really gone down hill. We can barely hear callers now from our house. It used to be this way with Cingular a bunch of years ago from our house, which backs up to West Portal, but then after AT&T came along reception got much much better. For some reason recently the Tilt gets awful phone reception, but we have an older Nokia model that gets great reception. I'm chalking it up to the Tilt not handling the calls well, but the whole thing doesn't make sense.

Reception goes form 3G to Edge when I sit at my desk and use the iphone. Called the AT&T Service Center to so advise and they didn't seem to understand that AT&T needs to beef up their network in the SF area to accomodate all the iphone traffic on their network - the Tech blamed the poor coverage on the SIM card / iphone hardware. Duh. Seems lake the dropped calls are increasing and the 3G speed is decreasing since I upgraded to 3.0 and the 3GS was released. I swithched from Verizon to AT&T for the iphone. No doubt in my mind theat Verizon has better coverage (wish they had the foresight to make the deal with Apple rather than let it slip to AT&T).

Building without concrete roof with very very little reception, sometime cell phone connect but line in or out can not hear from other side.

Horrible coverage city wide even over earlier ATT blackberry phones. I assume it is a poor 3G network. The spotty service makes it an unusable phone for business or commuter calls. We must have traveled back in time.

Rarely any reception. Regular missed and dropped calls.

Dead zone for about a 5 to 6 block radius. Spotty at best even when you go down to the Mission. AT&T is terrible. I want Verizon with the iPhone, never had a problem with Verizon, don't know of anyone having bad coverage with Verizon

We have 3 ATT phones and none of them work well. Reception was Ok with 2 bars until about 2 weeks ago. Now I am lucky if I get 1 bar and the call doesn't drop. Since I use my phones for business, I will unfortunately need to cancel my ATT accounts. Do NOT sign up for ATT until they get the service improved in San Francisco. (a small town just north of Cupertino, CA - Apple... ) Verizon is much better.

I have 2 ATT phones and they both dont work. Reception was Ok with 2 bars until about 2 weeks ago. Now I am lucky if I get

Occasionally I get one bar of service, if I stand with phone against the window of my apartment. Mainly though I get my messages by walking a few blocks away towards downtown.

Awful. No 3G. Dropped calls multiple times a day. The pits. I miss Verizon. : /

Crummy reception, dropped calls, fast-busies - whatever that means (overloaded cell site?)

4 months ago I was the talk of the town. In fact, I was the only person in San Francisco to have the paparazzi following them 8-12 hours / day. now that i've moved to cole valley I aint got sheit. no friends, no family, no stalkarazzi - why? no cell service. no opportunity to give the paparazzi the 'heads up' on my next location. no friends to call to party. no family to brag to. at&t has dropped the ball in this neighborhood. for real.

Very unreliable and poor reception,there is Very bad reception inside of buildings,have to move from room to room in my house in order for my phone to barely work

Reception a complete joke. I can rarely send a text message or make a phone call, even when I walk outside. Atrocious cell coverage - worst in the city. Actually, the bad coverage area is quite significant.

The worst service I have ever ever had. Changed from Sprint because of the nasty customer service, and wish I hadn't. We spend our lives keeping the other spouse from throwing the phones against the wall and then stomping on them.

I never get 3G reception in the sunset district, and in my apartment I never see above two bars with dropped calls every call, depending on where I'm standing in the building.

Terrible reception everywhere I go. Frequent dropped calls. Once dropped, can't make a call for 10 minutes, as the network is "no service" or "emergency only." I think ATT should be sued.

Sometimes 5 bars - but not for long. Then I can't understand what the other person is saying because only one in three words is audible. Or the call drops. Sometimes if I run the the street side, I get reception. Then I run to the back side to get reception. Then to the park side. I'm exhausted! Called AT&T and they wrote down something and sent it to someone - I felt oddly appeased (do they put something in the water to calm us down?).

Very spotty reception indoors. My living room looks directly at Sutro Tower through 12'hx16'w glass ; yet I can watch the signal strength (it should read 'weakness') like watching a sound meter mostly stuck on 'No service') If the iPhone manages to receive an incoming call, it goes to vmail before I can grab it. Then, the voice mail is delivered 20-30 minutes later. When I walk over to the bus stops on Roosevelt Way, it is always dead. On the bus it is very spotty until we get closer to Cole Valley / Haight Street. Based on the many reports from others in this vicinity, it seems as though ATT can't be bothered to improve, especially in an economic downturn. I wish Apple had done a little more research.

Very poor reception. Dropped calls etc'. Dropped Sprint for the iphone. Love my iphone, but it's almost useless as a phone at my house. Very annoying and weird since I live in the geographical center of SF.

ATT reception in this neighborhood is terrible! Cell signal is unreliable and I have yet to actually finish a conversation in the years that I have lived here. Sprint actually seems to work here. Am researching cell phone boosters.

I can get phone calls, in that it rings (sometimes), but I cannot have conversations. My phone was bad when I lived at Haight and Ashbury, but now it is far worse. I've been forced to get a landline so that I can communicate with others. Sucks.

About 2 bars in the plane when taxiing and 1 bar in the terminal, with reception cutting in and out. How can AT&T claim global coverage when they cannot provide service at a major airport?

I need to lean very close to my window to get 2 bars so I can talk. My social life is dwindling fast! I also get calls dropped when I'm in the middle of booking tickets and am put on hold. Not fun.

Calls are constantly dropped although the phone has three or four bars. When calls go through, they break up and are too quiet.

Very poor reception in house and calls go in and out or drop completely. Outside apartment I only get Edge, no 3G.

The crest of this hill always drops calls as you crest the crest. Even though the service signals pretends to indicate full strength on either side.

I have a clear view of Twin Peaks where there is allegedly an AT&T mast... but alas... .a swirling 1 bar reception to no 0 bar reception. I'm unsure if it's my fancy iphone or my lead lined house? come AT&T sort it out?!

Reception is appalling here; it typically varies between 1 and 2 bars and often drops totally. I was told by AT&T that my cellphone was the problem since it is unlocked. I believe this is simply part of the usual misinformation campaign of network providers.

just bought a condo and both my wife's iPhone and my Sony Ericsson X1 get awful (read: no bars) reception

I was very excited to get an iPhone until I brought it home and found no reception where I live. I am devastated and will consider taking back my fancy new iPhone in the next 30 days. I live in a condo and have the door intercom connect to my cell phone, no one can visit me right now, alas.

thankfully, I don't spend too much time on the phone, but if I did, I would have to switch from AT&T and not be able to use an iPhone. my old Razor got decent reception but the reception is pretty much 0-1 bar all of the time. I can't wait to ditch AT&T! should have bought an iPod touch and switched to Verizon!

AT&T is worthless up here...

3G coverage is 1-3 of 5 bars, but calls are alway clear even with only 1 or 2 bars. 1G / 2G coverage is nearly always 5 bars and takes over if 3G is not available.

No reception at work, spotty reception at home (best case)... .consistently dropping calls at both locations... .ATT&T is much much worse than Verizon, only switch because Verizon never gets the good blackberry's, cant wait for the thunder so I can ditch ATT

Signed up for AT&T with a spiffy LG Shine, had awesome service the first day, then I could hardly make any calls anywhere in the Mission. Guy at Best Buy said it was the phone, it wasnt, tried a Sony Erickson580 and had the same terrible reception. Im going back to Verizon.

I have work here for the last 17 years. Since I got AT&T I have no reception on Haight Street. This is the Cemetery for AT&T. I am calling them right now to cancel my service. I found out you can now terminate your service and they can no longer charge you for early termination. It is now ilegal to do so. In order to use my phone here I have to call my voice mail and check who call me. AT&T sucks! I was able to use Verizon here all the time. Thank you

ATT&T finally admitted that they sold several of their towers to TMobile in this area. As a result AT&T service is horrible in this area of the city. They have no current plans to address the problem.

Aweful reception. If I do get one bar it usually drops my call eventually. Can only stand in one place in my apartment.

Very disappointed with AT&T's coverage in SF Bay area. It is shoddy at best. I go from full coverage bars to zero coverage bars at the drop of a dime, and my calls are frequently dropped.

AT&T reception sucks. I can't use my cell in my apt and am therefore paying tons of money for long distance on my landline. Calls constantly get dropped all over the city. From what I read here, Verizon is the way to go. Goodbye, AT&T!

Very limited reception in my house

I've been a long time customer of ATT and I had excellent service when I lived in the East Bay. However, I recently moved to San Francisco and its terrible! Reception is very erratic, I consistently have dropped calls, and call quality is very poor. I even tried changing my phone and it didn't make a difference. Many of my friends have Verizon and have perfect signal; as soon as my contract is over, I'm switching.

OOPS: in error and in my frustration from dealing with ATT, I accidentally listed my first post as Alltel, which is incorrect. I have ATT. The WORST SERVICE EVER. I have spotty coverage, the phone switches between 3G, Edge and G and I constantly drop calls... inside and even outside! I can walk 2 blocks up to Market and get a perfect 3G signal, and walk 2 blocks to Valencia and get a perfect Edge signal (even though the service is still spotty-at least it is consistent). However, in Dolores Mission... weak coverage. Per ATT Tech support, it is a weak coverage area and they plan to build a tower at 16th and Guerrero... but no idea when. My roommate has Sprint and can talk in the basement. I on the other hand, standing in the bay window or walking down the street, can watch my signal go from full bars to 1 bar and so on and so on. Their techinal support is lacking also and from other posts on here, see I am not the only one. I am going to Sprint.

i used to get 1 - 3 bars, now it's more like 0-1 bar. ATT says that they used to be leasing a tower from T-Mobile here but are no longer in that agreement. they want to fix the problem, but have no plan in action to fix it. they're willing to let me out of my contract, but i'm not sure what other carriers have better service in the area and can take my iphone, assuming that I unlock it myself. also, not sure what happens to my iphone warranty / apple care as a result.

I recently switched from Sprint to get an iphone. ATT / Cingular is horrible in SF compared to Sprint. I got 1 bar on my iphone for the first 3 months and then last month go "no service" at all. I love the phone so much I am in denial about my non-phone use. ATT tech department says they have a known problem in that area and have no resolution date. I am not the only ATT customer in that area that is having problems. I guess they really have no love for us... Love the iphone, ATT is horrible.

Phone not ringing or calls get dropped. Are we still in the early 90's?

Coverage in this neighborhood is the pits. And seems to be getting worse. In the past two months lots of dropped calls inside and out of our place. Delayed voice mails are common. At the Safeway Shopping Center across the street it's hot and miss. Sometimes you can get a signal and other times its best to use a pay phone or carrier pigeon. I've called AT&T at lest three times to complain. They mentioned service on a surrounding cell site and promised to take notes. Just this week I called and got a great service rep who listened with compassion and then credited me a half a month of service ($90) on our three phone plan. We had better cell coverage in our Diamond Heights area back before the merger with Cingular. I'd go back to Verizon if Apple would open things up for the iPhone... my next purchase.

it's been about a month now for ZERO cell reception indoors with AT&T. AT&T flip flops between saying that their "service maps" show good coverage and telling me that they're in the middle of tower consolidation. Funny enough, their quote was that they were "degrading the service" which they quickly explained meant "integrating new towers". I can't believe it's been a month without service... way to go AT&T...

My calls keep on getting droped and rarely is there more than one bar, I am glad I have a landline (Also supplied by ATT!) I keep my phone updated.

As noted by the commenter with AT&T at Cole / Carl, I too had my reception drop to near nil around the same time. I just spent an hour with customer service who finally forwarded me to a tech who said they've had to remove several towers in my area due to their FCC contract. I was told I can get out of my contract because of it, but haven't tried yet... Wish me luck!

About a week or so ago reception in our apartment went to a one or two bars (when standing in front of one particular window) to ZERO reception. I cannot even sent text messages. What happened recently in the neighborhood????

I have had Cingular for many years, and have just grown up with it. I think the quality of phones has improved as well as the coverage. within S.F. I can get good coverage almost anywhere Including in elevators (sometimes). I travel around the state some and can almost get coverage anywhere. I was In Japan last year and was able to call out and receive from Cal. It's better than Pidgins!

Inside the house, I can get reception upstairs but as long as I do not move my head. Right outside the house, on the sidewalk, I canNOT make any outgoing calls and cannot even reach 911. I have two more days on my AT&T / Cingular / AT&T account, and then I'm outta there!

One call I have reception, next call words are dropping everywhere and can't hold a call, both receiving and sending voice. Middle of good call, not moving at all, will suddenly shift to poor reception. Lots of problems, and I live top floor of the highest building atop of Diamond Heights hill, no blocking obstacles! I can't do business on ATT! Supposedly option to drop plan if reception problems in known zone.

Frequent dropped calls, calls not coming through, can't place calls. Even when I stand at a window it is spotty. People can't hear me, it's choppy. AT&T is awful. I *hate* them just a little bit less than I love Apple.

AT&T coverage is the pits in Diamond Heights. Standing in the Safeway shopping center is hit or miss. Garbled reception and poor quality all the way around. AT&T should be payng me for this service. Frequent drop outs all over the city. And yes I can seldom get good quality calls on the top floor of my complex. Cingular used to be better. And it's not just the Razr phones we own. It's the technology that AT&T is using (abusing) and passing off as a paid service. Jeez!

Virtually no or fleeting reception. Calls get dropped constantly. Totally unreliable.

Inside my house, I need to stand by the window in the back of the second floor, and even then it's spotty. It used to be better before Cingular merged with AT&T and forced us to upgrade with new sim cards. I know that my son's girlfriend gets reception in our house, but that's Verizon plus a relatively newer phone. Can't tell if it's a better carrier, phone, or both.

Despite having 270-degree views for miles, we have never had any cell reception here for the past 11 years.

Weak reception outdoors, absolutely no signal once I step inside unless standing 6 inches from a window

All over the place. I can be sitting at my desk (ground floor in front of unobstructed window) and watch the bars jump from 5 to 3 to No Service. I've noticed more and more dropped calls on this phone (never had this problem until about 3 months ago) throughout central San Francisco. When calling back, I now start the conversation with "Fewest dropped calls, my a**!"

If I stand still in the corner of my bathroom with the phone at a particular angle away from my head while concentrating all of my chi to improving cell phone reception, I can hear every third word in the conversation. Anywhere else and I might as well be using carrier pigeons for correspondence. I haven't had problems anywhere else in the city--just where I live. I just became eligible for a phone upgrade from AT&T, but I'm switching to Verizon.

Give it up - no reception, dropped calls all the time at this location. A friend and I routinely call each other back when one or other of us is approaching this intersection.

Give it up - no reception, dropped calls all the time at this location. A friend and I routinely call each other back when one or other of us is approaching this intersection.

Like one of the other reviewers, I get fluctuating bars depending on the exact position of my phone in the building. I've sat here and watched (and heard) the phone go from zero / one bar to four, while sitting on my desk. And forget trying to connect with anyone around rush hour. I might as well not have a phone. Outside is no better. I've failed or only intermittently connected while walking west along Irving St.while running errands. So much for multi-tasking with a sucky phone service. The ATT CSRs are useless and I agree, immediately escalate to a supe. They too are useless but you may get some credits from them at least.

Being a techno Freak I could not wait to get the new Iphone. I attempted to repress my memories of why I swore of AT&T for life when I decided to get this phone. Thank god they've hacked this phone because AT&T's lack of service is enough to make one want to slit their wrists or smoke Crack, or even better, do both, rather than deal with their ineptness. Dropped Calls, Failed Calls, Overcharged on Roaming an average of 20 bucks a month (lawyers please sign me for your multi-million dollar class action lawsuit on this Cherry Waiting to be plucked), and phone operators who sadly unable to help has me wishing I was back with Sprint. Never thought I'd say that, and if you've had sprint, you now know how rotten AT&T is! As I type this I've been on hold with ATT's technician line... ..the automated operator told me I'd have a 4 minute wait and thus far I've waited 15 minutes with the Disco Trash only fit for folks locked up in Guantanimo Bay. The Psychologists working for ATT are brilliant to have realised that making those on hold listen to this music will Result in them Haning Up, thus saving ATT a lot of cash. Hack The Iphone with your preferred carrier.

I just ditched Cingular / AT&T a few weeks ago, but felt compelled to post. I got terrible reception along 280 and in the western half of SF. I would get no coverage inside the park near the soccer fields, and maybe 1 bar at home near Geary. My calls would get dropped every few miles along 280 near Daly City and Millbrae. This really cheesed me off because I got 5 bars in the middle of the Mojave desert on the way to Vegas.

No reception with AT&T or 1 bar which quickly fades / drops out. Same result no matter where in the house, backyard or on the street in front of the house. Was with Sprint who have sucky customer service, but at least I had good reception and could make a phone call.

Reception stinked when I had the original AT&T coverage. Finally switched over to Cingular couple months ago and bought a new phone, reception improves 100%. Now I can talk anywhere inside the house even in the garage.

1st floor condo, no reception in kitchen and bathroom, static line quality in most other areas, ok when near window.

depends on what part of the house I'm in. certain rooms = no signal. and planes overhead drop calls.

I have a Verizon phone for home and a Cingular / ATT phone (Nokia E62) for work. The Verizon phone works much better all over SF, and the Cingular phone is the only phone that will get reception on Stanford campus.

Wow I used to have Verizon which was great. Cingular is terrible. I have dropped calls all the time. When I got the service two plus years ago they told me they didnt have a tower in bernal heights but would be upgrading service... its been two years... i am going back to verizon.

I love my phone, but my calls drop all the time. Overseas with the phone, I didn't have that problem, so I assume it is a lousy set up by Cingular here. I want to move back to Verizon which never dropped calls for me in SF, but I'm not looking forward to the cancellation fee.

I cannot make calls most of the time. And often, if do, they are dropped within minutes.

Reception in North Beach is rock solid. There are spots in the city where calls get dropped, but they have improved. I tried T-Mobile recently and it was absolutely horrible. I called customer service to point out that I had no service in my apartment and they told me I could request a new antenna in my neighborhood. Yeah, right. In any case, I've had Verizon, Cingular, and T-Mobile. Every one has its flaws, but I'd stay way clear of T-Mobile in this area. Their reception is so bad it's a joke.

CINGULAR SUCKS. Every call drops out after a minute or two at this location. Lots of times people call me and my phone doesn't even ring. Later I get a voicemail message.

I can only get a signal in one room of the apartment. Cingular says they have good service in this area. They are very very wrong.

The top of The Hill is really bad even though phones show good signal strength. As with a previous comment "I assume this is due to very poor C / I ratio (carrier to interference). The network also fails to be able to maintain calls (properly handover) when moving from the north-facing slope of the hill to the south-facing slope and vice versa." This has been a problem for many years and I have just assumed because there is no way for proper coverage it will always be very poor.

A lot of these posts are from people within blocks of me, and also with Cingular, yet the service is very different. I consistently had great service until Cingular sent me a SIM card upgrade which essentially rendered my phone obsolete. This happened to coincide with my 2 year contract expiring. Great corporate strategy... I think different phones can make for highly varied reception.

cingular - poor little to no reception in apt despite line of sight to sutro towers. ATT was also nonexistent in the past...

I always start a call with 4 bars then upon dialing a number the bars disappear and no service is available or if it is it's barely audible

I don't know who these people are or what phones they are using but I have pretty good coverage in my appartment, Golden Gate Park, The beach, Cole Valley and UCSF.

People just laugh at me when I say 'sorry, I have no cell reception at home.' 'Don't you live in San Francisco?' they say. Cingular said all I had to do was upgrade my phone, but it didn't help.

Lousy coverage. Indoor signal drops all the time. I have to hang off my back deck to get reception, which sucks when it is foggy and cold.

Lucky to get 1 bar outside. Calls drop after a few seconds, if you are even able to connect.

I get all bars all over the City and have never had a dropped call. I have been with Cingular / ATT (TDMA) since 10 / 2002. I lucked into a great plan with a lot of minutes ($35 for 750 minutes). Since Cingular and ATT merged I haven't heard anything good about the combined company. I love my plan and service. I just wish that I could upgrade my phone. But if I change plans (probably to Verizon), I would never be able to switch back to the Cingular / ATT TDMA plan I'm on now. Guess I'll stay on it until they convert those towers.

cingular rep tells me that "honestly... your svc. is just going to get worse as Cingular is refurbishing ATT twrs. and there is no schedule for completion".

I do not get reception inside my house at Parkmerced (near SFSU). Reception outdoors seems to come in waves.

Extremely spotty reception in our home - worthless as a land-line replacement. Phones often signal that we have a message while not making a sound during actual call. We rarely even try to use cell service until we've gone all the way down the hill into Noe Valley or the Castro.

Cingular sucks in the Mission! I have to walk two blocks just to get one bar. -And then the call usually drops anyway! According to customer service, Cingular provides "excellent" coverage in my neighborhood, but I sure as hell don't see it!

Really bad reception if any. On Eureka until I get to about 21st street. At home there is usually no service. I had to keep a land line and forward my cell phone there.

My Cingular service in downtown North Beach, or on any side of Telegraph Hill or Russian Hill is below average. Have not been wowed by Cingular, that's for sure. Although I am an old ATT customer, so not sure if my level of service is reflective of that. It seems to me that everyone has problems with their carrier in San Francisco in certain areas. It's just a sad reality that US cellular companies can charge as much as they do and then deliver sub par service. All because they won't pony up for more towers to reduce that high incidence of lost calls, poor signals, etc. Talk about a monopoly. This town needs a progressive company like NTT DoCoMo to come in here and force these lazy US carriers to clean up their act.

My signal strength for Cingular is all bars. Even inside buildings, I have at least 4 bars.

Can not get any reception in my house, right in middle of block between 14th and 15th. Used to be able to get weak reception when I had AT&T. I've had it - I'm going to look for a new carrier.

I cannot make or recieve calls from this area. Too bad I just signed a year lease. Jokes on me thanks cingular.

I shouldnt not have left sprint. I get the poorest reception all over. Maybe its the razr? I get so many dropped calls. I was satified with sprint. The only reason why I switch is the because of the phone. Now Sprint has the blade a900. Oh well 1 more year and back to Sprint

Sometimes good sometimes bad, since switching to Cingular from ATT my reception has improved. Cingular explains that you should be careful on the type of phone you buy. If you buy an import phone that is not designed for the US network then you might be screwed when it comes to signal.. Make sure that you have 850 and 1900.. 850 being the stronger one. As well 1800 will allow you to use it internationally. The phone might be the latest and greatest design, right in from europe or china, but if it doesn't give you a good signal forget it..

Even when my phone reads above average bars the reception is extremely poor.

I live in a "flatter" area of SF and my reception has been consistently good with both Cingular and the former AT&T Wireless GSM.

In my apartment I typically get 1 bar. Every once in awhile, I'll see 4 bars on the phone, but they quickly disappear. The sound in calls cuts out regularly, and I frequently cannot get a signal when I try to make a call. I called Cingular "customer service" nearly a year ago with complaints, back when I had an older Mororola 720 phone. The rep claimed that there were 4 cell antennas within a mile and that upgrading to a new phone should give me better service. Having studied eletronics, I pointed ou that the phones were solid state and did not wear out, but he insisted. Two Razr phones and a Pocket PC phone later, the signal has not improved. The Cingular hole here extends south down the hill to Diamond Heights, including the Safeway shopping center (where I was unable to get any signal at all outside recently) and east down into the west parts of Noe Valley and the south parts of Castro. At one point, when I was walking from my home downhill to Castro and was trying to have a phone conversation, the signal dropped nearly a half dozen times during that walk. Cingular service it utterly horrible in this mostly residnetial area and they seem singularly uninclined to improve service. Their "more bars" advertisements are tremendously misleading for San Francisco.

I get very bad reception all along Jackson even into the 94115 zip code. TDMA was good, but now that the towers are coming down Cingular has not corrected coverage. Data is unavailable while A Verizon Blackberry had perfect voice and data service.

TMobile sucked so hard which is why I switched back to Cingular, eventhough their customer service is really bad. They have improved I give them that. Cingular's reception is not perfect, no where close to Verizon around here but it's 1000% better then Tmobile. Sure, some of the more residential streets along Jackson, Pacific etc.. will have poorer reception but along Fillmore the reception has been terrific or maybe because I had to suffer for an entire year with T-Mobile kind of service that anything marginally better will seem like a godsend. Anyway, so far no complaints - got a 1 year contract with Cingular and the bill has been fair, reception good and quality of service, calls etc.. is good as well. Oh, 1 more thing, Tmobile's family plan and the sales guy that sold us that plan was a total fraud - they have no service in Madison where a family member lives. They out right lied to us and the overall bill is 50% more then what we are paying currently with Cingular. ps. E398 = black ROKR phone

Reception is spotty to non-existent. So much for Cingular -- wish I'd consulted this site before signing up.

Poor reception on CINGULAR towers; however, my phone allows selection of AT&T network (Cingular refers to RED and BLUE networks). AT&T (only) is 2 to 3 bars. So as long as I keep my phone 'locked' to AT&T towers, I've got service (I'm concerned about 'upgrading' phones to lesser-capable model--Cingular REQUIRES manufacturers to give company total control, removing user features enjoyed with European phones / networks).

No reception in most of the apartment. Avoid Cingular in the North of Panhandle area... .

No reception, either upstairs on the second floor or down on the street. Argh!

Pretty much perfect reception here, even in an office building.

Little to no reception in Pac Heights. Cingular is by far the worst of the carriers in the Bay Area.

When I first switched over to Cingular from the merged AT&T I got excellent coverage, then, inexplicably, two-three weeks ago, the coverage began to go haywire. I almost cannot have a conversation in my office. I go out the front door onto the street, and get nothing, then back inside and out the back door to get half a conversation. It has happened all over town. When I talk with a partner with a newest Treo down the peninsula, on the same Cingular service, we can hardly talk. He is having the same trouble all over the country. At first I thought it was weather, but now I believe they must have shot down a couple of their own satellites, or dishes, or whatever.

1st floor inside wood frame building - poor reception - static when calls connect, dropped calls are common. May occaisonially (rarely) get 2 to 3 bars that go up and down even when not moving...

Our flat has a line-of-sight view to Sutro tower, which must help... . I work on the Presidio and have found coverage fairly spotty there.

Steer clear of Cingular Wireless if you live in this zip code. I had adequate service when I had my TDMA phone with AT&T Wireless, but when I was forced to switch to Cingular GSM, reception has been either non-existent or constantly dropped calls. Call and complain... .repeatedly if you are on this service and stuck in a contract. I kept calling until I found someone who would help me. They know this is a poor service area.

I've been getting a lot of drop calls with this phone and start getting sick of it. I don't know if it is a pohe problem or is it Cingular problem?? anyone know anything about this phone with cingular?

I had a decent signal at home with my old phone with AT&T. After the merger I bought a new phone and switched to Cingular's system. I should have stayed with AT&T's as long as they would let me. I wish I'd seen this site before I got tied into a 2 year contract. Oh well, only 21 months to go.

"With more Bars in more Places" You've got to be kidding me. I get dropped calls all the time. No coverage at my house. They say they have coverage here. BBBSSSSSS

I detest Cingular not only for their horrible reception but for their poor customer service. I have gone in with my phone Motorola V180 and complained about dropped calls (TNTC-too numerous to count). I also am not happy with the general poor quality of reception. They placed an add in the SF Chronicle stating that more towers were going up in Noe Valley, etc. but I have not noticed any change. Yoo hoo Verizon here I come.

Just got this new GSM Smartphone but the coverage is still virtually non-existent at my work (ground floor). Once inside about 5ft, the signal just about disapperas. My Verizon gets calls in and out but the Cingular without bars will call out OK. If it doesn't get better, looks like I'll be sticking with my Verizon.

Very spotting off and on -- though it seems to pick up within a couple blocks. I have two Cingular phones, one for work and one personal.

Frequent drops, etc. Kind of amazing that reception is not better, what with all those antennas at the top of Twin Peaks.

Had AT&T; switched phones which meant switching to Cingular. First V551 sucked with reception (1-3 bars), exchanged to another V551 phone per Cingular rep's advise. Didn't help, still had dropped calls / no reception (1-3 bars) ALL over the City. Did online research, but finally called customer service, they sent out a troubleshoot and found the SIM card lacked updated info and was only accessing Cingular towers and no AT&T towers; SIM card update would not correct this issue, though. He suggested a new SIM card. So, went into a different Cingular store and got SIM card changed and now have 4-5 bars continuously.

I get good reception from inside my 3rd floor apartment.

Varies from day to day - though I found out that Harvey's bar has a cell phone scrambler that must screw up reception on this corner.

Had AT&T with Motorola V60... awesome reception... even had reception in underground Muni or on top of Mt. Tam. Since converting to Cingular and getting the V551 a few weeks ago, I have dropped calls EVERY day no matter where I am. The bars go up and down even when standing in the same place.

Service and phone works really well in my apt. complex. It even gets decent reception in the underground garage. My biggest complaint: Drop offs around Diamond Heights / Clipper St.and Portola. Around the city it has frequent dropped calls but with the hills, valleys and Sutro Tower looming over everything, I should be happy. Update: My company is thinking of moving to Verizon. Just when I got all my cigarette lighter chargers and extra wall plug chargers for home, travel and etc. Ugh!

I was with AT&T with a sony erricson phone. The phone was junk and with the merger with Cingular the reception got even worse. I decided to give Cingular a try as they gave me a discount on a new phone and have a 30 day money back policy now. The reception is much improved but still not perfect at the house but at least I don't have to go outside anymore. Much of the improvement I think is with the phone not the carrier. If it wasn't for the discounted phone and the rollover minutes I would have gone elsewhere (verizon or Sprint in the city) and be done with cingular.

After the merger with AT&T my performance really dropped.

Had Nextel and was able to make calls if I stood in the window. Now with Cingular / AT&T - It will show strong signal and then just drop off completely without any notice. It doesn't even matter where I stand. It sucks donkeys.

Contrary to other opinions, we get consistently four or five bars in our building as well as on the street. I would have expected worse with our clear line-of-sight to Sutro Tower. Bluetooth also works very well here. If you have poor reception with Cingular in Cole Valley I would suggest trying a different hand set. There is a world of difference between brands. Siemens works best for us; Nokia and Sony Ericsson not as well.

Cingular has horrible reception in Cole Valley! Don’t go with Cingular if you live in Cole Valley!

Rarely get reception in my home. No reception during commute through Noe Valley(J-Church).

Using my V600 and wife's V400, we can't get diddly here. Complete waste of money since we are home most of the time. Works great if we walk up to 24th, though.

Should be great: I've 4 bars all the time. But my calls keep on being dropped. When the call is dropped, I have 0/1 bar and then they come back. I don't know if the phone is to blame.

The only time I have problem with my reception is when I go down the Bernal Hill or going down Cortland Ave., passing Winfield St. right before reaching Mission St. My calls get dropped. Otherwise, I get great reception every where else.

No reception once you leave the street and go into the buildings in Cole Valley. Even now that Cingular and AT&T have merged there is zero reception once you leave the street and go into a building.

Poor coverage overall. Decent in some areas outside my house but dead spots throughout.

Disaster... no reception.

No reception inside apartments on Grattan Street in Cole Valley. Poor reception in the street and on the sidewalk, once you are 20 feet from the street reception is completely gone.

I live on the 101 side of Bernal Heights and get decent reception with Cingular. I guess like most other carriers, the signal can be strong and clear one minute and weak and crackly the next minute. I have not had any dropped calls yet. I'm starting to wonder if it is more of a phone issue than carrier. However, I get zero reception on Cortland Ave. Nothing.

No reception on this street. I had to go around the corner to use phone. I switched to Sprint, which is still poor but better.

Do not use Cingular or AT&T! They both are terrible in this area!

Reception is either poor or non existent in my home, or in the street (works fine when in the middle of the street though), time to upgrade the towers to GSM 850 in the city!

The combination of a weak T616 antenna and a weak Cingular signal results in poor receiption in my house. I am currently on the marketfor phone with a stronger antenna.

Noe Valley is terrible and the mission can be spotty especially indoors. It takes my phone a while to pick up even the messages after losing signal, like half an hour last night.

I live on a hill and I still can't get any signal... I have to walk like a block down the hill and thats when I get a good signal?!

Phone performs flawlessly throughout most of SF, but in this neighborhood, it drops significantly.

I get no reception in my apartment and very poor / spotty reception outside.

No reception at home. Must go out in garden...