Carrier / Rating

Location / Comment

Date

Usually good, howevver, my cell connection with Sterling, VA - where my parents are in an elderly care residence = is horrid. When I call there from downtown, it's fine. From here, it's a loss. Have to get the lan line I cancelled years ago.

No reception most of the time; will get one bar, if lucky. Hardly ever get calls or text messages.

No reception in my apartment; lousy reception outside it.

2 bars for voice but no 4G at all here or in the nearby neighborhood.

Hideous reception within the Ronald Reagan (RRB) building (totally resonate with April 21, 2011 comment from another user). I'm on the 6th floor. I signed up for Verizon understanding that DC coverage was good, but my phone is as good as a paper weight in RRB. How can Verizon let a building with 3.1 million square feet be so poorly covered? (And how ironic that the Verizon Center is only a few blocks away...) I cannot send outbound texts or emails. Incoming calls go directly to voice mail (phone does not even vibrate). I have to go to the lobby to make outbound calls... and even then reception is weak. 3G is pretty much out of the question. Seriously do your homework on Verizon coverage within your own building before signing up.

sometimes just 2 bars calls dropped often or I have to stay in one specific spot to maintain the call. Verizon has been good for service in other parts of the country (Washington State, for example) but very disappointing in DC so far. I am rethinking my contract and won't renew if service is still so poor.

I only get reception with Verizon if I am above ground and outdoors. Downtown my coverage will drop if I am near to many tall buildings. Most of the time friends and family call or text and I don't get their messages until 2 or 3 days later. Horrible service.

Even though I have full bars on the phone, I have a lot of dropped calls in the neighborhood.

Dropped or failed to complete nearly 90% of calls from the 7th floor of the Reagan Building. Have had Verizon Wireless for years in several Metro areas with few problems. Dropped / lost as many calls here in last month as elsewhere in the last decade. Either they are low on bandwidth or Verizon needs more towers in downtown DC, probably both. I'm past my contract period and not being inspired to renew.

Just moved to SE from Alexandria VA and I ALWAYS loose reception coming down the hill of Good Hope Rd. (from the Alabama Ave. side). I also get poor reception in my home and have experienced dropped calls. I've had VZW for over 5 years now and have never experienced this.

1 to 2 bars, have to go outside, or stand in the bathroom window behind the satellite dish to get reception to talk on the phone.

Just spent 2 hours on the phone with Verizon and Capitol Hill has been designated a Verizon KTA area, which means they know reception is poor, but can't or won't do anything about it. Voice reception is bad, esp. on the other end of calls. Their only suggestion is to buy the Verizon $199 network extender to work with YOUR broadband Internet service or return the phones for a credit. They will offer you a 50% discount on the network extender. Hope is works! The Droid Incredible is a cool phone with tons of features, but if you can't use it reliably for voice communications in your own neighborhood, it may not worth the money.

I live on the 6th floor and have terrible reception. I am constantly dropping calls and have to sit at the window to carry on any type of conversation. I feel we all pay too much to have the terrible reception we are all expected to endure.

It is so frustrating to have to go outside to make a phone call. Switched to Verizon when they were the only ones that worked on the metro. Sprint worked better in my home.

I barely get reception in the downstairs of my townhouse and not at all in the front room. The upstairs is better, but I frequently have calls dropped.

I have Verizon. The only place I don't get reception is in the tunnels of the Metro (the stations are fine) and at some bigger stores, such as Target. I live in Fairfax County and work in NW DC. Too bad Verizon doesn't believe in selling cutting edge phones.

I get very poor reception in my house. Calls are almost always dropped.

I work on the 7th floor on 12th st. in downtown DC and I get no bars. My Blackberry doesn't even pull my email. I have never had this happen anywhere else in DC with Verizon, but if I can't even get my email in an office building two blocks off Pennsylvania avenue, that's a problem.

90 percent of calls dropped in and outside around my house. Perfect reception everywhere else in the city. Verizon told me that it could not possibly be a problem with their network and that my phone is to blame. They sent me a replacement phone which is just as bad. Oddly, I get "1x - 2 bars" which should be fine, but the calls keep dropping anyway.

I've gone through two TREO 700wx phones and I still do not have reception inside my house. This is very frustrating because Verizon does not acknowledge this and their only solution is to hard reset my phone and / or replace at my own expense. With each phone replacement it resets my contract and therefore I'm going through lots of money replacing these phones at full price! I have fine reception everywhere else... just not in NE in any home or office building.

Poor, inconsistent signal. Calls lost when a train arrives in the station where I'm waiting, as well as when in the tunnel. I guess it's time to start texting...

Verizon has been very good to me in terms of call quality and reception, but with all great things comes a cost and in this case money, If your willing to pay a few more bucks for a lot more bang than Verizon is the best way to go, I get service everywhere in DC, unless I'm on the first floor in which case I have "Okay" service

Very good reception all around DC, even in the Metro (though spotty).

Great reception everywhere but in my condo! Even at work around different electronics and electrical fields

I have been using a useless phone for almost 2 yrs now. I intend to switch 1st day after my contract is up! I get absolutely no reception in my building at 6th and E. If I accidently leave it on when I arrive at work in the morning my battery drains almost instantly!

While Verizon generally offers excellent coverage around the city (including underground on Metro), my wife and I get one or zero bars inside the Safeway. Calls fail to go through or are dropped.

Only time I had a problem was when I temporarily lost the antennae to my phone. Other than that, flawless.

Verizon has excellent service everywhere in the city!

As a student at American University, I've had a great experience with Verizon in Washington. In the vast majority of places I've been, reception is crystal clear. As far as I know, friends with Cingular and T-Mobile have had more problems and dropped calls than I have. Plus, you can use Verizon on the metro.

No reception inside building mid-block on G. Reception has never been a problem with this phone in DC or other cities, even in buildings.

Dumped T-mobile. The mobile means go outside to get average reception. Verizon is great! 4+ I dreamed of someday making a call indoors, instead of outside in the freezing cold. Rarely has Verizon been weak. It treats me well in PA, CA, AZ and everywhere in between.

3 out of 5 bars, but when a call is connected, the other party can't friggin hear me! it's maddening!

Despite being told that reception is poor here, near the Russian embassy and down in a valley, I've been pleasantly surprised. Consistent good signal and sound quality.

I have a very poor reception in my office when I use Verizon wireless.

Complained like HELL! This intersection is less than a mile away from the Capitol! This whole area just sucks, and there is no reason for it. Service has improved a bit becuase a bunch of my co-workers complained too. If you live in this area, call Verizon. Open a trouble ticket. They just need a new tower.

Terrible reception in medical school and in or around hospital. Anywhere else around Foggy Bottom is ok and around the undergrad campus is fine.

Terrible Coverage. I switched from AT&T to Verizon and learned to regret it. My apartment gets absolutely no reception. Also, in order to get a new phone one needs to commit to Verizon and the phone you buy for two years (unless you want to buy another phone at full price)... .this phone's quality etc progressively deteriorates with time and so does the service. Reception is extremely variable, and my default is to assume a bad connection rather than a good one.

a terrible reception problem, which seems to affect about a three block radius. I can tell because if I am driving there is almost a line that once I cross the receptions start to drop. Unable to make calls, answer voice mail, text messages seem to pop up whenever the reception re-establishes. sometimes thats within a few minutes,other times hours.

The reception in this whole neighborhood is so spotty that even if you're outside your house you will drop the call (if it even goes through!)

Coverage barely exists (and sometimes dies) at 33rd Place, rises slightly at 34th / Reno, dies again at 35th. This on a major NW artery!

Great reception on 99% of the campus. Verizon, as well as all of the other carriers, do not seem to have reception on the first floor of the Marvin Center. Elsewhere in the DC metro area, Verizon has spectacular coverage. They even have reception in the Metro underground!

Inside my house, my reception drops to 1 or no bars. I often have to go outside to have a decent conversation

I think that the Potomac Garden housing project blocks reception from many areas around it. Big brick buildings obstruct the signal. Yes, I found the dead zone for Verizon in DC. Other than this, Verizon is great.

I can get reception in my house if I'm pressed against the front windows. Can't keep a call if walking b / t home and Eastern Market Metro. There are towers on the building at 8th and Penn, SE, but I get 0-1 bar when standing across the street from them. I'd love to know what carriers work better in my neighborhood.

Verizon Wireless service is great throughout the entire city for the most part. Also very good for when I travel. I have service in the underground subway system in DC, New York and Boston. I haven't tried my cellphone underground in any other cities.

Verizon service in DC is excellent. I get wonderful service in the city and everywhere I travel. I even have a perfect signal underground in the DC METRO. There are a few dead spots in southeast DC but other than that, the city is covered very well.

There is a complete dead zone right in this spot for maybe two blocks. Almost every call attempt I make in this small radius drops. Other than that spot, service is great even underground in the DC METRO.

Trying to call anyone in this area is absolutley horrible. The most bars I ever saw on my phone was at least 2. But the weird thing is you can get full reception in the DC metro underground.

We started with Verizon Wireless while living in Rhode Island. Never had any problems with our wireless service there. (Verizon DSL is another matter. Totally hosed.) Anyway, we moved to NW DC in May and neither of our two cell phones work worth a darn in our house, even in the second floor by the windows. Almost 100% of the calls at home get dropped. My wifes phone has an adapter plug for an external antenna. I bought one and it helps a lot. Trouble is I'm SOL when she's not here. I wish Verizon Wireless would look at their coverage just east of Wilson High School becuase it stinks. CAN YA HEAR ME NOW?

Verizon wireless reception in my house on South Carolina Ave. near Eastern Market is terrible--one bar or nothing. It does not get much better on most of my block. It works wonderfully elsewhere--even in the Metro--but not where I need it most.

My Verizon phone gets good coverage in the DC area. It's especially useful on the Metro. I am on the 3rd floor of a 12 story building and have 5 bars of reception.

Southwest DC in L'Enfant Plaza area reception is great, indoors and outdoors.

Verizon service is by far the best I've had in my 10 year plus relationship with cell phone company's. I had Sprint, Cingular, AT&T, Nextel, T-mobile, and none of them work as well as Verizon. I even have full service underground in the DC METRO when the other carriers dont. My phone still has analog ability so it is great for traveling, although I haven't used it in analog yet. I have been with Verizon for a year, and I don't remember the last time I had a dropped call. My phone isn't the most advanced piece of technology on the street, but it does what it's supposed to do, make and recieve calls. I do remember T-Mobile having decent service in DC, but beware, as soon as you leave the Metropolitan area, you are looking for trouble.

In the National Academies' Keck building: no reception in most areas on the first floor, second floor, third floor, or fifth floor. Close to north-facing windows: zero or one bar. I would just set my cell phone to forward all calls to my work phone. Someone with Nextel service had great reception, though, even near the elevator. Also, south-facing offices on the fifth floor get some signal (carrier unknown). Out of the building: four bars.

My reception in my area is perfect all throughout the area, my home, and in my basement. I have no complaints, and I don't remember the last time I had a dropped call. I did have a problem once, where it was late at night and I went from a full signal to one bar, and it stayed like that for hours. They were probably doing repairs on the tower or something, but that is my only problem.

Phone will display full signal. However, the majority of the time when you dial a number, it will drop to 1 bar or zero. The call quality is very poor and fluctuates.

I never had a problem in DC or Arlington (Wilson Blvd. and Washington Blvd.). I get great reception in the house on all floors including the basement, great coverage at work (downtown) in the building on the 3rd floor, and great coverage in the Metro. I wouldn't trade it for any other service in DC.

I get perfect service every where in DC. I have service underground in the Metro, above ground in buildings, everywhere. I highy suggest my phone, the Motorola V710 which was recently released for Verizon. I've only had one dropped call and that was because I was in analog roam in South Carolina. Completely perfect.

When I had my old clunky Nokia phone I had no problems at all. I got the new phone from Verizon and have had nothing but trouble. I have to go outside to get and keep a call.

Can you spell "poor" reception? It's 1-2 bars and dropped calls all the time. Verizon said I needed new phone, so I bought one. Guess what? It's the Verizon signal (or absence thereof) not the phone that is the issue here in the shadow of the National Cathedral.

The reception at South Dakota & Michigan Ave is horrible. I have to stand at my front door of my house just to get any kind of connection.

Why is it that on my billing; it sometimes shows Arlington Virginia as location of call; when I am in Washington, DC?

Last year, I tried with a Motorola. This year, an LG. Reception is defective in upper Georgetown. Calls drop way too often in several other sectors downtown.