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Absolutely poor reception anywhere in the Loop. AT&T is terrible. I can't receive calls or use data in my office unless I am connected to WiFi. If I wasn't grandfathered into an unlimited data package I would leave AT&T in second.

AT&T is terrible everywhere in Chicago. THere is not one area where I have flawless service. Also, I live near Wrigley and when there is a Cubs game, you can forget about using your phone- just switch it off because it will not work. Last year I complained and they said they were adding supplemental towers in the neighborhood, but the season just started and I would says it's at least as bad as last year if not worse. AT&T, get a clue... . people who cannot use your product will leave you. As soon as my contract is up, I am out. Churn baby, churn.

I say 1 bar but as soon as I answer no one can hear me. I think I will go back to the land line. I was in Hayward, Wisc. and got great reception. This is just wrong. I also, have called and complained but it means nothing.

Terrible. I live on the 12th floor and have to stand in certain spots in my apt to get reception. AT&T is a joke and cannot wait of the iphone 5 to come out so I can use Verizon or sprint. I don't even bother calling their customer service lines from all the terrible things I've heard, I'll just stop being their customer.

Absolute worst service I have ever had in my life ( and I have had almost all of them at one point). The voice service was so poor that I have had to buy a pay-as-you-go phone in order to make calls that won't get dropped after 2 minutes ! This is horrible service! Just waiting for contract to expire

Even though I have 4 bars with 4G I cannot make calls without them dropping or successfully load anything online. Email successfully syncs only 1 out of 4 attempts.

Seriously, God forbid I ever have to call 911 and hold a call! AT&T is absolutely wretched, though, everywhere I go, so I should be used to it by now. Definitely getting rid of them soon! It's always something with them..

No reception in my building. No reception within ogilvie train station. 15-20 min away from the city I can finally start getting SMS and phone calls. Very frustrated since most of the day I am out of reach. The interesting part that my work blackberry which is supported by AT&T has reception all day... Plan on going to AT&T store to ask for trouble shooting, hope it will help.

Riding the commuter train home, I thought it was a good idea to have a smart phone for the ride. The problem is that you have to get 10 minutes outside the city before you can use it. Bars don't matter. I've had 4 or 5 bars from AT&T and still can't get any data - just times out. I'm sure AT&T would say it's because there's a "spike" of usage around 5-6pm downtown at the train station and that they can't accomodate for the spike in usage, but I would submit that a "spike" that happens at the same time every day is really just something you should be able to plan for. It's sad that a "contract" can lock you into a company that can't delivery on their side of the contract. I think I may just pay the fee and get out.

I'm amazed how bad AT&T sucks in downtown Chicago. I have a signal, data just won't connect. It times out and I get absolutely no data. I've had to resort to using my Verizon 4G MiFi just to get data on my AT&T iPhone. When AT&T can't provide data, Verizon has full 4G speeds at over 10m+! AT&T, you suck! Avoid AT&T if you live and work in downtown Chicago. It's useless for business.

Horrible Connection constantly!. I can get reception most of the time when I am not holding it, but as soon as I hold my phone, it will lose connection within ten seconds. And this happens almost anywhere in the city. I've lived in Atlanta and Oklahoma before this last year and never had problems with iphone / att reception nearly this bad.

I live in North Center and work in East Lakeview. I can never get a signal whenever there's a ballgame or a parade or a street festival or anything going on. I can't even send or receive text messages. I often fail to connect to the 3G. throughout Chicago. The one thing I really like about the service is all the AT&T hotspots, though I wish it were easier to connect to the internet without wi-fi. I always joke that my phone is wi-fi only. Anyway, I just canceled my service. Not sure where I'm going next.

Well, in addition to the crappy cell service, for the past 3 days, I have been having problems with text messages not going through. This just started. No changes to my phone. Just another reason to hate AT&T.

I like this company because I get a perfect signal on my phone even if I am in the basement it has at least 4 bars unlike T-Mobile they drop so many calls I'm glad I switched to AT&T

The reception issues just keep getting worse. I often drop calls on the street in the loop, and almost anywhere else in the city. I'm trying to decide between between Verizon or Sprint. I will never give AT&T another dollar.

ATT is horrible! I used to have Sprint which was excellent service and switched to ATT. What a mistake! I have continuous dropped calls and it's very annoying. There are 2 phones on our plan and our lives are spent on the phone with ATT. We get answers that the towers are down, our phones have a problem, we need to hook up to Itunes and update them,we have to talk tech support and then they have us on the computer and checking bars on phone, etc. If you have these problems, you can get a micro cell tower for free. But, guess what?? It doesn't do a thing. Whereas, Sprint NEVER dropped a call, works in the elevators EVERYWHERE, even at the main post office elevator and people would look like it was unbelievable. In fact the ATT rep that came to our residence couldn't use his ATTphone. What did he use to call ATT?? The SPRINT network with his personal cell phone. What does that tell you? Like another comment, we stay on the phone but get "free" service. It is worth it?? NO! for all the annoyance of dropped calls and the time we are on the phone with them. The next step is the FCC. Then switching back to Sprint!

I just moved from Los Angeles and thought it was bad. This is redic! 4-5 dropped calls a day!

Terrible reception anywhere near where I live, near western and grand up to north. AT&T is awful and expensive. They offered to sell me a modem to improve reception. Why should I have to pay them to provide me service I am already paying $225 (family plan with unlimited data and texting) a month for? Their service is so bad I have to have a land line. Insane! I am switching to Sprint or Verizon...

Absolutely AWFUL coverage by ATT in downtown Chicago. I literally walk outside my building, up Wacker Dr.and across the river to the Merch Mart and get no service - zip - zilch - nothing. I'm wide out in the open with hundreds of thousands of people and there's no service. Once I get 3G on my phone I have to sit and wait until I get away from downtown before it actually works. On the 26th floor of my office building it constantly goes from 4 bars 3G to No Service to 1 bar E to a combo of them both, then searches then starts all over every minute. I can't actually use the phone for anything because it won't pick up a signal for more than 10 seconds before dropping it for another.

I have been without 3G service for a week. All AT&T says is "we're aware there is a problem and we are working on it. We don't know when it will be resolved." I guess it will be resolved when they merge with T-Mobile in 2012. Bye bye AT&T. You suck.

AT&T sucks my balls. Sorry for the language, but this has been HORRIBLE for over a year now. Constantly dropped calls -- I mean like 5-10 per day. EVEN DOWNTOWN, on Michigan Ave, of all places, or in the business district, the phone will read 4bars and drop calls repeatedly... OR... there's zero signal. How is that ok? Customer service apologizes, sometimes refunds part of a bill, "pings" our phones to try to correct issues, and IT NEVER GETS BETTER. They always say "there's a tower down in your area, we're working on getting it back up"... = "We're hoping to buy TMobile to give us the coverage we SHOULD have, so we're waiting to see if that deal goes through". Guess what?... that merger won't happen, if approved, until well into 2012. I've had enough, and am now leaving AT&T, even if it means paying to get out of my contract. It is RIDICULOUS to me that we've been paying $215+ / per month for two iphones on a family plan. Sprint now has the iPhone and has cheaper plans, and one can unlock the iPhone and go to TMobile. Why would anyone in Chicago have AT&T? NO F-ing IDEA.

AT&T provides almost no ability to make calls from within the house. From outside, it works alright (weak signal) from many places, but there are a few corners and neighborhood spots where the call will always drop. Have submitted numerous reports to AT&T using their iPhone app for dropped calls, poor reception, slow data, etc. No improvement over 3 years. They offered to sell me a mini-cell for about $99 that would allow me to generate a mini tower in the house using my own Internet connection. Have decided to switch to another carrier, Verizon or Sprint (if they announce that they'll carry the iPhone after 10 / 3 / 11).

It was really difficult to make a decision on reception rating. My Iphone original's reception is really good (upto 4~5 bar) as long as I leave my balcony door open, either little bit or wide. However, the reception drops to 1 bar or No Service at all if I close the balcony door. BTW, I live on 49th floor.

The service in the area is awful. Don't bother trying to talk on the phone inside, because even if you manage to start a conversation, you'll rarely get a chance to get too far into it. What makes this bad service issue worse is that AT&T lies to customers by showing the innaccurate maps that say this area receives the best service available. After hours speaking with reps on the phone I found out that they actually have their own map that they don't show customers. This map shows that the Ravenswood area is a "dead zone" (an AT&T reps own words). If you are moving to Chicago, or are getting phone service in Chicago, absolutely do not go with AT&T unless you enjoy being frustrated and listening to mindless music while on hold.

I receive little to no reception from AT&T unless I'm in the loop. I just keep complaining and I've been getting my service for free. Everybody should do the same.

More often than not there is no sound upon connection, or the sound disappears several minutes into a conversation. ATT technicians were able to reproduce the issue, confirmed that the phones themselves are OK (all of my family's phones are having these problems), and admitted that there is nothing that ATT can do about it. Apparently, there are too many customers and not enough network capacity. ATT should not be allowed to advertise and sell service, which it cannot provide.

AT&T should not be allowed to sell any new phones in Chicago until it begins to provide something like the services it promises. Their network is saturated, they simply cannot provide service to additional people, and it would be appropriate for the state attorney general to step in on this one, along with the FCC.

Constantly dropping calls, sometimes 3 times in 15 minutes. I just left the company.

3G is spotty at best, phone service is horrible. Don't even try making a call inside a building. Or near a building. Two tin cans connected by a string will give you better voice service than AT&T. WiFi works great - okay so why do I pay over $100 a month to AT&T? I won't be for long! The new iPhone can't come soon enough. Buh-bye.

AT&T 's wirless signal is atrocious here, and is actually getting substantially worse. Regularly experience no bars at all for hours at a time rendering the phone completly useless at my residence. Will pick up a five bar signal if I leave the area, but it will drop back to three bars at best (usually one or two) when I come home. Starting to drop calls very frequently. Getting worse, not better. Out now for going on five hours. Will switch carriers after five years if not up by tomorrow.

AT&T service for both my iPhone and iPad suck. Consistently. Going to switch to Verizon.

I've been amazed at how great the service is in west Lake View. full bars and reception has been perfect. 3G speeds are great too, averaging around 3.50 mbps. Rock on.

Horrible, horrible, horrible reception after 7:30-8:00 a.m. each day. I'm unable to receive texts, there are dropped calls, god forbid you should want to access the internet. It's unacceptable and a joke that we have to pay a premium price for such lousy service. I've been an early adapter of most of Apple's products and service but cannot understand why they are in bed together. I've been anxiously awaiting the iPhone 5 but am now seriously rethinking a droid or equivalent.

AT&T reception has suddenly gotten worse than ever. I can't get a signal in condo or on the street. I can't even send text. AT&T doesn't care. They blame Apple and Apple blames AT&T

It went from Average reception (July 2010 - May 2011) to Horrible / Poor reception lately. I can no longer receive or make calls regardless of the number of bars. ATT needs to fix this pronto.

Try to figure out the best cell phone service provider in Chicago. The answers is probably like this; all providers are very simillar to each other depend the hours of the day, location, than you have maybe good reception or not. For home or work usage: land line are the best. Cell phones like a highways no difference. andemarketing.

Visiting Chicago from Tulsa, OK... really surprised how spastic the signal is. Just like another user reported, I can stare at my phone and watch the signal jump around from edge to 3G and no service to full bars several times a minute. Haven't been able to have one call without digitized voice and dropping the call since I arrived downtown. Terrible! So glad I don't have this problem at home or I would be switching carriers.

Reception went from poor to horrible about six weeks ago. I cannot make calls (call fails), and if I receive one, I can't hear and the call quickly drops. Something happened recently. My wife has the same phone and is experiencing the same issues.

For years we had no problem; 5 bars on both iPhones for years. But since about May, 2011 we barely get one bar and often get "no signal" on our phones. Same apartment, same phones, no new buildings between us and the cell tower just two blocks away that weren't there before, but suddenly what was totally reliable service became next to nothing service.

I will have reception for a few hours then NO SERVICE for 6 hours or so. AT&T is not good with spotty service in the same location..it stinks always from around 2pm until 10 pm or so. It is really terrible... my T-Mobile was great!

My reception fluctuates between no bars (with an "SOS" indication) and one bar on a good day. Calls, texts, e-mails rarely come through until I leave the building.

This is ridiculous. I get one bar 98% of time at my place. Surprisingly, sometimes I find myself staring at the phone and, standing at the same spot, It goes from one bar (on edge) to no signal to full bars (on 3g) and after about 5 to 10 seconds, drops down to 1 bar again or no signal. Drove to Sheboygan, WI and wanted to use maps on the road, but guess what? No reception or 1 bar on Edge, not letting me use the maps. Reliable, huh? Good thing my girlfriend has the Verizon iPhone. God, what an awesome machine the iPhone 4 is running on Verizon. Oh, if I keep on going, I work in downtown chicago on State and Madison. Guess what, no signal to 1 bar at the office. Fun, fun, fun. Always've been with AT&T but I believe it's time to switch to the silent but great and reliable Verizon.

Just in the last two weeks, my reception has gone from poor to practically nonexistent. Calls are constantly being dropped, if I receive them at all. Most of the time, the phone doesn't even ring, and then I'll get a voice mail a day or two later. And, if I try to make a call, most of the time it tells me "Not Allowed." I have to turn my phone off and then back on just to be able to place calls. Probably switching to US Cellular soon... HATE AT&T.

In the last two weeks the reception in my second floor apartment has gone from tricky to non-existent. An attempt at a phone call in any of the 5 rooms provides me with an emergency calls only message. I do not have a landline and my mobile is my only connection, it should not be necessary to walk down the block to take or make a phone call.

I have never been able to get a consistent good signal here. Frankly it;s made me want to leabve AT&T. You'd think in the 3rd largest city in the US I could get a friggen signal.

Wonderful dead spot between police station and all the way to Canal - you can look North from the bridge over the South Branch of Chicago River and see all of downtown - but don't try to make a call on AT&T. Keep getting self-congratulatory letters from them on how service is improving, but don't see any tangible evidence.

There are supposedly ATT towers within a few blocks of me, but I still only get 2 or 3 bars of signal strength. Go figure??

Sometimes I get four bars but then I'll walk past a certain block and I have zero bars. I live in a garden unit and get one bar if I'm lucky. Even then, when people call me it usually goes straight to voicemail. I used to have US Cellular who are AMAZING! Going back to them very soon.

No reception north of devon at all. Very little reception anywhere else in the city. WORST cell phone service in the city

just recently cant send any BB messages when I drive into the outdoor parking lot of the building. its worse inside.. cant receive any phone calls.. terrible. and this is just recently happening... WHYYYY?????

Horrible! Dropped calls all the time, especially in my apartment. I need to sit next to the window to get reception. Every time a new update on the software, it works worse. When the Iphone 4 and software came out, it suddenly worked horribly. I do not recommend AT&T if you live in Chicago.

I am constantly dropping calls in my apt, even when I am next to the window. My husbands Blackberry Curve has the same issues, so it's not just my cheap little phone... it is At&t. I don't need a fancy phone or internet access... I just want to make a phone call using the service I pay for. Everyone on here needs to go to the FCC website and file form 2000B - complaint about wireless service. Maybe if the FCC has enough complaints they will force AT&T to provide the service they promise.

Terrible. Constantly at one or no bars, no network messages, dropped calls. I love my phone but I hate AT&T.

I don't know if it's the building or what. It's all glass so you'd think you'd get better reception. I can make and receives calls, but the reception is very choppy and in-and-out. my data connection on the iPhone 3GS is either Edge or the small circle, whatever that means; never 3G. And the fastest that my AT&T laptop connect device can achieve is 3.6 Mbps, and that's only occasionally. it's usually 237 kbps! useless really. I can only hope that buying up T-Mobile helps with service

AT&T is the worst mobile service in Chicago. The quality of service has degraded over the past few months. I can't make a call in The Loop without the call dropping. Data often stalls out and never connects. A rep claims AT&T upgrading their towers from 2G to 3G. Really? Verizon and Sprint are already 4G in the market!

Coverage is horrible in Roscoe Village. 1 bar indoors. 2 bars max up and down Roscoe Street. Makes me want to throw my phone in a sewer drain and then throw up on it.

I've never had a problem with my AT&T service. I only drop a call around Soldiers Field. But that was happing with my TMobile phone as well. South Loop, West Loop, Downtown I get great service.

Moved to Chicago in August and started having problems then with call quality, dropping calls and huge delay (~8 hours) in text messages. The only place around me I could make or receive calls was in the middle of a city park. Work was even worse (The Loop). Kept getting told that the problem is that my phone isn't good enough so went from the Neon to the Flight then to the Bold. Same problem no matter what. Then it "had" to be the SIM card. After replacing that twice, AT&T sent the engineers out for what they call a "ticket". Came back and said that I should have excellent coverage. Then set up a "special ticket" that absolutely had to have a resolution. The result was that I got a refund for the last two months of my service and was allowed to opt out of my 5 line family plan at no charge.

Att coverage has fallen off the charts. I used to be able to make / receive calls in my apartment. Now I have to have my face up to the window glass. It's ridiculous! I'm going to move to sprint!

No reception at all in my office with windows. Sometimes I can make a call if I stand next to the window. Reception at home in River North is almost as bad. And between River North and the Loop, on my walk to and from work, calls frequently do not come through or are dropped. 3G is spotty, evidenced by frequent skipping on Pandora. As a note, I had a Palm Pre on Sprint before switching to the iPhone4. I have had more reception issues in 10 days with the iPhone than I had in 15 months with the Pre. Yes, the Sprint Palm Pre dropped or missed calls a few times per year. But the iPhone misses or drops calls a few times a day. No joke.

AT&T - Your coverage is unacceptably poor. 1 or 0 bars is frequent inside my office, and even outdoors the reception is spotty, from River North to the Loop. The red GSM message pops up frequently, and is delayed in locating service. Multiple attempts and "Call Failed" messages can occur before any connection happens. Time for immediate changes or your should expect to lose many more customers. Your coverage agents always run a "test" and report that service is "excellent in my area." WRONG.

Has the AT&T coverage in this area got worse? Nowadays, I can only make and receive calls from one room in the house. And then snuggled up to a window. Not to mention how many calls are dropped or never received. Is AT&T immune to all the complaints from Chicago? Why do we keep on paying large sums for their terrible service? I guess because we are locking into their ridiculously long contracts. Having spent considerable time in Europe this year and seeing how efficient and cheap service is there, and without long term contracts, I am even more appalled. Let's all boycott AT&T!

In my apartment I get anywhere between 3 to 5 bars, but it is spotty and I have had calls dropped from time to time just walking around in my one bedroom. Downtown reception is even worse. Sometimes you have 5 bars, take a few steps and it's down to 2 or 3. I have noticed many people able to talk down in the subway area and have a strong signal on other carriers... not with AT&T. I will give them a call on Monday to see if they can do anything special for me. I don't really want to renew another 2 years, get a smart phone, and have crappy service especially when paying for mobile internet, but if they cut me a deal it may help ease the pain.

I just switched to AT&T Iphone 4G from T Mobile and there is no signal (it means I cannot make and receive calls) from AT&T. Their call center standard reply was "our records show that we have excellent signal strength in your area". I ported my number back to T Mobile.

I can't believe I'm downtown and don't get reception in large areas

I go to school at Loyola and AT&T is useless in this area. My friends using T-Mobile and Sprint can all make / receive calls. I'm stuck with a phone that can't make a call -- AT&T's reception is the worst.

I can get reception outside, but in my house there is only place I can stand to make or receive calls. It has gotten much worse than it was 9 months ago when I first moved here from Ashland and Montrose. I had AT&T for 9 years but am looking for a new service now.

I can't get any reception within my apartment. Can't even really send out texts. Making a phone call, even outside is next to impossible. I have to use Skype to make any sort of phone call from home

Travel anywhere throughout Chicago, from the Loop to Wrigley Field to the West. AT&T coverage is HORRIBLE. Dropped calls all the time, signal never above 3 - generally at 1. I rarely come close to my minute plan because making calls is just plain useless! I know some complain and say it's the iPhone; however, when I travel to other cities I get 5 bars consistent on the phone and NO calls. Chicago, like NYC and San Fran, is a trouble market for AT&T. I don't understand why AT&T can't get it right. I know the city must be tough, but it CAN be done. My friends have Verizon and Sprint with no trouble. I hear Sprint is awesome. T-Mobile seems to cover the city well. Look at it's ratings in this forum!

My company offered for me to switch to their plan last month and I thought well why not it is one less bill I have to manage.. I had Sprint for 15 years and switched to AT&T now I can't call out when I am inside, I have to be walking down the street in order to make a call. I did however have a strong signal for a day and my phone would make a call from anywhere.. This phone is really stressing me out.. Now I only communicate with clients, friends and family via email and text.

I can NEVER get reception inside my apartment. I called AT&T and they wanted me to pay $150 for a device that would make my service a littler better. UM, I'm already paying for service I DON'T GET. They also said the towers here are messed up and I should be getting better service Sept. 1st. I really need to get back to T-Mobile asap.

Right in Wicker Park... literally, no reception. I drop calls ALL of the time and don't receive text messages until hours later, no matter where I am in Chicago. I love the iphone, but my husband and I are paying the early termination fee just to break free of this horrible company!

Full bars no matter where I am in my apartment. No reception problems or dropped calls in or around the Gold Coast area in the month I've had the iPhone 4 on AT&T.

I have been in the Chicago area since March and have not been able to use my cell to call or rereicve calls. When I try to text I have roam area, place the phone in every direction before Text goes out most of the time it sits on my cell. My question is why do we have to pay for service we are not being able to use. The service is not being supplied ; therefore contract is already broken on telephone company side. Why should I have to pay early cut off??????? I really would like to be credited for the months company could not supply service. What has happen to customer relation????? No one knows a thing. I had AT&T for over 10 years.

Moved here today. Horrible reception, can barely make or receive calls. Considering changing providers immediately but all the comments here suggest there are no good carriers...

No reception at home (in a high rise). We have to go out on the balcony to talk on the phone while at home- which can be cold in Chicago. Drop calls all the time. Phone continues to malfuntion, I have had to take it to be repaired 3 times, luckily all while on warranty thankfully.

I can rarely keep a call for more than 1 minute. Often NO SERVICE and calls go straight to my VM. Dying to know how to get my iPhone to T-Mobile ASAP.

I have had AT&T for 9 years and never had a problem until I moved in the South Loop. My calls are always dropped. I have to go the balcony door or on the balcony to make a call or keep the call from dropping. I was told by At&T their cell towers in my area have not been upgraded and they have no date as to when that will happen. thanks for nothing AT&T. when my contract is up I am switching to Verizon and I hope they have iPhone service bec I do love my phone. T-Mobile is out too. my friends T-Mobile phone service is horrible too.

I moved here from Florida a month ago. I had great reception with my iphone in Florida. However in Chicago the AT&T reception is horrible. half the call that come through are dropped and much of the time I have no service. I have 5 months left on my contract but I can't tolerate such bad service. T-Mobil here I come.

"Call Failed" is a regular occurrence, followed by 10 minutes of a useless 5 Bars of 3G. This service is a joke. T-Mobile here I come.

Moved from SF Bay Area to downtown Chicago, IL, in the Printer's Row / South Loop area. Still have an old, original 2G iPhone. I'm ten-floors up with massive amounts of skyline visible and my AT&T Edge service is horrible. Not sure if it's all the buildings around, but basically my iPhone will lose service constantly up in my apartment so I miss calls regularly. Interestingly enough, once I'm talking, it's actually fine. Out and about on street level, even in the Loop, it's passable, but inside a store, bar, or restaurant, I might as well give up -- no penetration at all. Seriously thinking about switching providers, and I've never felt it necessary before to do that.

AT&T is horrific in Chicago. In the middle of Lincoln Park I can barely get a signal walking down the street. It's close to hopeless inside an apt or house. And forget data usage.

My AT&T service is spotty at best. My iPhone 3G is primarily on EDGE and I'm in the business district of Chicago. The service is unuseable during busy hours like early rush, NOON and pm rush. AT&T is useless in Chicago. I'd highly recommend Sprint or TMobile in the Windy City.

My calls are constantly dropped. I moved to Chicago from Indiana recently. In Indiana, my reception was great. Now, my calls always end early or "can you hear me?" I'm switching as soon as my contract is up.

I can text all day (unless there are major delays) but calls regularly get dropped and it's the 'can you hear me now?' conversation every other minute even if the call doesn't drop. For reference, I live at Addison just west of the 90. I consider the poor service AT&T has been having lately to be a breach of contract. I'm paying for a service. That service isn't being provided to me. I either get a discount for the days I report bad service (even Comcast does that!) or I get to leave my contract any time without an ETF. Even when AT&T was still advertising with their 'fewest dropped calls' campaign, the calls might not drop but they would degrade so badly you couldn't even hold a conversation without hanging up and recalling the person.

I typically have 5 bars, however, I usually experience 1-2 drops during even the shortest phone conversation. I switched from T-Mobile a couple years back and I rather look on T-Mobile fondly these days. Once my ATT contract is over, I'm jumping ship.

I get two bars near the window of my condo facing the lake, and no bars as I venture 12 feet away from the window. I wish I could use my phone. Definitely thinking of switching to Verizon.

Dropped calls. Incoming calls go straight to voicemail and never ring. Cannot use data services unless pressed against my window. AT&T reps tell me straight out that the tower situation in my area is horrible, but the company does nothing about it. "Upgrades" and "new towers" have supposedly been in the works for over a year, but nothing has changed. I'm trying to figure out how to make the switch back to Verizon (which was great) without breaking the bank on broken contract fees, etc. I can't understand why I should have to pay for AT&T's refusal to invest in their network.

I was shot at and tried to call 911. AT&T says I have no network access. Horrible.

Terrible service. I submited a request to the BBB and lost. AT&T performed an in-house investigation which showed that I didn't drop any calls. I circled my billing statement which shows that I made calls to the same number within seconds of eachother on multiple occassions. I don't think this would appear on my bill as three seperate calls to one number for a duration of 1 second if I never dropped a call. I urge everyone in 60622 area code to file a complaint. At some point something has to be done. I terminated my contract and moved to Sprint. So far I do not have any complaints and can make phone calls anywhere in my condo. It's nice!

I live on the corner of Sheridan and Bryn Mawr and the reception is dreadful. Calls are dropped, VM are delivered late, phone doesn't ring yet a VM is left. Data access is a joke. Time to trade in and up. I hear T-Mobile has much better service...

Some days, one or two bars (of five), but on as many others "No Service" or zero bars, even which right next to any of three tall, street-level windows in separate rooms.

The worst service I have ever had in my life. I've only had the service for a couple of months and I'm breaking the contract ASAP. Everytime I go to use the phone it says No Service or Searching. When people call me it goes directly to voicemail. My advice for anyone living in the city, DO NOT USE AT&T!

My iphone jumps back and forth from "searching" to 5 bars while I'm in my apartment. If I am on a call, it drops within a couple minutes without fail. Very frustrating! I know all the service gaps along the Red line and I'm not talking about the lack of 3G, but COMPLETE dead zones, no service. Some of the dead zones include just North of the Sheridan station and just South of Fullerton. I'm just about at the point the horrible service is just not worth having an iphone. I miss my old Verizon service more each day.

Very poor reception, both inside and out of my apartment. Thankfully my contract is done at the end of January. Love my iPhone, but the constant dropped calls and texting failures mean bye bye.

In both downtown Chicago and in the South Loop, AT&T reception is very poor. I received two voicemails this evening at 7:00 that had been sent this morning. I expect poor reception at times--I live in a very busy part of the city, near a highway and train stations. I expect that there will be times when usage will exceed the tower availability. But I expect those times to be an exception--during a Bears game, say, or the Fourth of July. Poor coverage here is a near-constant. My previous contract was with Cingular, and before that T-Mobile. Never had a problem with either until AT&T took over Cingular. My two year contract is up this month, and I'm seriously looking over either Verizon (never used) or T-Mobile again.

AT&T really stinks in Chicago. There is no signal at Broadway and Hollywood (right off Lake Shore Drive). What is with AT&T's crappy service? Verizon has it right!

I have lived in my apartment for a year and the entire time I've lived there I've rarely had a phone conversation that did not drop the call at some point. It's incredibly frustrating. I have to sit next to a kitchen window for reception and if I move, consider the call dropped.

While AT&T struggles to bring solid 3G coverage in Chicago, Sprint launches 4G and now reports show that T-Mobile is rolling out their 7.2 Mbps HSPA network in Chicago. Come on AT&T.

It's amazing as Sprint launches 4G in Chicago... AT&T continues to struggle with 3G in the city. I guess what they say... don't trust a wireless provider with Telegraph still in their name. ;-)

Awful reception in my condo. It works only near the windows and drops out half the time.

Reception is awful - calls frequently drop and even the ones that stay connected sound as though I am sitting inside a tin can with cotton stuffed in my mouth. And forget about high speed data transfer!

I often have dropped calls and my phone even loses coverage entirely with a "Searching... " message. AT&T says several towers in my area are "degraded" and will be fixed soon, but this has been the story for over a year.

i am thinking of taking the hit for exiting out of my contract early. terrible reception. from 2 bars to 0 by the time I press talk. good news is that I am able to live a cell phone free life.

My reception varies from moment to moment from 0 bars to 4 bars. It constantly changes. If I watch it just goes up and down as I am on the phone. I am lucky if I can complete a call without the line being dropped. I am so frustrated. I called 611 and they looked into it but they were not able to do anything about it. I had excellent reception when I lived in Lake County in Illinois but it has only been bad while living in Chicago. I want to know which carrier is best in my area.

AT&T is awful! Dropping client calls is not good for business. I'm switching to Sprint for the Palm Pre. The iphone shine has faded.

Data speeds are awful, and 3G is inconsistent, cutting in and out. When 3G is switched off, EDGE sometimes performs OK, but sometimes I can't get any data access. Really, this is shameful performance. Dropped calls happen regularly, too.

My phone shows that I have full serivce but I never get texts on time and it takes about 5 or 6 tries to send an outgoing text... .is it a fact that you can drop your contract without any fees?!?!?! screw you att

I regularly have to walk six blocks away from my apartment to use my phone. Even when I walk away form my own apartment: Dropped calls, bad reception, late voicemails, late text messages. Awful. Unbelievable. I'm on the phone with 611 right now to see what they have to say about the technical support case that's been open for 2 months.

It seems things ahve gotten worst on AT&T lately. My phone is fine most of the day, but during busy times like morning and evening my phone can't make or receive calls. I get delayed voicemail. It's bad! Maybe too many customers on AT&T?

Ridiculously poor to no coverage. When initiating a call, I get a "call failed" message over 50% of the time. Dropped calls happen multiple times a day. In Chicago, I've used Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular but had to switch to AT&T for work. ALL other providers were FAR superior to AT&T.

I constantly get dropped calls and often jump in my car to see voice-mails appear when I drive away from my neighborhood. I has Sprint for about 8 years and never had such bad reception. AT&T is total crap. Several other people within my building have said that AT&T have told them that they know the area does not get very good reception and allow them to break the contract without fees. I will probably do this also, but have put it off because of the hassle.

Since May, I've had to use a land-line for the first time in 9 years. AT&T frequently drops calls, has no bars, and people can't call me on my cell. I'm able to get frequent $25 off my bill by complaining to 611---but I really want to switch providers.

Very poor reception, which kills the battery on my phone. My phone hovers right on the edge between analog and 3g and will often drop calls while switching from one to the other. "More bars in more places" must only apply to their prison customers...

If anyone gets a refund and let out of their contract for AT&T's failure to provide service, post here and let us know! I've tried the BBB.

You can do it AT&T! I had to work today, Labor Day, and because of the holiday there were fewer people on Chicago's Loop (business district). Oddly I had 5 bars and a 3G signal throughout my work building (high rise). Generally I get 1-3 bars which fluctuates with an Edge signal. So I know my iPhone and building can get a full 3G signal. AT&T has oversold their network. There are too many people on the network. The FCC should stop AT&T from selling iPhones or any smartphone for that matter until AT&T can get more bandwidth in Chicago (NYC, San Fran, etc.) This is an embarrassment for AT&T and tarnishes Apple's reputation.

This is ridiculous. I will insist on a refund of my contract.

I'm in the business loop of Chicago at Michigan Ave. and Wacker... crossing the Chicago River bring. The Wrigley Building, the Tribune Tower and the new Trump Tower and I have EDGE with 3 bars! Where's the 3G in Chicago! This is a major area of the city and AT&T can't provide 3G service. :- /

I have practically zero coverage in my ground floor condo. I have to go to a specific window to get just one bar. I get voicemails and texts late. I got rid of my landline when I got my iPhone and I'm miserable. No AT&T ever again.

The strip of Sheridan from Hollywood Ave. to Granville is virtually useless and from Thorndale to Granville there is NO service. Even standing outside you can't get a signal. How can any part of Chicago be without service. AT&T is the worst. AVOID AT&T. Don't fall into the iPhone trap like I did.

Horrible reception all over the Chicago! Thought it was possibly the phone (Samsung Blackjack II SGH-i617 Windows Mobile 6), but after reading everyone else's comments, clearly it's the AT&T! T-Mobile is far superior to AT&T. Complete mistake to change from T-Mobile to AT&T!

Apple's iPhone 3G and 3Gs are rendered useless on AT&T's craptastic network! I'm on Michigan Ave (The Magnificent Mile) shopping district and my iPhone switches between 3G and EDGE, generally it's on EDGE. Come on Apple, drop AT&T's exclusive contract already!

A friend just told me he unlocked his iPhone for 30 bucks and switched to T-Mobile. His coverage improved 100% on T-Mobile here in Chicago. He reports the dropped calls, lose of signal and other AT&T issues are all gone by simply switching to T-Mobile. Plus it's CHEAPER! I can't wait until Apple drops AT&T.

AT&T service in Lakeview is horrible, especially when the Cubs are playing. AT&T claimed to be making changes but that doesn't seem to be happening. Over Market Days (August 1), I couldn't make a call or send a text at all on 3G. When I switched to 2G I could at least get a text out. I've had friends in the area now switch (downgrade) to 2G phones just in order to make calls. AT&T is the worst in Chicago.

I have ATT and service sucks in my apartment building. On average I get 2 bars. Even with that calls are incoherent all the time. Even going outside I get average of 2-3 bars and 4 if in a widely opened area. I wish cell serviced didn't suck this bad.

The reception in my apartment was really bad for a long time with AT&T, but a few months ago it got even worse. My phone is practically useless now - I rarely have any bars at all and it can take 6 hours or more for texts to come through at home. A lot of food deliveries turn around and go back to the restaurant because they can't get a call through to let me know they are at the door of my building! It is beyond frustrating and I'm looking for a new plan.

Major sections of the far north side of Chicago I get "No Service" for long stretches. I'll have voicemails not getting to my phone for hours. iPhone is great. ATT is pathetic. Don't they know when we are able to choose our own carriers that people will drop ATT in a heartbeat?

Service while standing still goes 3g->Edge->Nothing. Searching. Edge->3G. 2 minutes. Gone! Searching. Come on AT&T!

Until about two months ago, we had strong (edge, never 3g) reception in the area. Now it is terrible. I have virtually no service inside my building. Even when I go outside and it says I have 1 or 2 bars - it always cuts out within a couple of minutes. It's very disappointing that at >$100 / month in 2009, AT&T can't provide reception in the center of downtown Chicago.

ATT service here in Streeterville is simply awful. Even in areas with seemingly good reception I rountinely get dropped calls.

AT&T can bite me. Two minutes ago I had no reception at all on my iPhone, and now I have three bars. Usually it's around 2 bars, but never above 3. I get texts late and sometimes I can't even text with one little bar. Drop calls are frequent, if I can even get through! Now I gotta get a landline or wait until the contract's up and get another service, because I ain't going through this again, AT&T!

I have very few bars in my apartment and sound quality is suck. I don't know if this is because of iphone or ATT coverage. My friend told me that they cann't reach me when I am in my apartment. I alway have my phone turn on... but this is what they say. Sometimes I can pick up the call, but cannot communicate.

My family is on the AT&T family plan and are pretty locked in to our deal which is TERRIBLE because none of us get even the slightest big of reception whether we're in the house, in the middle of the street, in the garden or on the roof. It's the worst!

Great phone, awful reception. Constantly dealing with dropped calls. Reception bars go up-and-down like a rolling coaster and can't get any service at all during Cubs games. AT&T is brutal... .

If it weren't for the few random acts of divine intervention, I'd say I get ZERO reception with my first gen iphone within a 1 / 2 mile radius of my home. And I can only expect slightly better coverage elsewhere in the city. I love this device but am just waiting for the contract to expire. Everything was fine until about this time last year when they rolled out the 3G. Spent hours on the phone with tech support who opened a ticket only to close it later marking it as "resolved." In the time since, my wife and I have given AT&T roughly $1600. I will not be renewing my contract or buying another iphone unless Apple opens it up to other service providers. I've been with AT&T (Cingular) for nearly 10 years in three cities, including NYC. The coverage in Chicago is unbelievably horrible. I've had to get a home VOIP just to be able to make / receive calls at home -- that's not factored into the $$$ we're giving AT&T every month.

WOW! With cell coverage this bad, I can't believe I'm in the 3rd largest city. Come on AT&T get your act together. I love my iPhone; however, with AT&T's horrible (understatement) coverage it's impossible to use my iPhone. I called AT&T about my coverage area and the representative on the phone dialed up the coverage map. He was shocked as he related the following... of the 4 towers within a mile of my location, 3 were severely degraded towers and the other was degraded. Notations by AT&T service technicians. How can AT&T be allowed to operate such a poor network. Someone (the FCC) needs to step in and review!

Wicker Park reception is TERRIBLE... I wish I wasn't such a big fan of my iPhone, and it's compatibility with my Macs at home / office. I'm ready to switch carriers. Come on, ATT, I live in a major city... get your act together!

I used to have decent service. I've lived here for a year and a half and the last few months have been nothing but dropped calls and poor call quality. I gave up my blackberry for my Nokia 2610, and it did help a lot, but I still drop calls, and that's unheard of for a classic Nokia bar phone. It's definitely AT&T's inferior network, and not Nokia. The 2610 model is among the best for reception. I miss T-Mobile. Cheaper and better service.

AT&T is the worst - no service, dropped calls. Im in Ravenswood. Ive been talking to them for months about this with no resolution - I need to get out of my contract.

Signal seems to fade in and out. Voice breaks and I have to constantly ask people to repeat themselves. Phone generally shows max bars until I try to place a call, then the bars dramatically drop off and I get a 'call failed' message. About 30% - 40% of initial calling attempts result in a 'call failed' message.

The reception keeps getting worse and worse. My plan with AT&T is currently up and wanted to get an upgraded IPhone 3GS but due to the poor quality of service in our area - considering changing. Currently within my home the max amount of bars I have are two and a great portion of the time it says No Service.

unbelievably poor. incomprehensibly poor. No reception.

I am here for the summer and wish I would have found this site before living here. NO reception 90% of the time and the other 10% I get about 5 min of talk time before the call drops. It is a shame that this area of a major American city does not have ANY reception inside or outside. I've been on the phone many times with customer services and each time it's a different excuse. "Maybe it's the terrain." "It's material your building is made out of." "Some of the towers are down but should be back up soon." "It's because your area code is not a Chicago area code." Unacceptable.

I have had an iphone for 5 months all I get is dropped calls. No reception and 3G is the worst. I was with T-Mobile for five years and wish I never changed to ATT. Pay all this money for an iphone, thanks ATT

Terrible reception with AT&T and even worse when using Palm Treo 750. Even though i'm outdoor up on the patio I get drop calls... another contributing factor is the neighborhood since using the same phone and carrier in Gold Coast was not so bad.

I have 2-5 bars at home but I guaranteed dropped calls nearly 100% of the time. Dropped calls are reduced (not by much) when standing outside of my condo unit.

Can't get a signal or only one bar at home. Texts sometimes make in and out but phone reception is horrible if you get it at all. This also happens at work at Ravenswood and Rosehill. So, no reception at home and work... its driving me crazy.

Get the bars, but terrible coverage as of late. Text messages coming in bulk, some not being sent, calls go right into voicemail. I love my iPhone, but am now very disappointed in my service lately. They say they are having some issues in the Chicago area, but don't know when it will be fixed. The customer service guy said they did some network reset of ring times, and that hopefully it would fix it. Got a nice guy in customer service, so I'm not bailing yet. That being said, it would make me feel much better if ATT would at least say something when I log into the website. If there are issues, let us know. We expect instantaneous communications these days, if we can't rely on that, we need to know. (So we don't get peeved at our significant others for blowing us off, when in fact they aren't getting the message.)

I have a lot of calls get dropped and I'm lucky if I have reception in my unit of my low rise just east of California. It's traditional construction, so there's no apparent reason for the bad reception.

I was lucky if I got one bar at the window in my building at 200 N Jefferson. It was AWFUL. It may have been the building, but there's no excuse for this kind of reception in downtown. Bad, bad, bad.

I have to redial the same number 4 or 5 times before it completes the call. I really want to switch to Spring and get a Palm Pre, but my entire family is on AT&T in Michigan (where service is fine) so switching networks would eat up my minutes.

ATT drops more calls than a Bear's receiver drops passes. For a company that merged two inventory's (Cingular and ATT) in to one powerhouse of assets, their service is absolutely horid. I'd advise anyone to steer clear until they spend some money on more towers. Just terrible.

Absolutely horrid. Have to make 5-6 calls before one finally goes through. Am worried what to do in an emergency, so I actually am keeping a landline. DO NOT GO TO ATT!

I had great reception while living in other parts of the city, but I just moved into the South Loop area, near Roosevelt and Michigan, and my reception at home is horrible. My only hope of possibly making and receiving calls is if I stand right against a window. I was thinking of adding a landline, but after reading these comments, I will probably switch providers.

My office is located at Michigan and Randolph... one of my responsibilities is the managing our corporate AT&T account... there are only 2 towers in this area and our coverage is horrible. We rarely have 3G and are usually on Edge with one or two bars. Things have gotten much worse overall in this area and my home area (Streeterville). AT&T won't fess up but there has been a very noticeable degradation in coverage / connection and its worse for data than voice. The staff who use Verizon never have these issues. I've been told that the iPhone and it's stellar sales is being blamed for oversubcription and coverage problems. Apparently each Tower only has 4 T1 lines, which is pathetic. I'm tired of AT&T making excuses and blaming the iPhone instead of solving the problem with their network. It's inferior and they have to know this.

I have had att / cingular for nearly 8 years and had great reception in connecticut and texas. The reception is absolutely horrible in chicago. I thought changing my phone at the end of last year would make a difference but it hasn't. My roommates have Verizon and Sprint so I think I may have to make the switch. It's at the point where I can't even get reception long enough to send text messages. DISAPPOINTING to say the least!

No matter how many times I walked around my apartment (or even outside), I'd still get dropped calls or calls that wouldn't even go out in the first place. It wasn't just in my area either; no matter where I went in Chicago, I had the same problem. Ironically enough, when I called to cancel, it dropped the call 6 times before I finally got the process completed!

AT&T service sucks in Chicago. I live on Michigan Ave. if anywhere in world you would expect a good service in downtown Chicago. But it is terrible, so so so bad that my calls drop every 30 secs. If anybody thinking of switching to AT&T in chicago dont do it at all.

First off I must say I am glad to have found this website to know that this deplorable service is not just being experienced by myself, and my friends, but is truly a widespread issue throughout Chicago-land. Everyone I know with AT&T has seemingly been experiencing degenerative service over the last 8 years in the Chicago area! I have been upgrading phones and doing technical support for the past two years and still my calls drop, and cut out like it's nobody's business. Go figure it's just their $hitty service. AT&T has recently admitted several times on the phone that they are getting calls all day long from Chicagoans that are ready to break their phones because the service SUCKS. They claim to be doing updates and are fixing the issue, but nothing changes. I've had it. I literally JUST switched to T-Mobile. For anyone living in lakeview, you should know there is a T-Mobile tower on top of the 418 W Belmont building. I switched after finding out the tower I see from my window is owned by them. Guess what, the reception is crystal clear now. Good riddance AT&T!!

I think I pay way too much for the service I get. Even when my phones shows a full range of reception it drops down and moves all around and often drops calls in my apartment. I had the 3G iphone and switching to a Nokia has helped but has not solved the problem or walking around outside having calls dropped. I am thinking about switching to Sprint when the Pre comes out. I would avoid At&t.

AT&T should be ashamed of their coverage in a major metropolitan city like Chicago. I switched from Sprint (Blackberry Pearl) with PERFECT service to AT&T for the iPhone with HORRIBLE reception at home and even mixed reception at work in the Loop (Randolph and Lake). AT&T's coverage is sporadic at best and goes from mediocre on good days to worse. I had no choice but to select AT&T because I really wanted th iPhone. The iPhone is an incredible piece of hardware at Apple should get all over AT&T for their horrible implementation of 3G service in Chicago. I thought monopoly was illegal and think the FCC should investigate AT&T's horrible service. If you are thinking of switching to AT&T in Chicago -- THINK TWICE!

Three of us on the same plan and none of us get reception. If we are lucky to get a call through, it drops within a minute. Everyone needs to print all 55 pages on this website and mail the complaints to the Better Business Bureau. It appears that 95% of complaints on this site are related to AT&T. This is unacceptable. They are stealing our money.

forget Att. always had poor reception in the home. now I walk around neighborhood and get sos no signal. didn't think it could get worse but it has.

No service in every room of my apartment unless the iPhone is placed on the living room window sill... and then all I get (if I'm lucky) is one tiny little bar of coverage. AT&T, this is ridiculous!

My office is on east side of LaSalle, on the corner of Wacker. Reception is usually zero bars / No Service; if I get reception, calls are frequently dropped.

Bad reception, pretty spotty around the neighborhood. Phone often switches between 3G and Edge. Practically no service indoors.

Good Reception..maybe 3-4 dropped calls in past 2yrs

I live just North of Hollywood on Kenmore(Edgewater). AT&T is horrible in this area. I have literally watched my phone go from full bars to none as I turned the corner of Bryn Mawr onto Kenmore. I used to have to run up to my apt. to get the phone in the window to save the signal, now that's not even an option since I can't even get within 2 blocks of my place without losing all bars. I am also noticing it is taking a long time regain a signal at work(Division and Elston) when I come up from the basement. 20-30 minutes can go by before it will get a signal. I have stayed with this company far too long and given them far too much of my hard earned money to keep paying for such poor reception. DO NOT USE AT&T if you live in Edgewater!

I live in a 20th floor apartment with western exposure. I can literally SEE the AT&T POP yet only get reception while leaning against the windows in my southern-most room. Totally unacceptable. AT&T should take note of this highly populated problem area!

Awful coverage.Unacceptable and the list goes on... .They should admit they have serious coverage problems instead of telling me over the phone that I don`t get good coverage in my apt because the walls contain lead paint and interfere with signal.Sad,folks

In my neighborhood (West Logan Square) iPhone reception is terrible. I have to stand perfectly still against the front window to complete a phone call. Outside on the street, my phone constantly switches between 1-2 bars of 3G and 3-4 bars of (slow) EDGE, usually disconnecting for a few seconds in between. Elsewhere in the city reception varies widely. I can get 5 bars in some parts (especially on highways) and have reception similar to my neighborhood elsewhere. Out where I work in Hoffman Estates (far NW Suburbs) reception is similar to my neighborhood (very spotty) unless you're on the highway. In my experience T-Mobile and Verizon have the best reception in Chicagoland with Sprint and AT&T being the worst.

at&t service has become a complete joke. full bars indicated almost all of the time. despite this I would say that at least half of my calls are dropped, or don't go through at all. my husband and mother are on the same plan and also have the same problem. this happens all over chicago. also frequently I do not receive my voice mails and sometimes receive them, but weeks later. this is a huge problem. there is almost no point in having a cell phone with this kind of service. we have tried different phones, switched out sim cards nothing helps. I am a mom and my cell phone number is my work number and my emergency number. ARGH!

Almost no reception here. Second floor unit, need to hang out the window.

No issues in my unit but I am also on the 3rd floor. Full bars on 3G.

All my calls are dropped (AT&T). I can get a text through most of the time. I had to buy a Verizon pay-as-you-use phone just so I can make calls from my apt! Sprint also seems to work just fine.

Never had this problem with T-mobile. I get dropped calls, calls that go to VM right away. It is horrible. They need to put up more towers in the NW side of Chicago

AT&T does not provide reception when I am in my house. I live in a three flat. I have to go outside -- even in the middle of winter -- to talk to anyone. I have gotten used to communicating with all of my friends and family with text messages. I have been waiting for over a year for AT&T to put more towers up since I assumed they would have an interest in the yuppiefied Wicker Park / Bucktown customers. Apparently not. I am switching to T-Mobile tomorrow.

AT&T's reception here is a complete joke. In other major cities, such as Seattle, I was able to talk on my phone in underground parking garages, never dropped a single call. Here, I can't even check my voicemail in my top-floor apartment most of the time and can rarely even make phone calls. Forget about anything involving data. It blows my mind that T-Mobile's coverage can be flawless in the exact same spot where AT&T can't even complete calls. It also doesn't make sense that my phone "has bars" all the while this is happening, yet still drops calls and refuses data connections. I really don't understand how can this be..

AT&T's reception here is a complete joke. In other major cities, such as Seattle, I was able to talk on my phone in underground parking garages, never dropped a single call. Here, I can't even check my voicemail in my top-floor apartment most of the time and can rarely even make phone calls. Forget about anything involving data. I really don't understand how can this be..

I drop calls all the time in my house. I swear it has gotten much worse with AT&T lately. Since I work out of my house and only have my cell number on my business cards this is a pretty big issue (understatement)

I would like to rate it as 0.5 instead of 1. I got no signal and up to 2 bars.

Very, very poor reception in my first floor apartment, in a three flat. Cannot use the phone at home at all. Also spotty outside throughout the neighborhood

I get 1 or 2 bars outside and 1 or zero inside! What is the holdup in putting up towers?! It sure as hell isn't a lack of money! And in Hyde Park, there are plenty of places that would give permission to place a tower there. I resent having to by a cell phone extender / cell signal booster, especially since AT&T doesn't even have one of their own to use. Cell companies do not want people to stop depending on land lines unless you save them the cost of building towers by buying your own signal boosters.

In my condo (second floor in a neighborhood 2-flats) I get decent coverage. I sometimes get a little garble, and sometimes dropped calls, however.

So frustrating to have a freelance job and not have coverage around my own house. To return a voicemail, I must get in my car and drive 3 blocks where I have a reliable signal! iPhone is aweome, AT&T way behind the ball for network coverage in a very very populated area of Chicago!

AT&T sucks. Calls are dropped all the time and even when I do get through the calls usually dont last for more than 5-10 minutes. After that the service starts to go in and out and it is impossible to understand what the other person is saying. I would definitly NOT recommend AT&T and plan on switching to a new service soon once I figure out which one would be best.

AT&T is the worst provider! I had no choice wanting to have iPhone (love it). I thought monopoly was illegal. Worst service and coverage in the world! not worth switching!

My reception inside my home office is horrible. When I find a spot with a couple of bars and make or receive a call, and stay completely STILL, the bars can swing down to 1 or else I get disconnected. It's horrible. Is this a conspiracy by AT&T to keep us on our landlines? I end up paying for a lot more long distance landline service than necessary.

For paying over $100 / month to a network that boasts about more bars in more places... I think they should just change their slogan to No Bars in More Places. I'm in the same boat with the rest that wish to cancel their contract and switch to another provider. It's too bad considering I'm in love with my phone. If only the partner to make it functional would produce better service.

AT&T iPhone only works near the window of my 3rd floor apartment facing west. Dropped calls and delayed / lost text messages are the norm. My roommate has Verizon and has full service. I love the iPhone, but it is getting to the point where I will switch service to a CDMA family carrier and use the iPhone as a glorified iPod Touch.

I hesitate to even add my comments... as it seems like all AT&T users have poor or no reception, especially in their homes. I doubt very much that anyone is listening to the tsunami of complaints, however. For the city that supposedly "works" something as critical as cell phone coverage is a flat out failure. Can you hear me now??? because I can't!

I'm sick of AT&T - I get NO reception at all. I can almost never dial out or receive a call, and on the rare occasion I can, the call will drop within 10-15 seconds. USELESS. Is there anyway to get out of a contract if you NEVER have cell reception?

Barely any reception at all. I go from 5 bars of 3G to maybe 1 or 2 bars of EDGE or GSM just by turning the corner. Poor reception lasts for about a block or so north, then gets great again.

I live on the 23rd floor I get absolutely no signal. When wwe 1st moved and had nothing in our apartment ma recepition was fabulous. but now it SUCKS.. The only way I can get a signal is if I go on the balcony. It is to cold for that. If I go downstairs I can get a signal but I dnt want to leave me apartment jus to tlk in my cell.. 2da after school I will be goin to AT&T and make a complaint

I have always had crappy cell service, but this is the worst. I have AT&T and an I-Phone. Does anyone in this area or building (NYPR) have better luck with another carrier? GSM works great in Europe, but I have found that in the US it is very unpredictable. What carriers may be better at this address?

The reception was never strong but appears to be getting worse. Calls continue to get dropped and data is almost non-existent. Considering going back to Sprint which I thought I'd never say.

I have dropped calls all the time! If I need to make a call I normally have to go outside to do it. Even then I may have 1 or 2 bars. I am sick and tired of dealing with customer service and having them tell me I should have good service. They claim there are 3 towers near by and that reception should not be a problem. If that is the case though, WHY am I dropping calls every day and WHY do I have to go outside for my calls?? I am sick and tired of ATT and dealing with this crap!

I switched from Verizon to AT&T for the iPhone. Went from perfect reception at my place to having to stand within 2 ft of the window to have any hope of making a call. It's unbearable... I think I need to switch back.

Outside in my courtyard I get 3 bars, but inside I hardly get any. I can hardly receive texts. It's terrible.

I wanted an iPhone so I switched from my Verizon RAZR to ATT. iPhone is awesome and works great EXCEPT in my highrise condo! Unless I stand right near the window it drops calls and is full of static. ATT has tried to help by dowloading software but it hasnt helped

Its unbelievable how poor AT&T's reception is in this area of Streeterville. Considering the amount of residential buildings in this neighborhood, its proximity to the Apple store on Michigan avenue, and the fact that we are in downtown Chicago - its horrible at best. Often in my apartment building I will get 1 small bar to no service whatsoever. Even with the 3G service, there has been no improvement whatsoever. AT&T needs to install an additional cell phone tower in this area ASAP - its an embarresment to the company to have such a gap in a major metropolitan area.

I get horrible reception in my house. My calls always get dropped, or there is too much break up.

Reception is intermittent throughout this zip code and loop. Much of the conversation consists of requests to repeat. This is significantly worse than former services I've subscribed to.

I live in Printer's Row on the 26th floor, in an East facing unit. I have to have my face pressed up against the glass to get one bar. It will still drop out every 10 mintues. Anywhere else in the unit and nothing. There are no buildings in the immediate vicinity.

When I moved here (2002) had Verizon (did not work indoors) switched to Cingular (much better - could actually use the phone in my 2 flat). After Cingular / AT&T merger, phone worked fine for awhile - now NO reception inside or outside. (Remember how AT&T used to gouge land line users? They're baaaack!) Still hate AT&T.

LG gets poor reception, razor (old phone) had better reception, but the signal has definitely diminished significantly since over the past few weeks. What is AT&T doing? When Cingular, everything was fine -- now nothing. What gives?? (Oh yeah, that's right -- your CUSTOMERS!) What are we paying for? Dropped CALLS!

I use this phone on my job's dime on AT&T. Useless when I'm home. Luckily my main phone is on T-Mobile which works perfectly. Too bad, I'd like to get an iphone.

I this phone on my job's dime on AT&T. Useless when I'm home. Luckily my main phone is on T-Mobile which works perfectly. Too bad, I'd like to get an iphone.

Great coverage and I always have full bars anywhere in my home or on the street. Apparently, ATT coverage has improved.

I am in my room, 2 floor and have never had any reception issue. My roommate has Sprint and he has to go to the deck. I think AT&T it is very decent.

Terrible reception in my bldg. Lots of dropped calls. Bars constantly drop to 1 or zero and back up again. Had the same problem (actually even worse) with Sprint in my bldg on same phone as well as regular flip phone. Have dropped calls around city with both carriers but Sprint seemed better when traveling to other cities. Verizon DOES work in my bldg others use thier phones here without issue.

I work downtown and live in the northern suburbs and no matter where I go I always have perfect, or near perfect reception. The only time I go below 3 bars is when I am underground at Union Station, but I usually have good enough reception there to check my voicemail and send or receive text messages. My fiance' has Verizon Wireless and he never has good reception and his calls get dropped all the time.

Reception is generally ok outside, not the best. I am on the top floor of my building and get horrible reception in most rooms to where I cannot talk on the phone well. I'm currently trying decide to switch to Verizon or us cellular?

Can only get reception on south side of my building (Bilandic Building west across LaSalle from Thompson Center). Outside in the loop, forget it--even on the bridges where presumably there is less blockage. I only get reception on one block in my walk to the Northwestern train station. Called Cingular, they said they were working on their towers--many of you have been told the same thing over the years. Ask around; there is undoubtedly a class-action in the works.

This is very strange, but I have a Blackjack and I thought I would leave an update to let everyone know how I now get great coverage. I've had a Blackjack for a year and when my reception went to crap in the first week of Jan, I called in and they sent me a new (refurb) phone. I was very disappointed when the new phone had little to no coverage in my apartment as well. Last Friday night, I installed the "Xpress Mail" app that is linked to off the home screen of the browser. After installing and setting up my POP email from gmail, I had close to perfect reception. 3G everywhere in my apartment with 3 bars of coverage. I had never had more than Edge and 1-2 bars of coverage even when I first got the phone. At the time, I didn't make the connection between the Xpress Mail application and the good reception, I assumed that maybe a cell tower had been taken offline in early Jan and simply was fixed / functional again. The next day, being annoyed by the Xpress Mail calendar that had been put on my "home" screen by the application, I uninstalled the Xpress mail program. Immediately, my reception turned to crap. That's when I made the connection and reinstalled. Back to perfect reception. I have no idea what is going on with this, but I'm assuming that the applicatioin changes some sort of antenna settings that makes my phone function better.

Wow I'm having the same problem as a lot of you. My blackjack always had medium to poor reception since I bought it a year ago, but now it has gone to poor to none out of nowhere within the last week. I called and they replaced my blackjack but I'm having the same probs...

I have had zero reception for the past 5 days! I used to have perfect reception, then all of a sudden nothing! This is the area about 2 blocks south of Montrose on sacramento avenue. AT&T claims that all of their towers are working in that area and that I should reset my phone, even though I keep explaining to them that I have 2 phones on my plan, and neither of them have reception so it is obviously not a problem with my hardware. The few times that I actually get a call out, it drops. So much for AT&T's bs commercials patting themselves on the back for having the least dropped calls!

I have had my blackjack since summer and it has been fine until now. This past week I can hardly send texts, make or receive calls, and do not get voicemails for hours.

The reception was good when I first moved to Chicago. In the past month I have dropped calls, voice mails appear 3 hours late, and I have horrible reception. Tried changing phones and it's still bad.

I cannot use my phone in my house and in much of the two 4 block radius surounding my house. I hate ATT I am switching.

Coverage in our neighborhood is spotty; sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's awful depending on the time of day. I've had Cingular / AT&T for years -- it's always been bad. My roommates have had T-Mobile and Verizon service, and they complained about bad coverage too. I think the area just sucks. There aren't just any towers in Lakeview.

I can barely use my phone in my new apartment, often not at all. Even on the street I get no coverage often, or calls are dropped when I do. This isn't an iPhone issue, as I had the same problem with previous LG phone. ATT more than stinks here. Verizon phones work great. This neighborhood is hardly the hinterlands. I'm beyond frustrated. Stay away from ATT if you're anywhere nearby!

I cannot make or receive calls from inside my office but phones with other carriers, i.e. T-Mobile and U.S. Celular seem to work fine.

have never seen more than 3 bars, even outside. reception barely penetrates inside the house. frequent dropped calls.

I have used, on average, about 10 minutes each month. It's because I usually can't make a single call without walking about 6 blocks. I can now type text messages very quickly though, but it takes about 30 sends before one goes through. I've also gotten voice mails 7 hours after they were left, and one time I dropped my phone on the floor and all of a sudden three voice mails popped up.

Sometimes I'll receive missed calls / messages hours after the call was placed or the message was sent. This just started happening semi recently. Not sure if it has something to do with AT&T buying out Cingular. I have no problems placing calls and my reception is pretty solid. I work on the 26th floor of a building on Michigan and Illinois. If i'm lucky phone calls will get through, but chances of hearing the person on the other end is slim to none. Calling out can take several attempts, but if I do get through reception is awful.

Perfect reception anywhere on DePaul University's campus. If you go in any building, still all bars. Any other provider does not work though. Sorry, you're out of luck without Cingular / AT&T.

Used to get great reception until new buildings were built. Called Cingular many times but no improvement. It has been 1 year now with bad reception.

Cingular service has been excellent in all areas that I have observed. All service provided in my local area is GSM. I originally was given the Nokia 6340i by Cingular to insure that I had complete TDMA and GSM service when travelling in rural areas.

VERY poor reception - rarely can get through on first several tries. Often can't call or be called inside of structures. Today was NO reception from my car. Called to complain and they were unhelpful. I'm getting a different cell phone provider -- I've had enough of Cingular / ATT.

Cingular service in my building is a disaster. I'd call customer service, except I can't hold a call long enough to get through more than one or two selections on their automated menu.

I don't really cheer for cingular, but I have to say that I get good reception. I believe that in this area Cingular uses primarly 850 Mhz frequency, so anyone with tri band with no 850 coverage, will get bad reception. As far as the Quad band is concerned, I believe all quad bands offer the 850 Mhz frequency and so the quality of call is good. I must admit that I had lots of trouble with AT&T wireless when Cingular took over, and I think that's because Cingular wanted to push the AT&T customers over to their call plan. It's strange now, that Cingular is going to be At&t. I have one advice for them, that they should push around customers. B / c this will come and haunt them. I am already kinds decided on not renewing my contract with Cingular / At&t. B / c of their lieing and cheating ways. I don't encourage anyone to sign on, but I will tell you I get good reception.

Service is very spotty around the city but improves out in the suburbs. Can't get a signal ever in any elevator. I was hoping that upgrading from a low end Nokia to the Motorola Razr would improve getting a signal but it's the same. I have to stand near the window of my lakefront high rise to get a signal. A relative recently switched to T-Mobile and had minimal problems while visiting here in CHicago.

I'm on Loyola University's Lake Shore campus and Cingular has extremly poor reception. What's worse is that theirs is the nearest antena tower. Go figure!

I've had a Cingular phone for two years. I use the phone regularly, mostly in Hydepark in Chicago. I can count on one hand the number of dropped calls I've had.

Inside my condo I get no reception. I live right across from the EL too. I'm sure that has something to do with it, however, whenever I'm on the train, reception is great! Go figure. Anyone else have trouble??

Calls drop often. Service has been getting worse. Cingular said they're upgrading their network and it will be better in 3 months or so. I have friends with Verizon that have problems too. One friend with T-Mobile doesn't seem to have many problems with service.

In my home (first floor of a 6-flat) I have gotten no reception at all for weeks at a time. When I do get reception it is very poor. *Lots* of dropped calls.

0 to 2 bars in my home varies as I walk around. Frequent call drops.

I'm dead anywhere clost to my job in the west loop. Don't get me wrong, I hate my LG C1500, but it seems to work elsewhere in the city.

Cingular does not work in basements here. Verizon and Sprint have one bar in the basement, good enough for a call.

Constantly dropped calls, poor reception and billing overcharges. When AT&T merged with Cingular service went down hill. Even if my phone shows all bars when a call connects it drops to one or two bars. If it's clowdy or rainy -- no reception at all. When I'm on my car reception is better but never great as it always was with my old analog phones like the Star Tac. If Cincular brags about the least dropped calls, pitty the other carrier's customers.

I've had my phone here now for over a year, reception has always been good or perfect, I don't know if it's because of the fact it's a higher end cell, but reception by the lake has always been great for me.

The Cingular store is a block from my apartment, but the service in the neighborhood is terrible. No dropped calls... but you can't hear anything when you are on the phone, and it cuts out and in. My husband has the same problems on a different phone. A friend with Cingular in the same location and different phone is having issues too. The loop is bad for us as well. When I asked Cingular about the service they play dumb and tell me it's my phone. I can't stand that I have a 2-year contract with them. DO NOT sign up.

Just moved from Mississippi where Cingular worked fine. Here it's a totally different story. Poor reception in my apt. even though I'm on the 3rd floor. Constant dropped calls. I actually had to get a landline for the first time in 3 years. Also I don't get service on the el (Brown Line, where everybody else seems to get reception) or downtown in the loop. I wish I knew what the best carrier was for Chicago. I was thinking of switching to Verizon, but it doesn't look too good either. Maybe US Cellular?

Cingular service in this area is SO bad. When I am on the phone, I can hear the person on the other line, but they can't hear me. I usually have to call people back about 4-5 times during the course of a conversation because they can't hear me. Other times it sounds like there is interference on the line - like garbled words from another conversation. I've tried getting a new phone and that didn't work - it is Cingular's service in this area. It is very frustrating - save yourselves the headache, don't use Cingular in this area!

No reception at all in the house, unreliable reception elsewhere. When the phone actually rings, sometimes it goes right to vmx when I open it. When one friend calls it ONLY goes to vmx. Cingular is great in New England, but completely stinks in Chicago - and according to this site, I have a Cingular tower near my house!

Inside my home I get extremely poor reception and the party on the other end says I sound as if I'm in a tunnel. Sometimes the phone decides not to ring and goes straight to voicemail.

I rarely get reception inside my house (brick bungalow). I usually have to go outside or run upstairs to a window. My gf has a Nokia phone and has the same problems, although her phone is slightly better on average. I am just waiting for my contract to end so I can switch.

disaster... . southbound from irving pk to belmont [drivong on cicero] crappy reception... lot of drop calls... .. funny thing - on intersection cicero / belmont no signal at all - funny bacause on the same intersection is Cingular dealership... ..

My phone rarely makes outgoing calls, but will pick up incoming sometimes

If the number of bars meant something that would be great. I can sit out on my deck with full bars and loose calls. Voice reception is constantly scratchy at some point in the coversation. Even when the call starts out crystal clear, with in less than a minute it gets scratchy and then dropped entirely - all while showing 5 full bars. Same problem if I walk inside. I live on the top floor of a 7 story building. I travel daily to Oak Lawn and Olympia Fields and on the highway, quality is fine. In buildings at either location I get practically nothing or at the best, delayed text messages. I have called Cingular multiple times and recieved "updates" downloaded to my phone although no one at the Cingular store or help line can explain what these updates are. Heard about the tower reconfiguration excuse too but since that has been a few years I'm not buying it anymore. Contract is over in November and I can't wait!

I have Cingular and it is garbage. It is not even my neighborhood, I get dropped every time. I can not count the number of times I have come close to throwing the phone on the ground. I get no reception in my home. I have to hang my head out the window to make a call! it is a joke. I am shopping and researching who to go with.

After checking the locations of the towers I see that there is only one in my neighborhood. Yet there are about 50 surrounding O'Hare Field. Thank you Cingular for you con game. I have 6 cell phones with you and I taking every one to another conpany. I can do this because I have no contract.

Very little reception in the house, usuallly 1 or no bars, missed calls. I Get fair receiption from the car because I spent $200 plus on an electric external car antenna. When I had my StarTac I got good reception everywere both in Illinois and Wisc. No dead spots. I was explained to me that the new phones have too much garbage attached. All I need is a phone to call and receive calls. Bring back the StarTac, a plain, simple phone. No cameras, internet or any other crap.

Horrible reception. Driving home, I can sense calls getting worse the closer I get to my apartment, and I have absolutely no reception inside. I'm tired of missed calls. Cingular was so good before I moved here.

particularly in my apt. building, the reception is awful

Out side the house reception is OK. Inside the house is very poor reception or no reception at all.

Poor reception in the Austin area, particulary along montrose and laramie no bars at all. The expressway is a joke. While fishing at Channel Lake in Antioch no reception at all. Can you hear me now! Cingular S --ks!

I was getting reception as bad as described in many of the previous comments for the last year. Five bars dropped to none the moment I pressed the Send button. That was on a Motorola v600. I got utterly worthless interaction with Cingular representatives, who said essentially, that I should live elsewhere if I want good reception. I finally got a tip to talk with MId City Cellular, 830 N Milwaukee, where I was informed that the v600 had severe RF interference from the titanium case. I was advised that I could get much better reception with the new Blackberry 8700c. I gave it a try, and now my reception is good, but there are still small holes in some locations. I was also told that the Treo--which I was interested in buying--has reception as bad as the v600. I recommend both the Blackberry 8700 and Mid City Cellular if you are already into a Cingular contract. At least you can talk to someone who knows what is going on; ask for Dan Ruby.

My reception varies with time of day - somehow during the day I have NO reception in my building and bvery late at night it ocmes back. It has been gettign progressively worse and I have a lot of dropped calls. Weird thing is - the bars go down to 1 the call drops and then the bars are back to 3 or 4. Do they need a time out or something? By the by - my old phone can perfectly normal reception in my apartment and other peopl's phones have perfectly good reception as well, even if they are with Cingular.

I just got off the phone with Cingular and they are saying the old AT&T towers are down - thats why the service in Chicago sucks. There is no expected date for the service to be restored. My service was not so good to begin with, but the past month it has been HORRIBLE. I finally complained enough to the gentleman on the phone and he said he would change my contract to a month to month contract, so I could leave Cingular WITHOUT paying the early termination fee. He also said he HOPED the problems would be fixed by summer, but still no guaranteeded date.

In the past 4 months reception has gone from great to very bad. I never used to have calls fail or drop in mid conversation. Now I am lucky to hear every other word while on the phone. I thought it was my two year old phone until friends said they were having the same problem. I can't figure out who has the better service in my area.

Cingular has been spotty at best throughout the entire city of Chicago. I have used this phone all across the nation for the past year or so, and Chicago has far and away the poorest coverage. Consistent dropped calls almost anywhere on the kennedy xpy, little to no reception in Logan Square / Bucktown / Wicker Park, even the Loop has astoundingly poor reception. Users of Sprint PCS seem to have no trouble in these same areas. Having been a cellular user for over 10 years, I can say confidently that my old analog service was of consistently higher quality that Cingular's GSM. A Customer Service rep stated that the service level was due to modifications being done on the former AT&T cell towers. It simply astounds me that the 3rd biggest market in the US has service this consistently poor. I intend to get out of my contract asap.

Horrible reception everywhere. Switching carriers soon.

Essentially no reception in my apartment, I have to go outside to make phone calls. Thankfully the weather is getting warmer.

I live in a brick condo and have to be in a certain place to get reception. If I am on a call and walk from one end of my condo to the other, I usually loose reception.

Rarely receive more than 2 bars on my 10th floor apartment near the lake front downtown. Even with 2 bars, calls will not connect or are dropped easily. Friends in the same building with Verizon can make and receive calls when mine will not connect. Also with the LG2000 phone and Cingular service, my phone will often not ring but I will receive a voicemail (no "missed call" message). I am considering early termination to switch carriers.

I get very little reception in my condo... The person can't hear me because the conversation breaks up. I live on the first floor of a new developement. If I go outside - the reception is a bit better - but not by much. My Husband and I have to stand next to the window to have a conversation.

Service used to be acceptable to very good, however, over the last month or two, I've been nearly unable to carry on a full conversation in my own apartment. The customer service area on the Cingular website is very difficult to use. It seems they don't believe they will have any problems with service, only with merchandise. I think I'll be switching.

I have so many dropped calls, I couldn't use up my minutes if I tried! I can be standing in one spot and watch my bars go from 5 to 1 to no signal at all. It's terrible!

only bye the window I have two more years with these Cingular losers, god can some lawyer do a class action lawsuit please

Cingular should close its business in Chicago. Too many complaints from every user I know.

More bars in more places? Not in Chicago. I recently moved from New York City where I never had problems with Cingular's coverage, but in Chicago it's simply pathetic. At the office (233 N. Michigan) the reception is mediocre at best. At my apartment I get no coverage at all. Friends who use U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile get signals in my apartment. Another friend has a RAZR from Cingular and didn't get a signal in my apartment either.

What the heck happened? Used to be able to get 5-bar reception inside my home, now I get 1 bar inside, 2-3 bars outside. People often complain I sound like I'm underwater when talking to them outside.

Reception is poor along this entire stretch - no signal or, if lucky enough to get a signal and call goes through, it is eventually dropped.

There are so very few cell towers on the South Side, it is a wonder any phones work at all. especially when compared to the dearth of cell phone stores in the are. I can not make calls from inside my home or in a store or pretty much 'in' anywhere. When the switch was made from AT&T to Cingular, I expected (okay foolishly wished for) better reliability.

I get bad reception in my condo (16th floor). Very seldom do I get to have a clear conversation. I also have spotty reception in the CBOE building. It would show 4 bars but once a call starts, it drops to one bar. Sometimes I just use the hands free earphones and keep the phone on a stable surface (if I move around with the phone, reception will get spotty).

At the best of times - one bar out of five. Calls dropped 24 / 7. Even the "internet / email" signal is very weak. The worst signal coverage in Chicago.

i was able to get out of my contract with o a fee(after getting the right cs rep).

Cingular works fine when I travel outside of Chicago. However, in my office (60606) and at home, the reception is hoorendous.

Horrible reception in my building... people will cut in and out or be garbled just enough to be unintelligible. If I drop a call and try calling back, often will show some bars but then drop to zero and tell me I have no coverage... have to wait 5 minutes for any signal to come back. GSM seems to suck. My old clod of a phone with US Cellular was 10000% better... it's just sad. Also, don't go to the Cingular store on Monroe by the loop. They are as friendly as potatoes and don't know what they're doing.

Reception at home in Pilsen has become increasingly spotty over the last few months, with long, inexplicable periods of 'No Service', punctuated by single, teasing bars of reception which disappear as quickly as they appear. My current Serviceless period is now going on at least 12 hours. Even when the network is available, the call-quality here is, lately, often well below standard (where "standard" = the quality I've come to expect in the five years I've lived in this neighborhood, though perhaps it's worth noting that I'm a former AT&T Wireless customer. Cingular seems to be dropping this ball). Service and reception at work (in the Loop) is generally fine; this is a localized phenomenon.

This block seems to have very low reception. Most of the people on my block I see outside searching for a clear signal are using T-Mobile or Cingular. I personally have only used Cingular with a Motorola v180, with a Sonyerricson (something like z560a ) and with a my Audiovox SMT 5600 which has been reviewed for having great signal quality. Indoors (apartment building, second floor) I usually have no signal bars and my phone alternates between reading "cingular" and "no service". Occasionally my phone will ask me to select a network... and anywhere between 1 and 3 listings fo Cingular come up (not sure what that's about). But never do I see signal bars as high as 2 for more than a few seconds. Most of the time when I'm home I just text message (and even those I have to 'resend' frequently.) If I'm on the road, I get decent quality although when coming from a bad signal area to a better one, I experince some delay before I can place a call. Downtown, signal bars are usually high, but I rarely can get Data access.

Poor reception even outside buildings. We need a new cell tower!

Cingular is terrible in streeterville. I constantly suffer from dropped calls and a mysterious phenomeon where my signal strength degrades instantaneously from five bars to none or one. The dropped calls are so prevalent they are forcing me to change providers to verizon. Sadly enough, AT&T Wireless offered great service while I was with them. Cingular is not very good.

I had T-Mobile before and I was happy, my simple Nokia phone was great, reliable with good reception and great customer service. Cingular lured me by high tech phone Motorola MPX 220 and emty promises. Not only the phone is horrible, but also Cingular really sucks. I have bad reception, call are dropped constantly and customer service is another horror story. Luckily I have only one year contract so I can switch in February. Bye-bye Cingular, I would not want it even if the CEO would pay for my plan.

Signal bars are often midrange. But, voice reception varies - sometimes there, sometimes drops off. We are on the 43th floor, and inside a concrete construction high rise. However, reception at street level within a couple of blocks is poor too.

Just before Thanksgiving 2005, Cingular combined three Chicago towers and integrated GSM and TDMA service. The reception for TDMA service users has been reduced to NO Service or ROAM in the pockets of East LakeView -- particularly west of LakeShore Dr., south of Irving Park Rd and north of Waveland (Wrigley Field).

Terrible reception in Bucktown... .Also, very spotty coverage in other parts of the city. I never know if I'm going to be able to use my phone with Cingular. All this talk about more bars in more places, and I can't even use my phone in my house in a major city / market... .What a joke.

Reception fluctuates around here. There are dead zones around the university of chicago hospital. Especially true on Ellis Ave. -- may be hospital blocking reception for medical / research.

Have had no problems with reception. Did have problems in Edgewater (near Thorndale and Broadway). But up here it's great. Curious that people living on Pratt (about 6 blocks) south of me are having so many problems. I switched from USCell. In Edgewater, reception was lousy. Both their cell and customer sucked. Much prefer Cingular for my needs. And have had no problems with reception either in US or in Europe.

Reception will cycle from full bars to none. Constantly drops calls.

Coverage is poor in this area of Chicago. Has been for the last 4 years. Elsewhere in Chicago and around the country, coverage is decent. Hard not to have it at home.

Frequent dropped calls on whole stretch of Addison. Reception is always awful. Works well anywhere else.

I Live on first floor. I have never had good reception inside the house must go near front window or back porch. same problem at J and M tap at 957 n leavitt signal comes and goes 0 to 3 bars works good outdoors.

Cinbgular is awful. Calls drop all over the city -Kennedy, Edens, Stevenson, everywhere. What a joke.

Was terrible even outside--and I lived in two different places. I would sometimes be able to send a text message but no phone calls. It could sometimes tell me I had messages but I couldn't check them. I was technically am AT&T customer who never officially switched to Cingular--instead, I switched companies after too long of not being able to use the phone at home. When I lived south of Sheridan / Devon, I got good reception; but any further north, and having the service was practically useless. AT&T / Cingular is not good service for those living in Rogers Park and wanting to use their phones there.

Very poor to no reception along Rush-County corridor

outside the reception is good, but in place it's mostly static and dropped calls... . interestingly, after 10:30pm the reception picks up in the same place where there was bad service and I can get clear calls. The worst part is that no one is going to do anything about it, but the customer reps really think that they can fix the problem... they just feed me lines of BS! Oh, and reception is even worse when I call my girlfriend who also has cingular... I guess that's why it's free Cingular to Cingular calls

Most of my house gets 1-2 bars (of 7) and I usually cannot make a call with that... I get a fast busy signal. If I go to the west side on the 2nd floor, I get 3-4 bars and can make calls. My understanding is that this area is one of the WORST in the County for cell towers. Isn't there some regulation on equal coverage to all areas? We are in the city and I can't get a signal??? Crazy.

I get one or two bars if I'm lucky. Sometimes there will be three bars until I hit the send button. And as soon as it says 'call failed' there will be three bars again.

horrible - Cingular has got to get a tower around here. and for that matter, almost everyone does. everyone in my house or in my front yard has trouble regardless of phone or service

Reception sucks. Can't believe Cingular can't get it together in such a large city / market (dumb-asses). Get out of your contract while you can!

I had great reception ever snce they installed the tower at 19th / Rockwell. Cingular performed some sort of "network intergration" in the last September week and now reception is horrible, calls are dropped, and signal constantly fluctuates between one and 4 bars (was solid 4-5 bars before). Appears to be a local problem as it improves in other areas of the city. tech support stonewalls and tells me service is fine, I have no problems, and that the TDMA system is "degrading", would I like to hear about GSM plans (all in the same breath). I hear GSM coverage is poor in this area, plus the plan would be a 25% increase. I -will- switch to another provider when my contract expires next month.

Can't get any reception in my house or my back deck. Calls constantly drop. Do not get Cingular and the Motorola v60 combo in this neighborhood. You will hate it!

Just moved to Chicago for a few months (an official hurricane Katrina refugee). I needed a local cell number so I signed up for a pre-paid plan with Cingular, my carrier of many years back home in New Orleans. The reception here is shockingly poor; unacceptable by any standards... spotty reception, dropped calls, can't understand the speaker on the rare times it does connect. I can't imagine how Cingular can continue to do business in downtown Chicago with a straight face. I'm shopping for a new carrier, price no object.

Horrible horrible horrible. The fact that Cingular can't sustain a 30 second phone call in the second biggest market in the USA is ridiculous. They get better coverage in Baghdad. Avoid at all costs.

I badly want to switch from Cingular because in certain areas of Chicago, I experience dropped calls or can't make a call at all (including along the Lake). I rarely can use my phone in my own home without being dropped. And there are moments when I can't use the phone when I am out of town (and I travel a lot). I just don't know which provider to switch to.

When the phone sits idle it shows 3 bars... but when I make or receive a call it goes down to 1 or 2 bars with frequent dropped calls. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm on the 1st or 2nd floor... or outside. The phone service is being paid for by the company I do consulting for... but I've decided I need to get a different provider and am willing to give up this perk just because I can't afford to have business calls dropped so much.

I have had trouble after two months of great reception. At my home, Everyone could always hear me, but I couldnt hear them until another min. then disconnect. I changed phones twice and no real difference. I did purchase a ARC Freedom plus cellular antenna and now with it I can make phone calls at home for hours and not one problem. So now I can use it for business without looking like a fool at home. However around the city the reception is horrible. If I see someone drop a call like at the gym.. I say..you must have cingular.. and they say yes with a frown almost 9 out of ten times. I will switch in another few months as my two years is up! I called the non receptive Cingular (SBC parent) and they are just like they used to be when they were the only phone company around. Ameritech SBC one day gave me a 1,600 dollar phone bill and the highest mine had ever been for 15 years was only 70 dollars.. One person just arbitrarily said we will split it in half with you... and they diddnt even have a SOP to deal with such a situation.. I payed my usual average bill and left them for one of the first small time phone companies in Chicago about 5 years ago or so... best move I ever did... but I see the same attitude with cingular... they did not learn from being so big that they ignore the one because they thought they had the many... . boy did they blow it... SBC even sends me stuff to come back... in a few months Cingular will be sending the same.. we want you back stuff... . It is worth a snicker.. most all of us could run these companies better then the million dollar execs that do... LONG Story made short... . Dont get Cingular in Chicago!

The reception in this neighborhood is terrible. Isn't there something that can be done?

I had AT&T for over a year with PERFECT recption everywhere around my house, so I recently bought a RAZR and went to a Cingular plan, now the reception is from O.K. to Good, I have not dropped a call yet, but there are time my phone only has 1 bar.

Been with AT&T for over 5yrs. Since they switched to Cingular and this new GSM, I get no reception at all. I can successfully use my phone for txt-msgs only. Talking is impossible, although the phone reveals full strength. Ridiculious service.

Stronger signal than Verizon for me, and Verizon was pretty strong. Perfect indoors and out.

Reception with AT&T and now with Cingular has been extremely unreliable in our east Logan Square apartment. Cingular offered to replace the phone (GSM basic Nokia phone) but that didn't help. THey offer nothing else; we don't even get their rollover minutes since we are former AT&T customers.

Cingular coverage is absolutely terrible. I just switched from Nextel with an i730 to Cingular with a RAZR. I went from average coverage in my house and good coverage in the neighborhood to no reception in my house and poor reception in the neighborhood. Walking around the neighborhood yields similar results with a many block radius. Beware.

I need to be outside if I want to call someone. Sometimes, my phone will just sort of get reception inside and it will tell me that I have like 15 voicemails. Its ridiculous.

Terrible reception indoors. Constant problems. I would highly recommend not using them.

I have to literally lean up against my window to make calls. The signal strength meter continuously movesup and down from sero to full, there is something very strange happening to the signal. Some kind of interference. I can sit outside my apt and make calls pretty reliably, but inside is unacceptable and i've actually just put in a Vonage system cause i'm just fed up with not being able to talk comfortably at home. When I had Sprint in the same house it was not much better. People with Verizon can use their phones decently at my place.

My cell phone always cuts out when my Metra train goes under McCormick place. I also lose it going underground into Randolph St. Station. The loss is not gradual as the train goes under. It simply shuts down. I have no idea if non-cingular phones also cut out.

worst reception I have ever experienced. I used to have Verizon and before that nextel, overall I had very little problems with reception. however, since obtaining cingular, I rarely can complete a phone call without reception difficulty. I constantly feel like a goof saying "can you hear me... .can you hear me!"

I was on ATT and then was switched to Cingular when I broke my old phone. I have had the worst reception since that time. Calls are dropped frequently. My bars will shoot down once I place a call. Friends in the area that use other providers do not have this many problems. I now know why Cingular prices are so cheap. You really do get what you pay for.

I used to love my Cingular service but recently upgraded to the GSM phone and have had nothing but problems. I rarely get coverage in my apartment and when I do, the voices go in and out. i'm waiting on a replacement phone but I'm not holding my breath that it will be any better. I may just cut my losses and go with T-Mobile or US Cellular.

It's weird, when I'm outside my signal will fluctuate between three and five bars. However, the minute I barely step inside, my signal fades very fast zero to one bar. I can hardly get any signal in my apartment and I have stand as close to the window as possible (practically press my nose to the window) just to be able to get maybe a good 60 seconds of a phone call in before I drop my signal completely. Cingular has pretty decent signal outdoors in most of Chicago in my experience, but sucks very badly indoors.

Cingular is the worst thing I have ever encountered. I can't even use this phone inside my house. Avoid Cingular at all costs in Chicago.

Just moved to Chicago from South Florida where we had terriffic service (even in the middle of the Everglades) with the same phone / carrier combo. Believe it or not, we even had all positive experiences with customer service. No longer. In our new home we get 1 occasional bar inside on the first floor, no bars inside in the basement and 3 bars outside (not exactly conducive to a Chicago winter). I don't know whether it's Cingular or Chicago, but we cannot stay with Cingular here.

Hardly any reception in my apartment. I called customer service and they said I live in a "low cell area". They also indicated if I walk north I would pick up a stronger signal. Gee, thanks. I don't know how this company makes any money with a system like this!

i wish I had seen this list before I bought my phone!

I hate cingular, but no more than I hate At&T. I hate them equally. I spent $250 on a new LG phone that doesn't get reception ANYWHERE! I can be anywhere in Chicago, or Florida, or anywhere else that I travel to for that matter. No reception. Now I'm going to have to pay for another 2 year contract if I want a different phone. NEVER BUY LG!

Travelling around the City, reception varies and too many dropped calls. In Wisconsin too may dead areas. When in Santa Monica, CA. reception is almost non existant. After Cingular bought AT&T the service got worse insted of better.

Horrible, just horrible reception. I can't say no reception because if I stand in one corner of my apartment I can get maybe two bars. Calls are CONSTANTLY dropped. I don't know if it's Cingular or this phone. The phone also stinks in other ways. It only rings for about 15 seconds and the clicks over to voicemail and there's no way to adjust this. The volume settings are far too low too. Even at its loudest you will not be able to hear most calls unless the room you're in is silent. I'm so happy I only signed up with Cingular for one year. I'm getting a land line as soon as the contract is up and giving up on cells completely.

Reception is extremely spotty in this upscale Andersonville neighborhood. It seems that Cingular is not interested in updating their coverage in this section of Chicago.

With Cingular, I constantly have dropped calls whenver I'm at home. I find it odd that I get reception every else considering that I commute a long ways from Chicago to the northern suburbs, plus I've taken it with me for roadtrips to NY and FL, signals exist! I've called Cingular and complained about the dropped calls and their response was that I was on the borderline area for reception and this was the reason for poor signals. Whenever I do get reception, the phone works great, sound quality awesome. Reception has improved slightly. A little trick that I use when I have to use my cell phone at home is to use the speakerphone, for some reason, I get a signal while talking this way.

Poor reception outside and near windows. No reception inside rooms of brick 3-flat. My son's T-Mobile Samsung works great inside and outside of the building after switching from Cingular / ATT.

For the past month or so the reception has been horrible. The bars are always there before making a call. But once I am on the phone, the bars go down to either one or none at all.

I work on the 36th floor. I receive 4 or 5 bars of reception, but the calls are so garbled that I cannot understand 75% of the words people are saying. It is shockingly poor quality, and puzzling since the phone shows 4 or 5 bars. Everyone on my floor with a Cigular phone is disgusted with the reception. It works better in the burbs (NW Indiana), but still not impressive. Unfortunately, I signed my whole family up for the family plan, so we are all out of luck. On the plus side, we never go over our minutes since we can't use the phones for anything other than playing stupid games.

I had AT&T before using cingular. I decided to switch because my mom's cell phone reception in LA with AT&T was horrible. Man did I regret it. At least with AT&T, I could call people on the train. Sure at times, the L would drown me out but for the most part, I could carry on a decent conversation. But with Cingular, the Piece of crap service is unbearable. I drop calls from Belmont on... that is even if the person can hear me. It's either garbled or the background noise is amplified. In my apartment, I'm using the same exact phone with Cingular service, in the heart of downtown Chicago and I have to press my face against hte window to be able to hear the other person's garbled voice. I too live on the 10th floor and like two blocks from teh Sears tower. I travel to Evanston to work and I notice the service is just as bad in the suburbs as in the city. I haven't found a hot spot in the city yet with all bars. Cingular is by far the worst service I've ever encountered. I've taken the time to find out if Cingular service via this website is really truly bad. I decided to take out more time to fill out this survey. take my advice... even though AT&T was kinda crappy it was much much better in Chicago and Evanston than Cingular.

I had AT&T's CDMA which worked almost flawlessly from my home. Having switched to Cingular's network, the reception and overall quality has decreased dramatically.

I was with Cingular for a while and rcvd disgustingly horrid customer service due to them over-billing me every other month. I switched to AT&T and everything was wonderful until I needed a new phone. I knew of the merge of course but thought that I would not feel the effects within my contract - yeah right. I was forced to go with Cingular to get a new phone, or pay the $175.00 fee to get out of my contract with AT&T…(I’m sorry, I thought that this was a free country). So at this moment I am in the third week of my 30 day “buyers’ remorse period”, on my second phone with another phone and different model on the way and no signal for three weeks now. The only thing that Cingular is raising is their customers’ BLOOD PRESSURE!

Heading west from Ashland, reception dissolves into nothing once you past Hoyne. This has happened within the last month. The phone is a curse.

I was with AT&T wireless for several years (Nokia 6360 - TDMA network) and had excellent coverage nationwide. No problems ever - it even worked in my basement. 2 weeks ago, I upgraded my phone to the Motorola MPX 220 smartphone (GSM network), which meant that I got moved from the legacy / pre-merger AT&T side to Cingular. My experience with Cingular has been less than pleasant. First off, Cingular refused to honor the original phone price I was quoted when I ordered via telephone. I called, I ordered, they quoted my price, they gave me a confirm #, and they said it would ship out immediately. It didn't. Even worse, they never bothered to notify me that my order was "pending review". I had to find all this out on my own after being routed from one client service department to the next at both AT&T and Cingular over the course of 2 days. Not only would they not honor the orginial price they quoted, but they screwed up the re-order (cancelled it, in fact) and it took 2 more weeks and 10 more phone calls to get it straightened out. To their credit, they eventually offered to waive my last month's bill and shortened my service contract from 2 to 1 years - but this was little consoloation after 3 weeks of living hell with no phone. I was psyched when I finally received the phone, but my excitement was short-lived. The reception and sound quality are miserable. I have to hug a window in my 2-flat or stand outside to carry on a conversation - and GSM coverage elsewhere in Chicago with this phone is incredibly spotty. I'm probably going to either return the phone (defective, perhaps?) - it that doesn't work, I'm switching to Verizon. It's really too bad because the MPX220 is really an incredible device - except for the glaring problem that it works like crap on Cingular's network.

Shockingly awful reception. Dropped calls, inexplicable drops from poor reception to no reception bars... Not to mention that Cingular has singlehandedly the worst customer service of any company I've ever dealt with, ever. My contract is up in April, and I'll be fleeing to some other--any other--company.

I just got my first cellphone: A sony Ericsson T237 with Cingular in Chicago Illinois. It worked good to "ok" for about two days, and then it started dropping EVERY call, a typical call would be someone calling me, I pick up, they would say "hey, what's up?" I would say "Not much, you?" and they would say "... hello? Helloooooo?" My phone was so useless as to be a paperweight, I could only use it decently to text message, as a phone it was completely non-functional at my house on the southside, or even downtown. This was the worst waste of money ever.

To the Cingluar Customer at the Damen / Wilson intersection... I have had the same problem for over a year now and I use to have a SONY ERICSSON.. I HATED IT! But the NOKIA I just got.. works just like a charm! I have more bars on my new phone, sitting at a spot I usually have NO reception at all. YO GO NOKIA!

I am at my wits end. I cannot receive or make calls in my home (and I don't have a land line) - but the call will still connect, so even though I can't hear them nor them me, Cingular can still charge me for the call. ATT phones, however, work fine - don't believe them when they say ATT and Cingular are the same. Things have gotten significanly worse in the last 3 weeks. Calls are constantly dropped (although they deny this). I went to BestBuy where I bought the phone, and was told that in this area, they discourage customers from signing with Cingular due to the level of complaints. I have called customer service tens of times, and each time I get a different explanation, but no offers for any solution. Do NOT get Cingular if you are in Chicago, particularly the Lincoln Park / Lakeview area.

Inside my apt three blocks from Fullerton and Sheffield I get no signal unless I hug the window. ATT GSM was stable for a few months here and I was able to use it afte r I transitioned from ATTWS -> Cingular, but now that tower just seemed to dissapear! Cingular acknowledges poor service in area and hasnt done much to fix in almost a month.

i get signal every where but some times when I am in my house I dont get signal for about 1 min,doesnt work in basements around devon

I recently switched to Cingular (GSM) from Nextel. I am just elated that I could actually make and receive calls,flawlessly. Most of the time it sounds like I'm on a land line. Sure it's not perfect, but we are talking cellular technology. So far (6 mos.) it's been as close to perfect as I could expect. Also the plans they offer are very cost effective... stay tuned.

I cannot get a call out while in the south east room of the house. The rest of the house is very poor. I drop calls repeatedly.

Cingular / ATT's GSM service is excellent. I used to get no signal inside or ourside my house with Verizon. Now I get a good signal anywhere inside or out, including my basement. GSM coverage around the city seems to be excellent, far better than Verizon ever was. I've also traveled with my phone and have only not had a signal once (far rural SW Minnesota) because the only available signal was analog. Been in S. Florida, NYC, Minneapolis, S. Georgia, Atlanta, rural western Georgia and Indiana with no problems.

Zero reception inside and outside of my condo. Call to complain, they said "they don't guarantee service, and don't have too..." Don't get Cingular if you live in Chicago.

North side of The Pearson condo - surrounded by 850, 860, 880, 900, 920 N Lake Shore and E Chestnut. Nextel doesn't work well, either. CDMA / PCS phones seem to work better (My experiences with installers and service workers who have been here).

I switched to Cingular's GSM 18 months ago. It was a big drop-off from the Cingular TDMA. They told me it would be improved by the new year. That was a full year ago. They were lying, I'm sure. This whole neighborhood is a black hole for Cingular GSM. It's amazing we put up with this crap.

I am forced to go outside of my house to answer my phone. The only good thing about Cingular is their rollover minutes which I'd love to burn up if I could get any reception in this town without dropped calls!

Just switched from Cingular TDMA to Cingular GSM and I want to go back. I used to get a decent signal in my apartment and a perfect signal in Winnemac park. Now, I can't get or make calls from within my apartment (or any building) and calls drop when I'm out in the park.

Get a land line if you plan to use your cell during game days.

Stick with TDMA if you still have it. roadside assitance is no good in rural areas if you can't place a call to it.

Just switched from AT&T TDMA to AT&T GSM and am regretting it at home. Trying the Nokia 6200 or the SE T616 to see if GSM reception improves.