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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.

Work perfectly fine everywhere else in Chicago. Roaming only in this area.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 been considering swithing to AT&T for the sake of and I phone but am hesitant to leave Verizon. I have never had a problem with reception unless I was in a lower level or an elevator- otherwise very reliable and highly recommend.

I've had T-Mobile for almost 4 years now and am fed up. Have a Motorola Razr as our 'home phone' and that's not reliable either. Often don't even get the incoming call (even with 3-4 bars) and a voice mail shows up 5 min later. Frustrating when you're expecting a call. I wonder how many calls I've missed when the caller doesn't leave a VM. Phone always goes dead around the Merchandise Mart on the brown line. We live in a house in Lincoln Square and coverage is terrible in the back. Okay outside but that's annoying. Even with pretty cool phones and cheap prices, I want reliability which TMobile doesn't deliver.