Today is Monday, Aug 18th. As of about last Thursday (8 / 14), I suddenly started getting 4 of 4 bars of 3G signal. Prior to that, I was lucky to get 2 bars of Edge. Guessing a new tower was brought online, or an existing one was upgraded.

Service has improved over the summer (2006).

This has been an absolutely excellent service. There is one spot on Rt. 103 near Waterloo Rd. where the service drops out. (about 2 blocks). I work in Glen Burnie in an OLD Middle school and I get excellent reception throughout the school (to the dismay of many students) and all the way home along Rt 100. I have been very pleased with T-Mobile's service. The only reason I'm considering changing is because I would like a BT enabled phone for free which I can get with some of the other providers. However, I am concerned about coverage with the other providers. Decisions, decisions... ... . Charlie

Full service outside the house and usually three to four out of five bars in the house with no dropped calls.

I used to have NEXTEL and their reception was terrible anywhere in Columbia / EC / Baltimore Co. We switched to VERIZON and now I dont have to hang my arm out the window of my car to talk! I rarely have to repeat "can you hear me now w. verizon" I live in EC and I have a friend living in Columbia (she has tmobile) and only when I talk to her is when I get the static in my ear but it is her service not mine ;-) My bf has the treo 600. He gets even better reception w. that phone than I do mine. But my phone takes better pictures in the day and his takes better pictures at night. Only ONE complaint w. verizon. My mother lives on WHITEACRE RD in OAKLAND MILLS and VERIZON service DOES NOT work in her apt at all. Very annoying! And she and I both have the service.

The reception isn't too bad nor too powerful. I would recommend T-Mobile or Verizon. But planwise with pricing and minutes, Cingular does the job well overall.

Have a terrible time in my apartment complex

Can't use my phone (Treo 650) in my own house. Had the same problem with a Treo 600. Very disappointed in the reception.

Reception at home: I had 3 Cingular phones, and none could get recpetion in my house or sometimes outside even though it showed one or two bars reception. Many neighbors have Verizon and have to go outside to get a good connection. I have 2 T-Mobile phones now and I can get reception in my house (2 bars). Fallouts: The T-Mobile connection is good enough to keep a call going without fallout. Cingular had many fallouts for me when I had a connection. Reception around Baltimore / Washington DC 695 and 495 Beltways: No problems encountered with T-Mobile. I had more fallouts and lost connections with Cingular on west side of 495 loop. Overall: It appears T-Mobile has a better infrastructure and cell tower equipment to support the call traffic. The reception based on the bars on the phones were identical, but I can make clean calls with T-Mobile and not have any connection with Cingular.

Reception sucks. I can sit in the parking lot at Rite Aid on RT. 40 in Ellicott City (across from Odonnel Honda) and watch my reception go from 3 bars to 1 without moving 1 inch. I was an (unhappy) AT&T customer before switching over to the Cingular side of the house hoping my service would improve. It has improved some at some locations around town (MD / DC / VA) but has performed worst in more locations - especially at home. I have to go out my front door to get a quisi reliable signal. When I was on the AT&T side of the house - I could at least make phone calls from my home. I spend quite a bit of time on my phone do to the nature of my job and spend a good percentage of my day concearned about whether I will be able to recieve calls or make calls. I think Cingular sucks. I think they are selling us a bill of goods. To make it worst - I just love riding buy one of those Cingular billboards bragging about how many bars they have. Then I am reminded by the few bars that my phone has (typically 1 or 2 - if any at all) and I am quickly reminded the old sales motto of never confusing selling with installing.

Spotty coverage. Calls will drop in and out and disconnect every couple minutes.

Very poor reception in Giant Foods parking lot in Village Center of Dorsey Hall. Unable to make or receive calls.

Very poor reception. Receive text msgs and VM indicators, but cannot make / receive a call.

So, I loved T-mobile, until I moved to my new neighborhood which is basically a giant fish bowl. Although, rumor has it that they are in process of installing a tower at the back of the complex (I can see the construction, but its a private contractor and no uniforms or trucks say T-mobile) so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Can get text msgs and notifications of messages on AT&T system. Phone rings, but voice communication is impossible.

Verizon Tech support said they are aware of poor quality reception in the neighborhood - and that they have plans for a additional cell tower by Dec 2007

Had Cingular for 4 years and never could get decent reception at home. Bars vary wildly from no bar to 3 bars with mostly no bar showing at my house. I can see the bars moving like a tennis match. Reception is non existent inside the house. Does anyone have a service that works well in this area?

Poor reception in house. Spotty all around. Cingular tells me I have good reception because there is a tower closeby.

I am frustrated that I cannot use my phone inside my house at all. My wife has an Alltel phone (not available in MD) and has no problem with reception anyhwere. I have local number, Cingular service, and often cannot get reception in Ellicott city.

Just switched to Verizon's family plan from Cingular. Although the phone indicates a stronger signal at home, I cannot hold a call. The triband LG VX6100 will occasionally switch to analog, but does not do any better than the Motorola e815 in holding a call. Verizon 1-2 bars = dropped call, Cingular Blue 0-1 bar = can complete call. Both services give good signal on Rt. 29 but the voice quality from Verizon is poor, with the sound breaking up. Calls from Old Dobbin Way in Columbia break up too badly to understand the caller. We are going to go back to Cingular.