My phone uses the 1900mhz band and I get 1 bar to mostly 0 in my house and in quite a few areas around it. 850mhz band in dual / quad band phones is fine though.

Not able to receive any calls or even dial a number the network is worst.

Suddenly, since yesterday, I am unable to make calls in and around my home -- after trying to connect, I get a message that says "svc unavailable." Repeatedly. Don't know if this is a problem that will correct itself after the holiday or if I need to switch carriers.

This is the FIRST carrier that we've had where we have service INSIDE the house. We've tried Sprint, T-Mobile, and Cingular with NO RECEPTION inside the house.

Connection, even on the second floor of home, oftentimes drops. Bars fluctuate from 2 to ZERO at this location, about 1-1 / 4 miles SSE of intersection of I-270 and Montrose Road. It's ashame this demographic area cant benefit from better cell-connection quality. It appears I am located precisely in the middle of coverage areas of the two nearest towers ! Otherwise, in major Metro areas (Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring), the connection is OK and clear. I do not spend more than a couple to five minutes on the cell phone at once, so I don't know about extended-time connection quality. Overall, I give Cingular a "thumbs down" due to connection quality from home.

Signal is consistently strong, inside and out. I believe there is a Sprint PCS repeater or signal booster behind Tilden Middle School which helps.

the signal is VERY poor in this area, no matter what the service carrier

I generally have great reception in the Germantoan + Gaithersburg + Rockville area. Been with VZ for over two years now. Overall, maybe a handful of dropped calls in that period, including travelling to the west coast. However, on the ground level of my 3-level TH, there are a couple of dead spots - very wierd. The dead spot would knock the signal to 1 bar and sometimes drop the call. I'm out of contract right now. I plan to switch to another provider soon because I entirely detest VZ's fraudulent approach to crippling the industry standard capabilities of the Bluetooth so they can profit. For those who don't know, VZ disables the ability to use bluetooth to transfer files between the phone and the PC. You're forced to buy their ringtones and graphics instead. You cannot directly transfer pictures taken with the phone to your PC.

I've had a Cingular plan with a Motorola V400 for over a year, and my reception has actually improved over that period. I used to get 3 bars in my house, but since last summer I get 4 bars inside, and sometimes 5 bars walking outside in the neighborhood.

Good reception in the area

Good reception. Clear tone.

I have been using Verizon for as long as I've used a cell phone (four years now) and I must say, despite their reputation for best reception, I've been disappointed these past few years. It might be because I'm using an old, beat up phone, but I can't rely on my cell phone while in my house, and it's my only means of telecommunication. Though it works well on Metro, which is a perk, I don't ride enough to make the $60 a month bill worth it. While the phone gets fine reception outside my house, for the most part, I can't make a call from my bedroom and when I do, it drops mid-call. I'm planning to switch to T-Mobile to save some cash (family plan) so I'm just waiting until my contract expires but from what I've read, that service isn't an A+ either. So much for the technology age.

Full data and voice coverage, even inside office.

Although only one bar, signal sounds crisp; no dropped calls to date.

Horrible reception in my apartment... I can't move from my couch or calls cut out.

Outdoor signal strength: 1-2 bars. Indoor signal strength: 0 bar.

Also tested with Audiovox CDM-9500 and Motorola T730. Perfect reception indoors and out. In my house (bordering park), full strength throughout. Never had less than half strength anywhere in Aspen Hill.

Reception in Rockville / Bethesda is... crappy. Its supposed to work in the metro, but that isn't enough motivation to purchase this service\phone.