Coverage Reviews for Asheville, NC

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Rating | Carrier | Location

AT&T

AT&T has made vast improvements to their network in and around Asheville in the last year. Reception is still spotty in West Asheville but most other areas are good. All of WNC now has at least HSPA 3G, most areas have HSPA+ "4G" and they are rolling out LTE as of April 2013 (Downtown and Airport areas already have it). HSPA+ speeds are much faster than Verizon's 3G and the LTE seems quite a bit faster too. Still room for improvement but leaps and bounds better than a year ago. Glad to see them finally investing in their network.

Verizon

There has been very poor reception for Verizon the last several years. T-Mobile has great call quality but data is on edge.

AT&T

at&t is simply not worth paying for... hope I never have an emergency because there's no service to get help.

Verizon

In the last two years our cell reception with Verizon has gone steadily down. We've had friends with newer phones at our house that get even less reception than our old LG flip phones. We use to get GREAT reception even though our house is at the bottom of a short hill so I don't know what has changed. Also noticed more dropped calls in the city of asheville. wondering if Sprint would be better since they have a tower closer to our house.

T-Mobile

Reception is iffy when you get out into the boonies - it'll switch down into 2g (EDGE), but when you are in town, it's brilliant. T Mobile's 3g (4g) is miles quicker than at&t, the signal is alot more consistent, and I get better signal than AT&T ever got. And my bill is now about $25 cheaper. Up yours At&t!

Verizon

Moved here 7 years ago with Cingular. I would go hiking in the mountains with a friend who had Verizon. I never had service yet he had it 90% of the time. I changed and it's been unbelievable. I'm an avid hiker who loves the BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway), and trips to Mt Mitchell, Craggy Gardens, Linville Falls, DuPont Forest, Mt Pisgah, Graveyard Fields to name a few. Amazingly I can talk on my phone in all of these places! It may not always be perfect but even in those places, I can usually move around and find a place where I can talk. I virtually have reception anywhere and everywhere in Asheville and at both of my homes. I've used my Galaxy Tablet in many of these places and I'm grateful for the service because the internet is my livelihood. I'm able to enjoy the outdoors and still work when I need to. None of them are perfect but I can vouch for Verizon being probably as good as it gets.

US Cellular

Verizon worked OK here but switched for unlimited texting. USCellular works great, never a prob. I needed a phone that would work well in Ohio and northern California. U S coverage seems to be excellent. Never called them for help. For comparison I can't get dish service.

Verizon

Constant dropped calls along I-40 and around North Asheville, although phone shows 4-5 bars. Voice quality horrible and garbled. Text messages sometimes take 2 hours to receive them. 3G speed feels like dial up. Don't know what all the hoopla is about Verizon, but in my experience they're horrible around here.

US Cellular

I chose US Cellular based on comments by other users over 15 years ago and have not been disappointed. Excellant reception 99.5% of time, even in mountains around Asheville, NC.

Verizon

Switched to Verizon from AT&T because all colleagues at work have Verizon and calls to them are free. Had perfect signal at my home in North Asheville on AT&T, but with Verizon the signal vascillates constantly between no bars and four. Calls cut in and out. Called Verizon and they told me to do the stupid *228 thing, which did nothing. On trips down I-40 there are about four places I've learned that calls will drop. There were no such dead spots when I had AT&T. I n my opinion, Verizon's coverage is way over hyped. In fact, Verizon is the root of this hype because when you call to let them know you are having service problems they act like you are the only one who has problems. I was told the second time I called that quote "we have the best coverage in WNC. In fact, it's rock solid." When my commitment is up I will be leaving them. Not only is their coverage nowhere near as good as they tout their customer service is sorely lacking.

Sprint

I've had little trouble with my Sprint cell or 3G recpt., but I also have high-gain ext. antennas. Biggest problem here is with overloaded towers - too many users, too little backhaul capacity, and far TOO few towers to serve the client base. All you arrogant whiny rich a$$holes in this town SHUT UP, and try to imagine having a functional BRAIN. Stop b*tching about cell carriers. It's largely NOT their fault - it's YOURS. Here's your CLUE: Buncombe county has had (over a decade) and continues to have a moratorium on new cell tower construction (except for the county itself, which apparently CAN lease out / rent its OWN land for towers use, conveniently - but private individuals CANNOT). Now, what moron thinks the number of towers required to serve wireless users over a decade ago is sufficient today, in the exponentially exploding wireless market? Apparently, most of Buncombe county - gee, how surprising. IT'S simple physics, Asheville Einsteins. The fact that you don't like it or are not capable of understanding it does not change the propagation principles of RF signals, or ANYTHING else. Verizon and US Cell may have better coverage, but there is a reason, having nothing to do with their advertising hype. VZW inherited the extensive BellAtlantic network - along with t the wireless assets and infrastructure - giving them an early jumpstart in this market segment. They (like most other carriers in the area except Sprint and ATT) use the 800 MHz (upper UHF) band for cell and data communication. ATT and Sprint use the 1900 MHz band, which typically operates at much lower power than 800 MHz carriers, but requires more cell sites to effectively cover the same area. Mountain terrain ADVERSELY effects signal propagation, but the microwave bands are hardest hit (1GHz up) due to being strict LOS path, as well as absorption and diffraction issues. But, 1900MHz band carriers can carry many more clients overall, due to the smaller RF footprint each tower sector. 800Mhz (& now 700MHz 4G / LTE) presents a more significant long term RF exposure hazard than higher freq's, since they penetrate the body deeper, and are typically more powerful... . So, yes, you likely have better coverage on the 800 MHz carriers... assuming you don't get knocked off the overloaded tower. In most areas not infested with technophobic freaks, your cell phone would typically "see" at least 2, preferably 3 towers; so connection hand-offs are transparent and instant. Not in Asheville. Lucky if you can stay on one band, with one network, and don't get dropped in the hand-off from sector to sector, tower to tower. Then there is the abysmal lack of FO or even hi-cap copper in this town. Even remote rural areas outside of AVL have better access to broadband. Cell carriers almost always have to microwave backhaul to the towers, since T1 / T3 and up access is more scarce than intelligence in this town. I found the easiest and most effective way to solve this problem was to MOVE somewhere the local govt isn't rabid anti-business, and the average IQ actually surpasses the average age...

AT&T

Outside typically one and occasionally 2 bars. Inside one bar in the parts of the house where there is any service at all.

AT&T

Reception at home is spotty and no signal at all along parts of New Haw Creek. Never had this issue with Verizon but I had to have an iPhone. A call to AT&T today to see what could be done resulted in trying to sell me a Micro-cell that would make improvements at home. Our wireless contract is up next July and surely Verizon will have the iPhone by then. We are good AT&T customers (2 iPhones, landline, internet) and get treated like crap. Nothing like being asked to spend more to fix their tower location issues. The clock is ticking AT&T.

AT&T

AT&T reception in Western North Carolina is horrible. It's fine in the major cities and along much of the I-40 and I-26 corridors. But get outside of those areas and it's awful. My husband has Verizon and have (had) AT&T. I get NO reception at our house, which is up the hill about one-half mile off a major highway (74A) and less than a mile from I-40. He has no problem with Verizon. We do alot of traveling around Western NC and constantly compare our reception. He almost always has reception - I rarely do outside of the cities. He can even get reception on the stretch of the Pkwy. that runs between I-26 and I-40. I can't I moved to WNC after I purchased my AT&T contract. Their response to my complaint - we see that you live in a low reception area, but you are near reception, so there's nothing we can do - just keep on getting in your car and driving a mile from home to make a phone call. I will NEVER use AT&T again. And strongly discourage anyone who needs service outside of the urban areas in NC from getting an AT&T contract. You won't be happy.

AT&T

Service is actually provided through Consumer Cellular, which is fine. However, CC stated I was in a valley, which I am not. Verizon's service was never a problem, but CC's cell coverage is provided via AT&T and this is a problem. All along SR 251 seems to be a problem as well. I can have as many as 3-4 bars showing and still 'no service' available. If CC is unable to correct, I'll have to search for a new No Contract provider. Verizon was just to expensive for service and phones with a 2 year contract. In this age, these companies should all consider removing their contract requirements. It would improve service and cell coverage for all consumers!

AT&T

AT&T does have 3G service now, which is nice, but honestly the service quality hasn't gone up. Just going from the front to the back of my house I drop calls, and the only places I have consistently good call quality are right downtown and at school. Anywhere outside of the immediate vicinity of Asheville or in a valley in between some hills / mountains (a holler, as we call it here) will NOT get even decent service on AT&T. I'm switching to Verizon as soon as my contract runs out at the end of August.

AT&T

AT&T finally has 3g in Asheville! It's a lot faster than Verizon around here, but AT&T really is the second best carrier in WNC. If you live in the city however, you will be fine.

AT&T

I am 1 / 2 mile north of downtown and my coverage in my home varies from one bar to no service. I find dead zones all over the city, and frequently in highly trafficed areas. I love my phone, but it is basically an ipod touch, since I cannot reliably use it as a phone. AT&T promised 3G by the end of October and is now saying mid-December. I feel I am totally wasting my money for monthly cell phone service.

AT&T

I live about one mile south of downtown Asheville and I have started getting no service in my home. This is Asheville. Last I checked it was one of the top 6 or 7 largest cities in the state and AT&T can't even get service in the middle of it?!?! Love the IPhone but it has not been worth the reception problems.

AT&T

I just switched from Verizon to ATT because of the iPhone. I can say with certainty that ATT network is much, much worse than Verizon in multiple locations around Asheville. My experience so far has been quite disappointing, and I started with low expectations. Unless there is some very compelling reason to go with another carrier, Verizon is the best around here. ATT is terrible.

AT&T

Get spotty reception with ATT. Previously had US Cellular, and had no problems. Planning to ditch my ATT for this area.

AT&T

With AT&t I cant even get reception at my house in Arden. My work brings me all over WNC and its poor at best. I should never have switched from US Cellular. I phone? Forget it.

AT&T

I have horrible coverage with AT&T, even though I live on top of a hill! If I stand in my kitchen, I get NO coverage. I have to either go to a window or go outside to get even 2 bars, and most of the time the call gets dropped either sooner or later. I'm going to go with a different company!

AT&T

I have horrible coverage with AT&T, even though I live on top of a hill! If I stand in my kitchen, I get NO coverage. I have to either go to a window or go outside to get even 2 bars, and most of the time the call gets dropped either sooner or later. I'm going to go with a different company!

AT&T

Although I'm no fan of ATT in general, I must say that I've had little or no problem with their wireless service in Asheville. I get good reception in my home (often even below ground level in my basement), and inside buildings large and small all over Asheville (e.g, Lowe's on Tunnel Rd., Sam's Club, Blockbuster and Fresh Market in N. Avl). About the only place I've had a problem is at a friend's home in the hills behind UNCA (where her Verison phone works perfectly, by the way).

Verizon

After trying Sprint and US Cellular which I had to return due to terrible reception, I found Verizon and it works fine. No one in these parts has an I-phone due to ATT's terrible coverage. I laugh at ATT's advertisements.

US Cellular

Have great reception city-wide and even inside my house. I only lose calls when driving west on I-40 to Knoxville, and also get spotty reception in SC at Lake Keowee.

Sprint

My cell service is Liberty Wireless, a Sprint re-seller. Even though I often have only 2-3 bars, I seldom have dropped calls, and the voice quality is good. Ignoring the above reception rating based on bar count, my level of satisfaction would be 4 or 5 stars. There is trouble with reception out in the mountains or little towns, but in Asheville or along the interstate, reception is very good. However, I am dropping my service because the extraordinarily poor customer service of Liberty Wireless. Spring may be quite acceptable but avoid Liberty.

Sprint

I'm having to swap carriers because Sprint won't stop dropping my calls... I travel a lot and service usually works great in populated areas, but dies outside of them. Doesn't even always work in my house - is different everyday.

AT&T

AT&T has THE WORST coverage throughout the Asheville area. I have a Verizon Blackberry for work and I NEVER drop calls or lose a signal but with the iPhone I can barely get a signal in my house and I am constantly dropping service.

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