I'm an Alexandrian and attend UVA in Charlottesville during the school year, and I do not get reception in my house in Alexandria OR in either of my last two apartments in Charlottesville. I strongly recommend not getting T-Mobile if you live in either of these cities. On the other hand, I did get very good reception when I went on a hurricane relief trip to Mississippi. That was really the only week I was completely satisfied with T-Mobile...

Reception has gotten noticable better over the past year or so. With a basic home repeater I have 3 to 4 bars in the parts of my house that I need it most- typically 2 to 3 bars, which is all you really need to keep from dropping calls.

Amazing - N. bound I395 from Edsal Rd through Rt 236. Completely dead. Calls will have 4 bars and then suddenly the call is dropped.

They really need better reception throughout the alexandria area especially in the neighborhoods or beverly hills and del ray. I can barely use my phone at home and have to go outside for spotty service. not even an external antenna helps.

I cannot complete a call indoors unless standing at the window or open door. Outside reception is no better.

This is a dead spot. Calls will have 4 bars and then suddenly the call is dropped. It is about a 1 / 4 mile dead zone.

I don't bother calling long distance friends because I know I'll end up saying "I'm sorry, I can't hear you, are you there?" Just before they drown in static. We have the family plan and my wife's line is even worse. She has to plug the phone in, use an earpiece, and sit still by the window to have a chance at reception. Worse still, for some reason it takes us 2-3 times to connect--and when we do it often ends badly. I've really grown to hate Cingular. If you live in Alexandria, you'll be sorry if you sign with them. We're about to cancel our contract and pay the extortion-like penalty because right now we're paying for nothing. The service was good until around the time they merged with A&TT, and it has grown progressively worse.

Can't hear anything in the house and not enough to understand outside.

Terrible reception in the house. Very spotty coverage and lots of dropped calls. Fair to good outside in the driveway.

Okay outside on the street and in the back yard, but only 1-2 bars in the townhouse, and spotty coverage.