Alltel
Have to be outside of house to use phone. Battery runs down by mid afternoon from trying to connect. Works fine a quarter of a mile up the street towards town. My neighbor, across the street, has the same problem. We need a cell tower on Birdwood to serve Bellair, Ednam, Farmington, and 250 West.
Was this review helpful to you?Alltel
I had a few problems getting reception in my apartment not far from campus with Sprint so I found this site looking for reviews. The person posting on April 23, 2006 was a huge help. I am just backing up those statements by saying Alltel really does a great job around here, much better reception than any other carrier that I know of and I have friends that use them all. I no longer have to look for a window to use my phone inside and coverage all over campus wher I spend most of my time and Charlottesville in general is great.
Was this review helpful to you?Sprint
Pretty good reception around town and the North Grounds. A little spotty in my Barracks West apartment, but it's a basement place, and I still get reception if I'm 6 feet or so from one of the windows.
Was this review helpful to you?AT&T
Live in Barracks West, just past Georgetown off Barracks Rd and getting a usable signal in my apartment is virtually impossible--I can't get reception downstairs at all and am typically on one bar (or less) upstairs. In general, I've found Cingular's coverage in Charlottesville to be spotty at best. Reception on major thoroughfares is decent for the most part, but once you leave them cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Was this review helpful to you?Sprint
I didn't really have too much trouble with my cell phone service when I lived in town (near UVA, along Jefferson Park Avenue). Calls rarely if ever got dropped, and there were only occasional times when my calls would be spotty. I usually had five signal bars. Now over hear in my new neighborhood and apt, my calls routinely get dropped. If I'm lucky I have one or two reception bars and my phone often starts roaming. I can't carry on a normal cell conversation in my apt with o it either getting dropped or fading in and out very badly. Sprint needs to put up more towers in the South Side (Southwest) side of Charlottesville! Sometimes, it is also annoying that, (often) I can hear the other person clear as a bell, but they can't hear me at all. Very frustrating.
Was this review helpful to you?US Cellular
I traded in my Alltel Motorola phone for US Cellular and found greatly improved reception in the Red Hills / Rt 29 South area. The Fontaine Ext / Reservoir Rd.area is pretty bad but at least now I have one bar and have found one spot on the porch I can use to make and receive calls.
Was this review helpful to you?Alltel
Call reception quality generally poor so that person on other end has difficulties understanding. Calls rarely dropped however.
Was this review helpful to you?Alltel
I lose Alltel service, for all intents and purposes, just south of I-66 on Rte 29 South even before Red Hill. Ditto just west of Rte 29 on Fontaine Extended and North of Ruckersville almost to Gainesville toward DC. I understand the Nokia receives better service from Alltel but I'm not willing to buy a phone just to test that theory. Looks like I might try US Cellular, judging from the comments here.
Was this review helpful to you?T-Mobile
Frequent dropped calls indoors, especially when located away from windows. On central grounds outdoors, 4-5 bars and good reception is common. Lower floors in most academic buildings gives 0-1 bars (phone is basically unusable).
Was this review helpful to you?T-Mobile
I live in Four Seasons off of Hydraulic Rd. and I can't even drive to my house from any directions without dropping a call. I only have one to two bars at my house and then only when I'm upstairs. I drop calls ALL THE TIME! I live in town so there should be good service but T-Mobile has failed me in all respects. The only place my phone works is right on 29 in town, at the mall, and downtown. But let me tell you it's not the phone you'd want to have if you suddenly got stuck on the side of the road because chances are you'd never be able to get it to work when you needed it...
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