Coverage Reviews for Milwaukee, WI

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Rating | Carrier | Location

Verizon

I was a Sprint customer for approx 9 years, I decided to switch to Verizon because they claimed to have the most reliable network with the best signal and data speeds. I switched in April of 2011 and got the HTC Thunderbolt. As of the first day of my new contract I have had 0 signal outside my home in about half of the city of West Allis ( actual signal on the phone reads from -102dbm to -109dbm) They did send me a network extender so the phones could work in the house but the $140 I had to spend on the router wasnt worth it considering its also using my bandwidth I pay for. I've made numerous calls and stopped at Verizon stores from April 2011 until now,Oct 2011 and NOTHING has been fixed, in fact they never,ever call you back like they say they will. Verizon Techs have been in the area testing and have admitted via the phone this area of West Allis has "marginal" cell signal for unknown reasons, but has no plans to fix it. I beleive "marginal" is a nice term for "No signal", but they wont admit that. Oh they have also admitted to me that there are alot of Verizon customers near me in this area that have had network extenders sent to them. My opinion is that Verizon knows about a serious signal problem affecting their customers in West Allis, but refuses to fix it, other then hoping network extenders will keep them happy for now. Do not use Verizon in West Allis! I spend $150 dollars a month for two Verizon phones that dont work outside my home in a horrible economy. I spent $500 on two new phones and Verizon wont give me a refund on them even tho this has hapened since day 1, but would be willing to waive my early termination fee, unacceptable! I will not be stuck with two phones I spent alot of money on for a cell service that does not work in a large area. If Verizon won't fix this giant dead zone in West Allis, then they should not be allowed to sell service in West Allis without warning new customers... ..period!

AT&T

Hesitated between "poor" and "no reception" because, even though Apple gave me a brand new phone last week - it still defies all - Internet connection? Ha! Now I'm off to ATT - am expecting a fight.

Sprint

The worst thing I have ever had in my life. How do I not get service at MY house?

Verizon

Cant receive calls without a drop. Can't receive calls.Should I wonder? The map shows one tower in an area where the other carriers have 4. Never had a dropped call with ATT. Gonna switch back if a phone switch doesn't fix it.

Sprint

I did not get any reception this evening and I usually have good reception..sometimes my calls drop but not often..but I'm upset because it's friday and I can't make plans..uh

Sprint

There are problems with coverage inside the home because Sprint's spectrum of choice does NOT penetrate buildings well. Not that any current spec does, but there are homes that still have lead in them. This may interfere with the cell signal penetrating the walls of your home. If that is the case, consider acquiring a cell signal repeater.

AT&T

Service is average to good, occasionally excellent. Not sure it's worth the risk to change to and learn the nuances of a new carrier. They all have good and bad points.

AT&T

reception is so spotty. I have never experienced so much inconsistency with cell reception. Very unhappy with AT&T and apple. AT&T has the deepest pockets of all the cell companies and you would think they would have solid coverage in a city.

Cricket

They say the Motorola V465 is there best seller. First, they only have 4-5 phones until the ones with the keyboards some other fancy deal and a black berry on the way. I have used Motorola phones from net 10 that BLOW the VE465 away I swapped it for the one made by QUALCOMM-Average at best-because it actually has push buttons not that rubber slab looslyin tact to operate functionwit less moving part-creating slippage errors and other function keys are dual purposed-opposity functions-its like having a combo on -emergency off button to operate the space shutle.

Nextel

Works awesome! Full coverage at my house, even in my basement. Stable calls and great sound quality. Overall, the best for the Metro area.

AT&T

Absolutely terrible AT&T service in and around the Milwaukee area. Bad with Iphone3gs, worse with IP4.

US Cellular

I rarely ever had problems with US Cellular until moving to the south side. Now it's common to have bad reception, dropped calls, missed calls where the phone doesn't even ring, late voicemails or text messages, dying battery, etc. But no problems when I'm out of bay view. Is it just this part of town or what? Being close to the airport or the lake?

Verizon

North of wabeno to rhinelander my Verizon phone works fine, South of Wabeno to Oshkosh my Verizon phone requires me to re-enter every phone number I dial before it will dial through and connect a call. Once I get to Fond Du Lac and South all the way back to Milwaukee it works fine again. This has been with both contract and prepaid Verizon Service. I have used Motorola Android, Blackberry Pearl Flip, Chocolate 2, 3 and touch all with same issue in these areas regarding the phone dialing. Funny thing is that with all of these Smart phones internet and texts are completely unaffected almost anywhere I have gone in this state. The only place I did not have service is a 10 mile dead spot between Black River Falls and Tomah. Verizon has the best coverage in WI, all-be-it I have to re-enter all numbers when passing through certain areas of the state, but all calls have always gone through with very little droppage. I am now Using Straight Talk Prepaid on a $45 unlimited plan for 30 days, which uses the Verizon Network, but coverage is very spotty, lots of dead spots, dropped calls, etc. I have the $100 Samsung with the slide out QWERTY keyboard, bought 10 days ago (today is 6-22-2010) at Rhinelander Walmart. (I now Reside In Crandon as of May 22, 2010 zip 54520). will be retuening Strait Talk phone in a couple of days and going back to Verizon PrePaid because of the better coverage area, despite the inconvience of often having to re-enter the phone number after the initial dial when passing through many areas here. Calls always went through, very few were dropped. I believe the Strait Talk limitation is due to the phones and not the Verizon network. I know that for Verizon Customers whether prepaid or contract; service will get better in this area when they complete their acquisition and conversion of Alltel wireless. I have been a Verizon customer for 8.5 years and the acquisition of Alltel will be totally complete by fall 2011 as I was told that the changeover would take three years to complete in its entirety. On the upside, I have Charter Cable services with 25mbps downstream i-net, in state calling on home phone, and two high def cable boxes with every kids channel imagined, line maintence package and an unlisted phone number for $160 per month with taxes and fees. I was paying three times that for much lesser service with Time Warner in Milwaukee and four times that for the three months I used lesser services with AT&T U-Verse. I will go back to contract services with Verizon once the Alltel acquisition i9s complete, until then I will use Verizon Prepaid.

Sprint

Sprint has good reception in most of milwaukee, except at my house. I am about 2 blocks from the lake, and I often will not get any bars at home. Wanting to switch, but not sure that anyone is going to have better service near the lake.

AT&T

Some times five. Calls dropped late evening. My phone tells me to wait while it finds customer? Called AT&T. Could not tell me why my phone not listed as a 3G or even Edge. Whish Apple would choose another carrier.

US Cellular

I've never once dropped a call, in my own home, in basements, in bars, or anywhere else my friends phones / providers have dropped calls. Even when I take camping trips in the middle of nowhere I get calls (good thing for US Cellular, bad thing for my peaceful camping trip!). The only drawback to the service is the fact that its a little more pricey than most plans. Emphasis on the word little, however.

Sprint

No reception. Could not use my phone on 10 / 4 / 2009 and could not use my wireless 3G air card. No reception at all. Had to physically get in my car and drive 5 miles away from downtown central before either would work.

Sprint

I've been happy with my Sprint reception and prices. Their customer service is absolutely terrible though, but I just push through that in order to have a plan that is about 2 / 3 the price of any other carrier. I don't know about the outskirts of Milwaukee or the surrounding areas much, but downtown I almost never lose reception

Sprint

I use my phone all over the milwaukee / waukesha area and the only times I've had reception problems are in 2 of my friends houses where nobody gets reception. But even there I usually get 2 bars.

AT&T

One to two bars consistently outside of my home. Cannot use inside unless at 2nd floor window.

T-Mobile

Outside, great reception. Inside, nothing. Customer service is always great, and for two phones on a family plan, including internet, I always pay under $100 a month.

T-Mobile

Always great reception here. In the house is a little worse, but it always works.

T-Mobile

Inside my house right in Riverwest is kinda spotty, inside the building at work up on the Northwest side is non-existant, but other than that I almost never find myself without enough reception to talk, text, and surf the net.

Verizon

Been with Verizon forever, only carrier I've ever been with. Customer service is outstanding if I ever need it. I drive all over, never a dropped call or signal issue. Had 3 different phones and same results. Verizon ROCKS! My daughter had Sprint, waited on the line until she got one of the VP's offices to tell them what she thought, they were't very happy. Now she's a Verizon convert

Nextel

In and out if you go in one of the UWM building or basement it goes to O

AT&T

When I try and make a call it takes a while for it to go through or drops it completely. I can hardly hear what people are saying and they can't hear what I'm saying. I should say that this usually happens when I'm in the apartment.

US Cellular

Eh, good-ish. they promis good servce up north, I got one, and when I was lucky, maybe even TWO bars! When I was roaming, I got GREAT, EXCELENT, WONERFUL servace. Back at home, I have to re start my phone, or call someone to get a text. ugh... costemer servace was nice, had to call them too much though.

AT&T

I used to get reception on my razr---but only a bar or two. My fiance gets decent reception on his smartphone, and I can't get a single bar on my new one. Going back to the store tomorrow.

AT&T

Coverage has been quite good; very few dead spots unless I'm in a below-ground business or something similar.

US Cellular

Horrible reception at home in the middle of Milwaukee! Number of bars constantly change. the only place I am guaranteed reception is on the second floor.

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