Verizon
Hideous reception within the Ronald Reagan (RRB) building (totally resonate with April 21, 2011 comment from another user). I'm on the 6th floor. I signed up for Verizon understanding that DC coverage was good, but my phone is as good as a paper weight in RRB. How can Verizon let a building with 3.1 million square feet be so poorly covered? (And how ironic that the Verizon Center is only a few blocks away...) I cannot send outbound texts or emails. Incoming calls go directly to voice mail (phone does not even vibrate). I have to go to the lobby to make outbound calls... and even then reception is weak. 3G is pretty much out of the question. Seriously do your homework on Verizon coverage within your own building before signing up.
Was this review helpful to you?Verizon
sometimes just 2 bars calls dropped often or I have to stay in one specific spot to maintain the call. Verizon has been good for service in other parts of the country (Washington State, for example) but very disappointing in DC so far. I am rethinking my contract and won't renew if service is still so poor.
Was this review helpful to you?Verizon
I only get reception with Verizon if I am above ground and outdoors. Downtown my coverage will drop if I am near to many tall buildings. Most of the time friends and family call or text and I don't get their messages until 2 or 3 days later. Horrible service.
Was this review helpful to you?AT&T
I've been an AT&T customer for over 3 days - I can't hold one call for God's sake. What in the world is AT&T thinking - I'll switch back to "stupid T-Mobile" at least they have good reception in the DC area.
Was this review helpful to you?AT&T
at&t 3G coverage is terrible here- it will show full bars but still drop calls. Tried a 3G microcell- not any better- shows 4 bars but still drops the call when it tries to hand-off to the closest real tower (and there is no way to control this). To get usable signal, I have to force the phone to edge mode (perhaps those frequencies penetrate better?) when I get home from work. Oddly this edge trick does not work on every model, but I can go from 0-1 bar of 3G to 3 stable bars with edge.
Was this review helpful to you?AT&T
I'm getting terrible reception in my home. Today I can't call out, no one can call in, and I can't even access my own voice mail. AT&T tells me the tower nearest to me is "degraded" and has been for five months! I am seriously thinking of switching to another carrier at this point.
Was this review helpful to you?Sprint
The only reason why I am rating is because I am actually thinking about leaving Sprint to go to Verizon. With that being said let me begin my story (for all you who are like why the heck did he rate this a 4 out of 5). I recently moved to Arlington VA (Courthouse area) for work. I have a personal Blackberry Tour and a work Blackberry curve (on Verizon). I was excited to get the Verizon phone so that I could test out both networks and see which one was better. Moving from Kansas, my roommates blackberry tour was constantly faster with data and always had better reception. This caused me to rethink being on Sprint even though it is cheaper. Moving to Arlington I have changed my opinion, my Verizon phone drops calls more often than my Sprint phone, data is faster on my tour than on my curve, and Sprint is cheaper. Verizon definitely has better reception but like any phone, if you are on the metro chances are you are going in and out of service. Both my devices work at almost any station I have been at (mostly blue and orange lines). My final thought is that maybe the tour is just that superior to my curve and that is part of the issue (my tour is 2 years old and my curve is 2 months old so kind of odd). I will say I will never get a personal curve but have to use what the company gives me. The reasoning behind giving Sprint 4 out of 5 is that in my 2 months of being out in Arlington, Sprint has performed just as well as Verizon and is cheaper (I haven't dropped any calls on my family but have dropped calls with clients). Hope this helps.
Was this review helpful to you?AT&T
Live in the Woodner building with a large window facing a 3 walled courtyard that opens up into Rock Creek Park. Can't even hold a call with my face to the glass. I have found one 2 ft. radius when I have between 1 and 2 bars within my apartment. Other than that, my battery gets eaten up and I don't receive calls or texts in my home. Sucks. I'm in yuppieville in a major city, not living in a basement or something, and can't hold a phone call in my home. Verizon iPhone, you win.
Was this review helpful to you?AT&T
On the 4th floor of this old building I get anywhere between 2 and 5 bars on AT&T's 3G network. Calls do get dropped with some regularity, and some don't go through when I dial. Calls coming in sometimes go straight to voicemail even though I supposedly have reception. And as many others have reported, calls routinely get dropped all around the DC area, including driving on the Beltway. Mind boggling for the nation's capital. If I try to check email or go online, especially during working hours, I often get no actual Internet service regardless of how many bars I have, leaving my apps to just spin and spin while they try to connect. I pay for Internet tethering and it's almost useless here. If I turn the 3G network off the extended ("E") network kicks in and I get 5 bars consistently. At that point I can get Internet services, but it C-R-A-W-L-S. Verizon's service was SO MUCH BETTER. Wishing I hadn't just bought my iPhone three weeks before Verizon announced they would start offering iPhone services...
Was this review helpful to you?Verizon
Bars and 3G cut in and out. Usually 1 bar, sometimes none, often without 3G or 1X. Thus, limited voice and no data at all - for a whopping $145 per month! Had AT&T prepaid without data plan and never had a problem with reception. We bought four days ago, but are probably going to drop the data plan and go back to voice only prepaid at about $25 per month. What is the point of data plan when none of it works, or even worse, cuts out in the middle of a phone call or email.
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