Reception in Pittsburgh
I switched from Sprint to Cingular in December of 2004 in order to get GSM service and better reception. For over two years I have received excellent service. But within the last month, dropped calls and lost coverage have become the norm. I don't believe it is my phone because in talking with friends in the area I find they are experiencing the same problems. Does anyone know why AT&T service around the Pittsburgh area has degraded? My contract has expired and I'm looking for a new phone ... with any carrier.
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Hammer56z said:
I switched from Sprint to Cingular in December of 2004 in order to get GSM service and better reception. For over two years I have received excellent service. But within the last month, dropped calls and lost coverage have become the norm. I don't believe it is my phone because in talking with friends in the area I find they are experiencing the same problems. Does anyone know why AT&T service around the Pittsburgh area has degraded? My contract has expired and I'm looking for a new phone ... with any carrier.
contact customer care and tell them what you are experiencing and they will send out an updated over the air activation.
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Thank you for the suggestion Crackberry. Customer service did send me an over the air update. But calls still failed later in the evening. Customer service suggested that there is a network problem in the area and it is not related to the phone being used.
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Its becaues at&t took over and ever since then service has sucked. I never get service no where! I've had it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...
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ok ... if service was fine as Cingular, why would a name change make a difference? Was equipment altered?
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Hammer56z said:
ok ... if service was fine as Cingular, why would a name change make a difference? Was equipment altered?
no, bad batches of updates were sent that effected the plmn selector.
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Oh wise one please bestow upon us the make and model of phone your currently using and also if your inside or outside of Pitts.
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Oh honorable Ninja, a Motorola V551 is being used personnally, a razor V3 is being used by one friend and a Nokia 6126 is a third phone being utilized.
I would estimate the area being used is within a 10 mile radius of Pittsburgh. Drop calls are occuring both east and west of the city limits.
I would estimate the area being used is within a 10 mile radius of Pittsburgh. Drop calls are occuring both east and west of the city limits.
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The Monkey part of me says this:
You live in a bowl/valley area. Reception will be crap outside the bowl. Signal will bounce into the wall and not broadcast as far. As for it being good early on and now is poop which i fling. Well they do change tower configurations to lessen cost and to "grease the sqeeky wheel". Be a squeaky wheel and call your provider and demand a engineer look into this signal issue be sure to have specific areas of problem for them to check.
The Ninja part of me says:
Only Jesus and Mike Tyson get perfect reception. One can save your soul the other one may eat your soul. The Ninja also dislikes motorolas due to their emphasis on design and style and less on signal and userability. But the Ninja did see you ...
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You live in a bowl/valley area. Reception will be crap outside the bowl. Signal will bounce into the wall and not broadcast as far. As for it being good early on and now is poop which i fling. Well they do change tower configurations to lessen cost and to "grease the sqeeky wheel". Be a squeaky wheel and call your provider and demand a engineer look into this signal issue be sure to have specific areas of problem for them to check.
The Ninja part of me says:
Only Jesus and Mike Tyson get perfect reception. One can save your soul the other one may eat your soul. The Ninja also dislikes motorolas due to their emphasis on design and style and less on signal and userability. But the Ninja did see you ...
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I know you already stated that you don't beleive it is your phone, and I know you probably don't want to hear this either. But I'm going to say it anyway.
It's your phone. Or quite possible your SIM card.
Whenever there is a sudden and lasting degradation in service in an area where you previously were experiencing a quality signal, it's rarely the network. Just ask yourself why such a thing would/could ever happen and you'll find that there is no logical answer.
I have been with AT&T in some form since 2003. First with AT&T Wireless, then with Cingular two months after the takeover, and now again with AT&T. Throughout my entire time with the company I have had nothing but quality service in and around Pittsburgh and Western PA.
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It's your phone. Or quite possible your SIM card.
Whenever there is a sudden and lasting degradation in service in an area where you previously were experiencing a quality signal, it's rarely the network. Just ask yourself why such a thing would/could ever happen and you'll find that there is no logical answer.
I have been with AT&T in some form since 2003. First with AT&T Wireless, then with Cingular two months after the takeover, and now again with AT&T. Throughout my entire time with the company I have had nothing but quality service in and around Pittsburgh and Western PA.
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Thanks for your input. Have you had any problems driving the parkway east or on Rt. #79? I am considering a Razor V3xx or the new Razor2. Just a bit leery investing in a phone that will continue to drop calls if it is the network.
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I personally use the v3xx and I haven't experienced any problems in either of those places. I would suggest the v3xx over the RAZR2 just because of the fact that it is a known outperformer as far as reception goes.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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Don't worry Hammer you are not alone. I too live in the Pittsburgh area and have noticed the same issues which you have and I know it's NOT MY PHONE (like others are telling you). I just purchased the Blackjack (April) at which time I received a new SIM...So go ahead and tell me its my phone everyone.
What I think it is and from what I have been told by Reps is that ATT is rolling out the 3G service in our market and will go live with it in October (they are saying the 15th). This in turn may be causing some of the outages or degraded service which we all have noticed.
What I think it is and from what I have been told by Reps is that ATT is rolling out the 3G service in our market and will go live with it in October (they are saying the 15th). This in turn may be causing some of the outages or degraded service which we all have noticed.
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Thank you Gustav, I have been suspecting the same but have not heard anyone else confirm that. I had heard a rumor Pittsburgh was getting 3G this fall.
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Outages?! Since when was the last time AT&T had an outage in Pittsburgh?
I think it was something like 2005, back when they were converting the AT&T Wireless towers for integration purposes.
I think it was something like 2005, back when they were converting the AT&T Wireless towers for integration purposes.
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Well, I don't live in Pittsburgh but I was having the same problems with failed/dropped calls along parts of I-95 near Richmond and areas around Northern VA. I lost my V-635, got a cheap Motorola go-phone and a new SIM(Ithink it was the c163 or something of the sort) and my call quality improved markedly. I have since upgraded to the RAZR2 V9 and its even better.
I didn't want to believe it either when CS told me it was my SIM and/or phone but they were right and they were prompt after I e-mailed them about the problem.
I didn't want to believe it either when CS told me it was my SIM and/or phone but they were right and they were prompt after I e-mailed them about the problem.
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I spoke with a few techs and the issue is they are upgrading to the new 3G network. I have had the same issue when I traveled from Pittsburgh to Charleston SC which is also upgrading to the new 3G network. By the end of November everything should be in place, chances are it will be sooner then that. My intention is for my four lines if it doesn't get batter to call and complain. I feel the $250.00 a month i am paying to them I should not have to deal with the issues of them upgrading. While creating the ways to implement the new upgrade they should find a way to do it without affecting the current customers.
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