So i downloaded my AT&T call records into Excel...

D

dcho

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 17, 2004
Messages
419
For the past 3 billing cycles:

I had an average of 350 calls a month - oddly consistent from month to month
5% of calls resulted in dropped calls - consistent from month to month!
17% of all calls were related to dropped calls (i.e re-dialing) - consistent from month to month!

Pretty pathetic IMO. The initial excitement of becoming an iphone owner quickly faded after I realized how crappy the service is. 17% means nearly 1 in 5 calls are out of frustration.

I'm glad the iphone is no longer exclusive to AT&T.

:mad::D
 
You know, I hadn't really thought about it, but I haven't had those problems since I switched to verizon.
 
We haven't had those problems since we switched from iPhones:D, the missus can actually make a solid uninterrupted call from the house, the old iphone would either sound like she was under water, have to switch to edge mode, or make a horrible screaming noise when it hangs the call.
 
I should load mine up for ya. Over a 5 month period I had a 23% drop rate with the highest being 34%. I'm switching to either sprint or Verizon here soon once I see what the new google phone is. I hate AT&T 's service and coverage here in northern Colorado.
 
Oh yeah, I get dropped calls all the time from AT&T. I never actually checked the percentage...think I'll do that now.
 
I've gotten close to no dropped calles :eek: (HTC Aria, Inspire, Moto Atrix, Sammy Focus - yes, I'm an idiot, and yes, all of them are directly my phones, not someone elses in any sense).

am I just lucky or live in some stick of the woods with a private cell tower, lol?
 
Mopower said:
It's called GSM and why it sucks.
Click to expand...

I have heard that CDMA is better for call reliability, especially moving between cell phone towers vs. GSM. But the benefit of GSM is its more widely used worldwide (Europe only uses GSM). And if you can unlock your GSM phone, you can use a local sim when traveling abroad. Its far better than roaming on highway robbery rates from your local carrier.
 
When I call my friend at his house I have exactly 10 seconds before it will drop the call on att. The only time I have dropped a call on verizon is when I walked into an underground concrete tunnel.
 
I've been on AT&T for quite some time and My call issues were usually related to crappy phones. (cough 2g).
 
I had no idea other networks were that bad as a lifelong Verizon customer. Sure I get raped on pricing, but I only drop one or two calls a month, if that. Probably around 10 a year.
 
nerdydesi said:
I have heard that CDMA is better for call reliability, especially moving between cell phone towers vs. GSM. But the benefit of GSM is its more widely used worldwide (Europe only uses GSM). And if you can unlock your GSM phone, you can use a local sim when traveling abroad. Its far better than roaming on highway robbery rates from your local carrier.
Click to expand...

Not a verizon fanboy, but verizon has world phones you can use like Droid 3 and even iphone 4s, sprint also will unlock it for you. AT&T you buy the iphone and you are locked for life talked about being a GSM carrier... :rolleyes:
 
Greenstuffs said:
Not a verizon fanboy, but verizon has world phones you can use like Droid 3 and even iphone 4s, sprint also will unlock it for you. AT&T you buy the iphone and you are locked for life talked about being a GSM carrier... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

that is a choice of radios. Most radios in thse phones are Qualcomm modems. CDMA qualcomm designs tend to have GSM radios in them too. GSM ones might not (cost savings for feature phones and generally because GSM is dominant outside of the USA). LTE is another branch. The next gen (28nm) qualcomm modems will unify all of this.

EDIT: to be clear, the iPhone 4S has a CDMA/GSM combined modem, so it can use both networks. The older iPhones are not the case.
 
jeremyshaw said:
that is a choice of radios. Most radios in thse phones are Qualcomm modems. CDMA qualcomm designs tend to have GSM radios in them too. GSM ones might not (cost savings for feature phones and generally because GSM is dominant outside of the USA). LTE is another branch. The next gen (28nm) qualcomm modems will unify all of this.

EDIT: to be clear, the iPhone 4S has a CDMA/GSM combined modem, so it can use both networks. The older iPhones are not the case.
Click to expand...

i'm well aware of that, choosing a GSM carrier because of the possibility to travel is a fallacy because you can spend $200 and buy a phone like ATRIX for international travelers.
 
On Sprint I've had very few dropped calls, and it roams onto Verizon's network for no charge. I've also got an (Android) app called Roam Control that can force the phone to switch to Verizon's network.

So, best of both worlds for me. Unlimited data, lower bill, Verizon's network to use for free. Sure, Verizon's LTE is faster and more reliable than WiMAX, but I still get 10 Mbps off of WiMAX while at work, so I can't complain. Not to mention Sprint will be switching to LTE as soon as LightSquared gets its crap with the FCC about GPS interference sorted out.
 
I can count the number of dropped calls in the last 2 years on 1 hand for my Droid OG/2.
About 10 bucks more a month to use Verizon, the service is stellar (I get 5 bars at the top of a mountain in the middle of nowwhere, 1.8mbs 3G too!) and their CS is really good too.
 
Greenstuffs said:
i'm well aware of that, choosing a GSM carrier because of the possibility to travel is a fallacy because you can spend $200 and buy a phone like ATRIX for international travelers.
Click to expand...

I got my Atrix from ATT for 50usd... (did have to sign away two years, lol).
 
Electrofreak said:
On Sprint I've had very few dropped calls, and it roams onto Verizon's network for no charge. I've also got an (Android) app called Roam Control that can force the phone to switch to Verizon's network.

So, best of both worlds for me. Unlimited data, lower bill, Verizon's network to use for free. Sure, Verizon's LTE is faster and more reliable than WiMAX, but I still get 10 Mbps off of WiMAX while at work, so I can't complain. Not to mention Sprint will be switching to LTE as soon as LightSquared gets its crap with the FCC about GPS interference sorted out.
Click to expand...

There's a few things wrong with this. There's an excerpt in Sprints Terms/Agreement that says if you use more than 300 MBs outside of their network (read: Verizon's), then they can cancel your service at their discretion. Also, Sprint only roams on Verizon for voice/1X data coverage, not 3G or 4G. So while you may save ~$15/month (depending on your plans, they're not that different - but I'll bet you have some obscure plan that nobody else can have where it costs $20/month for unlimited everything) over Verizon's service, you're not really taking advantage of their network for data. Therefore it's not nearly as enticing as you're making it sound. I promise you; you get what you pay for.

Not to come off as a Verizon fanboy or something. The second they try to take my Unlimited data plan from me, I'll switch to Sprint while they still offer it. I have a feeling Sprint will have to kill unlimited data sometime next year though if they have enough people switch over to them :(.
 
nerdydesi said:
I have heard that CDMA is better for call reliability, especially moving between cell phone towers vs. GSM. But the benefit of GSM is its more widely used worldwide (Europe only uses GSM). And if you can unlock your GSM phone, you can use a local sim when traveling abroad. Its far better than roaming on highway robbery rates from your local carrier.
Click to expand...

It isn't that simple although it is going that way. GSM in the US is different then GSM pretty much everywhere else. The radio frequencies that gsm use were not available. You need a quad band gsm phone to work in the US and europe.

A bunch of Verizon world phones only had the European gsm support so they would only work in the us on cdma.

Many if not most gsm phones that you buy in the us will now be quad band to work with pretty much any gsm service if the phone is unlocked. As others have said you can get the verison and sprint world phones sim slot unlocked for travel abroad.
 
T4rd said:
There's an excerpt in Sprints Terms/Agreement that says if you use more than 300 MBs outside of their network (read: Verizon's), then they can cancel your service at their discretion.
Click to expand...

Sprint will not cancel your service if you use more than 300MBs data in a month while roaming. They will send you a letter asking that if you are roaming to only use data services while on Sprint's network. If this is repeated for another month, they'll generally send you another letter. If it is repeated yet again, they will end your contract with no ETF or further charges due. This is because the assumption is that it's Sprint's fault for not having necessary coverage with their own network. In fact, some Sprint customers have used this (perhaps irresponsibly) as a way of ending the contract without incurring an ETF.

T4rd said:
Also, Sprint only roams on Verizon for voice/1X data coverage, not 3G or 4G.
Click to expand...

True, but it didn't stop two laptops surfing the web and playing Terraria online over my phone as a WiFi hotspot (for which I am also not charged) while in a lakefront cabin for a week, far from any Sprint signal. Having Verizon's voice network available to me was great too when I had to call around to see which local stores had butane heaters in stock on a chilly evening.

T4rd said:
So while you may save ~$15/month (depending on your plans, they're not that different - but I'll bet you have some obscure plan that nobody else can have where it costs $20/month for unlimited everything) over Verizon's service, you're not really taking advantage of their network for data.
Click to expand...

I'm actually kind of offended by your implication that I've got some sort of special plan. No. I have the Sprint standard Everything Data Share 1500 plan that allows 2 smartphones unlimited data and 1500 minutes of peak time minutes per month for $129.99. I came to Sprint about a year ago after spending over 5 years on Verizon, and not only is the standard rate significantly less per month, but I also get a 23% discount through my employer as opposed to 17% from Verizon.

T4rd said:
Therefore it's not nearly as enticing as you're making it sound. I promise you; you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...
I'll say it again. I was on Verizon for years, and now I'm on Sprint. I'm just as happy with Sprint as I was with Verizon but I'm paying less, my data isn't capped, I can use Verizon's voice network wherever I want, and in rare instances where Sprint's data network isn't available and I need data, Verizon's is there, and it's sufficient.

Tell yourself whatever you have to in order to make yourself feel comfortable with your own service, but I don't have to make excuses to be comfortable with mine.
 
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How exactly did you download and import that data into excel? I looked around on ATT's website and couldn't find anything. . .
 
misan-thrope said:
I can count the number of dropped calls in the last 2 years on 1 hand for my Droid OG/2.
About 10 bucks more a month to use Verizon, the service is stellar (I get 5 bars at the top of a mountain in the middle of nowwhere, 1.8mbs 3G too!) and their CS is really good too.
Click to expand...

Really? I've had tons of issues on Verizon with my OG Droid. Although to be far to Verizon I will blame it on the handset. I'm about ready to throw my droid out the window on the interstate.
 
Electrofreak said:
Sprint will not cancel your service if you use more than 300MBs data in a month while roaming. They will send you a letter asking that if you are roaming to only use data services while on Sprint's network. If this is repeated for another month, they'll generally send you another letter. If it is repeated yet again, they will end your contract with no ETF or further charges due. This is because the assumption is that it's Sprint's fault for not having necessary coverage with their own network. In fact, some Sprint customers have used this (perhaps irresponsibly) as a way of ending the contract without incurring an ETF.



True, but it didn't stop two laptops surfing the web and playing Terraria online over my phone as a WiFi hotspot (for which I am also not charged) while in a lakefront cabin for a week, far from any Sprint signal. Having Verizon's voice network available to me was great too when I had to call around to see which local stores had butane heaters in stock on a chilly evening.



I'm actually kind of offended by your implication that I've got some sort of special plan. No. I have the Sprint standard Everything Data Share 1500 plan that allows 2 smartphones unlimited data and 1500 minutes of peak time minutes per month for $129.99. I came to Sprint about a year ago after spending over 5 years on Verizon, and not only is the standard rate significantly less per month, but I also get a 23% discount through my employer as opposed to 17% from Verizon.


I'll say it again. I was on Verizon for years, and now I'm on Sprint. I'm just as happy with Sprint as I was with Verizon but I'm paying less, my data isn't capped, I can use Verizon's voice network wherever I want, and in rare instances where Sprint's data network isn't available and I need data, Verizon's is there, and it's sufficient.

Tell yourself whatever you have to in order to make yourself feel comfortable with your own service, but I don't have to make excuses to be comfortable with mine.
Click to expand...

Like I said; I'm not a Verizon fanboy, I would switch in a heartbeat if they took unlimited data from me. I just wanted to clarify that using Sprint on Verizons network wasn't as good as you made it sound. Sorry about the obscure plan implication; there was a guy on here that had some Sprint plan for only $20 something/month for unlimited everything because he was some Radio shack employee at some point and I thought you might be him. You're actually paying the exact same as I am on Verizon with only 100 more minuets/month (1400 vs 1500). I pay ~$135/month (after taxes and additional fees) for two smart phones, 1400 mins/month and unlimited everything else (grandfathered data plan). That's with a 15% government employee discount too.
 
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