Comments on: Trying to Help AT&T Get Better in Boulder

By: Edd

Edd — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 20:02:19 +0000

i installed the ATT micro cell in Dillon, CO where the proverbial mountain almost totally blocks any coverage at my home. The micro cell works flawlessly and provides service within about 150 ft. range which satisfies my needs. I was fortunate to have a skylight directly above the location of the micro cell so it could connect with satellites to enable 911 service. The only drawback that I notice doesn't affect me…just my non-ATT friends because, understandably, the ATT micro cell only connects to a maximum of 5 ATT customers only at one time. I have been asking ATT for this for years!

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 02:31:55 +0000

My phone does not work in my house either. It is insane as I have a local software company and we have iPhones as we do development but we may have to move to Verizon for our wireless as both me and another cofounder cannot use our phones in our house.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:20:34 +0000

My wife and I have AT&T. We want to upgrade to iPhones but with the service being so bad we are debating whether to change providers all together. Get horrible service, it comes in and out, and usually if we lose service we have to turn our phone off and then back on to try to get service again.

By: Brad Feld

Brad Feld — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:09:08 +0000

God – it’s so crazy that we are resorting to this kind of stuff to fix the crappy AT&T service. Someone there should be listening.

By: Larry Heck

Larry Heck — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:09:18 +0000

Hi Brad,

My attorney sent me to your blog to peruse your collection of seed document links. I couldn't help but comment on your and other Boulder denizens search for solutions to the "I love my iPhone, but I hate AT&T saga".

Not sure anyone is following this thread anymore, but here are some Seattle Area AT&T + iPhone and AT&T + iPad coverage solutions.

Here's my latest "Rube Goldberg" inspired solution set, as of 4-15-10:

1. Last week I bought an iPad to solve the small display problem which periodically hinders my use of the 120+ apps on my beloved, now worn out iPhone. Like you I won't give up my iPhone!

2. To solve the AT&T 3G problem which the iPad will no doubt share with my iPhone, I am exchanging the Verizon Wireless USB dongle I now use for online access for my dell laptops with a matchbox-sized Verizon Wireless-supplied "MiFi" device (wireless router + 3g access point) which purportedly will allow up to 5 of my wireless devices access to the Verizon3G network, including my iPad. I plan to "velcro" this device to the iPad. Hopefully, this means no AT&T 3G service required for 3G access by my iPhone/iPad! This comes at no additional cost to me as long as I stay under my 5GB/mo download limit.

3. To solve my AT&T dropped call problem, I capitulated. I found and re-activated, on a month-to-month basis, my old Verizon Motorola "Q" phone. I'll keep the iPhone, but reduce it's data plan. When I can't get service, I'll use my old Verizon phone for voice only communications.

Anyone have a better set of ideas!

Larry Heck
heckj516gmail.com

By: Galatasaray

Galatasaray — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:00:37 +0000

i don't like helping people:P

By: Trevor

Trevor — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:26:45 +0000

I've been similarly frustrated with AT&T's service in this area. I will admit that they did make a huge improvement in about October '09, network-wide in the Front Range, and that I now get strong 3G coverage in all kinds of places I didn't before.

Still, though, there are annoying issues, like call drops on certain roads every day, and outgoing call failing 5 times in a row, even when my iPhone shows 5 bars of 3G. Go figure.

I have become a big fan of AT&T's Mark the Spot app, which allows me to report to them, via the iPhone's GPS and Maps, exactly where I have call problems and what the nature of the problem is. If you don't have the app yet, I'd recommend it. Go to the App Store and download it now, since the more of us that report problems, the sooner they'll be able to correct problems in chronic spots.

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By: jamie

jamie — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:20:38 +0000

multiple dropped calls, delayed voice mail delivery, unable to dial out, text / voice messages vanish, can't connect to voice mail, overall it is terrible service. I went to the at+t store, they gave me a new sim card, and when i mentioned that everyone i know that has an iphone thinks the coverage is terrible, the salesperson got all defensive and said that he'd "never had any problems with his iphone." then suggested that i head to the apple store for a diagnostic test. unbelievable. having come from verizon, this is a joke, and probably an illegal one at that.

By: Peter Galvin

Peter Galvin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:21:22 +0000

Because I fully expect ATT to drop a call on my iPhone 3GS 16gb which is only ONE week new, on the drive out of Boulder going up highway 36 at Davidson Mesa at the crest of the hill, I ALWAYS tell people that I will call them back when they drop. The tough thing is that I have also tried going EAST from Foothills up Table Mesa toward McCaslin in hopes that my call won't drop, but the cut the road makes through the rock formation there drops calls too. There are several places through Boulder that seem to consistently drop calls. Another one is south on 47th street, south of Jay road in N. Boulder. It seems odd that calls drop so close to the tower, as I thought that there was an AT&T tower at NE corner of Jay Road and 28th street. (in the back of the church parking lot.) Does anyone know of a Boulder Map which shows detailed coverage info or shows where the towers are (The Dream would be to ONLY drive routes through BOULDER that are LESS LIKELY to drop important phone calls.) I have had AT&T for over a decade, and it used to be that I could drive from N. Boulder, south on Broadway, and south on highway 93, and ONLY drop a call at the highway 93 merge onto I70 at golden (ALWAYS DROPPED THERE), and then pick the call back up when continuing south on C470 to South on Wadsworth, past Chatfield Dam near the Lockheed Martin plant. Now, that might represent 5 or 6 REDIALS…and associated apologies for me using a cell service that just isn't as reliable as others out there.

I wonder if there would be a way to have an interactive google map that folks could tack a pin in places where calls are dropped…and optionally share their cell phone hardware i.e. which phone being used, and location. To help provide the ATT engineers with a live hot spot map maybe in red showing high concentrations of drops. Which hopefully would give them the actionable data they need to have them fund more towers in the right places to fix the highest priority issue map locations.

Incidentally, I cannot have a business conference call from our offices in DENVER near 16th street mall and curtis street (which incidentally is a short walk from the ATT store. Because I can only get a signal to hold for about 6 or 7 minutes on a fully charged iPhone 3gs both 32gb and 16gb models. We are up on the 23rd floor, and maybe that is the problem. We look down on the clock tower over there…

Does anyone have any success stories to share? I love using the hardware…