At&t 4g wireless/data plans and iPhones (they are all 3g)/confirmed network problems

10,507 Views | 163 Replies | Last: 11 yr ago by DevilAg03
ScottBowen
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AG
Add me to the list of people who have had iPhone problems since Christmas break (I'm a current student but I'll still be in town frequently during the summer). I'll have 5 bars of coverage, the 3G icon, and get absolutely no data.

My contract is up in November. If its not fixed by then, I'm gone.
Stucco
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I don't use AT&T, but it sure looks to me like Jim is going above and beyond here. It is good to see support coming to us, and in an environment some would call hostile too.
bryanitemom2
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add me too s c ramirez at verizon dot net
iphone 4s i live in Austin's Colony area, my ipad constantly goes off with notifications while my phone sits there and does nothing...some apps say i have no internet connection and at Cheddars..forget it...i have no internet...no apps, no FB, nothing...can only send texts..although slow going
ooshwa
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Staff
AG
quote:
I don't use AT&T, but it sure looks to me like Jim is going above and beyond here. It is good to see support coming to us, and in an environment some would call hostile too.


Agreed.
Cromagnum
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AG
I can definitely vouch for what Jim is trying to do. I know some of the engineers with AT&T personally and they definitely go above and beyond what is typical of an RF Engineer, especially in Houston and College Station. The thing is, you have to give them some useful information to go by. You can't just tell them "I have zero bars" because that doesn't tell them jack. Run a speed test on your phone, tell them what kinda of good (or crappy) data rates you get and where you get it. Let them know where you are when calls get dropped or call quality suffers. I promised you that if you give them useful info, they can use it to help troubleshoot what is going on.
Unreasonable
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What I can't understand is if this has been going on for half a year, why is it only now that someone is even showing signs of caring about it?
Cromagnum
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AG
For that matter, be sure to specify if you are using 3G, 3.5G (H+), or LTE. If you see an E on your phone, it's dropping all the way to Edge network, which is terribad for data, so be sure to let him know that as well.
Cromagnum
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AG
quote:
What I can't understand is if this has been going on for half a year, why is it only now that someone is even showing signs of caring about it?


If people are calling in to the help center and just saying "I have no bars" or "My Iphone doesn't work"...what do you really think that's going to help accomplish? The engineers need specifics.
BlueMiles
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AG
It would help if the people in the stores were part of the solution, as well. Being told "it's your phone, it's your SIM card," etc. doesn't help solve the problem. Thumbs up to Jim. I think I met him at the Rock Prarie store before it closed.
Unreasonable
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quote:
If people are calling in to the help center and just saying "I have no bars" or "My Iphone doesn't work"...what do you really think that's going to help accomplish? The engineers need specifics.
Um, OK? Who said no one was giving specifics half a year ago? You make it sound like people went to the AT&T store and started pounding their heads on the counter while screaming "NO BARS, NO BARS!"

And there have been threads on here for months comlpaining about AT&T service. It's complete bullcrap that it's been going on this long without anything to show for it.

[This message has been edited by Unreasonable (edited 5/22/2012 9:21a).]
msechea
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iPhone 4 AT&T, with four or five full reception bars on the 3G radio, I was getting little to no data movement in Springbrook (Longmire and Barron where we just bought a house). I had more success switching to Edge. It's really horrible, good thing we have Wi-fi...will be switching to Verizon in the fall
armymom
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Knock on wood but I had decent data download today for the first time since 4G came out. Hope that it was Jim getting it right! I just hope it continues and gets better!
biobioprof
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The places in town where 3g data does work might be shorter.

I am usually on wifi, so it doesn't bother me that often. But it is striking how much better my AT&T iPhone 4 works when it's connected to my Verizon 3G mifi via wireless. That's not just here in B/CS.

ktdone
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AG
I've been having the same issue the last week on campus along with 4 other coworkers. I'm going to start complaining to AT&T till it's fixed.
Jim03
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@ ktdone - I shot you an email...
Unreasonable
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What are you actively doing to fix the problem, or are you just emailing people at this point?
Rearview
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AG
Jim, please email me.

I have been with Cingular/AT&T since the Houston Cellular days. I have had data problems like everyone else all around B/CS for many months now, dating back to 2011. I'll have 3+ bars of H or 3G and data won't work.

Some specific locations where I have this issue are near the Tejas center (its been mentioned), near S. College Ave/North in Bryan, and 2818/Villa Maria. Just east of this intersection our calls drop every time we go through. Within a few blocks of that intersection I have zero or 1 bar, and often switch to Edge. I have a "Faux G" (as I like to call HSPA+) Android phone, fYI.

I look forward to hearing from you, Jim. My phone has been off contract for a few months now but the wife's isn't up until August, when I fully intend to switch carriers, but she is making me contact you first. (shouldn't there be a discount is you aren't in your 2 year subsidized contract timeframe? I fulfilled my obligation, but I digress...)

I will say that my data connectivity on and near campus has been vastly improved the past few months, but most other places in B/CS my data has major issues. Toggling airplane mode will usually make it work for a few minutes.

[This message has been edited by Rearview (edited 5/30/2012 2:28p).]
fhkbonfire98
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I have been having the same issues and thought I was going crazy. I have contacted ATT numerous times since February and each time they act like it is me that is having issues.

My email address is bonfire2001@yahoo.com
Tailgate88
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AG
I have three iPhones on our account and can assure you that things have gotten worse in the past six months. More dropped calls, worse data throughput, etc. just as others have described here.

SOMETHING has changed, and I don't feel like we're being told the whole story.

That said - I appreciate the guys on this thread who are trying to help.
dubi
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AG
Please give Jim a chance! I came home from dinner one night and he was parked outside my house looking at cell tower signals. We talked for a while and he described all the suggestion he would make for my neighborhood just south of campus 1 mile.

Improvement will not occur overnight! However, I am really glad he cares enough to listen to our woes and help.


[This message has been edited by Dubi (edited 5/25/2012 3:59p).]
armymom
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I feel very lucky that for 3 days in a row now I have not had any data troubles like I did before! Thanks Jim if it was you!
Ag Mom 91
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S
Well, add my house to the list of those with pitiful cell phone coverage!! My husband and I have had it!! We live in the River Run neighborhood (off of Hopes Creek Rd. and Dowling Rd.). My husband went to the AT&T store to complain, and they said they couldn't do anything about it, but gave him a cell booster. If we are close to the room with the cell booster and hold the phone a certain way, we can talk a little bit on the phone. But, our children are in the Dallas area and say that it sounds like we are talking in a tunnel and that there is a lag in our conversation (we speak, then it takes about 2 seconds to reach them). Today, we were about 1/4 mile from our house, and I was talking on the phone to someone, when a horrible sound came from the phone, and I just had to hang up because I could not hear the person. This is beyond ridiculous. Any advice besides switching to Verizon?
BlazeHarper
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If you guys are having an issue with AT&T actually providing the service you agreed to in your contract and they fail to acknowledge and correct the problem in an acceptable time period then...REQUEST TO TERMINATE THE CONTRACT and move to another carrier like Verizon. If they fail to do that then file a claim in court.

At the very least they should acknowledge the problem and provide financial compensation. While it is certainly good someone like Jim is working the problem maintain perspective here. You signed a contract not with Jim but AT&T the 11st largest corporation in America ! Hold them to task and if not satisfied terminate them.



Unreasonable
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It's OK because Jim is sending people emails so that will make it all better.
waffle15
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perhaps a local news agency could do a little investigative journalism
Jim03
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@ Unreasonable – Did you have an actual problem? Originally you stated your Samsung did not give you a problem? Are you just trolling this post? Give a guy a break? I am doing this on MY OWN time, just to give some of the folks on the forum a little knowledge of what’s going on specific to their individual issues (There is more than 1 cell site in College Station). To answer your question, no I am not just “sending emails” to people. I have personally verified some of the issues going on around town using actual test equipment, driving to folks houses, collecting actual data about the RF environment, etc. and making adjustments accordingly. Most issues were already known, and a plan in place. No, I cannot on a public forum post proprietary network settings, or network upcoming changes, new cell site locations, etc. doesn’t that make sense? No, we didn’t just start all of a sudden start to do something about issues.

No cellular networks are without issues. It’s amazing that it works at all if you understand the physics behind the technology. Things break, air conditioners fail, endangered birds make a net on towers (preventing a broken antenna to be fixed), storms roll through blowing antennas off azimuth, telco decides to go down, John Doe ran his truck into the telco connection point, people steal copper, power companies disconnect the wrong meter, John Doe decided to install a cell booster he bought on ebay, illegally transmitting into cellular band jamming sites, TV stations forget we bought the 700MHz license, paging companies forget we own the 850MHz spectrum (yes pagers still exist), John Doe decided the fiber optic cable running through his back yard needed to be dug up, someone set off an EMP (well not yet) the list goes forever though. You name it, it happens…

Please remember I am only a grunt, trying to do the best I can. I obviously cannot post everything to the forum. Many folks issues have already been resolved, and have noticed the improvement…


@Ag Mom 91 – That neighborhood is a good bit from the nearest site, the microcell (I assume microcell) should have helped… If you are noticing “lag” it may be due to internet bandwidth. If there are many things going on at one time on your home network, it could be the problem. I know this is not a solution, and I will look into the subdivision a little closer.
Unreasonable
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It just seems like service has been super ****ty for a crazy long time. And there is no one telling us what's wrong or when to expect an improvement or a fix. And until that happens all we have are empty promises.

How in the hell is it ok for service to suck for 6+ months with no end in sight? It's pathetic.
acp46
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acp46
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T&P for folks inconvenienced by erratic service.
armymom
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@ Jim03. I don't know if you were able to help me or not but my service is good now. Thanks for emailing me and keeping me informed. I really, really appreciate it!
Jim03
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@ Unreasonable – In your original post, not the “LTE in Houston is Baller” post, but the other one informing the forum you were not having issues on your Galaxy SII, what exactly did you mean? You were not having an issue, but the network is “super ****ty” ?? I guess I don’t really understand contradiction very well… And I have informed several folks on this forum exactly what is going on, when they can expect an improvement, and exactly what the fix is or will be.

It’s not ok for your service to suck, ever. But things happen beyond anyone’s control sometimes, on any network, at any time… Again, if one understood the physics behind wireless technologies and all that must happen, it is really amazing that it works at all…

@armymom – Your very welcome, I am glad to help.
Unreasonable
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I had an iPhone 4 for years in CS, the last 6+ months it was unusable. Which is extra annoying when tethering at home was my only Internet. I work in Houston now and got the Galaxy II on the LTE network. It's stupid fast.

But I still have friends, family and former coworkers in CS that basically are paying for a service that they can't use, and it sucks hearing how frustrated and pissed off they are about it.
dubi
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AG
I have seen improvement on the south side of campus and University/Harvey. My house still sucks.
Tailgate88
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AG
I never emailed Jim with specifics, but I am out by Wellborn and my signal is much improved the past few days. Things seem to be getting better.
AggiePhil
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AG
My data service has been TERRIBLE this past week. What's the contact info for the AT&T guy? I can't even get the previous pages in this thread to load.
 
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