Cell Phone Service? ATT vs Verizon

[jamesclay]

Time for phone evaluation! I am sure I am not the only one that wants to know this, but I may be one of the few that chooses cell provider based on track service. Our contenders are Verizon and AT&T because they are the only ones that work great nationally and well in our area.

AT&T – current
• Works at almost tracks
• Almost all tracks includes Lime Rock!!!
• A little sketchy at Mosport

Can anyone comment on Verizon?

[HabberstadChris]

Well, I seem to recall my wife being able to harass me at every track I've ever been to. So cmp, njmp, beaver, glen, lrp (though there were sweet-spots and not-so-sweet spots), mid-o, vir, summit, roebling, can't recall mosport. I dunno. I don't think there was ever a track where I considered my phone a paperweight - with lrp being hit or miss, though better this year.

[sawbones]

Verizon works at Roebling, CMP, Road Atlanta, Mid Ohio. Sketchy at VIR in some places but seemed to be better lately

[Steve J.]

Coincidentally, when I opened up this thread there was a big Sprint Ad on the right side

[Z3racer701]

My previous phone was AT&T and I could only get an analog signal at Laguna Seca, maybe with a newer phone it would have been fine. The same situation happend when I moved East of the Sierra's, so I switched to Verizon and I no longer have an analog problem anywhere except in Red-Rocks canyon. But no one's phones work there because of the iron content in the hills.

[SlammedE30]

Verizon works pretty much everywhere. It was a little sketchy at Mosport and LRP, but I could usually find service somewhere around both those places.

I sure didn't like that Mosport phone bill though....
-Ted

[ppg4]

On the West Coast Verizon works fine on all tracks. Though at WSIR I have to stand on the roof of my truck.

[saem3]

AT&T has worked for me at every track in the midwest.
It is the very best choice for those that travel out of the country, hands down, no contest.

Steve E.

[kishg]

no issues with Iphone on ATT at NJMP/CMP/LRP/SPR/VIR/WGI/Mid Oh this year.

[jayhudson]

I know you don't get out this way much James but I can tell you that AT&T is spotty at Thunderhill. Last I checked no 3G service.

Jay

[gsparks97]

AT$T works OK for (my wife), but maybe Dan Parker will chime in, because he owns some Verizon stores, usually has wireless internet available at the track. (Correct me if I am wrong, Dan)

[jimmypet]

I am on the road for work on average 250 days a year, have been for 25 years, we work all over the planet.

In that time,,, since cel phones were as big as WW2 walkie talkies,,, I have tried every single major cel phone provider.
My take...

In the USA,,, you cannot beat Verizon for coverage.
Verizon has little to no options internationally (or they did when I had them), but boy do they have great coverage inside the USA. If I worked for country artists,,, I'd stil have Verizon.

If you are EVER going to leave the USA,,, get ATT.
ATT outside the USA air time is expensive (but so is everyone else who has coverage outside the USA),,, but you will ALWAYS have signal. Canada, UK, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, etc,,, everywhere but Japan (no ones phones work in japan)
I have had some way to make a phone call with ATT everywhere.

I cant comment directly on those tracks,,, but I've been to some pretty remote places and ATT has usually had something.
Again,,, I believe Verizon does beat ATT,,, in my experience inside the USA into really remote rural areas,,, but in the big world travel picture ATT is light years better.

None of the rest of the cel providers can come close to the coverage of the two major providers you have picked (and I have had them all at one time).
HTH
jimmy p

[SlammedE30]

I know you don't get out this way much James but I can tell you that AT&T is spotty at Thunderhill. Last I checked no 3G service.

Jay

I ran my phone out of batteries lending it to folks who had AT&T at Thunderhill. Verizon had excellent coverage there.
-T

[RSchuster]

Verizon..atand t is a worthless coverage with too many dead spots

[CP Louie]

I am able to receive and process calls in the race car with Verizon.. It does slow me down a bit.

Merry Christmas James. I have been bad, I bought an S4... OT I know, but I figured you would read your thread. Chris

[thehounder]

AT&T has worked for me at every track in the midwest.
It is the very best choice for those that travel out of the country, hands down, no contest.

Steve E.

I completely agree with Steve on this. Plus Road Atlanta, and Infineon,

[vdshenoy]

I HATE ATT with a passion. The only reason I keep my personal phone with them is because of the iPhone. If someone else offered it, I would switch in a heartbeat. ATT service is terrible in Texas. Sure - its okay if you're in one spot or just chilling in one area - but then, what is the use of a MOBILE phone....as soon as you switch cell towers, it drops calls. I have had the largest number of dropped calls with them. Jeez, even the Boost Mobile shitty $50 unlimited plan phone I have for my employees at work dont drop calls. Makes me VERY frustrated.

[Ezekiel10]

AT&T and Verizon are both way over priced, all cell phone carriers share towers with each other, so you can go into roaming and be picking up one or the other well at least you should. My choice between the two is neither I cant bring myself to pay that much money for a provider that just keeps taking more and more money from you.. Check out Sprint I live in freaking WYOMING and I get coverage virtually everywhere. Plus you dont have to pay out the wazoo for plans and extras the phones aren't bad either.

[jcrist]

Verizon works at Roebling, CMP, Road Atlanta, Mid Ohio. Sketchy at VIR in some places but seemed to be better lately

AT&T is a no-go at CMP, better than Verizon at Sebring, MUCH better at VIR. Roman has Verizon and gets basically no service there where I have ample.

no issues with Iphone on ATT at NJMP/CMP/LRP/SPR/VIR/WGI/Mid Oh this year.

Cmon Kish, CMP?? No way. You9 were too busy racing your Lemons ride to make any phone calls. My group of peeps are all iPhone users and none of the 6 of us could make an uninterrupted call.

Infenion and Laguna were both fine for my AT&T

[94is]

Great thread topic James.

I didn't have my iPhone (and AT&T) when I was at NJMP, Mosport, and the Glen. My sprint phone worked well at the Glen, barely at all at Mosport, and sporadically at NJMP. The iPhone performed well at all of the other tracks I've been to this year (Autobahn, Road America, Road Atlanta (kinda spotty in the infield actually), Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow). I EVEN got 3g up in the UP of Michigan for some truck races I went to!

[mohaughn]

AT&T coverage works at all tracks in Florida. I think they have the best coverage at Sebring. T-mobile and some others have shoddy coverage at the track. However, I didn't get 3g coverage the last time I was at Sebring. I've actually thought about getting a petition going to get 3g coverage at Sebring using the 12 hour, HSR races, and the predominantly middle-upper class customer base that would be there on any given weekend. I know there are a ton of iPhone users out there when I look around at what people are using.

If you experience constant drops/disconnects the best thing to do is find out if your phone can run the cell network incident reporter.

iphone version is called AT&T Mark the spot, available from the software store. Should be available for more phones soon, if not already.

Disclaimer- I work for AT&T, nothing to do with the wireless segment though. Anything above is my opinion, and to the best of my knowledge accurate and true..

Gotta love these new social media/FCC disclaimers..

[kishg]

Cmon Kish, CMP?? No way. You9 were too busy racing your Lemons ride to make any phone calls. My group of peeps are all iPhone users and none of the 6 of us could make an uninterrupted call.

I was mostly text messaging and sending facebook updates. but i do recall being able to make calls.

[JClark]

AT&T is a no-go at CMP, better than Verizon at Sebring, MUCH better at VIR. Roman has Verizon and gets basically no service there where I have ample.

Really? I had good Verizon 3G coverage the last time I was at VIR.

[dtothepowerofp]

As far as coverage goes I have only been to VIR, CMP, Road Atl, Roebling, and Barber so I can't speak for others. I haven't had any problems at those tracks. VIR used to be a bit weak but when I attended the TDI Cup race this summer I noticed an improvement. I thought I saw a new tower so that explains it. James, if you do go with VZW give me a call. Pardon the pun but I'll hook you up.

As far as the comment about the high prices from VZW keep in mind they are the company that bought coast to coast 700 mghtz spectrum (from the FCC) last year to the tune of 19+ billion. It's all about investing in the network for the future. We will have 4G coverage (and not just in downtown Atlanta) starting to expand throughout the USA in 2010 and be finalized in 2013. This purchase will give VZW a huge advantage for the future. We have a lot of customers switching from the carrier that was mentioned as being terrific. It may be fine where you are but they are losing customers by the thousands each month due to their network...and we hear back from them how happy they are with the switch.

By the way, I sell a cellular booster that can be installed in your rig that will increase signal for about 3000 sq ft around the unit. No wires and they aren't very expensive either.

[jcrist]

Really? I had good Verizon 3G coverage the last time I was at VIR.

3G?? Verizon must have added that recently, Roman was just there in November with the same poor service.

THe Verizon "Maps" ad campaign is very accurate, no question. As far as race tracks go, it may be different, but overall, AT&T gets crushed. But, they have no iPhone, and that device will probably provide enough capital for AT&T to upgrade their network.
The iPhone will revolutionize cell-phones once they are available to more carriers and people. Not everyone is willing to sacrifice making a phonecall for a cool phone like I am.