Nice Christmas Gift from AT&T

[yourbeliefs]

I called the Westfarm AT&T store. The guy said he gets coverage at the mall (well, outside of it, not in the actual mall) and also gets it at his home in West Hartford, but that it's not very stable and constantly fluctuates between 4G and LTE when he travels. He also said he thinks that it's not a "real" deployment and it was more of a way for them to just say that they had brought LTE to the area, as opposed to bringing it PROPERLY, and that he doesn't think it'll be at full power until the end of January..

Update: I've been back and forth with AT&T. They just keep telling me they don't have coverage in Farmington and keep sending me the same stupid AT&T LTE link on their website. They don't seem to understand my point that it doesn't make sense to have such SH*T coverage out of Hartford. I'm ready to just call up their customer retention department and make my point there and see if then someone will listen to me. I pay too much a month to get service this crappy.

Yes I know I'm ranting and raving, but let's face it: AT&T has it coming to them.

Another update: I was going back and forth with them on Twitter to the point where AT&T actually called me, and again basically said they don't have coverage in my area and can't comment on why a place like Bridgeport has great coverage while Hartford does not.

Customer retention is definitely getting a phone call later today..

 

[Poke]

AT&T promised us LTE by the end if the year here in the Hartford area.

I have had my LTE turned on, on iPhone for the past few weeks hoping to get a LTE signal.

Up until now (including last night) I only had the 4G icon on my iPhone 5, but this morning Santa came a few days early as I woke up to 5 bars LTE on my display!


I did a speed test and was floored to see it is faster then my cable modem service! It tests at over 50 meg down each time!

The only thing I am worried about now is how easy it will be for me to go over my data cap.

Thanks AT&T for the early Christmas gift

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

Cool Congrats! Data cap hmm how good is Sprint in your area? No data cap with them. Oh wait looks like 89 upgrades are coming in Hartford,CT dang that's allot.

https://network.sprint.com/

 

[DodgerKing]

AT&T promised us LTE by the end if the year here in the Hartford area.

I have had my LTE turned on, on iPhone for the past few weeks hoping to get a LTE signal.

Up until now (including last night) I only had the 4G icon on my iPhone 5, but this morning Santa came a few days early as I woke up to 5 bars LTE on my display!

I did a speed test and was floored to see it is faster then my cable modem service! It tests at over 50 meg down each time!

The only thing I am worried about now is how easy it will be for me to go over my data cap.

Thanks AT&T for the early Christmas gift

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

We have LTE in my area, but HPSA+ is still faster around here. The fastest LTE speed I have received on my phone has been 12.86 mbps. While I have gotten up to 15 on 4G (HPSA+)

 

[yourbeliefs]

We have LTE in my area, but HPSA+ is still faster around here. The fastest LTE speed I have received on my phone has been 12.86 mbps. While I have gotten up to 15 on 4G (HPSA+)

We don't get anything near that on H+ here. And if AT&T's LTE network can't even keep up with their fake 4G then they got some serious problems.. I mean aside from constantly being ranked WORST in customer support and satisfaction..

 

[DodgerKing]

We don't get anything near that on H+ here. And if AT&T's LTE network can't even keep up with their fake 4G then they got some serious problems.. I mean aside from constantly being ranked WORST in customer support and satisfaction..

When I talked to the people at the ATT store they said that is typical around here during high traffic times. They said if I were to test it in the middle of the night, then the LTE would be much faster than HPSA+. They said there are too many people accessing the limited LTE service but the LTE infrastructure should improve over the next year.

ETA: I live in one of the few areas in CA where the population is growing rapidly, while the state as a whole is seeing a decrease in population. Ten years ago this area was all rural and was the largest dairy producing region in the country. (You may remember reading or hearing about the slaughterhouse close-down in Chino that really hurt the whole beef and dairy industry in that area). All of this farm land is being bought up by developers and housing tracks are going up faster than the area can handle. In fact a new city of Eastvale (click the link for the history) was born just one or two years ago. Within 10 years this area has changed from rural to suburban and few things can handle the rapid growth. Roads, shopping centers, and infrastructure (including technological) has a hard time keeping up

 

[yourbeliefs]

When I talked to the people at the ATT store they said that is typical around here during high traffic times. They said if I were to test it in the middle of the night, then the LTE would be much faster than HPSA+. They said there are too many people accessing the limited LTE service but the LTE infrastructure should improve over the next year.

If AT&T were competent it would already be on a solid infrastructure. Don't bother putting up a system that can't support the demand. Likewise, don't announce you have LTE in an area when said area is about the distance that I can spit..

All I know is that this famous scene keeps playing in my head..

 

[mperdue]

If AT&T were competent it would already be on a solid infrastructure. Don't bother putting up a system that can't support the demand. Likewise, don't announce you have LTE in an area when said area is about the distance that I can spit..

You keep ignoring the fact that CR also rated AT&T's mobile network as the best. A lot has happened with their infrastructure over the last few years. Unlike the competition who are deploying LTE along with the same slow 3G network they've always had, AT&T is upgrading almost everything to HSPA+ AND deploying LTE. This takes longer to do but it results in a superior network when it complete.

 

[yourbeliefs]

You keep ignoring the fact that CR also rated AT&T's mobile network as the best. A lot has happened with their infrastructure over the last few years. Unlike the competition who are deploying LTE along with the same slow 3G network they've always had, AT&T is upgrading almost everything to HSPA+ AND deploying LTE. This takes longer to do but it results in a superior network when it complete.

And when exactly will this Super network be complete? I think I read they expect their LTE rollout to be done in like 2014 while Verizon is set to be done mid 2013.

I just know I am not satisfied as a customer, and a lot of people like me are not. I don't think it's wrong of me to ask why their cell towers can't carry a signal further than 10 miles. For what I pay a month I should be getting MUCH better, and for the profits AT&T rolls in every year, they should be deploying faster and better. Accepting sub par service is not the basis of capitalism.

 

[DodgerKing]

If AT&T were competent it would already be on a solid infrastructure. Don't bother putting up a system that can't support the demand. Likewise, don't announce you have LTE in an area when said area is about the distance that I can spit..

All I know is that this famous scene keeps playing in my head..

I agree, but it is not just ATT. Very few companies, planners, agencies, ect in my area were prepared for the sudden growth; a growth at a faster rate than most things could keep up with or could afford to keep up with.

When not on WiFi, I turn off LTE in my area so I can access the faster 4G.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Just so people understand why I'm so damn frustrated, here is a map from the cell tower to my house (well, to the AREA that my house is in. I obscured that area as I don't want all the SatGuys groupies knowing where I live and tackling me as I leave my house on a daily basis...)



That is less than 10 miles distance from the tower. I don't think I'm acting entitled or being overly demanding by simply inquiring about why I can't get an LTE signal when I am so close to said tower. AT&T though seems to view disclosing of such knowledge as being on the same level as inquiring about trade secrets and their dealings with Apple on the next iPhone. As I said, it's the lack of information that is pissing me off.

 

[JAG72]

Is that the closest tower to your house? If it isn't then you are most likely never hitting that tower as you will connect to the tower with the best signal. Also if it is hilly between you and the tower then you may actually be out of its range. GSM towers can transmit up to 22 miles depending on the surroundings. The more buildings and objects in between you and the tower the less likely you are to hit the tower.