Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Best cell phone company for WS?
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September 13, 2012 at 4:23 pm #604850
Jay99ParticipantI’m curious what kind of reception people are getting with Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T in West Seattle. We switched to Verizon about a year ago to get better reception, and while we had very few dropped calls in WS at first, they have really increased in the last few months.
Part if that may be that both my wife and I are using HTC Thunderbolts, which are full of bugs. We’re in the 2100 block of 46th in North Admiral and about half our cell calls get dropped at home.
Would love to hear what part of West Seattle people live in, what device they are using, which company, and how good/bad the reception is. Now that the next iPhone is coming out, it may be time to switch again.
September 13, 2012 at 4:59 pm #771000
BostonmanMemberI have T-mobile. I love the customer service but the coverage seems horrible. I drop calls from downtown to the Alaska junction in 3 locations all the time. Data speed seems really slow to me
September 13, 2012 at 5:04 pm #771001
JanSParticipantI’m in the Admiral District…right behind Safeway. I use Virgin Mobile, which contracts with Sprint. Reception is great, and never, ever a dropped call at home or otherwise. I’ve been using an lg smartphone until a few days ago, when I got an HTC Evo 4G
September 13, 2012 at 6:58 pm #771002
kurly212ParticipantI have AT&T, live in Sunrise Heights (32nd & Myrtle), and use a Samsung Galaxy S iii (recent purchase). Before that, I had an iPhone 3G. I have had zero problems with dropped calls or poor sound quality, though I will admit I never have 5 bars at home. It mostly stays at 4, sometimes 3. Still, no problems. Also, data loads really fast.
September 13, 2012 at 7:22 pm #771003
NFiorentiniMemberI had T-Mobile up until a year and a half ago. The coverage in West Seattle wasn’t very good and horrible at Bellevue College and parts of downtown. The selection of Android smartphones from T-Mobile isn’t very good either.
I’ve been very happy on all issues with Verizon thus far.
September 13, 2012 at 7:32 pm #771004
HuindekmiParticipantIt’s a good idea to check coverage with a real phone (if you can) at the places you will use it the most.
My house near Schmitz Park, for whatever reason, has almost no coverage for Verizon or T-Mobile. When I had those carriers, I sometimes had to go out to the sidewalk to make a call or find out if I had voice mail. AT&T, however, is a very strong signal there.
I’m sure there are localized spots throughout our lovely peninsula where the situation is reversed.
The majority of West Seattle seems to have perfectly fine coverage for all of the major cell companies. YMMV.
September 13, 2012 at 7:46 pm #771005
bsmommaParticipantI’m in North Admiral on the East side of California, 2100 block as well. We have (and all our guests) have horrible service. We are with Sprint and thankfully they gave us an “air rave” which is like a tower in your own home. Have had zero issues with that. They recently revamped there packages and they’re awesome now!! Haven’t had any issues with them in years. I have an (2 years old) HTC Evo and husband has an iPhone.
September 13, 2012 at 7:47 pm #771006
bsmommaParticipantI remember Cingular would let you buy pre paid minutes and borrow a phone to try out there services. That was awesome!!
September 13, 2012 at 7:50 pm #771007
bsmommaParticipantSeptember 13, 2012 at 9:07 pm #771008
BonnieParticipantI have T-Mobile and have many places in West Seattle that I don’t get service.
September 13, 2012 at 9:10 pm #771009
swParticipantWe had T-Mobile way back to the Voicestream days, but poor coverage and constant dropped calls prompted us to switch to AT&T 3+ years ago when we got our iPhones. Our only issue is that calls will drop when passing by the steel mill, but that’s a well known occurrence. My recently new work phone is on Verizon – which I expected to outperform AT&T in most areas, but that was not the case. I’ve been disappointed with the coverage.
As has been said before, get advice from your neighbors and go with a carrier that works where you need it to work. YMMV.
September 14, 2012 at 6:23 pm #771010
Jay99ParticipantSeems like the consensus is T-Mobile has the worst WS coverage. Anyone have feedback about Verizon specifically in North Admiral?
September 14, 2012 at 7:01 pm #771011
NFiorentiniMemberJay 99-I have Verizon and I’m near The Metropolitan. I currently have four bars and, very rarely does it dip below three.
//Samsung Galaxy Nexus
September 14, 2012 at 7:41 pm #771012
Jay99ParticipantThanks NFiorentini. I always have plenty of bars, but still get a lot of dropped calls. Do you get dropped calls, or is the service reliable?
September 14, 2012 at 8:01 pm #771013
NFiorentiniMemberI’ve never had a dropped call in Seattle-proper (including West Seattle). I was just somewhere in a hilly part of Capital Hill and my signal dropped from 4G to 3G/two bars, which made checking the Internet harder. Going east past Issaquah, Verizon’s coverage seems to be nothing but 3G and, past the Cascades, there are a lot of dead areas along I-90.
Ultimately, I guess it depends on your routine. In my experience, Verizon is far better than T-Mobile in West Seattle, downtown Seattle, and Bellevue. AT&T may be fine also; they do seem to get the cool new phones, such as the Samsung Note (the gadget I’m lusting after currently) and the new iPhone when it’s available, before anyone else does.
September 14, 2012 at 8:43 pm #771014
Jay99ParticipantAgreed. It seems like the device plays a big role too. My HTC Thunderbolt is pretty buggy, and that might affect reception. However, a friend who lives two blocks alway, near 46th and Massachusetts ave, also gets terrible reception in his home–with a iPhone 4s on Verizon. Go figure.
September 14, 2012 at 11:50 pm #771015
KDubMemberWe have T-Mobile and are in High Point. I have to use wi-fi calling in order to make any calls, really disappointing. But, we have been with them forever and think they have great customer service. I don’t notice service problems when driving around other parts of West Seattle, but who knows! Would love to hear what carriers others in High Point are using.
January 2, 2013 at 9:27 pm #771016
dcnParticipantAnyone with input on cell phone reception near Westwood Village? I live near SW Community Center Pool, and am looking to upgrade my phone. I am trying to decide between Verizon and AT&T. Verizon seems to get better overall marks for reception, but some of my friends like AT&T. I am going to ditch my landline, so don’t want a phone that won’t get good reception in my house.
January 2, 2013 at 11:48 pm #771017
MrsLMemberKDub, I’m in High Point as well and have T-mobile. Reception is fine on the top floor of the house but not on the bottom floors (we’re in a 3-story townhouse). Otherwise I don’t have any issues when I’m outside or other places in WS. I noticed that I don’t get 4G (or any data) on the eastside of Staples in Westwood Village which I though was odd.
January 2, 2013 at 11:50 pm #771018
WS PersonParticipantI have Verizon and live one block west of California and 4 blocks north of Admiral. We have horrible reception in our house, and have dropped calls if I answer my phone in the house. I rarely if ever have dropped calls anywhere else (Windows phone 7 HTC Trophy).
January 3, 2013 at 2:28 am #771019
rwParticipantWe have ATT just off 46th a few blocks south of Admiral. I have four bars, and no dropped calls or reception problems here. I don’t recall experiencing any problems when fielding or making calls while on walks closer to where you are. But if reception right where you are is the most critical consideration then you should ask your immediate neighbors rather than relying on my opinion or those of people in other parts of West Seattle.
January 3, 2013 at 4:18 pm #771020
JoBParticipantdcn
we live a couple of blocks west of the pool..
it seems to be a sweet spot for Verizon, T-mobile and At&T.
January 4, 2013 at 3:07 am #771021
dcnParticipantThanks, JoB. I am leaning towards Verizon at the moment.
January 4, 2013 at 3:08 am #771022
JoBParticipanti am very happy with them
January 4, 2013 at 3:27 am #771023
AmesParticipantI use to have AT&T. Annoyed w/ their rates and contract rules so I switched to Virgin Mobile.
Actually, I bought a cheapo VM phone to try it out before dropping my AT&T one. I was very happy with VM so I dropped AT&T.
VM does not require a contract, has smart phones, a variety of plans that are way cheaper and they utilize Sprint’s network.
My bill with VM is half of what it was w/ AT&T, plus I’m not locked into a contract. Very happy with VM & wish I would have switched earlier.
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