NYTimes: "AT&T has better network, but iPhone sucks"

The NY Times reports on an investigation that claims that AT&T has better coverage than Verizon, despite those maps that show otherwise.  They further claim that the reason so many people think AT&T's coverage sucks is that it is, in fact, the iPhone that sucks. 

(The) iPhone itself may not be so great after all. Its design is contributing to performance problems.

Roger Entner, senior vice president for telecommunications research at Nielsen, said the iPhone’s “air interface,” the electronics in the phone that connect it to the cell towers, had shortcomings that “affect both voice and data.” He said that in the eyes of the consumer, “the iPhone has the nimbus of infallibility, ergo, it’s AT&T’s fault.” AT&T does not publicly defend itself because it will not criticize Apple under any circumstances, he said. AT&T and Apple both declined to comment on Mr. Entner’s assessments.

But I question the methodology of the investigations they are reporting on.

This year, Root Wireless ran 4.7 million tests on smartphones for each of the four major carriers, spread across seven metropolitan areas: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles/Orange County, New York, Seattle/Tacoma, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington. In every market, AT&T had faster average download speeds and had signal strength of 75 percent or better more frequently than did Verizon.

So, as long as you are a tofu-eating Birkenstock wearer who's idea of  wilderness is a weekend wine-tasting in the 'burbs, you're good...  Although, maybe not, when we stayed in Los Olivos, at Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn outside of Santa Barbara, we had zero signal from T-Mobile outside of Santa Barbara itself; we were told that only Verizon covered that area.  To me, the point behind that map in the Verizon ads is that Verizon has coverage just about anywhere in the country that has cell service.  And while I do, alas, spend most of my time in urban areas, I try to avoid actual cities.


Mrs. Drang and I have Motorola Moto Q9cs from Verizon, and we are pleased enough with the service that we will probably stick with Verizon when our two years is up. I suspect that all, if not most, "smart phones" fall short in the "phone" department, but we will probably stick with a smart phone of some description; personally, I am reading every review of the Droid with a great deal of interest.