Verizon Asks Court to Judge 3G Networks

[jtsx1]

AFAIK, ATT (T-Mobile still has EDGE) has the only actual 3g GSM network and it seems Verizon is trying to use the name to attract more customers. Faster is better, but doesn't necessarily concern reliability. Now, "America's Best Network" would include fastest to most people, so that is a false claim on their part. I don't think Verizon is even due to start using GSM for another year or two, maybe then they'll be better. Oh yeah, ATT's wireless features are exensive.

 

[northslopeofw]

What good is speed if you can't get it everywhere? Reliability means getting what you paid for whenever you need it. If you are paying for 3G, then you should get it every time you use your phone. If not, then its not reliable.

 

[AndrewMD]

They are both wrong.

Having access to both Verizon and AT&T, they both suffer from spotty coverage in some places. Usually they are both worthless in the same spots. Of course your mileage will vary where ever you live so you really need to go with a provider that offers you the best coverage.

Now if they want to talk about their price fixing and charging for everything under the sun policies then this is what a judge should be looking at!

 

[marsax73]

I hate how only certain phones come out on certain networks. The iPhone (just using as an example) should work with any carrier. Let their pricing plans and options sell the service. Not the phones. Wish someone would regulate that.

 

[lolipopjones]

VzW's map is generally more BS then any other Wireless company. Having worked as a technician with Verizon Wireless and having both VzW and AT&T i can say only outside of the more Densely populated Areas does VZW have better coverage.

They do have a reliable 3G Data Network with one big caveat. VzW does not have half of the 3G SUBSCRIBERS AT&T does. Being that VzW uses CDMA their network will react worse then AT&T's if it has half the load. CDMA based towers will shrink their Coverage areas if they get huge amount of load. This can be seen in some counties around Richmond, VA like where i live. I have 2 towers about a mile in front of me and 1 tower behind me and you can only get 1 evdo bar and 3 1XRTT bar....


Basically even though VzW in my area does not service even half the amount of Data devices AT&T does in my area the VzW network is WORSE. This means VzW's 3G claims are dubious. Its a network that claims most reliable when it doesn't service enough people to bolster.

 

[lolipopjones]

@Marsax: Why should someone regulate what phones carriers get? One Carriers need to be the same technology as other carriers.. CDMA Chipsets require more power and do not give the user the same Experience that GSM phones do. CDMA Chipsets tend to more expensive for manufacturers aswells.

Regulating handsets is retarded as the manufacturer should be allowed to say "I don't want to sell my cellphone to a carrier thats gonna put their bloatware on my device and restrict me from offering services on my device.". Lets see how long the V-cast App Store goes when manufactuers like HTC, Apple, and LG want their slice of the pie.

 

[feenyxfire]

ALL the advertisements (legitimate or otherwise) are ENTIRELY POINTLESS if you don't know how well the phone performs in YOUR AREA.

To that end, arguing about who has better coverage is pointless unless you're somehow both my roommate and coworker and go all the places I go. For example, I live in the basement of a thick-walled building: while signal strength outside my window is always strong (all carriers), signal strength inside can vary from 5 to 3 to zero in ten feet, and it's patchy in different ways depending on the carrier. Hence I use Wifi to make calls and it doesn't matter what carrier I choose (as long as I have a capable phone).

The try-before-you-buy concept applies to many other major purchases (and I would say signing a potentially several thousand dollar contract is a major purchase), why not here? (I think Verizon had a program like that a while back, I don't know about anyone else.) At least let you rescind on the contract if your service sucks. Then the whole "proof" concept is even more irrelevant.

 

[mdillenbeck]

I agree with feenyxfire.

Best for whom? Most reliable for whom? The person living in New York city that never travels? The global business traveller? The guy in the backwoods of Upper Peninsula Michigan?

Lets apply the Guinness Book of World Records rule here - if it is quantifiable (measurable) then allow it. If it is qualitative (subjective descriptions like "best" or "unusual"), then it should not be allowed.

With cellular networks, that means a lot of claims would have to be thrown out. Best obviously. Fastest speeds? Proof of measurement - and if an over-generalization is made (we measured NY City speeds, so obviously that means we are fastest? No, that means you have the fastest speeds in NY City... and how did you measure that against your competitors?)

I can only use anecdotal evidence. I use both voice and tethering, and use a lot more internet connection time than I do chatting. I don't text (why buy a plan when I can put standard email on my phone?). In my area the complaints about AT&T have died down a lot due to a more recent upgrade, but Verizon is still better voice coverage when considering both urban and rural areas. Sprint actually has the best coverage in data - I can go more places and get a solid mobile broadband connection with them than Verizon. So, which is better? (It might help if you first try to define better fully, and then ask whether better was the right word to choose.) Which is more reliable? (Again, I think you have to define how you measure reliability before you can answer this one) Which is the fastest? (Which is faster - a 2 Mbps download, 28 Kbps upload, 190 ms ping connection that is not available 90% of the time or a 52 Kbps download, 52 Kbps upload, 70 ms ping connection that is not available 15% of the time? Hmmmm... guess we are going to have to define what is meant by fastest.)

 

[Guest]

well from what i understand, of the major carriers, Verizon actually has the fastest 3G speed and AT&T has the slowest by a considerable margin. I don't see AT&T winning this one.

 

[Guest]

speed only matters for internet, not phone call.
Most GSM/Cell phone signals are more than 4 times faster than needed for a conversation. Anything above that won't be audible.