3G signal strength inside my home has been terrible until yesterday. It has forced me to use 2G while at home (iPhone did not switch bands effectively and caused too many dropped calls), which has been a real pain since on the iPhone it takes 4 taps and I have to remember to do it.
Back in early 2009, I heard that AT&T was about to put a new cell site down my street and I was quite excited. Little did I know it would take so long to activate. The antennas were put up back in May, but apparently there were issues with Verizon (the local phone company) installing the appropriate backhaul circuit and Dominion Power installing a dedicated power feed. Even after all the regulatory and contractual hoops AT&T has to jump through to get a cell site approved, they then have to deal with the local phone and power companies taking their sweet time to deliver critical infrastructure. Especially Verizon who has no real incentive to give AT&T any slack when it comes to building out their 3G network, I know this is cut throat business but…
Anyway, it looks like yesterday was the magical day when all the stars aligned themselves and now I have 5 bar 3G coverage even the depth of my basement. And look at that dslreports speed test result…
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Lucky you. Is there any way to request them to build a new tower? In order to get decent quality at my home I generally have to step outside, which isn't really viable for the next 4 months or so, in NW Ohio. Anxiously awaiting AT&T's version of Hot Spot at Home...
Posted by: Chris Beard | December 01, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Chris,
You can file a trouble ticket with them and keep escalating until they tell what their plans are for the area. Then you may need to get involved with your town's zoning to move things along.
But given that AT&T current plan is to rollout the 3GMicrocell http://www.att.com/3gmicrocell product in Jan 10, that probably makes more sense for you.
Posted by: Stephen Skarlatos | December 01, 2009 at 01:37 PM