Verizon vs. ATT (mostly south of 466)

[EdFNJ]

I have had AT&T for many many years (even before they were called ATT). Moved down here (Amelia) in Jan and their service is virtually non-existent due our home location on a hill off O'Dell. Have all "top of the line newest devices" (Galaxy S8 and iPhone 6s, 7+, & 8+ all with the same issue) so it isn't the phone. I have to walk 2 or 3 blocks up the street to get a signal over 1-2 bars. I have wifi-calling on and that works (sort of) but is still lousy. Still drops calls and audio is crappy. We are on a 80meg Comcrap connection for internet so it isn't that. A microcell won't help because it is identical to and with the same problems as wifi calling. Both are just crappy VOIP connections.

ANYWAY my sister from NJ just came down here this week and she has Verizon and gets "full signal" INSIDE our home and all around it. My question is, how is VERIZON coverage overall here in TV? Are there lots of dead zones? I notice AT&T (except in rare areas) is generally lousy around here. We spend most of our time SOUTH of 466 but of course go North on occasion.

Thanks

[billethkid]

We are a Verizon user....16 years.....we have been able to use our phones anywhere in TV.

As an aside we have also experienced Verizon to have the best nation wide coverage. We have been to several locations where Verizon users had the only working phones.

[New Englander]

I have AT&T and my home is in Pinellas. I get a signal but it's only one bar. Mostly one bar in most places in TV. The cell phone company's need to put up more towers all over TV.

[Terri45]

I have Verizon and I am in Fenney and I can’t use my cell phone because of poor service. Considering purchasing a cell phone extender. Anyone have any luck with that.

[CassieInVa]

Verizon here also. We are in Penne amp between 466 and 466A. We haven't noticed any issues anywhere from Spanish Springs to Brownwood.

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[tuccillo]

I have an AT&T microcell box and it works great.

I have had AT&T for many many years (even before they were called ATT). Moved down here (Amelia) in Jan and their service is virtually non-existent due our home location on a hill off O'Dell. Have all "top of the line newest devices" (Galaxy S8 and iPhone 6s, 7+, & 8+ all with the same issue) so it isn't the phone. I have to walk 2 or 3 blocks up the street to get a signal over 1-2 bars. I have wifi-calling on and that works (sort of) but is still lousy. Still drops calls and audio is crappy. We are on a 80meg Comcrap connection for internet so it isn't that. A microcell won't help because it is identical to and with the same problems as wifi calling. Both are just crappy VOIP connections.

ANYWAY my sister from NJ just came down here this week and she has Verizon and gets "full signal" INSIDE our home and all around it. My question is, how is VERIZON coverage overall here in TV? Are there lots of dead zones? I notice AT&T (except in rare areas) is generally lousy around here. We spend most of our time SOUTH of 466 but of course go North on occasion.

Thanks

[Nucky]

Ed, our Verizon service is good all over The Villages except for in Fenney. The week after we moved in our phones started dropping calls intermittently while we were in the house. When I called customer service I asked to go straight to the department where you make a plan with them to cancel. They asked several times what was on my mind and why I was cancelling and I refused to tell them, I was heated. They offered what they called a home tower for improved reception for $250. I declined. They asked that I try the tower free of charge which I did and we had great results. I pay the bill the phone works and the bill isn't all over the place like other companies. Just for a laugh give the Microcell a chance if you can get it for free. I hope it works out for you.

[mixsonci]

I have Verizon, live south of 466A and have never had an issue with service anywhere

[EdFNJ]

Ed, our Verizon service is good all over The Villages except for in Fenney. The week after we moved in our phones started dropping calls intermittently while we were in the house. When I called customer service I asked to go straight to the department where you make a plan with them to cancel. They asked several times what was on my mind and why I was cancelling and I refused to tell them, I was heated. They offered what they called a home tower for improved reception for $250. I declined. They asked that I try the tower free of charge which I did and we had great results. I pay the bill the phone works and the bill isn't all over the place like other companies. Just for a laugh give the Microcell a chance if you can get it for free. I hope it works out for you.



A microcell is the same as WiFi calling. It’s simply a voip connection to the internet through a 2nd physical device. WiFi calling does help a little but doesn’t help the worthless signal all around the area when I leave my house. I want to drop my regular phone line but can’t do that until I have a reliable cell connection. It seems Verizon is much more solid. It unfortunate TV doesn’t permit cell towers which is why they are all on the outskirts of TV.

I guess I will be switching to VZW soon.


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[EdFNJ]

I have Verizon, live south of 466A and have never had an issue with service anywhere



Thanks.


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[dbussone]

I have AT&T and my home is in Pinellas. I get a signal but it's only one bar. Mostly one bar in most places in TV. The cell phone company's need to put up more towers all over TV.



Call and speak with AT&T. They gave me a device that has provided complete coverage at home.


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[jclrxman]

I have ATT, in La Belle North. micro cell works perfectly

[tag460]

I live in Fernandina an had a micro cell for my ATT mobile phone. When my micro cell quit working, I turned on WiFi calling on my I-phone and I have no issues with calls without the micro cell.

[Radioman41]

I am in Lake Deaton I had AT&T and needed a micro cell to get any kind of coverage in our house. AT&T gave it to us after several phone calls. Recently we switched to T Mobile because of their new senior plan. We used wifi around the house but often lost one side of the phone call. T Mobile sent us a free micro cell that greatly improved our in house calls. T Mobile and AT&T have similar coverage South of 466a. AT&T wouldn't match T Mobile's senior plan (two lines, unlimited talk text, and data for $60 including all taxes and fees. Also includes Canada and Mexico.)

[l2ridehd]

I have AT&T, live South of 466 and have never had any issue any place in The Villages or in my home. The biggest advantage to AT&T is when you travel outside the US. You will still have coverage almost anywhere. I have traveled all over the world and only had a problem in a remote area of Malaysia. And there global plan is less expensive than others and can be activated when you travel. Last time I did it, it was $60 for a month outside the US. There was a data limit, but I did not even come close to using all of it even though sending pictures back to US.

[New Englander]

A microcell is the same as WiFi calling. It’s simply a voip connection to the internet through a 2nd physical device. WiFi calling does help a little but doesn’t help the worthless signal all around the area when I leave my house. I want to drop my regular phone line but can’t do that until I have a reliable cell connection. It seems Verizon is much more solid. It unfortunate TV doesn’t permit cell towers which is why they are all on the outskirts of TV.

I guess I will be switching to VZW soon.


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Wouldn't it be helpful if TV allowed some badly needed cell towers? The towers can be disguised these days to look like trees.

[jclrxman]

I have an AT&T microcell box and it works great.

[JimC55]

We have been in FL for many years. Had all the big services. Verizon has been the best. Used their WiFi calling in Europe last year for no charge international calls. If on a budget, you can get Verizon on Straight
Talk. My wife uses it and has the same coverage as my Verizon phone.


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[EdFNJ]

Call and speak with AT&T. They gave me a device that has provided complete coverage at home.


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Thanks .... what They gave you is a MicroCell (which they no longer provide either for free or for sale) but it doesn't help me when I leave my house. They stopped because most devices (mine included) now support WI-FI calling which is virtually identical to the MicroCell but without the necessity of the device however it doesn't resolve the issue after I walk out my front door and am in a dead zone.

Problem is solved though because I just switched to Verizon which has full strength signal at and around my home.

[EdFNJ]

I have an AT&T microcell box and it works great.

A microcell is unnecessary if your device(s) have wi-fi calling which is the same and which mine do however they won't resolve the issue after I leave my house.

[Nucky]

Thanks .... what They gave you is a MicroCell (which they no longer provide either for free or for sale) but it doesn't help me when I leave my house. They stopped because most devices (mine included) now support WI-FI calling which is virtually identical to the MicroCell but without the necessity of the device however it doesn't resolve the issue after I walk out my front door and am in a dead zone.

Problem is solved though because I just switched to Verizon which has full strength signal at and around my home.

Good for you. Can't be messing around with phones. Just as your compadie want to let you know your gonna need a lawyer to decipher your first Verizon bill and a home equilty line of credit to pay it. Seriously, glad it worked out.

[twoplanekid]

A previous discussion of cell phone towers in TV https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/cell-phone-towers-243642/

Although I still use AT&T, my phone coverage still has issues in my area.

[EdFNJ]

I have AT&T, live South of 466 and have never had any issue any place in The Villages or in my home. The biggest advantage to AT&T is when you travel outside the US. You will still have coverage almost anywhere. I have traveled all over the world and only had a problem in a remote area of Malaysia. And there global plan is less expensive than others and can be activated when you travel. Last time I did it, it was $60 for a month outside the US. There was a data limit, but I did not even come close to using all of it even though sending pictures back to US.

You can put a foreign sim in a Verizon phone as well and do the same thing. In fact most Verizon phones also work fine with an ATT or T-Mobile (as well as some ATT & TMobile phones working on Verizon as long as they are unlocked). All Verizon LTE phones are unlocked as required by law. I will using my 2 AT&T iPhones on Verizon starting on Monday.

[EdFNJ]

Good for you. Can't be messing around with phones. Just as your compadie want to let you know your gonna need a lawyer to decipher your first Verizon bill and a home equilty line of credit to pay it. Seriously, glad it worked out.

Actually it's $12/month more because I lost my corp discount but I get a bit more data so it's basically a wash. No problem deciphering bills as I was a call center tech support trainer in another life for a major cable company. It's really simple as long as one can understand pro-rating. They are all the completely identical. I had Verizon FIOS for many years up north and it's the same billing system and boy do I ever miss FIOS.

[EdFNJ]

A previous discussion of cell phone towers in TV https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/cell-phone-towers-243642/

Although I still use AT&T, my phone coverage still has issues in my area.

That thread has a LOT of misinformation in it, especially regarding cell tower location.

[EdFNJ]

Wouldn't it be helpful if TV allowed some badly needed cell towers? The towers can be disguised these days to look like trees. For sure. All the towers surround TV but are not in it. You would think they would allow it but I guess their palms need to be greased a bit. They won't even rent space on their own monster radio station tower you can see foff Morse near me. I used to think that was a cell tower until I checked the FCC registration database. That one belongs to T.V.'s propaganda radio station. :D

We had a "tree looking" cell tower off one of the highways near us up north (Nucky know of it I'm sure in Clark on the GSP). They built that tower many years ago then shortly afterwards let the cell companies plant towers wherever they wanted all over the highway.

[EdFNJ]

WOW! We completed the switch from AT&T to Verizon yesterday (hated to do it because of probably close to 30 yrs of service and loss of DirecTV discounts) and the coverage difference from all the way up by Fenney all the way down to Spanish Springs was absolutely remarkable. With few exceptions "full signal" virtually everywhere including in our house where AT&T was ZERO. Also the audio quality on both ends was much improved. Cost me around $20/mo more but I picked up 2 extra gigs of shared data (6->8).

[Nucky]

There is a Safety Mode for Verizon Data. We use 2 Gigawatts (GIGS) of 4G LTE or whatever the fastest one is called then if we go over instead of being charged you may be put into a Safety Mode, this allows you to use Data for free just at a slower speed which is not noticeable. I found this out when I called to cancel one day.

The Cellular Tree in N.J. is not bad looking and straightened out many peoples coverage for many companies. The same thing is probably in the works for The Villages. Let's hope so. It's not fun paying all that money and not receiving or making every call without a hassle.

Unless things have changed beware of your Cell Service in Our newest neighborhood. Check it out for yourself.

[Toymeister]

Why AT&T at all? Why ANY service that only uses ONE carrier? Why not double your chances with Google's phone service? They use Sprint T mobile and wifi. It is even cheaper. Google Fi, Google it for info, pun intended. Yes it works wonderful south of 466a, north of it and in Fenny or anywhere that I have been in the US it works internationally as well

[geofitz13]

We were in TV for a week this month. Both my wife and I have Verizon service. I have IPhone 5, she has a brand new (about a week old) Motorola. We were staying in Pennecamp. We were relying on the phones to use the Villages App for navigation. My iPhone worked fine, but the battery kept running out. Her Motorola would sometimes connect with the Villages app, but would lose the connection almost immediately. This happened all over the Villages. We are going to go to the Verizon store to see if there something wrong in the settings on her phone.

[rubicon]

AT&T continues to lose market share

[New Englander]

If TV allowed cell towers to be installed all the carriers would work just fine. It's obvious there is a problem. I've been using AT&T for years without any issues. But in TV I get weak coverage.

[EdFNJ]

We were in TV for a week this month. Both my wife and I have Verizon service. I have IPhone 5, she has a brand new (about a week old) Motorola. We were staying in Pennecamp. We were relying on the phones to use the Villages App for navigation. My iPhone worked fine, but the battery kept running out. Her Motorola would sometimes connect with the Villages app, but would lose the connection almost immediately. This happened all over the Villages. We are going to go to the Verizon store to see if there something wrong in the settings on her phone.

For some reason The Villages App kills the battery on our 2 iPhones as well. I looked at "battery usage" and even when not using it it sucked up over 50% of battery usage in a 12hr period. Once we deleted it battery life improved markedly. Something up with that app even with it disabled for background use.

Use Google Maps WALKING directions for 95% accuracy or check out the Villages GPS which is very weird in it's own way but does work (but it cost $7). I have it but use Google Maps 99% of the time with no problem.

[EdFNJ]

If TV allowed cell towers to be installed all the carriers would work just fine. It's obvious there is a problem. I've been using AT&T for years without any issues. But in TV I get weak coverage.

Do what I did and switch to Verizon. Around here you won't regret it. I'd prefer ATT but coverage where I live is non-existant and just lousy in many other areas.

[EdFNJ]

Why AT&T at all? Why ANY service that only uses ONE carrier? Why not double your chances with Google's phone service? They use Sprint T mobile and wifi. It is even cheaper. Google Fi, Google it for info, pun intended. Yes it works wonderful south of 466a, north of it and in Fenny or anywhere that I have been in the US it works internationally as well

I'd gladly go with Google but wouldn't ever use Sprint so that kills that. :) T-Mo coverage around here is worse than AT&T and wi-fi only works when you have it and outside your own secure home router is very unsafe.

[dotti105]

We are south of 466A but has had ZERO problems with AT&T.
We haven’t needed a booster or micro cell or any extra gizmos
Our home is frame and that may make a difference. But we also use WIFI all the time.
Don’t know why AT&T is given so many people problems. We have never considered changing because our service is excellent. We do have Centurylink fiber optic WiFi. Maybe that’s the difference!
I just want people to know that not all AT&T customers have problems!

[New Englander]

We are south of 466A but has had ZERO problems with AT&T.
We haven’t needed a booster or micro cell or any extra gizmos
Our home is frame and that may make a difference. But we also use WIFI all the time.
Don’t know why AT&T is given so many people problems. We have never considered changing because our service is excellent. We do have Centurylink fiber optic WiFi. Maybe that’s the difference!
I just want people to know that not all AT&T customers have problems!

In Pinellas, I get one bar on my phones signal meter. Sometimes calls drop and texts take a long time to be recieved. WIFI is not a cell signal.

[laryb]

Does anyone near Fish Hawk Rec Center in Buttonwood have AT&T Mobile? If so, is the signal strength adequate?