Goodbye iPhone 4s

[Wildfire]

I finally received my AT&T 4s yesterday evening. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. But then came the big disappointment. The map showing coverage made me believe that I should have good voice and 3G Data available.The curse of living away from the city. And since there is no wifi either, I'm one disappointed ex 4s owner. Mailed it back today. The AT&T lady felt my pain and said maybe in a year or so they might have a tower in the area. I guess I have to continue using my Virgin mobile "broadband" modem (1 bar) and my Tracfone to stay in touch with the rest of the world. You guys don't know how lucky you are having access to modern technology. Now if we would just spend some of the money we blew in Iraq and Afghanistan on getting broadband to rural America... Fat chance!

 

[Thomasjtsi]

Ugh... that totally sucks!!! Nothing worse than waiting and waiting for something to arrive and then it doesn't even work for you. :-(

 

[vitix]

Wow that's sad, where do you live again? I live in a third wold country and still have access to all this Internet tech, 3G and even 4G


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=18.513125,-69.962778

 

[Wildfire]

I visited your google map. Judging by the street names you live in some nice Spanish speaking country. Just because a country is big (USA) doesn't mean that technology is evenly spread. Telecommunications companies work on a profit basis; few people in an area = small to no profit. Unless they get subsidies from the government they won't put up more towers.

 

[Wildfire]

I feel discriminated against. On the bright side;-) I'm one of thousands or more who suffer the same fate.

 

[xrayeyes]

Have you tried Verizon?

 

[Wildfire]

Have you tried Verizon?

I just did, kind of. I checked a coverage map for my location. Voice looks OK. Data looks OK too, however it's pretty close to a poorly covered area.

I don't have any friends with Verizon that I could get to our property to do a reality check. I have a Verizon landline but there is no broadband available by anyone.
In other words, I'd have to order and pay for the 4s and then see whether it works. At the present time, I have to wait for AT&T to credit my account once they have received the returned 4s.

I wished one could rent a 4s for a few hours just to check coverage, since the maps are obviously not too accurate. I have a Garmin aera 560 aviation/automotive GPS which has a full strength signal in my living room no matter what the weather is like. On the other hand my DirecTV dish gives me NOTHING when there's a thunderstorm in the area or heavy rain. But then the Garmin uses several satellite and a different frequency or planes wouldn't be flying.

 

[vitix]

I visited your google map. Judging by the street names you live in some nice Spanish speaking country. Just because a country is big (USA) doesn't mean that technology is evenly spread. Telecommunications companies work on a profit basis; few people in an area = small to no profit. Unless they get subsidies from the government they won't put up more towers.

Yeah I live in Dominican republic, a little island in the caribbean, it's true what you said about telecommunications company's, since where I live is so small maybe that's why everybody gets pretty much the same coverage


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=18.513190,-69.962807
Sent from my iPhone4 using Tapatalk

 

[Wildfire]

Yeah I live in Dominican republic, a little island in the caribbean, it's true what you said about telecommunications company's, since where I live is so small maybe that's why everybody gets pretty much the same coverage


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I am here: Google Maps
Sent from my iPhone4 using Tapatalk

I think you're right about your coverage in the Dominican Republic. Since it's small, the Telecoms figure it's better to have some customers than none. Similarly, in Europe where the population density is so much larger than here in Texas or the USA as whole, they have coverage everywhere and at speeds we can only dream of. C'est la vie...

 

[thanhdouble]

Not sure why don't you use your iPhone 4S with a Virgin mobile Mifi 3G. Or another option the Sprint iPhone 4S since Virgin mobile and Sprint are basically same.
Sure the speed will not be that good but it should still enough to enjoy many features of the iPhone

 

[Wildfire]

Not sure why don't you use your iPhone 4S with a Virgin mobile Mifi 3G. Or another option the Sprint iPhone 4S since Virgin mobile and Sprint are basically same.
Sure the speed will not be that good but it should still enough to enjoy many features of the iPhone

I thought about the Sprint iPhone 4s since I'm using the Virgin Mobile BB with my laptop (1 bar) but if I could figure out who is the provider for my Tracfone which gives me 4 bars at home, I would sign up with them. The Virgin mobile Mifi 3G would be an option but they changed their plans. With my Virgin Mobile BB I am still on the $40/month unlimited (up to 5 GB after which they slow you down).
With Sprint, looking at their US coverage map, I'll be probably "No Service" in many areas when I travel.

My plan is to wait till I get my account credited with the returned AT&T 4s and then start the same procedure with Verizon whose coverage map shows solid G3 where I live. They may be the provider Tracfone uses since they sponge from any available provider they contract with.

Just to give you an idea of my "struggle": No cellphone worked well at home until I bought a TracFone. The cheap one they sent didn't work either. Then I looked at the available phones for the next city, San Antonio, and noticed one with a rod-like antenna sticking out. It was more expensive but it worked after I also changed the area code to San Antonio. How this all works, I don't know, but I have a cellphone that works. It just isn't as smart as I would like it to be:-(

 

[mikej798]

Sprint is the one that covers virgin mobile and in my experiences has better coverage then virgin mobile. Because virgin gets sprint left over data basically after it goes to actual sprint users.

 

[thanhdouble]

Good luck, Wildfire

It's worth the hassle to enjoy an iPhone

 

[Wildfire]

Good luck, Wildfire

It's worth the hassle to enjoy an iPhone

I'll post my experience with getting a refund from AT&T. Let's see how long it will take. Generally speaking, most companies are quick in selling but slow in refunding!

 

[Wildfire]

Who can say about this iphone Newegg.com - Apple iPhone 4S 16GB Black 3G Cell Phone w/ 8 MP Camera / A5 Processor For AT&T (MC922LL/A) Is this iphone4s for full retail price without contract and can be unlocked to any gsm provider in the world?

Their website shows "Out of Stock". I would send them an e-mail and clear up the confusion. Newegg.com is generally a good place to buy from.