Are there any places where iPhones don't work?

Consult Verizon’s map of AT&T’s 3G coverage.

Is that trustworthy? I’ve seen the commercials; Verizon says theirs is the best coverage when AT&T thinks they’ve got it.

I used to have AT&T and I had to stand on my toes just so, in a special place in my living room go get any reception at all. At the time I lived in San Francisco. If there is one place on earth that cell phones and anything technology should be working it seems like SF is right there at the top of the list. But no…

The best way to find out is to take advantage of the 30 day period in which you can return the phone and cancel the contract if reception doesn’t satisfy.

For every person who has to stand on tiptoe, etc. there’s someone like Don Imus who wouldn’t get the iPhone because he ASSUMED that reception would be lousy at the ranch in New Mexico.

But he finally did get one and was thrilled. With his previous Verizon service, he used to have to go all the way to the horse barn on top of a hill.

But he can usehis iPhone anywhere on the property. And this is one very remote place accessible only by a dirt road of several miles. It lends new meaning to the phrase “off the
beaten path”.

He keeps saying ATT should sue Verizon for those commercials and he’d be happy to be a witness for them.

It’s very difficult to make blanket statements about cell reception.

Give it a try for yourself. I’m assuming that’s why they have the 30 day policy.

I have the iPhone and live in a very small town in western New York. At my house I have great service. At my mother’s (which is only 5 minutes down the road) I have almost no bars. The 3G coverage can be real spotty. Try it out and if you aren’t satisfied with the coverage, take it back. I’m sure they have some kind of 30 day return policy or something.

You have to watch the wording in the ads. In Australia several companies claim they cover 90% of the population. What you have to remember is that 90% of the population lives within 200 k of the coast and even then within a couple of large cities. So that leaves a whole heck of a lot of territory that is not covered by anyone. I use a sat phone when I travel because I lose signal as soon as I get about 2k from home!

I can’t get service in the subway. Other than that, no problem.

@pdworkin: Those ads are intentionally misleading. While it’s true they cover more square miles – AT&T has vastly superior coverage for the majority of Americans. AT&T’s map is accurate.

I get a signal everywhere i go with Verizon, i travel out of state a lot also..

@smartfart11 Buy a Blackberry Storm 2 :)

Remember that those ads are describing/comparing 3G coverage only; the iPhone does 2G as well, whereas Verizon only does 3G on its “smartphones.”

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=14002

That said, this will in fact be one of those YMMV cases-as others recommend, use the 30-day “honeymoon” period to seek out as many of those common locations you intend to use the iPhone, then go from there. And try not to become too distracted by the awesomeness of the phone in the process!

I thought AT&T was the only US carrier for the iPhone…? Unless you’ve an unlocked one (which I don’t).

Why can’t you just buy the iPhone and have whatever carrier you want? See, I use Sprint.

Anywhere above the 20th floor.

Even if you don’t have 3G service, you can still use AT&T’s Edge service, which is slower but still pulls data out of the air.

@smartfart11 Apple and AT&T are in the fourth year of an exclusivity agreement, which requires Apple to supply the handset exclusively to AT&T. They did this as a deal to help bring the handset to market, and because at the time of launch, Apple decided not to establish its own cell network (as an MVNO). As such, they went with the largest carrier in hopes to propagate the phone across the greatest distribution system.

The contract is said to expire in June 2010, but it’s unclear as to whether or not Apple will extend or open up the phone to other carriers. This only applies to sales in the U.S. In other countries, it is carried among multiple carriers.

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090910/apple-to-extend-att%E2%80%99s-iphone-exclusivity-deal/

Of course you can purchase the phone and void the warranty by jailbreaking it. Then you can connect it to any GSM-based carrier.