Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Which Cell Network Would Your Recommend in the Sloop?

A South Loop newbie is having issues with getting good cell reception from Verizon and wants your recommendation:
As a newbie to the South Loop, I was surprised by the lackluster cell phone
reception we get (using Verizon). My plan is up and I'm thinking about
switching... any recs for strong signals in the neighborhood?

Personally, Verizon works pretty good for us.

(hat tip: TJ!)

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sprint...get the EVO

Anonymous said...

Definitely NOT AT&T. It's the worst in the Sloop.

Anonymous said...

Sprint.

I have the Evo too, and it rocks, but 4G is overrated.

Anonymous said...

I have Verizon and it works really well in the Sloop. I have an Ally.

Anonymous said...

Verizon is terrible in the South Loop. I had to cancel my Verizon account when I moved. I have had T-Mobile now for 3 years and it works well.

Anonymous said...

Definitely not AT&T. T-Mobile works fine for me.

Anonymous said...

I live in Burnham Pointe - Polk & Clark - and AT&T did not work at all in the building. Switched to T-Mobile & I can talk in the elevator now.

Anonymous said...

Sprint (non 4g) didn't work for us
I am also looking to switch from AT&T who is just as bad.

Neither work consistently in our house.

MarkChicago said...

Dropped AT&T for Verizon about a month ago expecting miracles, but not so. Still not great inside concrete buildings. However, in my experience Verizon gets more consistent coverage and less dropped calls in urban areas.

Anonymous said...

I loathe AT&T but it has worked much better in the SL than it did in Lakeview.

Unknown said...

AT&T is ok near Indiana/20th, but the network can get overwhelmed during home Bears games.

Anonymous said...

I have Verizon and haven't had any issues with it. My husband has AT & T which is awful.

Anonymous said...

While Verizon is a bit patchy in the South Loop it's still a safe bet around the city (and especially country-wide if you travel). I think half the problem in our neighborhood is the density of the buildings and the high-rises, but in my (admittedly limited) experience, AT&T is definitely worse at keeping a signal, whereas Verizon, even if the signal is somewhat weaker than expected now and again, rarely dies completely like AT&T does. It's still a bit of a crapshoot though, even within the same building the network strength can be vastly different, but I can usually trust Verizon to get some kind of signal. Fortunately, all the providers offer the opportunity to try the phones for a month, usually with a money-back guarantee, so you can make a choice after trying a few... but of course, if you move within a year or two, what works now might not work so well then.

bogo said...

Sprint has been GREAT for me!

Nicole Archer said...

We live in Dearborn Park and we can't get service with AT&T (both inside our condo and out on the street). Sprint works great for us!

Anonymous said...

We have T-mobile and it works well for us in the Sloop and rest of the city.
No experience with other providers here.

Anonymous said...

OK.. So I am cheap and use a phone for just basic calling and texting.
But Cricket actually works great for me.
Go figure.

RealSlooper said...

AT&T works fine in the South Loop. I had Sprint before which also worked okay but not so great inside buildings. It's more about the phone you have than the carrier.

Anonymous said...

T-mobile works great for me except inside the elevator, but that'd really be asking a lot!

Anonymous said...

I struggled with AT&T service for a couple years before switching to Verizon . . . it's much better in the South Loop.

Anonymous said...

yes, att went down the tubes around feb...apparently, they were havin an issue with a 3G tower, that up until august, was still not fixed. after a long time on the phone with them, they agreed to give me the microcell tower, which routes all my cell calls through my internet connection, for 50 bucks (150 normally). sucks that i have to pay money for taking load off of their crappy towers, but it is what it is.

AB said...

US Cellular!!! The company is based in Chicago. I used to have them, they were wonderful. I never lost service in Chicago. They just didn't have the best selection of phones.

I left to get the iPhone with AT&T...great phone, terrible service.

Tim said...

Thanks, all. Your advice is much appreciated.