Help me get an iPhone!

June 30, 2007 12:10 PM

How's AT&T/Cingular reception in Washington, DC?

I want an iPhone, but I'm about to move to Washington. My office will be on Pennsylvania Avenue at 12th St. or so; we're not sure where we'll be living yet, but it will likely be somewhere like U Street, DuPont, Chinatown, Penn Quarter, &c.

posted by raf to technology (12 comments total)

On every trip I have taken there, I get pretty good coverage. And as for speed on the data, they are full 3G ther.

I hope this all works out since I am moving there in a month!
posted by ThFullEffect at 12:20 PM on June 30, 2007

The overall reception is pretty good. I have no problems with nearly all of DC and most of the inner suburbs. There are spots in the middle and outer suburbs that lack cover, but that's true of all the providers. Of course, there may be full 3G, but that won't help the iPhone that's only EDGE.

The one main downside to think about: Currently, only Verizon (and Sprint through roaming) has coverage in Metro tunnels. There are discussions of AT&T putting antennas, if I remember correctly.
posted by skynxnex at 12:28 PM on June 30, 2007

One odd thing about the Cingular coverage is that occasionally, I get odd types of interference. For example, I try and call any number in Charlottesville/Albemarle County two hours away to the Southwest, and I always get some form of busy signal or "Please check the number." I can call this location from anywhere else in the country just fine, but not here. Second, I'll get this weird "clicking" interference that often leads to disconnects.

As a result, I'm not super keen on Cingular in D.C. Outside of DC, its fine. Perhaps I'm the only one who has these issues, and it may be related to being a mile or two from the Pentagon, and working at the Capitol, (i.e. something security influenced).
posted by Atreides at 2:07 PM on June 30, 2007

Cingular coverage has been fine for me in the DC area.
posted by killdevil at 2:21 PM on June 30, 2007

I'll second what skynxnex said about Metro tunnels, that gets a bit annoying. I don't get reception in the basement of the Capitol either, but pretty much everywhere else is fine (I've been using EDGE on my blackberry, and it's faster than GPRS, which is to say slow).
posted by awesomebrad at 4:03 PM on June 30, 2007

My Sprint phone works great in the metro while roaming, while my Cingular phone wouldn't work at all - however, when I would get to Georgetown my Sprint phone goes to hell and my Cingular one works outstandingly.

Occasionally with Cingular I get a "Network Busy" on my Cingular, but it's typically during rush-hour when everyone and their mother is on the phone. This happens about once or twice a month and then works perfectly fine the second go.
posted by banannafish at 8:44 PM on June 30, 2007

I've had it here for 6 years. It works (mostly) great, although a couple of the apartments I've lived in have had issues.
posted by kdar at 9:31 PM on June 30, 2007

Verizon is a better choice for the DC area. Get a phone that can use EDVO and it'll rock the pants off anything on Cingular/ATT's network.

Unless you're more concerned with looks than functionality, in which case disregard everything I said.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 9:41 AM on July 1, 2007

I know Verizon is the carrier of choice in DC, since they're headquartered there. But Verizon doesn't offer the iPhone. And my desire for an iPhone is about functionality, not looks. I've used a lot of smartphones, and they're all a pain in the ass. They don't sync well with my Mac; their web browsers suck; they don't do what I want a smartphone to do. The iPhone, from reviews, does.
posted by raf at 10:45 AM on July 1, 2007

The iPhone isn't a smartphone because you can't load your own or third party programs on to it. That what defines a smartphone.

As for coverage, a local law firm I know too much about offered ridiculous discounts and incentives to it's staff to use AT&T since they are an important client of theirs and it wasn't winning them brownie points to show up at client meetings clutching Verizon blackberries in their hot little hands. They gave up on the effort to switch over after a few weeks due to dropouts at conspicuous locations. They are back to Verizon.
posted by NortonDC at 2:50 PM on July 1, 2007

NortonDC, since I'll be working at a certain local law firm, I'd love to know where the one you're talking about is located.... (email in profile if you're more comfortable with that.)
posted by raf at 9:02 PM on July 1, 2007

I think you really ought to check with them and see if they'll be issuing you a Blackberry or similar device. No matter how sexy you think the iPhone is, carrying two PDAs doesn't sound sexy to me.
posted by NortonDC at 10:13 PM on July 1, 2007