Four years ago my cell phone suddenly stopped working. Right here, in my own house.
That service had worked for decades, starting when a mobile phone the size of a wine bottle cost $1,000, and a Personal Executive Assistant came out from US West Cellular to teach me how to use it.
It worked as US West became Air Touch and then Verizon, which was and is Consumer Reports’ highest-rated cell provider in the country. But not at my Maple Leaf house.
Nothing Verizon did – and it tried – could stop the dropped calls. Finally the company said it had no way to assure service here and released me from the contract.
Now I have T. Mobile. Works great at the house. Doesn’t work at Whole Foods, though. Or in Yosemite.
My co-editor had to drop Sprint because it didn’t work at all at her house. Nor did AT&T. We ARE the third-highest hill in Seattle. Could that have something to do with cell woes?
This weekend Tatiana, another Maple Leaf resident, asked if our readers could report on cell providers who do provide good coverage in our neighborhood. (She currently has AT&T.)
Who’s had good luck here?
Both T-Mobile and AT&T works fine and full bars across Roosevelt from Cloud City.
Have had Verizon wireless for 21 years (used to work for them). No problems until 2009 when calls dropped constantly from our home – north & west of Ace. After a while, the problem went away, and I haven’t had any dropped calls recently. I suspect it was an issue with cell tower “tuning.”
I live on 98th and 15th. I like Virgin Mobile. Their reception has always been very good, at home and in stores.
Try this map that shows coverage around the city for voice and data: http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phone-coverage-map/?tag=mncol;txt
Our Verizon signal is non-existent at our house. After years of putting up with it and filing trouble tickets with Verizon, they provided a Network Extender. This device allows us to use our broadband connection for mobile calls at our house. We have four bars now.
The most under-reported feature of T-Mobile phones is the WiFi calling.All new Android and all Blackberries they sell let you use your existing home network for voice and text.
Besides being the cheapest carrier, they have the fastest data network, and your neighbors worth in their corporate offices in Bothell and Bellevue 😉
AT&T voice works fine for me (Roosevelt & 84th).
The data can be fussy sometimes.
Good signal with Verizon most everywhere in the city (except Whole Foods and Qwest field). Strong signal in our maple leaf home.
We are on 88th, east of 15th. Our T-mobile phones work well everywhere except in our house where we only get 1 bar, sometimes more. It hasn’t been bad enough for me to make any changes, but in the future I might switch carriers.
Verizon works great at our house — 14th NE near Lake City Way.
We have T-mobile, and get fairly good, although not perfect reception at our house (100th and Roosevelt). T-mobile told me my nearest tower was in the Northgate Victory Heights direction, so I try to aim there, which seems to help. Also, just got a My-touch 4G with wifi – best thing since sliced bread! Since I can use my Clearwire (which I already had) to make phone calls with my cell phone, I never have a problem at home – might be something to consider for those looking for a long-term, fool proof, solution.
95th and Roosevelt – ATT – no probs
AT&T works fine for me (I’m on 86th). Verizon internet did not work at my house and after a month of investigation on their end, they finally released me from the contract.
I’ve had T-Mobile and AT&T since moving here. T-Mobile did not work in my house at all. Could get 1-2 bars outside, none inside even near a window. We’re near the top of the hill at 98th.
AT&T is a little bit better, I get fewer dropped calls with my work BlackBerry than with my iPhone. I still only get 2 bars though and only if I’m upstairs or near a window. Very spotty coverage with AT&T in my basement.
My wife has a pre-paid phone which uses the Sprint network and has a much better time making calls.
AT&T works perfect for us in the area, never had any problems for 10 years. People who visit and use Verizon can’t make phone calls from our house.
AT&T works great in this area. We live on 17th Ave NE. No problems so far. My wife has Verizon via work phone, haven’t had any issues either.
I see cell towers in the area, but not sure who the carriers are.
Verizon works fine at me (97th street), no dropped calls and good reception. When I had AT&T years ago, I had “dead” zones that I couldn’t make/receive calls from and they would shift.
we live near Roosevelt and 105th, and it’s always been great. But we agree with Laurel that going along Roosevelt by the water tower (and cell/TV/cable? anntenna) at the top of the hill, it would always cut out. Something about that tower messes with Verizon I think. Everywhere else in the city it works great.
I had Sprint for a couple years and always lost service everytime I was by the towers around 94-95th and Roosevelt. I live right near there so I switched to AT&T and get great service everywhere.
Had Verizon forever and it just stopped working at my office at 91st and Roosevelt a few years ago. Switched to AT&T and no probs. Calls will drop going North on 15th NE at about 93rd-89th, but you’d only know that if a passenger in the car…
My friend swears that Whole Foods jams cell reception on purpose, but mine works if in the produce section.
Always had trouble with Sprint, switched to Veizon and had no troubles. Switched recently to Credo (which uses Sprint network) now frequent dropped calls. 8th ave ne between 92nd + 94th.
We live by the Ace Hardware and have AT&T. No problems or dropped calls — even in the basement.
PS: I dont think any phones work in Whole Foods, probably something to do with all that concrete?
I had Verizon for 5 years here (live on 91st), and it never worked for the first 4.5 years that I lived in the hood. The 6 months, I was finally be able to walk around in my house and talk on my cell, instead of having to sit in my car or stand near the front door. Just switched to AT&T and have had absolutley zero problems and can walk around all over the house while talking on the phone! yahoo!