If we look way back in time to the beginning of dirt itself…ok so 2008 isn’t that far back. But remember, two years in the tech world is like a decade — really. Anyway, back in that day, UMA was starting to get some respect with T-Mo users for it’s ability to extend network coverage to areas that had little of it or none at all. WIth all the hubub around Android, it only seemed like two next-gen pieces of technology would bask together in the limelight. Except, they didn’t.
I’m not a software developer or cellular engineer so I haven’t the slightest as to why the duo still aren’t dancing together two years later. What I do know is that it sucks big time. But all that is set to change very, very soon…
Hey, if your biggest, baddest competition is claiming seemingly impossible feats of reality (such as servicing more countries than there actually are), your company had better come up with something bigger and better. Right? Just like Verizon can’t count, AT&T itself seems to have flunked kindergarten math and geography as they too have a case of the 220+ coverage-itis.
It never ceases to amaze me how a company will stoop to lying and deceptive measures to make themselves look bigger and better than the competition. While Verizon is currently on the higher end of my list of consumer friendly carriers, they’re certainly not a stranger to the opposite end of things as many of you know. But this post isn’t being crafted to rag on a new anti-consumer policy. Instead, it’s actually pretty comedic. Who doesn’t like a good laugh, right?
**Update: Yes, an update on a barely 30-second old post. I just noticed that if you zoom in super close and toggle “show 3G”, the old 3G coverage spots pop back up. Still, it’s a shifty move to display the map in a zoomed out view the way the do because let’s be real, who actually zooms in that far? Most of us I’d gather make a quick glance for our general location. Rant stands…
For as much as we’ve heard recently about AT&T actually standing behind a promise (for once), one would think that they may be finally “seeing the light” in regards to being more consumer friendly. Unfortunately, it looks like they’re just out to lie to unassuming customers yet again. Case in point: AT&T apparently recently revamped their coverage maps. Before, visiting http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/ and selecting “data” would give users the default 2/2.5G network with the option to toggle 3G on and off. Now however, customers only see “national data coverage” which obviously by looking at the map, isn’t completely 3G.
Even worse, clicking on the “3G Mobile Voice/Broadband” option (which is oddly only included on the voice map page) brings up nothing but a long list of states and cities where 3G is available — not a much easier and more useful to read map like there used to be.
It doesn’t take a genius to see AT&T made these changes to give the false impression that their 3G coverage covers most of the country. We all know it doesn’t. We all know mile for mile, Verizon’s is largest. Though I will add that as PC World’s new speed tests recently confirmed, AT&T has rocketed ahead in urban areas as fastest 3G carrier. Even still, blatantly hiding the truth and flat out lying to customers isn’t too intelligent. Back to the same old AT&T ways I see.
**A quick check on the 3 other major US carriers confirms that they all still correctly display 3G coverage, allowing you to separate it from 2 and 2.5G coverage.
I as a commoner, a mere spec in the population bucket of the United States can sit here ranting and raving all I want about how NBC single handedly ruined the Olympics for the entire country. As an American, I’m ashamed and embarrassed to say NBC represented our country as the sole provider of Olympics coverage. And until today, you could even say I was alone (though 30 3 seconds on Google will quickly paint a vivid — and expletive ridden — picture). It is today however, March 1st 2010 that senator Herb Kohl actually assumed his role as a “voice of the people” and asked NBC straight up: “WTF?!”.
The good Mr. Kohl sent NBC a letter asking them why they severely restricted web content for users in general, but also to users who weren’t subscribers of their new almost monopoly across several different entertainment mediums.
The few statements NBC has released so far amid criticism has been your typical PR response of “We’re more than happy with our super fantastic coverage” and other empty, meaningless fluff. The voice of one senator standing up to this broadcast giant is certainly a warm welcome. Will it change how they handle the next Olympics? I can only hope. Regardless, the next Olympics I’ll be using a VPN for the entire games, not just the second half. I’ll be dammed if NBC get’s my viewership!
So what have you: a genuine fuzzy feeling for Senator Herb Kohl and his righteous stance?
So AT&T has been riding pretty high the last couple of days after PC World’s latest tests pegged AT&T as the nation’s real, fastest 3G network. Coverage however is a completely different story. And while AT&T may in fact be fastest in 13 of the biggest cities in the country, there are plenty of others where they fall flat. Perhaps BerryReview writer Ronen Halevy happens to fall in one of those “lesser areas”.
To be fair, it’s very possible that it was a RIM network issue with BIS at the time of the “congestion” mesage. While a few years ago, such a thing would be unheard of, the recent surge in BlackBerry popularity has caused RIM’s servers to stumble on several occasions because of the increased load. So who’s fault is it this time?
Gee, it’s funny what a little a lot of criticism will do for you. The last year or so has been full of countless jabs and flaming rants casting AT&T in a dark light and their network in various shades of brown. For months the rants went on, the calls kept dropping, and downloads continued to crawl. After PC World’s most recent test however, it appears AT&T is finally getting the ball moving in the right direction. And rolling the ball is, with AT&T now clocking an average download speed of 1,014 Kbps across the 13 major cities tested. That’s a solid 200 Kbps faster than the test last spring.
Also looking on the up and up is call reliability. Last year: 68%. This year: 94%. Even Verizon isn’t doing that well, holding steady at a still respectable 92%. Can you say holy sh*t!? Consider me thoroughly impressed. When my Verizon contract comes closer to it’s expiration date and if things continue improving at this rate, consider myself a little boy blue once again. (I always did have a thing for GSM). That is if T-Mobile can’t win me over by then either. Never a dull moment, is it?
You know, with each passing day of not being able to see the Olympics live either how I want on TV or god forbid, stream anything worthwhile, it becomes more and more clear — NBC flat out sucks as a network. Earlier this year they handled the whole Tonight Show/Jay Leno/Conan Obrian fiasco in a less than stellar manner and now they are in the process of making this one of the worst Olympics yet. To say coverage is terrible is a gross understatement. The blatant tape delays until prime time are greed at it’s worst and a complete pain in the ass for those who actually care about the games, as by the time they actually see the tape delayed events, the outcomes of each have been spilled onto the internet in one form or another. But so far, this is all from the viewers perspective. That is until US Skier Jake Zamansky started tweeting of NBC’s shit filled Olympic’s broadcasts as well. Then it got interesting.
Earlier today, Jake Zamansky made a few critical tweets calling out NBC. The tweets were then automatically pulled onto the NBC Olympic website’s live scrolling Twitter feed. Pretty funny stuff huh? Oddly, NBC didn’t feel the same way. Instead, they’ve gone ahead and begun removing any and all negative or critical tweets from Jake Zamansky’s athlete Twitter page — censorship at it’s finest.
Perhaps the saddest part is in the fact that CCTV in China — a government run TV channel in a communist country who routinely takes pride in censoring outside media — has more and better live coverage of the Olympics. What does that say for NBC’s corny “fireside chats” each and every night, recapping old news and Olympic highlights that our hours upon hours old? All of this grief is merely touching on the TV aspect. We haven’t even gotten into the whole live streaming thing yet.
To recap: NBC completely butchers live Olympics coverage for their own personal gain — not in any way to actually broadcast and showcase the games in any sort of way….and they censor the hell out of critics. Awesome! Hopefully NBC doesn’t get their hands on the next Olympics and ruin them too. Then again, they couldn’t suck any more than they do now…
Without a doubt, the “Funniest joke to poke fun at AT&T’s rural coverage award” goes to none other than “Ryan” and his friend “parawing742″ of YouTube. Parawing742 created a massive plexiglass map showing AT&T’s rather meager 3G coverage and affixed it to a helmet. Then they went to an AT&T store followed by a Verizon store. Capturing all the candid goodness was rather easy thanks to a wireless mike on Ryan and tailgating camera guy, Parawing742.
The whole point was for Ryan here to find a phone (and carrier) that gave him decent rural coverage so he could yak the night away. When all is said and done however, Ryan goes home empty handed. He did accomplish one thing though — making us laugh.
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If we look way back in time to the beginning of dirt itself…ok so 2008 isn’t that far back. But remember, two years in the tech world is like a decade — really. Anyway, back in that day, UMA was starting to get some respect with T-Mo users for it’s ability to extend network coverage to areas that had little of it or none at all. WIth all the hubub around Android, it only seemed like two next-gen pieces of technology would bask together in the limelight. Except, they didn’t.
