More bars in more places, my left foot.

[backerman]

AT&T's coverage map for Washington and Oregon:



Doesn't look too shabby... except that's got 2G thrown in, which is sloooooow and doesn't let you use voice and data at the same time (one of the things they've been plugging.) Let's see what it's like with only the coverage you care about:



If it's not 3G, it's not coverage. The first commercial UMTS installation happened over eight years ago, you recto-cranially-inverted people at AT&T. You have no excuse.

Updated after the cut.

Update: (N.B. I had to stitch some of these together from multiple images because the map server didn't show a large enough area at one time. Also, the boundaries of the non-EVDO/non-UMTS (as applicable) service are still semi-present because the original images were JPEGs, not PNGs, and I can't be bothered to make the Photoshopping perfect when it still tells me what I want to know.)

Verizon's EVDO (Mobile Broadband):



Sprint's EVDO:



The loser, T-Mobile's UMTS:



Amazingly enough, USCC finally realized that it's the 21st century now and we want EVDO. They just recently started turning on 3G in the northwest, and are moving much faster than TMo, so maybe there'll be something worthwhile in a few months.

Comments

[octo.livejournal.com]

In my area, T-Mobile seems to have this problem where the phone says "3G" with 5 bars, yet refuses to actually pass any data. (and other times, with lesser signal, it works fine)

Hearing from someone in a different location, I suspect it may be a network issue, since he had the same problem and it eventually resolved itself.

[chiieddy.livejournal.com]

I've had T-mobile for years. At first it was because they were literally the only signal I could get in Winthrop, MA (which is actually East of Boston on the northern point of the harbor) and just stuck with them with my G1. The 3G coverage is pretty steady in this area. I lose it when I cross to NH and into ME but have it steady if I head south to the NY/NJ area.

[yamazakikun.livejournal.com]

My problem here (Vodafone UK) is that I can have full-coverage 3G displayed, and data works, but if I try to make a voice call it immediately ends. Forcing downgrade to GSM works. I suspect it's an Android bug.