Existing users, 
AT&T 3G wireless network: are you covered?
Posted 9 June 2008 @ 4pm in Guides/How-Tos, News
One not-so-minor detail was left out of today’s otherwise laudable iPhone 3G introduction: in the United States, you won’t be able to get 3G speeds — touted as 2.8X faster than 2G speeds — in many of the areas that are covered by the slower EDGE network.
AT&T says 3G coverage is available in “most major metropolitan areas and is expanding rapidly,” but the company refuses to offer a nationwide look at 3G coverage relative to EDGE coverage. Instead, you can view 3G coverage only by selecting specific metro areas.
A poster to HowardForums, zephxii, cobbled together a nationwide map based on AT&T’s disparate data, and the picture isn’t pretty. While 3G coverage does indeed cover most major metropolitan areas, large swaths of the country and many states are completely excluded from coverage where EDGE access is plentiful. In the image below, blue represents 3G coverage, while bright orange represents EDGE coverage, and lighter orange represents partner coverage.
Feedback? info@iphoneatlas.com.
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6 Comments
Posted by daniel4510_dotmac
9 June 2008 @ 8pm
No delusions of grandeur here. Even Edge is Crappy in Iowa. And so is phone service for that matter. AT&T really needs to start concentrating on less prominent geographical areas. I only put up with AT&T because of the iPhone itself. And I’m basically a laughing stock compared to Sprint and Verison users. I won’t be upgrading to the 3G until we actually GET 3G service around here.
Posted by PhotoDon
10 June 2008 @ 11am
I have been full-time RV-ing since last July and have traveled from Illinois taking a southern route to Arizona having arrived last December. I am currently located in Cottonwood/Sedona area. I have found that I can almost always connect with my 3G card but the speeds are usually terribly slow - enough to get email but making Web surfing painfully time consuming. Most of my connections have been through the Edge system - even in and near large cities like Cincinnati, Chattanooga, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Tuscon, and Phoenix. I connect using a WiFi system when it is available.
But there is a problem there too because AT&T does not provide outgoing (SMTP) email service when connected through a WiFi system for whatever reason. I have found that I can use my gmail SMTP client for that purpose which, of course, confuses my correspondants.
For information my system consists of a Macbook Pro running OS X 10.5 and the AT&T Option GT Max 3.5 Express card.
Don
Posted by wakeupcall3000
11 June 2008 @ 9am
Verizon’s 3G EVDO coverage pretty much smokes AT&T’s 3G. Look at the map above, and basically everywhere AT&T has edge, Verizon has 3G. A phone is only as good as the network it runs on, and based on that, I passed on the iPhone. My 3G Pearl runs circles around any iPhone. No need for WiFi when I can get high speed ANYWHERE!
Posted by whizkid454
11 June 2008 @ 4pm
And to think AT&T is already planning 4G…..
One step at a time AT&T!
Posted by Coolone3000
14 June 2008 @ 4pm
First everyone was blindly complaining that the iPhone didn’t have 3G when most people didn’t have 3G service in their area, now people are complaining that the new iPhone will be 3G but they don’t have 3G in their area……..sounds like a whole lot of stupid people complaining. If the iPhone doesn’t work for you then don’t get it, you do have a choice you know. So Apple decided to advance their phone and put 3G in it like everyone asked, sheesh! Yes i understand that the data plan is a bit higher. Every other smartphone/PDA is a $30 data plan just like the iPhone is, and it is $30 regardless of whether you are in a 3G service area or not. I suggest people just stop complaining and be happy with what they get or just don’t get it. You are never ever, ever, ever going to get absolutely everything you ever wanted in one phone, it never works that way, but the iPhone so far, gives you the most for your money.
Posted by Wingates
15 June 2008 @ 2pm
To the person whos Pearl 3G “smokes” the iPhone, ….who cares! The Pearl is a wannabe smartphone. You can blast the iPhone all you want, but the reality is that it’s the number 3 smartphone and catching fast. I believe that within the next 2 years it will sit atop the smartphone world. No, it’s not the fastest because ATT 3G needs to have more coverage, but you can bet that Jobs and co. will put the pressure on ATT to expand it’s network. I can also guarantee that once the deal with ATT is up, other Mobile companies will jump on the wagon and you’ll probably be one of the first in line to get an iPhone. So, again, no one gives a rats behind if you iPhone smashers rant and complain about it, it will climb up the charts and will soon be the number one smartphone on the planet. ‘Nuff said.