Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"As someone who doesn't reside in the USA, I was wondering what would be the best way to get internet for my computer in the US for a couple of weeks? If it were Europe I know I'd look for some prepaid data. Is there anything similar offered by American carriers? A MiFi or a data SIM that I can tether from would work, but I'm trying to maintain a tight budget. Help!"
I usually don't comment on stuff I just read the posts and marvel at the comments. However I have to say that everyone needs to stop complaining about this crap. I live in the northeast, I have ATT and an iPhone for my personal service and Sprint for work and My wife has Verizon for work. I have never NEVER dropped a call on ATT NEVER I travel all over the country I spend a lot of time in Manhattan and Southern California never a problem. However I have trouble getting a signal on my sprint phone constantly. My wife fairs slightly better on Verizon but not by much. So if you are happy with your carrier then be happy if your not switch but don't come on here and bitch and complain. Now if you actually have ATT service and you are getting crap reception or anything else then you can complain. As far as profits go YES ATT makes a lot of money but they do have a lot of people to pay and they do more than provide wireless service. I would rather they work on getting me U-Verse so I can dump Comcast.
The bottom line is that most people are happy with their service and like all ALL consumer commodities they aren't going to change it until it hits them in the one place it hurts....the wallet and as of now that hasn't happened.
@ccsulax
cool story and all. problem is, you don't necessarily HAVE A CHOICE.
@ccsulax
"So if you are happy with your carrier then be happy if your not switch but don't come on here and bitch and complain."
So how else would we push telcos to better our services? Call their CS line? Tried that but it falls on deaf ears. Ill rant all day on engadget until they straighten it out.
"Now if you actually have ATT service and you are getting crap reception or anything else then you can complain."
Im with ATT and i get more drop calls (at least 20) then girls in a year. Most occasions i get a one-ringer and straight to the voice mail. My friends bitch at me because im ignoring them. Before ATT, it was T-mobile and i never had a single dropped call (seriously). Dont get me started on 3G. I get 3G less than half the day but i pay an extra $30 a month for the service. I hate ATT....PERIOD
@eminisp
"My friends bitch at me because im ignoring them."
I meant to say...My friends bitch at me "because" they think im ignoring them when im not.
@ccsulax
Amen to that. ATT works great here in Austin (except downtown during the music festivals... then all the cell phones go down). Last August, I went to SanFrancisco... worked just fine there as well.
Its OK to complain if it isn't working for you, but I get tired of reading comments from people who have read that ATT sucks and then regurgetated that here without ever having had an issue.
Oh and BTW, Uverse is great. Dumping Time Warner was very satisfying.
@fladele correct me if I'm wrong but what MAJOR metro area isn't covered by one of the big 4 or one of the many smaller service providers out there? You have choice my friend you CHOOSE not to exercise that choice. Also if the argument comes out that you are under, contract no one held a gun to your head and forced you to sign a contract your need to get a discount on equipment did that.
@ccsulax
"however I have to say that everyone needs to stop complaining about this crap. I live in the northeast, I have ATT and an iPhone for my personal service and Sprint for work and My wife has Verizon for work. I have never NEVER dropped a call on ATT NEVER"
We really don't need to stop complaining. You are not everyone. Many of us have problems with their service every damn day. That includes my wife and I who both have iPhones. So, glad you think they are great - but that doesn't mean a thing to me when I can't get data or a phone call.(It's only complaining and leaving their service that forces at&t to do something about the problem.)
@eminisp do you really think that anyone who matters at ATT is reading the comments from engadget and building policy around that. Come on I know you are smarter than that. Consumers vote with their wallets and so far the wallet vote is positive.
@Duke Im not trying to insult anyone. If you are an ATT customer and have issues by all means voice that opinion here. I am talking about all the people with Verizon service who come on here and do nothing but complain about a service provider that they don't use.
@ccsulax
THANK YOU
If you don't like AT&T. The solution is quite simply. Just go to another freaking provider. No one is forcing you to stay with the company...
@ccsulax
I agree with that for sure - people complaining about a service they don't use or experience is just trolling.
@TheRogueFFAngel
Sprinkles, as always you are being overly simplistic in your view. Many people have company phones and thus have to use the service their employer dictates...and yes, that may be at&t. So, it can't be summed up as simple as just not using their service when we don't like it. People are free to express dislike of things that you hold so dear as a cell phone carrier. You, as always, are a total troll with no real world experience or knowledge. Go back to joystiq and hate on the PS3 and let the adults converse.
@ccsulax
Not really sure where you're going around Southern California but I live in Irvine and my AT&T service sucked. Could never hold calls or surf the net while I was on and off campus. Switched to Sprint and I've been a happy camper since! Maybe you need a new Sprint phone. And i've traveled to NYC too and Sprint has fantastic coverage there compared to my old iPhone. So, I think most of us are allowed to crap on AT&T. They stole my money practically for a service that didn't work and as a college student, that was money I could've used.
@TheRogueFFAngel you know your spamming every fucking thread saying if you dont like it dont use it. how do you change something? you tell them what wrong with it. the ipad sucks ass, and you are blindly buying it. AT&T sucks and if it wasnt for people saying it sucks they wouldnt do anything about it
@ccsulax
Same here, don't really know what this bitchin is about, i am on 23 street and lexington at baruch college as i type this and just did a speed test, 1340 down 340 up. 3gs is working fine. never had a dropped call here but i do get once in a while when i am at work at downtown manhattan around city hall, across JR music world and even their i get pretty fast service. if you are having a dropped call issue, i think changing the sim card works wonders, and it really has for my iphone. try doing that i guess ... but again, i cant speak for everyone :)
@blainer My office is in Santa Ana out there and I spend 1 week a month in San Diego and my sprint phone is a touch pro 2. I don't skimp on hardware. Also about stealing your money if the service sucked you would have known in the first few days and could have gone back to ATT said thanks but no thanks and gone to another provider. ATT is not responsible for you not taking advantage of the programs offered to let you try the service and only pay for the time you used if you are not satisfied I think its within the first 14 days.
@blainer
Interesting I was in Fountain Valley / Irvine area in 2008 and 2009 and never experienced a dropped call or slow 3G on my iphone
@fladele You visit Manhattan and you've never had a dropped call using ATT??? That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. You either work for ATT (or have some business connection to them) or you use one of those cell phones they give to children where each number plays back the sound of a different animal.
And the point about if you don't like ATT then don't use them makes no sense. Consumers have the right to complain as much as they want...that's one way companies are pushed to improve their products (the other way is using a competitor). But based on the current market, companies like ATT lock most consumers into 2 year contracts which makes it somewhat prohibitive to switch carriers during the term of the contract.
@ccsulax
I hate people who hate people complaining about their sucky phone services.
If you're happy with mediocre service, then good for you. Just don't post, enjoy your iphone and go away. Nobody will miss you.
@ccsulax
I so have to agree. I have AT&T running on a G1. I only get dropped calls when in marginal coverage (e.g. the schools I work in where EVERYONE gets poor service).
Of course I don't get 3g on my phone, but my wife does. And she also has no problems with dropped connections. I firmly believe that this whole ATT sucks attitude is just people propagating questionable information. BTW, my work phone has Verizon, and I will promise you, the coverage is just a marginal in some areas, leading to dropped calls on it as well.
@nitelite I never said don't complain if your an ATT customer by all means do. When they try to fuck me over I get on the phone and beleive me if you are patient and calm and don't take no for answer they will do right by you I have a few hundred dollars worth of credits over the years to back that up. The problem is instead of getting on the phone people come on here and bitch. I said it earlier NO ONE AT ATT GIVES A SHIT WHAT COMMENTS ARE POSTED ON THE BLOGS!!!!!!
For those who say calling has no effect BULLSHIT. Calling and talking to 1 CSR has no effect PERIOD.
Last 2 year contracts. Again BULLSHIT!!! I worked at Cingular, Now ATT in college you can 100% sign up with no contract you just have to pay retail for your equipment. Novel idea huh paying MSRP or close to it. There are plenty of phones out there that cost less than $100 without contract, look at the prepaids, but if you want to be trendy you HAVE TO PAY. People don't complain that Gucci sells thier crap for huge dollars why should an electronics consumer. iPhones, Blackberries, HTC HD's, these are premium products and carry a premium price point. Signing the 2 year contract is like signing a car loan you pay interest via your monthly service. I bought my iPhone retail and have no contract on it. I have my freedom because I was willing to sacrifice for it. So unless you are locked to a carrier because that is what work offers you then please you made a choice now live with it.
Also remember they give you 14 days to try the service if you don't like return it and go to Verizon.
@ccsulax
You clearly think people are lying do you? I must be lying about the pings on a data card I just purchased to test them out.
No one is expecting AT&T to listen, however, apart from your isolated awesome experience, consumers do listen. Since it's consumers who decide what and how to spend, word of mouth makes a huge difference.
AT&T has just been lucky they locked in a deal with Apple, ensuring the iphone was never tested to its full potential on another US carrier. These are practices reminiscent of the old pre-breakup AT&T. The game changes later on this year when both Verizon and AT&T will compete head on using LTE. I am willing to bet AT&T will get their azz handed to them. As FIOS has handed it to slowverse er uverse.
@JKL Is the service sucks so much then why in the hell would you go and buy a data card from them? I don't think people are lying I think they speak without thinking.
@ccsulax
I purchased the card to test them out. However, after having to deal with their staff on the phone, I am taking it back. I don't like playing premiums for useless services and useless customer support. The person actually dared to suggest my laptop was to blame, even though I already stated I have zero issue when using the same laptop on sprint, verizon or tmobile. When I asked for possibly swapping the card, I was rudely diverted to customer support. Where I then asked for my account to be canceled.
Worst thing apple did was locking their their hardware to these incompetent fools. What the heck are they going to do when people buy an ipad and heavily use their data service? Its one thing to have a a bit of a delay when using a phone, as you expect it, but totally something else on a dedicated data connection.
I hope verizon catches onto this and just offers customers $30 unlimited access using something like their wifi.