More Bars in More Places, Part II
In my previous post, I pondered the question of whether or not my AT&T service on my iPhone would last during our trip to South Dakota, where AT&T doesn’t have a great deal of an official presence. I really didn’t expect anything stellar after getting too far north of Sioux City. However, I was fairly surprised. Here’s an updated coverage map showing my results.
I actually had full AT&T coverage with the EDGE data network all the way up into Sioux Falls, SD. Once we got 20 miles west of Sioux Falls, though, the data network disappeared. Also, cell reception got pretty spotty all along I-90. However, the spotty cell coverage didn’t surprise me, as there are tons of hills and valleys, and I’ve always had problems with cell phones on I-90. Seriously, it’s rural South Dakota.
When in Mitchell and Chamberlain, SD, I had a new kind of data service that I hadn’t seen before: GPRS. Turns out it is pretty much the first generation of data network, whereas EDGE is the second generation. GPRS makes EDGE—which is slow and horrible—look like warp freaking speed. Unfortunately, GPRS is what I was stuck with in Pierre all weekend, too, when I wasn’t near Wi-Fi.
However, as far as making and receiving phone calls back home, not a problem. Pierre had sufficient partner coverage that I usually had at least two bars, but usually had 4 or 5.
My dad says he has heard rumors that AT&T is moving into South Dakota, since Verizon is acquiring Alltel, the only other significant carrier in the state. I hope he is right.
