Cell Reception in Birmingham and How Carriers Stack Up

Cell phone reception is an important commodity in today's world, given that so many are in use and have replaced the landlines in homes for most customers.

We count on them for business, personal and auto use - for calls, directions and texting, and staying tethered to the Internet.

And, if the 2011 Detroit Auto Show is any clue, we wander like zombies, taking photos, texting and tuning out the rest of the world as if an apocalypse has already occurred. Of course, any shopping trip, social event or other activity involving humans these days reveals that same trend.

How important is it, then, that reception is bad, spotty or non-existent, and how can consumers monitor that before signing a contract, buying a phone or even narrowing down a cell phone carrier? Very. Especially in emergency situations.

The website www.cellreception.com monitors signal strength and other factors, thanks to the input of cell users by geographical area. Towers and carriers rated include AT&T, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

While the site recognizes that towers are being updated continually and improvements made, it encourages users to focus on most recent comments for reliability and to get a general feel of the community and cell strength.

This is the most recent update for Birmingham, along with some of the site comments.

Verizon and its towers receive first place for reliability, with an average rating of 2.75, followed by T-Mobile with a 2, AT&T with a 1.98, Sprint with 1.9, and Nextel with 1.64.

Disappointed AT&T users can expect to experience barely any bars, such as the one with a one-bar strength while using a Blackberry 9700, who commented, "Why bother having a cell phone?"

Others attribute the presence of so many area trees to problems in receiving or sending, and detail dropped calls or delayed messages, sometimes hours after the fact. Some complaints may vary according to phone type, and there was a general problem as carriers upgraded from 3G to 4G technology during late summer 2010 and well into fall 2010. But, cell reception seems to leave a lot to be desired in Birmingham.

http://www.cellreception.com/search.php?page=1