According to techhive.com, the top four cell service providers in the United States are Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, in that order. On campus, Verizon seems to be the most common, followed by AT&T and Sprint. T-Mobile and smaller cell providers are not as common.
After interviewing several students, it is apparent that Verizon is the best cell provider to have on this campus. Although all the providers had trouble in some areas, commonly called ‘deadzones,’ particularly in buildings, Verizon did the best in all areas of campus.
“Verizon is best [for me]outside on main campus, but it is worst in concrete buildings like Henderson and the parking garage,” said Junior Elizabeth Panek
Freshman Sarah Ellis agreed with Elizabeth that Verizon is good outside, but “Lewis, for [her], is very bad.”
AT&T is a close second to Verizon. They are comparable outside, but Verizon functions better inside.
“In the [SCC] lounge and Lewis Hall the cell service gets cut off. But Snyder is usually good,” said Freshman Aklil Gebru.
“Building Five is the worst, but I live in Roderick and it’s perfectly fine there,” said Sophomore Spencer Mathis.
Sprint came in third in the survey.
“Sprint is good at times and is best outside. It is the worst at the archways of Buildings Five and Six, and in certain classrooms in the School of Business and Lewis Hall,” said Sophomore Danny Francois.
“For texting, Henderson is bad, but I use iMessage in classrooms so I don’t have any issues there,” said Freshman Liana Presti.
According to apple.com, iMessage is a “more efficient” way to text much like instant messaging and can continue the conversation on various Apple devices.
The worst cell provider in the survey is Boost Mobile.
“I have no reception in every freaking building, except on the top floor of any building,” said Senior Daniel Roman, “and even that is only one bar! It’s good outside everywhere, except by the lake.”
For some, the cell service is not bad.
“I never notice having problems with my Verizon cell service,” said Sophomore Marie Ryan.
For most, the poor cell service is a pain.
“It gets on my nerves when it drops my calls all the time!” said Freshman Chantelle Danchak.
“It’s aggravating when the call drops one million times. It’s [just]aggravating,” said Presti.
For others, this lack of consistently good cellular service is a concern for safety.
“If I’m trying to make or receive an important phone call, I don’t want to have to worry if I’m going to lose it or not.” Sophomore Ciris Perez had to say.
Panek went on to say, “I don’t mind walking alone if I have cell service, but I don’t like it when I have no service. Like walking to Marmion and Snyder, for instance. Everything dies along the walk for [me]; it is dangerous.”
Even though Verizon and AT&T have the best cellular reception on campus, they are not without complaints from students. This is not only an inconvenience, but it is also a major safety issue.
“If I have to make an emergency call, I have to step outside. It is ironic that I can’t get any reception here, but I get five bars in New York City with all of those skyscrapers,” said Roman.
