Decision point: Phone service

[eurydicebound]

Okay, so I have my iPhone. I LOVE my iPhone. It is shiny and happy and puts a little smile on my face every time I get to use it, or close enough thereto. It gives me stories to read and music to listen to and messages and movies and internet access and games and notes and contacts and calendar and info syncing and every good thing. What it does not give me, however, is phone coverage at the house.

Unless I go outside (or oddly, of late, into the bedroom), I get sporadic one-bar signal only. Outside I can get up to two, and in my room I can get two sometimes, but one nearly all the time. In the main part of the house, I occasionally get one and most of the time get nothing. At school my coverage is great; if I leave and go shopping or run errands or drive around, it's great. It's just here at the house that it is crap. Sigh. This is true for a number of different phone services, but not Verizon, apparently. Matt and Heather are both with them and have no problem connecting here at the house or elsewhere.

Here's the thing, though: I really, truly do love my iPhone. The thought of giving it up really troubles me. I have friends who have Droids, but it just doesn't seem the same. I'm not under contract to AT&T anymore so I could switch, but having to give up my iPhone as a phone just kills me. I know, I could just use it with wireless and have it become an iPod Touch with more potential, but that's just so SAD. And I doubt that I'll be able to maintain service on my iPhone along with another phone just to have coverage at the house -- that's just silly, and iPhone-compatible plans aren't the cheapest thing out there.

Here it is, then. Can someone tell me of the things that make a Droid awesome? Is Verizon all that and a bag of chips? I love the ease of compatibility with my phone and my macs, the access to iTunes (and the ease of sharing media between computers and iPhone), the relative stability of the platform and all its apps, and the easy intuitive interface of the iPhone. How does a Droid compare on these fronts? All opinions and anecdotes are appreciated.

Comments

[tfbretz.livejournal.com]

Thanks to a recent FCC ruling, you're free to jailbreak your iPhone and go with a different carrier. I honestly don't know what all that entails, but I'm sure you know some technically savvy folks who can point you in the right and legal direction.

As carriers, go Verizon is damned good and that's not just my bias speaking.

[b3zsgirl.livejournal.com]

Do you have broadband at the house? Go to ATT and get a femtocell or they may call it a range extender. You plug it into the broadband and it uses that to place calls and gives you actual phone coverage indoors. That is what I would recommend. I love my Droid and I think it would be comparable, but you can fix this for a one time charge and keep the phone you want. Ping me back if that is not going to work for you.

[b3zsgirl.livejournal.com]

Can only jailbreak to a GSM sim based network. So your choice becomes t-mobile.

[rook330.livejournal.com]

The Iphone will be coming to Verizon in January. You'll have to buy a new one but it'll be the newest one with probably a fixed antenna issue. I'd say, either pick up a cheap pay as you go verizon cell until january or take the plunge for the Droid and kick yourself in a few months.

I have a mac, Verizon, multiple ipods and an iphone that i have jailbroke and use as an enhanced ipod touch.

And a Droid.

I like the droid but it's no iphone. The apps on the droid aren't anywhere close to the iphone and may never be.

The Droid is a nice, very usable smart phone. Fast and reliable. I don't have any music on it. I don't play games on it. I forget it can browse the internet sometimes.

I'd say wait for the verizon Iphone.

[kinesys.livejournal.com]

Don't they make an aerial that you can set up in your house to improve reception? Keep your Iphone!

[docelboze.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love my Droid, but I'm a gear head, have a "non-stock" ROM installed on the phone, and in my PC life run Windows XP, VIsta and 7 at home depending on the box in addition to Linux at work. I tinker all over and while I frustrate myself at times gain some joy in the tinker. I disagree on the apps issue with Tom, but again see the notes about tinkering and non-stock, so I'm not running just what ya can get off the app market. Now I will cop to the Android world having less spit and polish than the iPhone stuff. But that's what open source gets - function over form. Form tends to be the last thing to come along...

Bottom line, this is such a Ford/Chevy or Blonde/Brunette/Redhead argument that I think you just have to go with what you like. Add to that that as a Verizon Customer, I've not had the awesome reception at Matt/Heather's that they get, and My 2cp is to go with some of the suggestions about how to fix the connectivity issue that have been successful here.

[whisper-jeff.livejournal.com]

As others have pointed out, two things:

1) Get an AT&T microcell ( http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/3gmicrocell/ ). It's a cool little device that creates a 3G hotspot in your home via your internet connection. It's a great idea for exactly your sort of situation.

(The obvious extension is it would be nice if AT&T built out their network more so it wasn't necessary, but this is a nice bandaid solution for the problem.)

2) Verizon is probably getting the iPhone early next year. Odds are high that they will be announcing it in January (Verizon has a big event where their CEO is making an announcement - it is widely believed it will be the iPhone). If you want to make the switch, wait for that.

If you're happy with AT&T, except at home, I'd suggest the microcell.

[ennui-13.livejournal.com]

As mentioned by the others there are a bajillion different boosters and antennas out there. They do get up there in price but if you are wholeheartedly addicted to your iPhone you might want to consider one.
For the Droid ... star map by Google. It is the awesome.
The way the 3G system works you will probably always have better coverage with Verizon. Well, unless AT&T iPhone users rapidly drop off. Completely non-technical: Verizon has more coverage and AT&T has more users. So even if AT&T were to gain more coverage it would only equate to what Verizon has now.

[metallian.livejournal.com]

Catching up on LJ, so I am late to the party, but I figured I'd comment.

I like my Droid a lot. I love Verizon, their coverage is great and their customer service is fantastic. I've been on Verizon for ten years, and recently wound up on a different phone upgrade/contract renewal schedule than mrsmetallian, and that was a big factor in my decision to get a Droid instead of an iPhone. (On account of the cost-effective family plan we share.)

However, given all of the things you love about your iPhone...I don't think you'd be as happy with the Droid. The things you love are the things it doesn't do well. There also aren't as many "cool" apps (I'm surrounded by iPhone users so I know the score). There is some Motorola software that will supposedly sync your iTunes library with the Droid, but I haven't tried it because my Droid's drive isn't big enough. (An iPhone wouldn't be, either, though.)

I am a bit skeptical about the "Verizon will get the iPhone soon" thing, because that's been rumored several times before.