An Updated List of Areas where Nextel
Phone Service Regularly Drops and/or Experiences Service
Difficulties
Last Update: 06/30/2013
This list was intended to provide a consolidated
reference to a series of posts, messages, and other observations as to
repeated dropped calls and service problems in/on areas/roads which
should have good coverage, using Nextel's iDEN phone service in
the US.
However, as of July 2013, Sprint, in its perennial wisdom, decided to
close down the Nextel iDEN network after years of allowing for its
decline. As such, there is no more Nextel service in the US, and only a
few pockets of iDEN service from independent carriers remain (such as SouthernLINC, and AirPeak, and in Canada via the Telus/Mike Network, AirTel Wireless, and others).
What follows was the current Sprint/Nextel drop call list as of June 30,
2013, when Sprint shut down Nextel's iDEN network.
In the past, posts to a variety of cellular groups and e-mail to the
Wireless Notes page have indicated a systemic set of drops along major
roadways and in populated areas with Nextel's service which are, from
observation and use, proportionally more prevalent and thus more
noticeable than other similarly situated carriers, such as Verizon, AT&T
Wireless, and various rural (RSA) properties. (See for example the
significantly shorter Verizon Cellular Drop List
as a comparison.)
This list thus serves as a central source where such drop information may
be collected, posted, and utilized in furtherance of service improvements
by Nextel.
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Criteria for
Inclusion:
The criteria for a drop being "worthy" :) of getting posted are:
Additionally, if you feel that an item is incorrect, please let us know
the specifics of your experiences in the given area so we can test it and
modify the list accordingly.
Thanks!
Disclaimer/Note: We have nothing to do with
Nextel other than using a few of their phones as a paying subscriber. We
would like to believe they can and will be a viable alternative to ATTWS
and Verizon again, but are increasingly annoyed with their constant and
all too obvious drops which they seem to either not care about (from the
way the customer service reps address such calls) or move so
lethargically that they are way, way behind the service levels of many of
the other carriers. While we try to keep this list current (it is the
same list used to nag them with when we're bored and want to see if they
are interested yet in fixing a given drop :) ), readers should test these
out for themselves and not use this as a dispositive and authoritative
source of information as to Nextel's cellular service (or lack thereof).
In other words, these are just observations -- we try to be accurate, but
we make no representations other than what we have observed (and if
others notice we are wrong about a given drop, please mail us so we can
test the drop and modify the list accordingly.)
Nextel Dropped Call List by State
Corrected Problems
Contacting WirelessNotes.org
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Last modified and ©: 12/15/2014
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After using Nextel for approx 8 years now, there has been a
significantly greater number of drops while moving using the Nextel
equipment/service as compared to the Verizon (ex-Bell Atlantic, ex-GTE),
AT&T Wireless/Cingular, and "old"-Sprint (CDMA side) accounts which we
subscribe to.
Generally, while driving (or on the train) in areas where we and
apparently other cellular subscribers of top-level/"nationwide" carriers
other than Nextel enjoy uninterrupted coverage, the Nextels often abruptly
drop a given call. These drops are in the same location, and can be
duplicated on different phones with regularity.
(T-Mobile is not being considered here since they are, based on observed
experience, not good at anything more than Metro area coverage on
their own network, and we never bothered trying them due to their
comparatively limited coverage area.)
All the drops are what would probably be loosely termed "handoff drops",
I.E. as a vehicle moves along a road, the Nextel phones which we had a
chance to try repeated times have an annoying tendency to get highly
distorted and then drop or just immediately drop and indicate "Try Again" on
the phone's display.
In most if not all cases, we've called Nextel to report the problem(s),
and when we were able to get someone who didn't reply with some
perfunctory "It's your phone" (all 3 of them!?) or "We don't have coverage
there" (in the middle of BOSTON?!?) and who instead took down a trouble
ticket, no improvements were noticed. (And as soon as an area is improved
and the drop no longer happens it is removed from the list as it comes to
our attention.)
As of early 2007, Sprint/Nextel has made some statements to the effect
that they intend to continue to support the Nextel iDEN protocol, and
build out service and improve current iDEN coverage and service quality,
and we have noticed that some of the more obvious drops/problems have been
remedied, but they still have a long way to go to be competitive
service-wise with the other national carriers. We are also not considering
the "dual-mode" Sprint phones offered in late 2006 as these are basically
Sprint/CDMA phones (with Verizon roaming) and iDEN for the push-to-talk
Nextel feature, and thus do not extensively use the Nextel iDEN network.
Although we currently use Nextel mainly for business purposes, these drops
force us to keep an extra phone (usually Verizon) around for important calls
since we can't rely on Nextel in many areas to keep a call from dropping. If
it weren't for the unlimited incoming, we'd probably drop Nextel in 2
seconds since the service, at these many, many 'drop areas', is so
frustrating that it's not worth the aggravation of paying a premium to
maintain the account(s).
Thus, the list below details areas where we have had repeated drops over
a period of time. We encourage others who have noticed similar drops
and/or problems with their service to contact us
so that their issues can be accordingly reported on this list.
Ordering Note: Lists proceed from north to south. As
coverage while driving is based on roads which often cross state
boundaries, we needed to choose some order of presentation, and we opted
for north to south, and then east to west. Thus, similar to the Federal
Highway numbering system (e.g., "US-1, US-2, US-99, US-101, etc.), and
thus states in the Northeast start the list, and states in the
West/Southwest are located towards the end.
Please feel free to submit your drop experiences with Nextel which meet
the above guidelines so that we can provide a more comprehensive list.
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
New Jersey
New York
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Virginia
Washington DC
West Virginia
The following were problem drop areas but have apparently been
corrected and/or no longer suffer from regular/repeated drops:
Connecticut
Massachusetts
New York
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