An Updated List of Areas where Verizon Wireless Digital CDMA Cellular Services Regularly Drop, have Poor Coverage, or Experience Service Difficulties
Last Update: 04/24/2014
This list is intended to provide a consolidated reference to a series of posts, messages, and other observations as to dropped calls, poor handoffs and cellular service and feature issues using Verizon's Cellular (voice) service in the US.
This page previously contained a list of Verizon Express Network
1XRTT/EvDO(3G) drops, handoffs, and service issues, but as each list
was/is getting long, and with the introduction of 4G/LTE, we have decided
to move the list to a separate page, which covers only Verizon Wireless 3G/4G Data
Connection Drops and service problems.
This list has moved to:
http://www.wirelesnotes.org/h-verizon-digital-cellular-drops.html
You will be redirected there or you may click here if you are not
automatically redirected.
This page (verizon-digital-cellular-drops.html) is no longer updated; all
updates are posted to "h-verizon-digital-cellular-drops.html").
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In the past, posts made to a variety of cellular groups and e-mail to the Wireless Notes page have indicated that the Verizon properties (Bell Atlantic Mobile, GTE, Airtouch, Primeco, and some ex-AllTell properties) offer (based o
n drive tests and empirical experience) a generally higher level of service, fewer drops, and superior voice quality as compared to other wireless carriers (AT&TWS/Cingular, Sprint/Nextel, et. al.).
In part, this appears to be due to their long-standing presence in most of their markets and initial mandate to build out their analog systems to cover their licensed areas, which led to significantly broader and better (RF/dB-wise) coverage than many of
their digital-only competitors. BAMS, GTE, Airtouch, etc., all had regional service areas to cover, and spent their assets and time covering these areas to become the (generally) superior carrier in their respective markets.
For example, NYNEX Mobile in the 00022 market (NYC Metro) was one of the worst major carriers in or around 1992, with drops along every block on Manhattan, dead areas in all of the suburban areas, and was being rapidly eclipsed by McCaw/AT&T Wireless in t
erms of service quality and coverage area.
When Bell Atlantic Mobile took over, in less than a year service the
00022 market showed a dramatic improvement, and a few years later
approached the service level of the initial Bell Atlantic markets of
Philly (00008) as Baltimore/DC (00018), or on the West Coast, to the
generally high level of service offered by the SF Bay area B carrier GTE
Mobilnet. The same pattern was repeated in Connecticut/Western Mass
(00119), one of BAMS's A-side markets acquired from Metro Mobile. BAMS
took the 00119 system from a clear inferior to SNET (00088, Cingular, now
ATTWS) and is now generally ahead coverage-wise and in terms of fewer drops
and distortions of voice quality. For years SNET had better coverage and
many, many fewer drops, and from observations in the areas where it is licensed to cover (I.E., all of CT except for US Cellular's (ex-Cingular, ex-AT&T/Cingular's small "nuisance" A/01011 market in Litchfield County), had vastly superior service to Metro
Mobile. BAMS reversed this in a few years and SNET/Cingular is still playing "catch up" with them to this date in most areas of Connecticut and Western Mass.
As a result, it is the opinion of the authors of this page that generally, if Verizon (and especially the former BAMS or GTE Mobilnet operator) is the local carrier, they will provide better to significantly better coverage than their competing A/B side c
arriers and significantly better coverage than the digital-block carriers like Nextel/Sprint (+affiliates), T-Mobile, and ATTWS/Cingular consolidation markets etc.
Additionally, in certain markets, such as New York (00022) or DC (00018),
Verizon is the only carrier to offer service in some areas, such as the Washington DC Metro, or "river to river" service via the Hudson Tubes to Penn Station to Long Island on Amtrak, NJ Transit, or the LIRR in New York City. (Sprint and other carr
iers may piggyback/roam on Verizon's service, or some other more limited degree of coverage, as the Nextel side of Sprint in terms of service IN Penn Station, but no one other than Verizon will allow customers to place a call on 8th Ave. before entering P
enn Station, get on a non-subway train heading east or west, and continue the call while dwelling in the station, through either set of tubes, all the way to your destination in the NYC Metro Area (This is not to say they cover everything well; Grand Cent
ral Terminal's lower level and the Park Ave. air-rights tunnel has noticeable gaps in Verizon's coverage where Cingular is better - even as of late 2006 - but generally, Verizon does a better job of providing "through" service is a good number of transpor
tation facilities where Sprint/Nextel, Cingular, and T-Mobile do not).
A complete list with a map of observed Verizon cellular and data drops on the Washington DC Metro rail system is available here.
(A minor caveat: Verizon's digital service is based on CDMA, which while adequate, seems to have a greater degree of delay and "digitized" sound than well-implemented GSM. In other words, using a CDMA phone from Verizon (or the Sprint side of Sprin
t/Nextel) will have a somewhat lengthier delay from the time a caller says something into a phone that the recipient hears it than the GSM counterpart. This effect is even more noticeable on mobile-to-mobile calls and mobile-to-VoIP calls. Thus, if you li
ke/need your cellular service to closely approximate landline (or good analog cellular) service, with no noticeable delay and/or no less distortion, choose a good GSM carrier as CDMA will likely prove more of a disappointment.)
Although Verizon is generally superior in terms of coverage and
propagation, there are a number of notable areas where Verizon routinely
drops and/or has poor/unacceptable voice quality. Many of these are
inter-system handoffs (a vestigial problem from the consolidation of their
networks, which is generally not shared by the newer digital license
holders who have set up "borderless" regional networks). The Verizon Cellular Drop List below details these continuing
problem areas on a state-by-state basis.
Overall, the Verizon Digital Cellular Dropped Call List will hopefully
serve as a central source where such drop information may be collected,
posted, and utilized in furtherance of future service improvements by
Verizon.
The criteria for a drop being "worthy" :) of getting posted are:
Certain subway systems (such as DC Metro) are organized by line and are considered subcategories within the city they are contained.
Please feel free to submit your drop/reset experiences with Verizon which meet the above guidelines so that we can provide a more comprehensive
list. Contact information for this list is provided at the end of this page.
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: The authors have nothing to do with Verizon other than using a few of their phones and/or data products as paying subscribers. While we will try to keep these lists current, you should test them out for yourself and not use thi
s as a dispositive and authoritative source of information as to Verizon's cellular service (or lack thereof). In other words, these are just our and/or other's 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.)
Verizon Cellular Dropped Call List by State
Connecticut
Delaware
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virginia
Washington DC
Corrected Problems
The following were problem drop areas but have apparently been corrected and/or no longer suffer from regular/repeated drops.
Connecticut
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Last modified and ©: 04/24/2014
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Ordering Note: Lists are alphabetically organized, first by state and then by counties within states. In some cases, large Metropolitan areas which span a multiple set of counties, states or boundaries are listed as separate entities (such as New Y
ork City).
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Delaware
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey
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