Jesse Risley
Staff member
There has been a plethora of open complaining on the individual social media accounts of chasers this spring, particularly about the coverage or access speeds of Verizon Wireless (VZW) in traditionally favorable areas of the Plains and the Corn Belt. A few complaints have also trickled in about AT&T too. I'm genuinely curious what everyone else's experiences have been thus far. Have you experienced any coverage or speed issues with your carrier, including VZW?
Without using names particularly, I was told by one person close to the issue from a technical standpoint (i.e., works on the back end of all of this) that it's likely two-fold. First, the proliferation of unlimited data to the masses is finally reaching a critical point where network infrastructure is being overloaded. While this has long been an issue when large numbers of chasers converged on limited rural cell cites, they're now sharing those towers with increasing numbers of local users who are constantly pulling large quantities of data, including people who just a few years ago were probably using flip phones and getting most of their Internet data from rural satellite services. Second, with the phasing out of 3G, they are reducing the number of towers due to the change in frequency usage and, fitly, concentrating more on the "Micro cell" model whereby coverage in more urban or suburban areas (and even small towns) focuses on the use of more numerous towers to boost coverage in those concentrated areas whilst turning down the taller, more numerous towers spaced out to cover wider areas, especially in rural locales.
What has everyone's individual experiences been this season with your carrier(s)?
Without using names particularly, I was told by one person close to the issue from a technical standpoint (i.e., works on the back end of all of this) that it's likely two-fold. First, the proliferation of unlimited data to the masses is finally reaching a critical point where network infrastructure is being overloaded. While this has long been an issue when large numbers of chasers converged on limited rural cell cites, they're now sharing those towers with increasing numbers of local users who are constantly pulling large quantities of data, including people who just a few years ago were probably using flip phones and getting most of their Internet data from rural satellite services. Second, with the phasing out of 3G, they are reducing the number of towers due to the change in frequency usage and, fitly, concentrating more on the "Micro cell" model whereby coverage in more urban or suburban areas (and even small towns) focuses on the use of more numerous towers to boost coverage in those concentrated areas whilst turning down the taller, more numerous towers spaced out to cover wider areas, especially in rural locales.
What has everyone's individual experiences been this season with your carrier(s)?