And so it ends: AT&T users report network outages amidst Wal-Mart’s iPhone 3G launch
Oops. Murphy’s Law may be in full swing today for the country’s largest GSM carrier at the worst-possible time – iPhone 3G / Wal-Mart launch day. We’ve yet to have any issues in the New York area but emails are hitting us en masse from AT&T customers reporting network outages across the east coast and beyond. Most reports recount difficulties with connecting via AT&T’s 3G network but some go further to detail voicemail difficulties, BlackBerry service outages and even complete network outages spanning hours at a time. This is obviously a pretty big deal for Wal-Mart locations in affected areas – imagine switching from your current carrier to snag a shiny new iPhone 3G and stepping out of the store only to find that your new toy won’t make a voice or data connection. Yikes. We spoke to AT&T after hours customer service and after about 30 minutes on hold, they did confirm “reports of network troubles” but couldn’t (or wouldn’t) specify which regions might be affected or whether or not these issues had been resolved. Time to sound off, BGR readers – any problems in your area?
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
The problem is related to Level 3 Communications outage. They are the largest Internet backbone provider, the issue goes way deeper than just At&T.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/28/the-tubes-are-clogged/
I’m in Oak Park, IL, and have had No Service for the last few hours.
Was supposed to get together with friends from out of town, but I’m guessing no one can reach each other. Thanks AT&T!
And why is there no where on the AT&T’s site to announce news and updates regarding service outages?!
Given what we pay, this is ridiculous.
AT&T’s network seems to be down basically nationwide. There are some areas that are not affected but it’s more broken than working.
network sputtering at times in little rock, AR. glad to see it isnt just my device or area.
I have a Northern Illinois based phone number, and my iphone has not been working for awhile now. On line with Customer Support, and got disconnected twice. My girlfriend (Central Florida number) has full service.
Very spotty service in the detoit area.
Milwaukee down (sorta) as well.
3G iPhone is completly down NO SERVICE.
2G Blackberry has voice no data
Just went on a 2 hour walk and played Pandora on 3G the entire time while visiting family of the east coast NO problems.
At&T service is such a friggen joke. If Apple ever gives the iphone to Verizon AT&T will lose about 50% of their customers.
att suck monkey ass… what would you expect?
BlackBerry 9000 on AT&T in the boondocks of Wilson County. EDGE service is fine; data is fine; calls, voicemail, SMS are all fine.
My Bold finally died. It was working an hour ago but now data is down. I still have bars and I can still make calls but no data
The NSA routers must not be able to handle the spike in traffic after the holiday season.
I am in the Detroit Metro area and have had no problems with my Bold. However, my mom has a pearl and my brother has a curve and they have no service. We are all on att.
Not In This Chicago Burb. NW Burbs that is.
No voice or data here in Milwaukee. Completely dead. First trouble I’ve had.
Partial service 30 minutes south of Chicago. Strange issues. Having issues since at least 11:30am central time. I can make but not receive calls on iphone 3g. Wife has iphone 2g and seems to be having no problems receiving calls. My dad has iphone 3g on his account and cannot make or receive calls but the iphone 2gs on his account seem fine. Like most I’m frustrated by the interruption in service but even more frustrated by the lack of information coming from the AT&T side of things. Called there service number and was on hold for 42 minutes to only get disconnected. Called back and got a busy signal. Now when I call they have updated a prompt to let us know that there is an issue but not much else. Worst part is when someone calls my phone it plays a default message that the number you are calling is not in service or has been disconnected.
No luck in Pittsburgh. 3G on and off all afternoon. Voice still works though.
Completely down in suburban Detroit. No calls coming in.
I stopped in an AT&T store around noon today and they said I required a new SIM card to restore service. New SIM has had no effect…still down. BTW store was jammed with people with the same no service issue.
My phone has been down for 6 hours now. I have no service what so ever. How long is this going to take them to fix? What about New Years Eve? No way to call anyone to make plans! Last time this happend I went a whole week with out service. ATT you blow and owe us some heavy credit on our bill.
Still down in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Has been for past 6 hours. No voice or data.
Voice just came back online in the Northern suburbs of Chicago – data still down.
lol, sticking with TMobile to avoid outages? LMFAO…
TMobile is the outage king from my experiences..
I’m in Detroit, everything went down earlier in stages. Data first, followed by voice an hour later, then text went down at noon. I switched my Tilt and Fuze to HSDPA and I was back online which made no sense.