First, here's my T-mobile experience. Second, was wondering if anyone has AT&T experience with their N900.

T-Mobile experience: Crappy reception. I have been from Connecticut to Massachusettes to Vermont and the reception leaves much to be desired. In Connecticut in the Hartford area, I have zero signal except literally in a corner of the upstairs bedroom. In Vermont there was zero signal period for most of my drive when I went snowboarding, and the moment I opened up a browser I'd get a warning that I'm roaming. In California up and down the coast I've had frequent lack of signal. Driving down the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles phone calls were dropped every few minutes (I'm talking every 1-3 minutes, not 10-15 minutes). Throughout Los Angeles I frequently had up to 20-second stretches of not hearing anything from the other side (the person I'm on the phone with) before they pop back in for a few moments, and then breaks up again. I mean in the heart of Los Angeles, it doesn't get more metropolitan or more "major city" than that. In most of these locales I've mentioned, my signal reception fluctuates from zero bars to four bars, and from 3.5G to 2G.

It has been difficult on the East Coast but I didn't use the phone all that much while working on my projects there. When I was on vacation and able to chat with friends more, that's when it hit home hard. And then it was so horrible in California (when I expected even T-Mo should be more than adequate in Los Angeles) that I kind of regret leaving Verizon. I left them due to lack of phone selection. But a nice phone on a network that doesn't cut it makes no sense either.

AT&T: Has anyone used the N900 on AT&T's network? Any better with reception and call clarity? I've read that the N900 can't get onto AT&T's 3G network, well how significant of a difference is their 2G compared to T-Mo's 3G? After all, at home and at work there is likely WiFi so you don't need to use the carrier's cell phone signal.

Other thoughts: Has anyone had first-hand experience with any "cell phone signal booster" devices?

Thanks!

I use mine daily on AT&T as T-Mobile's coverage isn't quite that great. I can't compare the 2.5G to T-Mobile's 3G, but it's plenty fast for leisurely web browsing, IRC, and e-mail.

It isn't blazing, and anything requiring 10s of KB/s of bandwidth is basically a no-go (youtube, skype,) but it's functional enough that I haven't cared to move in the 5 months I've owned this thing. YMMV.

Reception has been at 5 bars consistently, and I've not once had an issue with call clarity.

Wifi's been a bit of an issue for me, as I can't use the power-saving modes with my home router so it kills my battery in record time, so I'm on the 2.5G network pretty much all the time except if pulling down something big (updates, e-mail with image attachments, etc.)

FYI it doesn't matter if you are roaming. T-Mobile offers free nationwide roaming so you don't get charged for it. Actually, Sprint does the same thing, so I would imagine that unless you are on some regional plan, this will be the same regardless of what carrier you are with. If you signed up with T-Mobile after Oct 25 2009, then regional plans don't even exist, so that won't be a problem either.

I had perfect reception in Missouri and also Indiana. Haven't tried elsewhere with this carrier though.

Been with T-Mobile for about 12 years. Always have had good reception in my area (Kansas City) and the best prices. No complaints.

I've had both sims in my N900 both in sf valley of LA and here in Camarillo which is the next county over west. At&T is more reliable and tmobile will drop you on tethering.

It is all based on location so there isn't a winner of this Vs. thread. Both companies and all companies have weak and strong coverage gaps. I've been with Tmo 4 years and seen the best coverage 2MBs down constant and the worst No connection at home constantly. We moved to different areas and where we live now has constant 3g and 3.5g coverage and it is only about miles from our old house. We had ATT 3g laptop card and it was equally great and horrible depending on where we were.

If it bothers you where you live and you cant take it, then switch to what works in your area. Just know that ATT may give you the same connection issues if you move out of your signal comfort spot.

Agreed with Deaconclgi. I was former 6years At&t user- in my location the reception was ....- I had to go outside the house to make a call. Switching to Tmobile (because of N900 of course!) does not require me to go outside, when it is raining or snowing, only when the weather is nice outside!
Have a friend who has both ATT and MetroPCS (Staten Island)- he was surprised that "crappy" MetroPCS works better in his place than ATT or my Tmobile.
I always use Skype on TM 3G when at work (New Jersey area)- works with no problems, no drops or something. Compared to some IPhone 3gs- the same pages load quiet faster on Tm N900 3g than on ATT 3g 3gs

I find a lot of dead zones in CT on AT&T also. There is a long section of I384 where reception is lost--it always occurs in the same spot and I've ended calls because I knew I'd lose the other person when I approach it. Calls have dropped for me on the Mass Pike also.

I've had both in my 900, in the Balt/DC corridor. "Coverage area" is about the same, but the problem I have with T-Mo is the weak building penetration for "some" buildings. I don't remember what being on Edge was like w/AT&T...signal "loss" was not an issue, but signal strength fluctuation was evident, even when just moving the phone a few inches, of maybe a bar or two. I think its just the nature of 2G, much like Verizon's CDMA/1x.

My phone pretty much stays on "full bars" with T-Mo. However I'll be switching back to AT&T, and most likely another phone (CNBC now has real-time stock quotes for pre-market, and Sling is coming out in summer, for Android) just because of the building issue. Being on call 24/7 won't allow for being in dead zones in otherwise "full bar" areas.

I will miss those great T-Mo no contract rates and 7Mb speeds though.

Agree with wmarone and Deaconclgi. It all depends on where you are.

I have been using AT&T in Bay area for the last 3 years and never had a reception issue at home or at work. There are few stretches on I-280 and on Caltrain route that don't get a signal or only get EDGE signal but overall the reception was great.

After I bought N900 I took T-Mobile prepaid SIM just to check the reception. Not so surprisingly, I was not getting reception in some parts of my house. What is the point of having a "smartphone" when you can't make or receive a call?

AT&T 2.5G is working fine for me. In terms of speed, I find the browsing experience similar to AT&T 3G on N95 NAM.