[Atrix 4G General] Rydsmith:
This is unacceptable. I love my Atrix, but the only the one thing that is making me get very close to throwing this on eBay and canceling my AT&T Contract (yes...I would still come out ahead even after ETF and what not...but only by a little bit) is AT&T's Service and Customer Service.

While I understand that a lot.....a lot of places do not have 4G/HSPA yet and AT&T is rolling out the service over the year, and I consider this to be understandable as it is "new" technology and only at the "major" markets right now. What is NOT acceptable is having a device that displays H+ when all data speed tests show it below 3G and barely above EDGE. And now while I thought that this was just my phone this seems to be a common trend on this forum and with all my friends that have acquired AT&Ts 4G phones (Atrix and Inspire). But while yes it is AT&T, and yes they are notorious for having a bad network, this is an insult to the intelligence of their customers. Stating to them to their faces, on their devices that they are connected to a HSPA/4G when they clearly are not.

I find it a little (that's a lie....more like extremely) unsettling how much data seems to go out, by which I mean turn off or be cut off. I run 4-5 miles everyday, and having music is a huge part of that. I recently came from a Samsung Focus, which was nice but lacked some of the functions that I needed (Proper Google Calendar Support, Copy & Paste, Multitasking, etc...) thus I switched to the Atrix. The problem is, while on my walks with my Focus, I never once had to have a song on Slacker, Pandora, or Zune stop 3+ times to buffer or stop completely because I went from 5 bars to 0...in open area on a very sunny day. This is what is happening with my Atrix. I have stopped using Pandora, Slacker, and Grooveshark due to how pitiful it is with the AT&T's data connection. I have literally seen my phone go from full bars to absolutely none in an open area, one in which my Focus still maintained full service. As a user, this is unacceptable and I should not have to put my SIM card into a different phone for my daily runs due to how mediocre your network is with regards to a phone that you are now hailing as your "flagship" device.

I have noticed that there is no display for 3G on the phone. In an area I know for a fact is too rural to have HSPA (they just received 3G approximately a year ago) my phone is still reporting H+. I do not know if this is a slip up on Motorola's end or something AT&T is doing this on purpose but I am truly confounded on how you can purposefully choose to display false information to your customers and not think that they would notice. But like I said earlier, I originally thought that this was just my phone and went to the AT&T store to see what is wrong.

First they replaced the phone. No effect, still the same data results, still the same outages, still the same everything. Then they replace the SIM card with a "Newer 4G Card", for which again there was absolutely not a change in anything. The sales rep at AT&T was very confused when I showed him the buffering, or lack thereof, of music and videos, the speed tests, and the phone literally dropping from full to almost no bars within seconds (these aren't that hard to reproduce, it just took him holding my phone and walking around the store to see the bars drop to none and see that he couldn't access the internet or any data after it hard dropped without a reboot). The employee called forth his manager who did not know what to do, and when I said that this was unacceptable and I wanted to return it, I was informed that it would be subject to a 20% restocking fee [$40] and I would still have renewed my contract and need to get a new phone while I was there.

Though I will admit that I am no attorney, I know for a fact that they can not do that as their would be no "mutual consideration" between the two parties in the contract if I were to return my phone, thus there is no contract (in other words, by returning the phone I would have gained nothing yet they would have gained me as a customer for another 2 years, hence my eBay statement at the beginning). I explained that that didn't make sense that I am being force to continue my contract when the only reason I extended it was to get the Atrix and had no interest in any other phones on such an unreliable network. He then told me I would have to call their corporate and return the phone to them, and see what they said if I wanted to go this route. Personally, I feel he is 100% incorrect and wrong here, but there was no reason to cause a scene at the store.

So here I sit, with a phone that constantly drops data and blatantly lies to me about it's H+ status. I know I should cut my losses and just sell the phone online (though with eBay and Paypal fees...who's to say I will make a profit as they gouge you on those), but this is unacceptable. It is unacceptable to blatantly falsely advertise your product in stores and lie to your customers by having the phone display only H+ and EDGE on it, with no in-between (aka 3G). I know this is an anti-AT&T rant right now, and it is meant to be, but this is at a level that is unacceptable and deserves to be investigated by the FCC. AT&T needs to realize that they can not treat their customers like this and expect no whiplash for it.

If anything, Apple has proven that there is no company that is too godlike to get knocked down a few pegs and AT&T is getting to that point. Am I over reacting and acting on emotions due to being treated like **** for a phone I put $200 down and almost a $100 a month for? More than likely, but AT&T deserves a swift, strong, and imprinting kick to the ass for this. Oh well, I'm off to the gym for a bit to relieve some of this pent up anger.

TL;DR: HSPA is showing for 4G and 3G, when it is touted as not being 3G. Data is constantly getting dropped, AT&T treats customers like crap, this is unacceptable and they need to be taught a lesson.