Having used the iPhone since release day in a metropolitan area (Tampa) the cell service has been decent, although crossing the bridges I did have some dropped calls / lost service and in one of the large department stores on the first floor the phone lost service. So I got to thinking / worrying, as I had just ported my number over from Verizon to AT&T, how would the iPhone on AT&T perform while not in my home area. So I booked a flight to the mountains of Colorado to do some testing (actually it was a planned family vacation).

Results after the break

• First test Denver International Airport runway taxiing: Good signal strength (5 bars) – SMS works good, voice quality good.
• Interstate 70 driving towards mountains: Good signal as would be expected along a major interstate.
• Into the foot hills and everything still looks good: SMS with office back in Tampa.
• Halfway to Eagle-Vail Colorado, stopping for some Starbucks: Signal strength good except inside the Burger King (Kids wanted Transformer toys, just what we needed).
• Back on I70 and signal strength is good, call quality good.
• Arrived at Beaver Creek, signal strength is good, call quality is better then I expected, SMS working like a champ, Edge still Sucks! WiFi to the rescue…
• So I took the iPhone to the top of Centennial Lift in Beaver Creek an altitude of 10,200 feet, placed several voice calls and emailed a photo taken from the top without any problems.
• On the way down via the chair lift I received a call without any problems other than some wind noise.