I in Ohio, just south of Cleveland. I have had verizon for years. I jut got the thunderbolt and well.....if I am lucky, I MAY get a quick connection to the internet.
I AM in a 4 G coverage area....but the signal drops more often then not...(yesterday, no ability to connect...."retry error"...I did get a few 1X connections...but they went away as well.
The other thing I noticed was my bar reading on the general Phone indicator. I use to get several to full bars from the same location....I now get 0 to 1 bars if I am lucky.
Called Bestbuy where I got the phone and they told me that YES, the reception on this phone is terrible. I stopped into the local Verizon store, and guess what...they guy there told me the same thing. And I have not even mentioned my battery drain.
Fully charged this morning, 2 calls taken today and less then 10 mins each....battery went to 50%, while I was talking to Bestbuy (another 10-15 mins) the battery dropped to orange and so I plugged it in (looked like about 25%).
So....I really wanted this phone...did my homework....and all in all....it just has too many problems. I am paying for a data plan with hotspot, and I can't get out of the house with the signal in what they consider a covered area. Phone bars remain at either 0 to 1. I really have no choice but to return this and move on. I didn't even give Sprint a chance because I wanted good coverage and was happy with verizon...but the new combination of phone and service is well.......Fing BS.