Dodger Stadium’s ongoing wireless problems

Posted on by

Realizing that if I were a good soul, I wouldn’t even enter Dodger Stadium with my iPhone, much less try to use it … the fact is, I do. And yet, I don’t know why I bother, given that my phone almost never works there because of the poor wireless reception (or, as someone on Twitter specified to me, data service).

I’ve been curious to see how widespread this problem was, so today I asked people on Twitter to describe their Dodger Stadium wireless experiences. Here are the initial replies (grouped under the hashtag #DSwireless) …

 

  • Pete Nanninga

    3g on Verizon was crappy…4g LTE worked well.  Reserved level behind home plate

  • Lakerfan

    3g on verizon was bad on the top deck too

  • Anonymous

    I still use a flip phone, but the noise at a ballgame makes it all but impossible to hear someone, so I never call from the stadium.  There’s no problem with the wireless in the press box.

    Is the situation any different at Staples? Coliseum? Angel Stadium? 

  • Anonymous

    Staples Center tends to have pretty good coverage from Verizon. The Rose Bowl is very bad and it doesn’t even seem to matter there if there’s not much of a crowd.

    And small crowds are the default status for UCLA football games.

  • http://twitter.com/DavePomerantz Dave Pomerantz

    Haha, VZW Support responded to my response to Jon. They’re going to look into the problem for me. Big of them, says I.

    • Anonymous

      It’s a nice thought, but I would have to think Verizon has heard of this problem before.

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    Rockies go radical: Four-man rotation, 75-pitch limit  http://bit.ly/MnWbOI

    • Anonymous

      14-man bullpen, yeah!

  • Blue-eyed Gal

    3G Verizon is a little laggy on iPad, but works fine: I sometimes check Dodgerthoughts between innings (especially when an ump mysteriously takes a run off the scoreboard)!

    Then again, I’m perched up on the top deck with clear air between me and the cell towers on the ridgeline beyond the outfield. Probably more concrete and metal supports in the way the closer you are to the field. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=777888878 Dave Sikula

    It’s not limited to Dodger Stadium. Ironically, I get really lousy reception at AT&T Park up here in San Francisco.

  • http://twitter.com/chrisclue Chris

    Have tried Android and iPhones with Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T thorough the stadium (field, loge, inner reserve, top,deck)…could never get anything remotely to useable data services. Never tried actual phone calls.

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    Tonight’s lineup:
    Gordon 6
    Herrera 7
    Ethier 9
    Abreu DH
    Loney 3
    Ellis 2
    Kennedy 4
    Uribe 5
    Gwynn 8

    • Anonymous

       Kennedy and Uribe at the same time? Ugh.

      • Anonymous

        I disagree with your comment. McCarthy’s splits this season are dramatic. 319/374/475 vs LHH, 209/245/291 vs RHH. Mattingly has started every LHH and SH on the roster, which accounts for Kennedy starting, plus Ellis and Uribe. Uribe’s slash line against RHP is 290/343/403 better than Rivera’s in all three categories. The only other reasonable choice is to start IDJ at second, this has not happened since June 1. I have to assume the Dodgers have a substantial reason, presumably his fielding.

    • Anonymous

      This is AJ’s fourth consecutive game batting sixth.

      Remember when we were all upset that he was always batting eighth?  In his 28 games since May 12, he has hit in the number 8 slot exactly once.

  • http://underdog.typepad.com/ underdog

    FYI, and FWIW, and other acronyms: 
    Nick Cafardo‏ @nickcafardo: Dodgers scouting Youk tonight at Fenway.

    • http://www.twitter.com/ElJefedor Jeffrey Thomas III

      Even knowing our current options at 3rd and 1st, I am not thrilled about the idea of trading for Youkilis. If Ned pulls the trigger, I hope they aren’t top tier prospects.

  • http://underdog.typepad.com/ underdog

    On this subject, when I had AT&T I always found it ironic that when I was at the Giants’ AT&T Park, I often couldn’t get my phone to work for talking or texting. Maybe that giant glove in the outfield blocks cell reception.  It’s a bit better in Oakland but still erratic, now for my Sprint (Credo) phone (LG Android).

  • Anonymous

    i’ve gotten upset in the past over this & in a weird way, when i reflect on it, it’s not that bad, for one, i can actually fully engage in the game & with the friends i’m with, but i can also think of a handful of times when i’ve need to use the it…

  • Anonymous

    Brandon McCarhy has won his last 2 starts & has won 5 of his last 6 starts, sporting an ERA of 2.95.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry-Pruett/1707390003 Terry Pruett

    It’s only really bothersome during a weekday day game, when I answer work email between innings. For night games, I usually leave it in the car. However, I WAS able to load a couple of photos onto Facebook from the fron row of the reserved level behind first base this past Sunday.

    On Ned…I think every GM will have ghosts in the closet. What I look for is evidence of a real process…based on real analytical data and a real organizational pholosophy, applied with consistency. With Ned, I see no such evidence. What I see is the functional equivalent of bobbing for apples.

  • Anonymous

    What’s the reason for the lack of cell reception?  Is there something the team does that blocks it?

    I remember when going to games at the Cell a year or two ago, that there was no reception on the small radio I brought with me to the game so I could hear the play-by-play while watching.  I thought that was odd, but clearly they were jamming reception inside the park for some reason.

    If they do something to jam radio reception, it could have an effect on cell reception, I’m guessing.

    • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

       I think it’s the stadium construction that inhibits it.  Kasten has said more than once he intends to fix it.

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    NPUT