Best Cell Phone Provider

[Campin'_Nana]

We are currently with Verizon, but thinking of changing to AT&T. In all your travels across the country, who has the best cell phone coverage? Thanks!

Lisa

[Rootus]

Originally Posted by Campin'_Nana

We are currently with Verizon, but thinking of changing to AT&T. In all your travels across the country, who has the best cell phone coverage? Thanks!

Lisa

My experience has been that Verizon coverage is almost always better. In fact, until last weekend when I visited Parkdale (near Mt. Hood), 100% of the time my wife's Verizon phone gets stronger signal than my AT&T phone does. And when we both have relatively weak signals, hers will actually work while mine hangs. When my two years is up in a couple months, I'm switching to Verizon. Hate them as a business, but for where we go their network is definitely better.

[mike837go]

They all suck! I switched from Verizon to AT&T in April because I got an excellent deal on a used iPhone.


Coverage is uneven wherever you go.
Two steps in any direction can be the difference between 2 bars and no service.


Buy in to whoever and suffer the vagarities. Cell phones are still radios. Propagation of electromagnetic waves through The Earth's atmosphere is NOT a thoroughly understood technology.

[RoyBraddy]

It is Verizon by far for us... The others may be catching up however. We were required to go all over the US with our Electronic Systems back in my working days and when we got off the main roads only Verizon would work. Also same deal for a couple of States like ALABAMA. Miss, an Arkansas... There back roads are still mom and pop providers I thing... You know you are in trouble when you make a long distant call and they ask you for a credit card number first haha...

Even here where I live in Virginia just 50 miles out of DC We are situated just over a high ridge and VERIZON is the only carrier that works have way decent here inside and around our house...

Sprint and the others you have to pull an olden GREEN ACRES TV thing and climb a telephone pole to get out haha...

I'm sure you can make any of them work with the right external antenna but for out of the box ops we have only had good luck with Verizon when we get away from the big cities and off the main roads...

VERIZON knows they are the best too - thats why the rates are higher than the other I reckon...

Go to GOBER TX and see if your other carrier works haha

Just my thoughts
Roy Ken

[Loosenuts]

Personally I get better coverage with Verizon in almost every location we camp or go.
My coworkers are a range of T-mobile, AT&T and Verizon. All the Verizon ones are happy with the coverage they get when they travel. The AT&T's are next, the T-Mobile users are usually screwed when they get out of town. For me, it's Verizon and that's with my phone and my portable HotSpot.

[DocBrown]

They all have dead areas. So to Mike's point, coverage and reliability is dependent on where you are more so than who your carrier is.

That said we've been U.S. Cellular customers for many many years, almost as long as we've had cell phones. Aside from a few dead spots in some national parks and small valley areas in mountains here and there, we've never been without reliable coverage. I won't do business with either AT&T or Verizon unless there are no other options.

[RVhiker]

I've had Verizon and I've had AT&T. Both offer what I think is the best choice for nationwide coverage, but both providers have dead spots in some areas.

At the moment, we have phones on a Verizon plan and also a "pay as you go" AT&T phone to fill in Verizon's gaps.

I'd suggest checking each provider's national coverage maps and deciding which has the best coverage for where you go. And if you want the best chance to find coverage everywhere, to use one of those two providers and also to have another phone on the other provider's system.

[LarryJ]

We're in process of switching from T-Mobile (13 years) to Verizon. Issue I have with T-Mobile is that you only get 50mb roaming data a month, that goes really quick, then if want more costs $s, used to have unlimited roaming with T-Mobile for 10 years, but they changed that few years ago, Arrgh!
Planning a lengthy trip in September and want coverage we missed on our last long trip...

Larry J
2015 SLX 264BHW
2007 Ram 1500

[TWP723]

Verizon for me.

[spoon059]

Verizon has the most coverage across the US. I've used it all up and down the east coast with no problems and out in the southwest desert with no problems. I haven't been all over the country with it, but everywhere I've had it, its worked.

[Fire_Instructor]

Based strictly on coverage, Verizon....

Based on cost, customer service, contract loopholes, the need to buy new chargers every time you upgrade, etc? They all are bad! ��

[Murff]

We use NET10 phones that use AT&T towers. AT&T is hated by most of their customers. They are slow to give latest tech upgrades to their customers, i.e. Android 6.0.

AT&T coverage is okay but we also have a StraightTalk wifi hotspot that uses Verizon towers. This way, we almost always have coverage, both voice and internet.

NET 10 has bring your own phone programs and we pay $85 per month for two phones, unlimited talk, text and 5GB each with no contract on either phone or hotspot. Both are 4G LTE.

You can download Google Hangouts. For free, you get a 2nd phone number for your phone and it will make calls over wifi. With Hangouts, you can also call Canada and Mexico for free.

Murff

[estesbubba]

In the city AT&T and Verizon are both great but when camping Verizon kills AT&T for us.

[Larry G.]

We travel at times with friends from Reno during the summer months and have been places out here on many occasions, especially up in the Sierra's, where our Verizon works but their AT&T service does not.

It's never been the other way.

In the winter months we are down in the SW and have never had a problem with Verizon service.

[yellowdog00]

All depends on where you are at. We have ATT phones and iPads and a Verizon Mifi. I buy data for either the iPads or Mifi depending on where I'm going.
Currently at St. Mary, MT at east entrance to Glacier and have no ATT service but strong Verizon signal. We also like to camp at Montauk SP in MO and the situation is reversed.

Also use a Wilson Sleek extender and outside antenna for those areas where signal is marginal.

[Rustysocket]

Originally Posted by LarryJ

We're in process of switching from T-Mobile (13 years) to Verizon. Issue I have with T-Mobile is that you only get 50mb roaming data a month, that goes really quick, then if want more costs $s, used to have unlimited roaming with T-Mobile for 10 years, but they changed that few years ago, Arrgh!
Planning a lengthy trip in September and want coverage we missed on our last long trip...

Larry J
2015 SLX 264BHW
2007 Ram 1500

Larry, I've been with T-Mobile since they were Voicestream. Whenever they have changed something I didn't like or caused an issue for me I simply call and they grandfather me in to my previous plans. Their coverage isn't as great as Verizon (which I use for work) but their customer service is top notch.

[RoyBraddy]

Was just down to the local VERIZON store today getting a password thing straightened out... Hearing we grandfathered types are getting another penalty rate fee next month. As you recall they just did a $20 per additional cell phone line that has unlimited data on it. Now it is going to $50 a phone next month...

About time we all went back to the GIBBS PHONES I think...

Roy Ken

[hoppers4]

We have a Verizon hotspot and have never been to a place where it didn't work. Our AT&T phones have been out of service at several of those places. My vote is for Verizon by far.

[TWP723]

What irritates me about these providers is, they offer "newbies" this super fantastic deal to get them to sign with them. But ream the loyal customers that have been with them for 20 years for 3-4 times as much. Just doesn't seem right. Shouldn't the loyal customers be the ones that get the crazy discount???

[Larry G.]

What irritates me is when an OP starts a thread looking for information and then some of the replying posts start straying away from the original topic....in this case the OP was asking

who has the best cell phone coverage?