Cell phone coverage???

[hutash]

I don't care about what phone to buy, since most carriers don't discount phones anymore, but am concerned about making and receiving calls and texts from obscure mountain locations. Who is doing a good job of this these days. Verizon seems to be the leader, but Sprint and Telecom claim they are 1%as close. I gave been on AT&T, and while they are better then some, I am far from impressed.

I am sick and tired of being treated like shit by AT&T, and have only stayed with them because I have unlimited data (to br honest I don't use that much data, but I hate to give it up since nobody else is doing it, at lead that has wide coverage ).

So what carrier is good these days? Or st least who sucks less.

[nickwm21]

I carry both an At&t phone and a Verizon phone.

Overall, Verizon has coverage in more remote places.

Overall, At&t has stronger coverage in populated places.

But... I am sure if you use the Google machine you can find a website that compares coverage maps, then just look at home, work, and where you recreate and see who fits.

[snapt]

I carry both an At&t phone and a Verizon phone.

Overall, Verizon has coverage in more remote places.

Overall, At&t has stronger coverage in populated places.

But... I am sure if you use the Google machine you can find a website that compares coverage maps, then just look at home, work, and where you recreate and see who fits.

I run each as well, when I lived in the city I always griped about how ATT sucked anyplace rural and Verizon worked much better. Now that I live in the sticks the Verizon line is terrible and ATT is far better.

So, YMMV.

[Toddball]

Friends with Verizon phones have always had the most luck getting service deep (-ish) in the Cascades. I have often had data coverage further from civilization with T-Mobile than any other carrier, though.

[galibier_numero_un]

There's the occasional instance here in Colorado where folks with non-Verizon carriers have superior service, but at least over here, Verizon is the safe bet. One of those exceptions is at A-basin where folks seem to be able to text over larger areas of the mountain. I'll get texts on my Verizon phone, but need to be in the right spot (top of 'Zuma/Lenawee, for example).

I live 15 miles East of Boulder in Erie, and when friends with T-mobile drop by, they get no service. A few years ago, we were considering switching to Sprint, and we did a 48 hour trial (refundable). 50% of the time, we were in roaming mode.

We live in a bad area as far as cell service is concerned, and it's not perfect with Verizon. Our service will occasionally drop from 3/4G to 1x (cloudy days), but it's far superior to the other two. It's been too long since I've used AT&T to comment.

... Thom

[Danno]

I have Sprint, live in Boulder, and it works fine. Verizon does seem likely to be a bit better in remote areas. But not always.

[mall walker]

Highly regionally dependent IME, for mountain purposes. Here in the SLC valley Sprint is alright, they're garbage in the mountains or anywhere else in the state. In UT, AT&T has been great since I switched in the mountains and the undeveloped majority of the state.

[rocca]

Verizon has worked well for me all over CO and Wyoming. I've honestly been impressed with some of the places I've had service in Wyoming. I work periodically in some remote O+G fields that used to require a Union wireless phone to even have a chance at doing anything a couple years ago, but Verizon has increased their coverage dramatically as far as I can tell. The Union phone doesn't make the trip anymore.

That said, I have a Spot Gen3 that I bring with me on every backcountry/remote work outing. Works when the phone doesn't and prevents unnecessary gf/parent panic.

[homebrewd]

I have ATT, lady has Verizon. I have service in more locations here in CO when we are in the mtns. That being said far from great, I've heard good things about T-Mobile, especially considering the cost difference between the two. There are dead spots here and there with all carriers in the front range from what I've noticed. If I was switching from ATT it would be TMobile.

[AK47bp]

Cricket

[Bobcat Sig]

Verizon. That whole 1% thing is a bunch statistical voodoo number manipulation.

Case and point; Verizon was all that worked in many areas - at all - in Montana and the surrounding states and their rural areas. That case is mostly still true. At&T is catching up, but Spring and T-Mobile is a recipe for dropped calls and absolutely no signal.

[old goat]

ATT sucks around Tahoe. Haven't tried any of the others. As far as being treated badly by ATT--I feel you (isn't that what you young folks say?). We switched from ATT for land line and internet and not having to deal with ATT outages and abysmal customer service has been liberating. And before you give me shit for having a land line--we have free long distance, so save money on cell phone minutes. And it still works when the power goes out and my cell phone is dead. I'd switch to Verizon for better coverage but with 4 of us on ATT and heavily invested in ATT phones it's a pain in the ass to switch.

[mcski]

Verizon for best coverage for sure. I have sprint and it works fine for Tahoe in places my friends w att have no signal. However, If I was traveling to a bunch of random places, I'd prefer to have verizon for the broadest reliable connections.

[hutash]

Kind of responses I was expecting, all over the place with lean toward Verizon. Sounds like Sprint, T-Mobile are too spotty. I figured their adds were marketing hype. Might be fine for urban dewellers, but not what I need. Guess I will talk to Verizon. They would need to buy out one remaining AT&T contract.

[oldblue]

From Sprints website: "Reliability claim based on Sprint's analysis of latest Nielsen drive test data for average network reliability (voice & data) in top 106 markets."

In other words: complete bullshit.

[mcski]

I have to add my chillen to my family plan and am just absolutely dreading having that interaction w some sales jockey. I'd almost rather go negotiate w a used car dealer than spend one minute w a cell phone sales person. "Oh, sorry that free deal is only for 'new' customers" ...ugh. I hate this dance.

I've overall been ok wth sprint for sf and Tahoe. It sucks in the rural fly over areas but at present i don't deal w that much so for now it's not worth it to me to pay extra for Verizon and it's worked better for me than past contracts w both T-Mobile and att. If you can expense your cell contract for work, Verizon is a no brainer.

[AK47bp]

I'd say go down to Wireless Toyz and get the Simply Everything Plus Plan.
https://youtu.be/RLlOkKskBqU

[HansJob]

I have to add my chillen to my family plan and am just absolutely dreading having that interaction w some sales jockey. I'd almost rather go negotiate w a used car dealer than spend one minute w a cell phone sales person. "Oh, sorry that free deal is only for 'new' customers" ...ugh. I hate this dance.

I've overall been ok wth sprint for sf and Tahoe. It sucks in the rural fly over areas but at present i don't deal w that much so for now it's not worth it to me to pay extra for Verizon and it's worked better for me than past contracts w both T-Mobile and att. If you can expense your cell contract for work, Verizon is a no brainer.

Tell him/her that you're going to take your business and dem chitlins phones to another carrier, then watch how fast they submit or offer to blow you to stay.

[hutash]

AT&T doesn't give a fuck if you leave, that is how bad their customer service has become. At least on the business side, they will pester the hell out of you to get you back, but won't do shit to keep you. Makes no sense, but that is the way of corporate America these days.

[RShea]

Kind of responses I was expecting, all over the place with lean toward Verizon. Sounds like Sprint, T-Mobile are too spotty. I figured their adds were marketing hype. Might be fine for urban dewellers, but not what I need. Guess I will talk to Verizon. They would need to buy out one remaining AT&T contract.

If you want to get the exact same Verizon coverage and use the same towers and don't mind either a monthly auto pay in advance or just stack a pin before the renewal date then there is one Prepaid company that will probably offer a better rate. Again it is prepaid not contract, so you can walk or change at any time. Uses the same phones you would on Verizon Contracts or any unlocked phone that supports the Verizon CDMA bandwidths. $20 to $70 per line (Unlimited Talk Minutes, Unlimited Text Messages, Includes 7 GB of Data). Message me and I can provide all the details.