Best cell service & company

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I have T-Mobile. Great in town, but no service many places up north.

Who has the best coverage & plans that would allow me to use my phone almost anyplace?

I'm, not talking about 3G coverage (that would be nice), just to be able to make a call would be enough.

I get a kick out of 24; Jack's phone works even in underground bunkers & the jungle

[NELS-BELLS]

I switched to Verizon a few years ago because of the lack of service up north and even near my home with a different provider. It is very rare that I lose total signal with Verizon. I even get service up on Namakan Lake.

My buddy is an "on the road" sales rep and he switched back to Verizon for the service coverage.

They don't have as cheap of plans as some of the others but signal coverage is more important to me.

Nels

[only ice]

Been with Verizon for about 5 years now and love the coverage!! i live in the Duluth area and fish LOTWs alot in the winter. You will get dead spots with all cell services, but I have never been down for to long!!

[LMITOUT]

I get a kick out of 24; Jack's phone works even in underground bunkers & the jungle

It's because he has Sprint!

I moved into a Sprint plan almost exactly a year ago and it's been just fine. I've used my phone on the back roads of ND and never had any issues. Obviously there are some areas that are not covered but it doesn't matter who your provider is you aren't going to get a signal because there is simply no coverage. A quick trip over the next hill will usually get me back into range of a tower though.

Sprint has had a bad reputation in the past but most would be surprised to know that they aren't the company that they used to be. In fact, they recently received J.D. Power and Associates Award for "Highest Call Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users in the West Region". Their customer service is getting better too, although I've never had to use it to say first hand if that is accurate. I guess if I haven't had to use CS I can't complain.

Everyone's situation is different so all I can say is that Sprint works for me, but YMMV.

Good coverage, cheap plans, and most importantly, Jack Bauer uses it. What other reasons does a guy need!

[Shorelunch]

I've had Verizon up here for four years. Pretty good coverage from Mpls to Brainerd/Bemidji to I Falls/Baudette.

[jeffreyd]

I have sprint here in Phoenix and when we were on Leech, there was a couple spots between the lodge and walker and actually in the cabins kitchen that i did not have service on my bb. however my son with his sprint rant had service where i did not. go figure, he can text his girls but me who needed to make calls, couldnt get though. not so bad now that i think about it.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Wouldn't it be neat if counties built all the towers and the cell companies rented them from the county. Multiple carriers on the same tower.

Everybody's service would work in every area instead of having multiple towers in one location as it is now.

[zamboni]

I had Sprint in Kansas City (their hometown) and dropped alot of calls.

[PierBridge]

Air Touch Cellular..!

[hanson]

I've been really happy after switching to Verizon, really good coverage up north (LOW, URL, NW MN) and I can't recall the last time I dropped a call.

[Bryce]

Verizon is well into the process of buying out Alltel. Should be a done deal by the end of summer. Be tough to beat that coverage package in the midwest.

[LOTWSvirgin]

The only problem I have had with alltel Verizon was insurance on my phone there is certain stores that could access my account becoause of the switch over to verizon I didnt quite understand it myself but I called alltel and they overnighted me a phone for free so really no problem at all

[LMITOUT]

Wish-I-Were-Fishn:

Another thing you could look at is the coverage maps that most cell companies have on their websites. Although, if you're voice-only with no data then it hardly matters who owns what towers (Verizon/Alltel buy-out for example) because each company utilizes other company's towers anyway.

[benelli_dude2002]

had Verizon for about 5 years now. I recently added Canada on my package, pay a little more but it sure beats paying the roaming and long distance charges. For some reason my phone dont work though in the Morson area. It worked up there this winter. I even talked to a Verizon rep and they didnt really have an answer. oh well it works everywhere else in Canada. As a over the road driver I have been making more trips into Canada. Now back in the USA I seen it where my buddy will be talking on his phone ( verizon also) and my call was dropped and he just kept talking. weird I thought, maybe its the phones or something. I was surprised I got a signal up at Garden Island this winter. Been happy with Verizon so far. except for the Morson bit in a way but then the wife cant call me and say...." so when you gonna be home?".....can you hear me now.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

AT&T says "more bars in more places". Is this true?

[jwhjr]

I've had AT&T for a little over 5 yrs now and have been nothing but happy. I get coverage up north everywhere I go, and can't recall any dropped calls. My friend's dad just dropped T-Mobile up at his lake place and switched to AT&T because all of a sudden he couldn't make any calls unless he went to Brainerd. It turns out that T-Mobile wasn't renewing their lease with AT&T on the tower near his place.

[Dave S]

Verizon is well into the process of buying out Alltel. Should be a done deal by the end of summer. Be tough to beat that coverage package in the midwest.

If I'm not mistaken, Verizon is being forced by the FCC to sell off some of their areas to AT&T due to overlapping areas. So some of the towers that used to be Verizon and/or Alltel will eventually become AT&T towers within the next year.

[Sandmannd]

I've had sprint for eight years and get service almost everywhere I go.

[Random guy]

Originally Posted By: Bryce

Verizon is well into the process of buying out Alltel. Should be a done deal by the end of summer. Be tough to beat that coverage package in the midwest.

If I'm not mistaken, Verizon is being forced by the FCC to sell off some of their areas to AT&T due to overlapping areas. So some of the towers that used to be Verizon and/or Alltel will eventually become AT&T towers within the next year.

Verizon bought Unicel that used to cover Waskish and it has been an absolute nightmare. Unicel was great, clear calls, NEVER a dropped call and customer service was top notch then Verizon bought them out. Now I average about ten dropped calls a day when I can even get signal, I call customer service (normaly on hold for half an hour)and get a different answer as to why every time I call. Verizon reps say they are going to look into it and notify me of the results of the "service ticket" but I never do hear back I really wish we had another option in my area.

[DTro]

Like Pierbridge, I’ve been with AirTouch Cellular (Verizon ) for almost 20 years now. I can use my phone when others can’t when I’m up on Vermilion and other areas around there.

My experience with their customer service has been top notch and they always have made sure I was happy. I know at any time I can just dial *611 and I will get a live person within minutes to answer any question I might have.

Verizon’s prices are a bit more than others, but in my opinion it is worth it.

[leech~~]

I second Sandman, I had T mobile and couldn't reach anyone when up north. Last year I called my wife from the resort up at Oak Island on LOW's with Sprint.

[crothmeier]

i love verizon, works at the deer cabin, on LOTW, at the lake cabin, and NO ROAMING wherever i may go. few dropped calls, and almost always a bar or two, i have to be in the boonies to have a searching for service screen, but usually thats only for a minute or two

[katoguy]

Like Pierbridge, I’ve been with AirTouch Cellular (Verizon ) for almost 20 years now. I can use my phone when others can’t when I’m up on Vermilion and other areas around there.

20 years, really? How big was the cell phone back then? How expensive were they? I am never cutting edge with technology as I always wait for bugs to be worked out and prices to drop. I didn't buy my first cell phone till 10 years ago and into my 30's.

[DTro]

Nothing much bigger or better than good old bag phone

I didn’t have that one very long.

I’m pretty sure this was my first actual “mobile” phone or at least very similar. In comparison, I think the battery was about the same size as the one on my laptop now.

I try to upgrade my phone at least once a year, or however often they allow me promotional pricing. It is a good way to always have a fairly new phone and stay up with the latest and greatest. I haven’t had a land line in over 10 years now I think.

[katoguy]

Nice man purse! lol

I also got rid of my land line in late 1999.

Alltel/Verizon locks me in for 2 years, but I can upgrade after 1.5 years (I think). The battery is about shot then anyway.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I think I would want an iPhone, or something like it.

But, I wouldn't expect 3G coverage in remote areas, just to be able to talk would work.

Need AT&T to get an iPhone.