Best Mobile Carrier

[Sheriffdoug]

Originally Posted by macmcintire

I used to have ATT. But while I was camping in Zion, the Grand Canyon, Bryce, and other places I had no reception. I also had no reception out in the desert in central Nevada. Then I switched to Verizon. Now there are very few places where I do not have cell phone coverage. And in places where I have no coverage, I turn on my cell phone extender than I installed in my SMB and I usually can get great coverage.

Mac,
I have comments on another site where they use both Verizon & AT&T, together with a Wilson Antennae and can be lucky in some remote situations to get one or the other. But I now believe Verizon is Analogue & AT&T is digital, true?
Doug

[macmcintire]

Originally Posted by Sheriffdoug

Mac,
I have comments on another site where they use both Verizon & AT&T, together with a Wilson Antennae and can be lucky in some remote situations to get one or the other. But I now believe Verizon is Analogue & AT&T is digital, true?
Doug

You are asking the wrong guy. I don't have a technical cell in my body.

[COkid]

I don't have a lot to add to what's already been covered but here's a summary of my experience...

My phone is on Verizon. My wife's is on AT&T. (Different work accounts.)

We've traveled by motorhome throughout 49 states and 7 Canadian provinces. It is pretty common that when I don't have coverage, my wife does. One particular example: In Talkeetna, Alaska, I had no signal at all. My wife had 5 bars.

There are many areas where neither of us had a signal.

Net: I don't think there is a *best* carrier. Don't plan on coverage in remote areas.

Smiles,
Alan

[COkid]

Originally Posted by Sheriffdoug

Mac,
I have comments on another site where they use both Verizon & AT&T, together with a Wilson Antennae and can be lucky in some remote situations to get one or the other. But I now believe Verizon is Analogue & AT&T is digital, true?
Doug

All carriers are digital. Analog has been phased out. But, there are different flavors of digital - CDMA for Verizon and Sprint; GSM for AT&T and T-Mobile.

[boywonder]

^^^^^^what he said.


As far as roaming goes, pretty much all of the Verizon plans that we have had in recent years are unlimited talk & text.......even with the old flip phones.

Doug: I would investigate a month long (or however long you will be stateside) Verizon plan using your own hardware (free from me if you don't mind beat up flip phones that work fine and hold a decent charge). That's probably the cheapest option if you just need voice and text & you don't need smartphones.

...or just pick up a cheap Verizon pre-paid plan.

[derJack]

Originally Posted by Sheriffdoug

G'day,
Which carrier gives the best service out on the road in AZ, UT, CA & CO way from cities, please?
Doug.

You are in the Sportsmobile section 4x4!
Shouldn´t this be placed somewhere else? I don´t get the 4x4 Part out of this topic

[PeteM]

Our experience matches others, that Verizon postpaid (contract) has the most extensive coverage in rural western United States. However Verizon prepaid service is much more limited, particularly in those rural areas.

Second best coverage in the west seems to be ATT postpaid service, or Consumer Cellular which is a non-contract ATT MVNO that includes rural voice and data roaming. None of the other MVNO / prepaid services I've seen include full non-native network roaming that is critical for rural traveling.

[Viva]

Originally Posted by PeteM

Our experience matches others, that Verizon postpaid (contract) has the most extensive coverage in rural western United States. However Verizon prepaid service is much more limited, particularly in those rural areas.

One additional note is that you can get the "good" Verizon (post-paid) service area without a contract if you bring your own phone. In my case I bought a used iPhone on eBay (the idea of a contract just grates on me). So in summary I brought my own phone, have a post-paid plan (and so the better coverage), but have no contract.

Just another permutation.

(Of course the reason there is no contract is that they are not subsidizing the phone over X period of time; the post paid still does require a credit check etc.)