Cell Coverage

I am sure everyone here knows which cell phone company has the best coverage. I have Sprint right now, and they have garbage coverage even here in the Metro minneapolis-saint Paul area. Any advice on who to go with?

I am sure everyone here knows which cell phone company has the best coverage. I have Sprint right now, and they have garbage coverage even here in the Metro minneapolis-saint Paul area. Any advice on who to go with?

We talk about this on a weekly basis.

Here is a post that was started 4 days ago that is listed just below yours on the main page of the forum: Phone service provider

Also you can try typing in "cell phone service" in the search function at the top of the forum and get a ton of previous posts on the subject.

Verizon has the best coverage overall but they're also the most expensive. AT&T is second in coverage and their cost is pretty similar to Verizon.

That's odd. I'm with Sprint and have had no issues up that way. I may not have the best data speeds in the world but I've never had an issue with cellular service.

I'm with AT&T, and I think their biggest dead zone is just south of us on the little roads (137 specifically) between I-20 and I-10 in west Texas. There's some gaps on I-20 going through NM and AZ as well.

Like other have said Verizon will be the best for coverage but also the most costly.

here's a site that has the 4 major carriers (plus us cellular) coverage maps.

compare cell phone coverage

AT&T is pretty good for the east half of usa but gets a bit spotty on west half

Sprint looks like it's only good along the major highways and cities of the midwest... everywhere else is just hit n miss

TMobile looks decent in the central US as well as Florida but spotty everywhere else.

us cellular isn't even up for comparison...

verizon has coverage almost everywhere... few spotty areas on the west 1/3 of usa but honestly chances of driving there are slim enough that it wouldn't be an issue. to the point where really no one has coverage in those areas.

I'll also say the same thing I say in every topic like this... if you want the best coverage and a cheap price get verizon, get a tablet with a data only plan, you can get like 6gb of data for about $50-$60 a month or so (I currently have 4gb and pay about $45 total and that's plenty for me), don't use it as source of entertainment as things like youtube videos will suck your data like no tomorrow. get a google voice number (it's free), download the hangouts app (I think that's android only so no ipads), download the hangouts dialer app, configure google voice to fwd calls to google hangouts. tuh dah... you now have a tablet you can use as a phone and it'll cost less than having a smartphone with verizon.

verizon's new service plan though is a little cheaper because all plans are the same accept data allowance and smartphone fees was lowered from $40 to $20, but tablet is still cheaper if you're trying to save the most money... plus you get a bigger screen... always nice for things like gps.

Best bet is to just get one of each. Wherever you are, one of them is bound to work.

Best bet is to just get one of each. Wherever you are, one of them is bound to work.

Good idea. A prepaid At&t go phone or AT&T MVNO like Cricket, and a prepaid Verizon or MVNO that uses Verizon towers / network, like Pageplus would be less than contract with either company. 45 a piece for smart phones with data. 90 dollars for both the biggest networks. 30 dollars if you just want voice and text for an extra coverage / emergency phone. I'm a fan of prepaid, set them for auto draft and don't worry about it, same amount each month and they usually discount for auto draft. You could have both networks for 80 with autodraft.

I heard from relatives that AT&T has improved coverage now in Nebraska. They use to have a lot of holes.

Keep in mind that if you just want a phone for true emergencies, any modern cell phone can call 911 without paying for service.

Keep in mind that if you just want a phone for true emergencies, any modern cell phone can call 911 without paying for service.

except tablets using google voice for phone service :P

that's the one negative to my tablet for a phone thing. I can't call 911 as google does not support in their voice system. I would have to borrow a phone or call the local police dept main number.... so ugh yeah... don't have an emergency around me.