Mobile Networks..who's Really Best?. Or Worst?

Figure this group is really in the know..Who has the best nationwide coverage for real? Or maybe the question should be who sucks?...Additionally; Any carriers cater to Drivers?

Verizon hands down especially since now they have an unlimited plan. AT&T is second best but all others I would avoid.

Yeah Verizon rocks. Straight talk uses Verizon towers but for whatever reason they aren't as good--more dropped calls out in the boonies and data doesn't stream as fast in my experience.

I use Verizon, switched from Sprint as to this day there is no LTE coverage where I live. I traveled 90% in my last job, and Verizon seemed to be everywhere I went, so I stayed with them. I would image just about every carrier out there has good coverage along the major interstates and highways. The clincher to get me to change is if I found the places I frequented lacked coverage, then I would shop for a new provider. I have buddy who just went to a dedicated port to rail job, he has Verizon, has had it for years, but in his new job the port has a few dead spots, but AT&T has coverage, he is thinking about switching.

Just as an fyi - I am not sure how many Vet's are here, but if you take your DD-214 into Verizon they will give you a 15% Military Discount on the unlimited plan.

Thanks for that.....Is there an amature radio (HAM) crowd rolling around out there?

Verizon hands down especially since now they have an unlimited plan. AT&T is second best but all others I would avoid.

TBH, I think they are really only 2 valid choices for truckers. Verizon (unlimited plan). Or Cricket (unlimited plan). Btw, Cricket uses AT&T towers since they are owned by AT&T.

Btw, A LOT of Trucking companies have a discount with Verizon (up to 18%). Verizon is targeting truckers. There are more than a few truck stops with Verizon stores/kiosks in them.

I have T Mobile unlimited talk text and data. For $50 a month I can deal with the dropped calls or bad service in mountains or deserts.

I even have unlimited hotspot...but its s an old plan so I was grandfathered in. Verizon I got rid of because they absolutely did not cover my home....everywhere but my two block radius.

Prime has a package with Sprint for drivers. Its like $15 per week no contract unlimited everything.

A little off topic, but cell phone carriers do not own towers. They lease space on a tower owned by another company (Crown Castle, SBA, etc. ) that leases the land from a land owner. Most of the major providers use the same equipment as their competitors and share the same tower as well.

I have noticed that sometimes the available coverage you have depends on the device that you use. For instance, my wife and I both have AT&T and several years ago my phone would have coverage where hers did not. We have the same phone model now.

I spent 4.5 years (2000-2004) in construction and equipment upgrades in cellular communications industry.

I've had a lot of different carriers over the years, including Sprint, Boost, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. They have all made me mad one way or another which is why I have switched so often. (My wife used to work in the phone industry, including mobile phones, so I have learned a few things about how they operate along the way.)

When I was training, I had Verizon and my trainer had AT&T. For the most part, we both had coverage wherever we went. Sometimes out in the boonies, one of us would have coverage and the other wouldn't, about 50/50 between the two carriers. So I would rate AT&T pretty much equal with Verizon for coverage.

AT&T is also definitely less expensive than Verizon for unlimited data or high data usage, with the possible exception of getting some great discount with Verizon that you can't get with AT&T. (Keep in mind that I am generally paying for somewhere between 3 and 5 lines (depending on whether the missus and I are also running tablets) so your mileage may vary. Verizon was generally costing me about $380 per month with that many lines, AT&T was about $250 for the same plan.) I burn about 25-30 GB per month when I'm running full out OTR , since I stream movies on weekend resets. Depending on how they are set up and whatever current state of the various class-action lawsuits is, the plan you pay for to get truly unlimited download rates may vary.

I had recently switched back to T-Mobile. That worked until I went back on the road and discovered that there was absolutely no coverage five miles from the interstates where I do most of my running now. It's working well for my wife, so she still has two lines with them for a great price. I went back to AT&T on a monthly plan since I now own all my phones and they are network unlocked.

The most important thing I can say is don't ever trust what a mobile phone sales person says is included or not included or whether you'll have coverage. They either don't know or they lie. Check the company website for coverage maps. And read the fine print for details of data usage and download rates if that is important to you. And watch out for taxes, fees, and surcharges. And try to avoid switching just to upgrade your phone -- it's generally not worth it, since these phones aren't really worth $600 or more if you ask me. Older models with slightly fewer features are a much better value, unless you really have to have the latest and greatest to impress yourself or your friends.

I love my T-Mobile service for so many other reasons than just coverage. Verizon outstrips them, but T-Mobile just bought a huge chunk of the 600mhz spectrum and it's going to really punch them up in par with the other "big 3" carriers. My setup is my T-Mobile phone, tethered to a Verizon business account data hotspot, and running with a signal booster. Never a problem.