Cell coverage

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Marvin S
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Cell coverage

Post by Marvin S »

So I am changing some things to save a couple bucks and be more useful to me. Added cellular dailer to home alarm which is actually cheaper than the land line it was on. This allows me to disconnect the land line and save 40 bucks a month. I have an old Tracphone that has terrible coverage and will let it expire beginning the next year. Thinking of a prepaid no contract smartphone that are about 30 to 45 a month depending on carrier. One is total wireless @ $35 mo unlimited talk and text with 6 gb data. The other is Verizon $40 mo 3 gb. My biggest complaint with Trac Phone is coverage and total wireless is supposed to be a division of Trac Phone. Any phone smart people here? Thanks
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Blaine
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Blaine »

Verizon is not the cheapest, but I've taken it all over the country and get service when others around me with other companies have no bars. Some WalMart phones, not all, use Verizon and the coverage is the same and it's cheaper. If my 7 year old Samsung ever stops working I'm going to give WalMart a look.
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765x53
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by 765x53 »

My Tracphone costs 22 dollars every 3months and I have excellent coverage everywhere.
Marvin S
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Marvin S »

Okay I’ve done some more reading and looks like Verizon and AT&T are best with Verizon having the edge for me. My tracfone is an MVNO which is supposed to use all the major carriers but I think it just uses Sprints which is the worst of all.
jnyork
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by jnyork »

Might be different where you live, but in Wyoming Verizon service is absolutely the pits, once you get a few miles out of town you are SOL.
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Old No7
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Old No7 »

jnyork wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:59 pm Might be different where you live, but in Wyoming Verizon service is absolutely the pits, once you get a few miles out of town you are SOL.
Maine or Wyoming or wherever -- I'd check the cell coverage first...

I once Google'd for "cell coverage maps" here in Maine and I was able to find detailed maps and info for each carrier -- and as a result, my work and personal cells stayed on two different carriers. That way, I can easily "hotspot" on one to make sure the other works too.

Good luck.

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Marvin S
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Marvin S »

jnyork wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:59 pm Might be different where you live, but in Wyoming Verizon service is absolutely the pits, once you get a few miles out of town you are SOL.
I like to visit WY for fishing, what carrier is best for you? I like the Encampment area
Pisgah
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Pisgah »

If you haven't already, check out Consumer Cellular. They have some mighty attractive plans and you can sign up online and have your new phone in a couple of days.
Marvin S
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Marvin S »

I scoured many coverage maps of the four major providers and Verizon and AT&T come out on top. All the cheaper plans are MVNO (Mobil virtual network operators) that buy unused time from the major provides. Tracfone is supposed to use everyone’s service / towers but as a second rate citizen IMHO. Total wireless has great sounding plans but I’m gun shy after the Tracfone experience.
Twodot
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Twodot »

Marvin S wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:46 pm
jnyork wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:59 pm Might be different where you live, but in Wyoming Verizon service is absolutely the pits, once you get a few miles out of town you are SOL.
I like to visit WY for fishing, what carrier is best for you? I like the Encampment area
If I go to Wyoming to fish, I don't WANT cell coverage ;)
..
Marvin S
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Marvin S »

Twodot wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:48 pm
Marvin S wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:46 pm
jnyork wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:59 pm Might be different where you live, but in Wyoming Verizon service is absolutely the pits, once you get a few miles out of town you are SOL.
I like to visit WY for fishing, what carrier is best for you? I like the Encampment area
If I go to Wyoming to fish, I don't WANT cell coverage ;)
..
I like to have the coverage to check my security cameras, not to talk to people.
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earlmck
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by earlmck »

I've been using Tracfone for several years at about $10/ mo. The Tracfone company may use any major carrier but each individual "fone" only uses whichever one had the Tracfone contract for the area where you bought the Tracfone. When I bought my present Tracfone it is using Verizon which is the best service in this area. A few years later the wife bought one but it uses AT&T, which is as good as Verizon around all the towns here until you go out in the hills at which time Verizon is best once again. So we each have a Tracfone but they are using different carriers.

An old Tracfone that doesn't have good coverage is just using a carrier that isn't a good one for your area.
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Rusty
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by Rusty »

whatever carrier you choose they all generally give you a 3 day return policy if you can't get service in your area. I'm partial to Verizon myself. If I'm in an area that doesn't have coverage nobody else does either but those areas are few and far between.
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KWK
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Re: Cell coverage

Post by KWK »

TracFone buys air time from three of the four major carriers. If you own your phone outright ("unlocked"), you can select which to use. I recently bought my son leaving for college a Moto G6, an "unlocked" smartphone which supports the signaling standards of all three carriers used by TracFone. When you buy the SIM card kit from TracFone, it includes three SIM cards, for Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. He chose Verizon.

If you buy a phone from TracFone, it will be locked to whichever carrier is giving them the best deal at that time. Apple is dumping stocks of the recently discontinued SE model, and these are locked to Verizon. (After a year or two of continuous service on TracFone, you can have it unlocked and use it when traveling overseas, with a temporary SIM card bought there.)

My wife's TracFone SIM is for Verizon, and that in my old phone was for AT&T. At a major airport shut due to weather, neither of us could make a call. Preference goes, of course, to those paying full fare direct to the carrier; we TracFone users are lower priority. Other than that one isolated incident, TracFone has been excellent for us.
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