Cell Carriers or Service

colbysmith

colbysmith

Active member
We are looking to change carriers from Verizon and I’d like to get some input from folks here who travel out of their local region. I’m currently considering T-Mobiles 55+ plan. We both have iPhones and looking for something good with voice, texting and data. We’re looking at unlimited, but most months 5Gb combined would probably suffice. However several months out of the year up to 20gb would be more appropriate. Cost is a priority, along with coverage and customer service. And national coverage. Including Canada preferred.
 
Hi Colby,

I just switched to the AT&T Unlimited Extra plan. Works well for me, providing essentially unlimited (for my needs) data and hotspot in SE AK, where WiFi is mostly unavailable. I'm about to head south through BC, where it provides unlimited talk text and data as well.
 
Colby, this is going to be interesting. Thanks for bringing it up. I have Verizon too, and due to a JetPak failure, I just changed to a new plan to make my phone the hotspot. Don't particular like the $$$, but I have had better coverage with Verizon than I did with ATT, and the covers the PNW and when I could be up there, the Canada program.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

January_2010_344.thumb.jpg
 
At one time I had Sprint, and it worked well, but customer service stunk. Every time a change was made, it took several months and calls to get the kinks worked out in billing. I also had US Cellular for a while. Great service, and could talk anywhere. However, they are more regional in nature, and out west our data was pretty much non-existent. We've been sharing on a plan with my wife's sister, involving another sister and a niece and her kid. And our kids as well. That is the current Verizon plan. We've been happy with it, other than our coverage right here at home is almost borderline as we can drop calls in our house. And our data is not unlimited, so we have to monitor usage. But the time has come where we'd like to get our own plan that meets just our needs, leaving the family plan and letting the adult kids start to meet their own cell needs! My wife has been looking off and on at plans, but thus far, nothing has stood out that would agree with our use and pocketbook. We need something that provides national coverage for talk, text and data. Including Canada would be ideal, but not critically necessary. Some months we can get by with 3-4 GB, but then some months we'd go over 20 GB if we had it available. So far, T-Mobile seems to have a pretty good plan that meets our needs, the middle 55+ plan with two lines, at $70/month. So far I've gotten a lot of comments, both good and bad, from others on a local facebook community group. And so many reviews out in the media also, that vary. As for comments about no coverage in certain areas, we experience that with Verizon now. I'm putting a lot of value in comments from folks that travel like we do. One in particular that has T-Mobile, and that we've boated together several times in various locations, and we both seem to get similar coverage from our phones. Mine the Iphone 7, his the Iphone 12. So I know that what phone one has also may affect what coverage they experience. So while I'm currently leaning towards the T-Mobil plan, I'm still listening to what others share about their experiences before making our final choice. Colby
 
Many years ago I found that Verizon had the best coverage and so I stuck with them even though the price is a bit higher and customer service is a PITA. It used to be that T-Mobile worked fine as long as you were in or close to urban areas. I guess maybe they've expanded their network some.

Of course, if you are out in the back of beyond, you probably shouldn't expect a decent cell phone signal no matter the carrier.

FWIW, back in the day when cell phones had an analog signal mode, I found that sometimes you could get an analog connection farther out even if the digital signal did not work (the phone switched modes automatically). Phones are all digital now and I don't think analog mode would even work on the networks now. Good ol' dual mode StarTac.
 
Of course, if you are out in the back of beyond, you probably shouldn't expect a decent cell phone signal no matter the carrier.
Click to expand...

And I think that is probably the cold hard truth! As I said, I currently have Verizon, and there are a lot of locations I've driven through or been that coverage is lacking. I just had someone recommend an app to me that will show the various carriers coverage, and you can overlay them on each other. "Coverage". There is still a lot of dark spaces out west, and north of here. Regardless which carrier is used.
 
I have friends that were on Verizon, switched to T-Mobile when they moved to Sequim and then had to install Cell boosters at the house and on the boat. That has helped, but if they are out walking the dogs, our calls get dropped or "spacey" frequently.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

January_2010_346.thumb.jpg
 
Also, keep in mind that the utility of your cell phone also depends on the make and even the model of the phone you use. For instance, I have two different LG phones that use Verizon. One gets better cell reception at my house (and other places) than the other. Being that it is the same location and the same carrier, this difference can only be due to the phone. Ironically, the less expensive phone works better for calls than the more expensive one.

It seems that sometimes that the phone manufacturers spend all their time working on features, bells and whistles, fancy displays, etc., and the actual ability to make phone calls gets short changed.

Remember Steve Jobs saying "You're holding it wrong." This can apply too.

Unfortunately, cell phone reviews concentrate on the features and rarely discuss how well the phone actually works when used as a phone.
 
We were early adopters, from back in the bag phone days. There was a time when we each had two cell phones, Sprint and whatever Verizon was before it became Verizon. With our wandering lifestyle, this worked when we were in areas that had mediocre Verizon coverage. We dumped the Sprint service about 18 years ago, when Verizon clearly outpaced the competition. We check every other year or so, and Verizon is still the clear leader in the places we travel.

There are the rare times we need to use our cell booster (over a year ago that we last pulled it out). Being grandfathered in with unlimited data a couple decades ago, we also check the service plan to see if there is anything works better. We don't make a lot of calls, don't send or receive many texts, but we go through a lot of data. We gave up using a jet pack 10 years ago, when we found we could get the same results by using my phone as a hotspot and saved $30 per month.

In 2001, my traveling data came via a PCMCIA card in a laptop... I couldn't use 2 gb a month, no matter how often I was online. These days, using 60 to 70 gb in a month is easy. The only drawback was having to pay additional for data when getting a Canadian cell signal (which happened frequently when we were in the Pacific Northwest).

My old unlimited plan did not include "North American" coverage (US only), so no Canada or Mexico. We got around that by buying a "per minute" phone in Canada and only giving that number to family, for emergency use. Very inexpensive.

We still do a fair share of wandering, and Verizon continues to work well for us. (I do compare service coverage from time to time.)

If you stay in one place, it is easy to find the least expensive carrier. Wandering? We've found Verizon is still the best coverage.
 
No doubt that Verizon still has the best coverage, even if it’s not complete coverage. I think the question for me is it worth the higher cost, and just how much worse would T-Mobile be? I think in the end it’s just going to boil down to the only way I’ll know how it works for us is to try it….
 
One thing to try is to get a "burner" phone from one of the companies that use the T-Mobile network in your area (e.g. Mint Mobile). For $25 or so you can get a phone and a month's access to their network. Use the phone for a month and see how it goes. This will save the hassle of switching carriers and then having to switch back or to a different one if T-Mobile doesn't work out.

You can get phones at Family Doller, Dollar General, Walmart, etc.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to take the sim card from your current phone and stick in the new. If you want to transfer the number you have to go through the whole transfer process.
 
One thing to try is to get a "burner" phone from one of the companies that use the T-Mobile network in your area (e.g. Mint Mobile). For $25 or so you can get a phone and a month's access to their network. Use the phone for a month and see how it goes. This will save the hassle of switching carriers and then having to switch back or to a different one if T-Mobile doesn't work out.

You can get phones at Family Doller, Dollar General, Walmart, etc.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to take the sim card from your current phone and stick in the new. If you want to transfer the number you have to go through the whole transfer process.
Click to expand...

That probably makes a lot of sense. Something to do before taking a long trip somewhere. In our case, we want to leave our current Verizon plan anyway, as we are sharing with several other family members and just want to get our own plan. We have our own phones and as long as they transfer, preferably any plan we join will just be a monthly subscription, rather than annual or longer. Colby
 
We have used A T &T cellphones for 20 + years (not always the best, but decent, and family members have A T & T. We also have a Verizon "Jet pack" 50 gig a month data with plan from Family motor coach association. (Did have a Verizon "burner" phone.

Definitely Verizon has better coverage along the coastal areas, where we boat. Neither works well at my daughter's home in the middle of Culver City, CA.

I have been told that T Mobile is fine-uses towers of other carriers, but especially in urban areas, during high useage times, the "'T Mobile" is going going to be overwhelmed and be transferred more frequently between towers.
 
I have been told that T Mobile is fine-uses towers of other carriers, but especially in urban areas, during high useage times, the "'T Mobile" is going going to be overwhelmed and be transferred more frequently between towers.
Click to expand...

I just did some googling, and it sounds like T-Mobile owns a lot of it's own towers. Here's a good article that shows how T-Mobile is not really that far behind ATT and Verizon in coverage.

https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/G ... verage-map

Colby
 
JamesTXSD":igcbnwel said:
from back in the bag phone days.
Click to expand...

Kids found it amusing but the best mobile I ever had was the old Motorola analog bag phone. It was recommended for use on a boat as it transmitted at a higher wattage than cell phones or the newer digital bag phone and it was built like a tank.

Regarding Canadian pay as you go - there is no longer a free plan that I know of. A year or so ago they started a $5.00 minimum monthly charge then upped it to $10.00 now. I have one that is seldom on and just for emergency use mainly.

Regards,

Rob
 
Back
Top