Verizon vs. AT&T Coverage

[DaveS]

I wish some enterprising soul would come up with an App that rendered the signal strength in different colors. ..
(some text clipped)
If 5-bars was Green, 4-bars in Blue, etc etc it might be very handy.
Best,
Casey&Mary

Ok....except for the few of us that are color blind to some colors... :wink

 

[DaveS]

I previously had AT&T but switched to Verizon and have experienced no problems. This past summer as with previous summers, when I went into Canada, I added Canadian coverage for about $10 per month. This past summer it took a bit of time and research at my local Verizon store to accomplish this...but we "Got 'er Done..... :thup

Then when I returned to the states, I went back to Verizon and had the feature removed.

 

[rogerbum]

ATand T in the san juans kinds of sucks. I have had att for years and it works most places in the seattle to bellingham area. But in the Islands its very limited and most times I get kicked over to Rogers ( Canadian Cell ) any where west of friday harbor. Even 10 miles from the border.

Even in Anacortes, Verizon will kick over to a Canadian tower but I never get charged. Sometimes I've had to call and just say where I was. Other than that, how is the coverage on your phone in the SJ's? More blank than bars or is it just the bars are Canadian?

Anybody have experience with AT&T offshore? That was one nice thing have coverage at Blue Dot while being the only boat out there. My 23 was dwarfed by the 7-8 foot swells.

The coverage for AT&T off the W end of N Washington coast is non-existant. The only reliable cell phone coverage in Neah Bay is Verizon and the same is true offshore. That's why I have Verizon. I get coverage well beyond Blue Dot and have had calls as a far out as 45miles. I can text a little farther than that. I'm going to buy a cell phone signal repeater/amplifier/antenna combo for next summer and I bet with that I'll get coverage to 60+ miles off shore.

I also had to give up my unlimited data plan on Verizon when I got my new phone. I really dragged my feet on that since the unlimited was nice. However, I found I rarely used more than a couple of gb of data. So I wound up with the shared 4GB plan and for my phone, my wife's and my mom's it came out a little cheaper than what I was paying before.

 

[tcr_pnw]

The coverage for AT&T off the W end of N Washington coast is non-existant. The only reliable cell phone coverage in Neah Bay is Verizon and the same is true offshore. That's why I have Verizon. I get coverage well beyond Blue Dot and have had calls as a far out as 45miles. I can text a little farther than that. I'm going to buy a cell phone signal repeater/amplifier/antenna combo for next summer and I bet with that I'll get coverage to 60+ miles off shore.

This is the info I was hoping to find out. Thanks Roger!

I also had to give up my unlimited data plan on Verizon when I got my new phone. I really dragged my feet on that since the unlimited was nice. However, I found I rarely used more than a couple of gb of data. So I wound up with the shared 4GB plan and for my phone, my wife's and my mom's it came out a little cheaper than what I was paying before.

When I told Verizon I would be leaving, they offered me a 6GB data plan for the same $30/mo. I haven't gone over that amount in the life of my plan so I think all is good to go.

 

[smittypaddler]

I have Verizon LTE and use the HotSpot function on my iPad to connect my laptop to the internet. When I get a good connection, speed is very satisfactory. But sometimes even though Google Chrome gets to the internet on my iPad, any browser or mail handler on my laptop can't. Sometimes it's only for a few minutes, other times like today, it's 24 hours. Usually I can get it to work by turning off HotSpot on the iPad and disabling WiFi on the laptop for a few minutes. The past 24 hours, with repeated attempts, I finally had to completely power off and on the iPad to get it to work, which is how I got the connection to write this. A search on Google shows lots of other folks having the same problem, with no solutions. All the comments I've read say Verizon's tech support is no help, usually insisting it's a defect on the device attempting to use HotSpot. If it weren't for this one problem I'd be very happy with Verizon.

 

[Sunbeam]

I wish some enterprising soul would come up with an App that monitored cellphone signal strength and GPS location, and rendered the signal strength in different colors. ...think how nice that would be at Lake Powell (and other locale's).

I'm not sure this is exactly what you are talking about, but have you tried the app "Coverage?". A pair of techno-savvy nomads created it so that they (and now others) could check ahead to see if/what kind of coverage there would be along the way (they are younger and work on the road, so connectivity influences some of their travel plans).

 

[JamesTXSD]

I have Verizon LTE and use the HotSpot function on my iPad to connect my laptop to the internet. When I get a good connection, speed is very satisfactory. But sometimes even though Google Chrome gets to the internet on my iPad, any browser or mail handler on my laptop can't. Sometimes it's only for a few minutes, other times like today, it's 24 hours. Usually I can get it to work by turning off HotSpot on the iPad and disabling WiFi on the laptop for a few minutes. The past 24 hours, with repeated attempts, I finally had to completely power off and on the iPad to get it to work, which is how I got the connection to write this. A search on Google shows lots of other folks having the same problem, with no solutions. All the comments I've read say Verizon's tech support is no help, usually insisting it's a defect on the device attempting to use HotSpot. If it weren't for this one problem I'd be very happy with Verizon.

We have been using one of our phones as a hotspot for the past two years. No land lines, DSL, or cable modem, so it is our only way to connect to the internet. When I had a similar situation as you describe, only with the Droid I was using at the time, a Verizon tech rep told me, "You really should be shutting the phone down completely once a day or at least a couple times a week."

"Really? Never heard of that." Turns out it made a real difference. I don't know if it shuts down any apps that are running in the background or what, but it eliminates the issue with the hotspot not putting out a signal (even when the phone said it was). So, even with the iPhone I'm currently using, I make it a point to shut it off once in a while. When we're home, or somewhere that we have power, it's not unusual for me to leave the hotspot turned on all day/night. I don't know if it's a Verizon thing or the equipment, but it works.

Hope that helps.

Jim B.

 

[hardee]

I had ATT for 12 years but changed to Verizon for better coverage in our area. Had a workable plan. One trip into Canada, and had to change my plan because Verizon told me I could not just "Add Canada". 2 months later, I am still trying to get my original plan back to functioning. My last bill was $168 with over $75 in text charges :evil: because my original test plan didn't get restored.

I happen to like Verizon coverage, reasonable call holding, and the folks at the store are very helpful BUT the account service and tech support and phone updates (Motorola, Verizon and Android) drive me crazy, and the saga continues.............

Considering going back to smoke signals and my tin can and wire :shock: :?

Harvey
SleepyC:moon

 

[JamesTXSD]

I mentioned that we don't use our Verizon phone in Canada, but didn't explain why. With the old service plan we have (that still allows us unlimited data usage), ANY change we make, such as adding Canada coverage (that some folks have said they are able to do for $20 additional per month), and our old plan goes away. So, it is better for us to use a pay-as-you-go phone in Canada and find wifi for data usage.

This month was a new high for data usage for us: over 25 gig. I downloaded a new operating system for my Mac, reloaded all our apps for a new iPad and iPhone. Joan watched a couple TV shows on abc.com. It adds up fast. That would have cost me an additional $90 - $100 under a new plan. Doesn't take long at that rate to cost justify buying a new phone outright, as opposed to getting it subsidized.

Jim B.