# Cell Phone Coverage



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Agnews polled this question about a week ago and here are the results...

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/farmers_report_semi-strong_cell_signals_NAA_Sara_Schafer/


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## ETXhayman (Jul 19, 2012)

Around where I'm at everyone seems to get "okay" reception, doesn't matter which service provider you have.

I don't ever see cell phones replacing land lines when it comes to reliability.


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## jpritchett (Sep 22, 2009)

What cell phone provider does everyone use on here? I have Verizon right now and have been thinking about switching to Viaero.


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## ETXhayman (Jul 19, 2012)

AT&T. Am thinking about switching to T-Mobile(?). I think it is T-Mobile that doesn't require you to get a contract. I'm sick of getting stuck with contracts!


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Using Verizon now also. Signal is lots better than Sprint around my place....I could see couple towers but didn't have a signal ~ 1/2 the time. We are also tired of contracts, especially now that some with-OUT contracts have UNLIMITED talk text & internet for several $$$ less than the contract.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I bought a unlocked iPhone 5S before leaving for England, have it on Straight Talk atm, can use anyones sim card in it as it is unlocked. Used EE in England and Scotland and Orange while in France. Shut the phone off, change sims and good to go. They hand out free o2 sim cards in the airports in the UK.

If your handy with a pair of scissors micro sim cards will work with iPhones.

T-mobile literally has zero signal in my area, Verizon comes in close with a poor signal. Sprint seems a little better but not much. I've never lost signal with AT&T in my area nor with Straight Talk.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

urednecku said:


> Using Verizon now also. Signal is lots better than Sprint around my place....I could see couple towers but didn't have a signal ~ 1/2 the time. We are also tired of contracts, especially now that some with-OUT contracts have UNLIMITED talk text & internet for several $$$ less than the contract.


Straight Talk, unlimited talk, text and data for $45 a month. Might not be completely unlimited data as some claim once you get much over 2gb for the month your speed is cut down, others claim to have used 2-3 times that much and never noticed a drop in connection speed.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

This country isn't the only one with coverage problems. Every where I went I had a voice connection, but data connection was dodgy at times. I'd place the cell phone in one of the windows at the wife's aunts and turn on the hotspot so I could roam the rest of the house and still have a 3G signal, that wasn't always guaranteed.

Have a 4G signal at all times at the farm, get a little closer to the county seat and I get LTE which is as fast or faster than my DSL at home. Only time I had a 4G signal in the UK was around London and a few times in France. Was mostly stuck with 3G which is better than 2G but is still pokey once your used to 4G.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Last thing and I don't mean to hog the thread but you can get your monthly bill down. In December I called AT&T and told them I had already figured out the early termination fee and if I cancelled them and went with Straight Talk I could still save money over the remainder of my contract. They can't do much but they will connect you to a "Customer Retention Specialist". Went with the same spiel with them, got my monthly bill down enough that I'll stick with AT&T until the contract is up end of this year.

With Straight Talk I would have close to $100 a month with tax. Two $45 a month plans plus tax. I'm paying AT&T just a little over that now, so if I paid the early termination fee I'd be losing money on it. Also got a special on International Roaming so it cost me very little to use the old iPhone 5 while traveling. Figured it was easier to have two phones than trying to get my new number to anybody that had a legitimate reason to get ahold of me while traveling. Besides then didn't have to deal with people trying to figure out the international dialing thing if I just had a phone with a UK number.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I use Verizon. Why? Because it has ok coverage here at my farm. Excellent coverage every where else. At&t has ok coverage here at my farm and ok coverage everywhere else, but strangely excellent coverage in the mountains. Where I don't go to much. T-mobile has no coverage here at home nor does Cricket. So I'm going to assume most other "discount" companies don't either. I live kind of in a little valley/draw. Which is why the signal isn't to good here. At the house we even have a signal booster for our Verizon phones and it makes the signal excellent. But that's to T-mobiles aggressive marketing lately Verizon finally decided to compete and lowered my bill somewhat. They have been improving the signal around here in the rural area for the big players because not only farmers need good cell coverage, but the oil and gas industry in many ways needs it more then farmers.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Consumer Reports gives us a look at how carriers are looked at nationwide.

Regards, Mike

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57613261-94/sprint-dead-last-in-consumer-reports-phone-service-survey/


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Verizon. It is the only one to work consistently at my house. I still drop calls but get 4glte data.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

deadmoose said:


> Verizon. It is the only one to work consistently at my house. I still drop calls but get 4glte data.


Deadmoose if you have lots of dropped calls at your house and if it's fairly important to you not to have dropped calls and you have broadband internet I would recommend Verizon's signal booster. It has worked very well for us. It uses GPS and broadband internet. I don't know how or why, but it works. It also works up to about 250 feet from the house.


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## jpritchett (Sep 22, 2009)

I decided to stick with Verizon today. I got myself a Iphone 5s. Its a huge step up from a flip phone.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

jpritchett said:


> I decided to stick with Verizon today. I got myself a Iphone 5s. Its a huge step up from a flip phone.


Step up in cost per month also from a flip phone. The Iphone is the only phone that has lasted me more then 2 years. I have a 4s.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Teslan said:


> Deadmoose if you have lots of dropped calls at your house and if it's fairly important to you not to have dropped calls and you have broadband internet I would recommend Verizon's signal booster. It has worked very well for us. It uses GPS and broadband internet. I don't know how or why, but it works. It also works up to about 250 feet from the house.


Thanks for the tip. My phone is my internet so that is a no go. I believe there are other types of boosters but as of yet they are too pricey in relation to dropped calls. It doesn't bother me so much. At least not enough to spend money on a booster.


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## jpritchett (Sep 22, 2009)

we tried a booster once and it never helped the reception much in are area. I'm glad in are area over the years that the reception has gotten a lot better than it was


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