when i say best i dont mean along the interstate where any service has good signal im talking about when were out wheeling many miles away from any pavement.

Which service seems to have the most coverage of out-of-the-way places?


p.s sorry if this is in the wrong section...saw communications and just decided this would be a good section.

if someone of a "higher power" wants to make this a poll that might be helpful!

 

ive always used at&t. i have half service at my house and most other (cricket, sprint, verizon, etc.) dont have as good. it helps that their customer service is good too. verizon customer service sucks.

 

i currently have verizon but my contract is ending with them soon so i want to see my options, see if anyone has better luck with other services...and yes verizon customer service is worthless...

 

ive had no luck with at&t or sprint so i switched to verizon and am very happy with them

 

been debating about one of these boosters for my iphone:
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phone-a...-33550033.html
4WD toyota magazine got a signal out in BFE using one..

 

ive heard that those boosters work really well, but never use the little stick on antenna boosters that go behind your battery. i tried one and within minutes my phone started wigging out. i do throw those in as a bonus when im selling something on ebay though. it looks better in the title when it says "this item + a bonus"

 

as more and more people download the rootmetrics app, this will become more accurate http://www.rootmetrics.com/map/ but you can get an idea of actual coverage area for att, vzw, and sprint.

from my experience my buddy who has vzw has coverage in FAR batter coverage out in the middle of the woods than my AT&T

 

alot of it depends on your phone. for example the at&t iphone has better service than the Verizon iphone, but some verizon phone might have better service than a comparable at&t phone. most of the time Nokia and Motorola Phones have better service and LG/ Samsung phones dont have as good. you may just figure out what phone youre gonna get and read some reviews about it. different service providers have better service in different areas, so i would talk to some people that live near you and ask them.

 

Don't waste your time on one of these.
If you want a cell booster then spend a few hundred bucks on a real cell signal amplifier. I've seen one of those in use take a phone from no service to half full 3G.
Check out Wilson electronics for what I'm talking about.

 

yeah, i didnt even think about that. you put it in a space in your house such as the attic, and set the range to send signal. i think it just uses an internet connection.

 

I believe you are both talking about Microcells, and if so, you are right - they are great for your home.

For traveling, I highly recommend the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot/MiFi SCH-LC11 on Verizon. My parents have it and they get 4G just about everywhere back home in Arkansas. They live in BFE and nobody else can get them coverage like Verizon can. I used it while they were down here and I was able to mount my laptop in my truck and work from the road (I'm an I.T. Manager used to 50-100Mbps connections) just fine even when VPN'd into the office, using my virtual desktop, etc...

Of course, this will all depend on what is the most prominent provider in your area - which is where RootMetrics can help.

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I'm with Sprint purely because of their customer service. I often don't get reception up in the mountains or out of the cities though. I had Verizon, (who I left because of customer service and because I got a better deal,) and I think they were a little better in the boonies, but not much.
I also have a Sprint card for my laptop that works like dial-up but through cell-phone towers, but of course it doesn't really get any better reception than my phone. Sprint also has boosters they will send out for free if your home has bad reception, but I think it uses an internet connection so that won't help you much on the trail.

I used to put up Cell-towers though, in a lot of remote places, and it seems that different companies will have different areas they cover...If AT&T already has a tower in some far-flung place, Verizon won't put one there, because they won't make enough money to justify it off the few people that live there. Instead they will find another out of the way place with no service and put a tower there, in effect becoming the only provider in that area. So it depends what area you're in I think...

 

ya ive got Sprint cell service blows they just put a at&t cell tower behind the house soo time to get a pre paid plan that works on at&t's network

 

I meant something like this.. for in the vehicle..

http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/Pro...%29&Category=6

 

Pretty much the same thing, I think.

I will say I have never seen one that mounted in your vehicle - that's pretty awesome.

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