Ron Schenone

Which Cell Phone Companies Offer The Best And Worst Coverage?

Posted by on Jul 13, 2010 | 9 Comments

You are in the market to buy a cell phone and want service from a company that offers the best coverage where you live. How do you know which company to use? The first thing you may wish to do is ask family members and friends which company they use and how the coverage is. But if you are like I am, you also want to do some checking on your own to get other folks’ opinion about the service they are receiving as well in your area.

There are two sites that you can try to find out just how good a company’s cell service is where you live. One is DeadCell Zones, which provides an interactive map à la Google to zoom in and out of locations and also offers the ability to select from the four major carriers: Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

Another site to check to see if you live in a black hole is CellReception. This site offers what it describes as a database of over:

142,822 cell phone tower locations registered with the FCC, and over 55,300 cell phone carrier comments submitted voluntarily from real customers using their service all over the U.S.

I found CellReception very useful since it was easy to find which company offered the best coverage for my neighborhood. The comments from consumers were very helpful and I would highly recommend this site.

The importance of coverage for those of us who have dropped our landline and have gone completely to cell can not be over stated. I found my phone from AT&T had a very poor signal reception inside my home, whereas my Straight Talk phone, which uses Verizon, is great. I also believe that the phone model itself will dictate how good your signal will be.

Is there a site that you would recommend? Let us know.

Comments welcome.

Source – DeadCellZones

Source – CellReception

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/theoracle/ the oracle

    Though I never worked for a carrier that did it, I always thought having a few “trial phones” would have been a good idea, so that people can get an idea of the service, and make certain that the phone works where needed.

    Every company has dead spots, but Verizon lies about them the least, because they have the best coverage. T-Mobile is very forthright about where their coverage is lacking, and they have a liberal return policy – though it differs between company stores and authorized resellers – the authorized resellers always are harder on the return of phones.

    Sprint coverage sucks in general, and they also have the dubious distinction of having the worst customer service.

    Something I was thinking about today, when I was looking at the dealnews site, is that you can pick up a pre-paid phone very cheaply these days, and so purchasing one, such as the T-Mobile phone shown today, a nicer Motorola with some minutes on it for $15 total is a very good idea, and when you are done with your testing, it would be easy enough to sell to someone else to recoup your fifteen dollars.

    If you did this with each of the 4 major carriers (the only phones that are hard to find pre-paid deals on is Sprint, and they can be found if you look), you would be out only $60-$80 dollars max, and you will probably be able to get all your money back while having enough time to find out EXACTLY which carrier is your best choice. People should remember that they are usually signing up for at least a year’s time, many times 2 years, if on post paid plans, and that is a long time to either be miserable, or have to pay the ETFs. Paying approx. $80, with a much better than even chance that you can get out what you put in, is much better than guessing, or relying upon others to relay their experiences, as theirs will never be the same as your own.

    If you are choosing pre-paid, the same can really be done, and when you find your carrier, then you can hopefully find a good deal on the phone you want.

    [Once again, the superiority of Verizon, CDMA phones, and the 800 MHz spectrum wins out! Take that, AT&T! I'd wager money that the difference was basically the penetrability of the longer wavelengths at 800MHz - it should not be underestimated, especially for people that work in large buildings, malls, or otherwise weak signal areas.]

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Thanks Marc for the advice. I am sure it will help someone who is looking for a new cell phone.

  • Marge

    Have a look at http://www.net10laughoff.com for the super deals and phones on offer from Net10! They have national and overseas coverage and I’ve never had a problem getting coms. Their 10c per minute and 3c per text rate is so good and you’ll never have a nasty cell phone bill ever again!

  • Arun Srivastava

    I have apple I phone and very bad plan on it by AT & T as I travel to India and Canada. Can you suggest a good plan by any other company with good rates.
    My current monthly bills are shooting to $850 -1500. I immediately want your advised

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Arun,
      I have no advice for you. BUT you may wish to use separate cell phones for each country.

  • Michael

    Some people, not all, consider that a company sucks, because they bought a phone with bad reception, in their area. Unless you have a hardline(Home phone/business), there is no way, that you can avoid pockets of no reception, at some point. First of all, you may be with a good company but, a bad phone. I bought my first LG phone, with Sprint. I said, this phone sucks. I got on the computer and read, that Sanyo, at the time, was exclusive to Sprint and that Sanyo phone, had the best reception. 7 years later, I make sure to buy a Sanyo. Before falling in love with a phone, by its looks, go into Phonescoop, as I do and read up on the phone. Wait for reviews, feedback. If I like a particular phone, I wait a while and read as much as I can on this phone, based on consumers point of view. Now, there is a difference between a Dualband phone, trimode phone, etc. I did not initially have a dualband or trimode. When I got the Sanyo, which was a dualband on 1900 MHZ &850MHZ, I got reception, at every single spot, I did not have before. So, I stayed at Sprint and just read up a bit and now, here I am, 7 years later and happy with my service. So, you may have a good company but a crappy phone or a terrible company but a great phone. Think about it and read, read, read.

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Hi Michael,
      Thanks for the information on the tip about Phonescoop.
      It is appreciated.
      Regards, Ron

  • Niurkagonzalez

    what do you think about metro pcs phones