Verizon Has Fastest LTE Network in the West, While T-Mobile Tops the East in Latest Study

[I7guy]

As I recall from my visit last summer, for the north rim of the Grand Canyon, nothing and I didn't miss it. Coverage pretty much stops shortly south of Jacob Lake where you turn off of 89A on to 67 into the park. There is a Verizon tower close to the intersection which also provides voice only service to ATT. As for other comments saying what about if your car breaks down.... There is only one road and if your car breaks down, someone else will come along. We survived before cell phones and get along without them quite nicely. Go outside and enjoy the ultra HD view.

The biggest issue is getting a campground spot. Reservations are required in the park. Winging it is no longer allowed. If you don't have reservations you camp at the commercial or USFS campgrounds at Jacob Lake or boondock between Jacob Lake and the park.

The store at the campground has limited WiFi if you are in the store or seated on the porch with your phone held the right way. I used it to send an update to my family as I was traveling solo. The pay phones have been removed.

We drove up from Phoenix to Flagstaff and went to the south rim. We had a party of people meeting and ironically the fed govt was in shutdown mode if you remember. We were doubtful we would be able to get in. Miraculously the day we were driving up to flagstaff it was announced the shutdown was over with and we were able to get into the park.

We took the blue?, red?, yellow? line tour of the south rim and VZW service was spotty to non-existent after the start of the tour. There seemed to be service at the rest areas with food.

We were at one lookout about a half hour into the tour. This outlook point had a rock to climb up and get a better view. No sooner did I climb to the top for the view when my phone rang. It was a business call which I took for a half hour standing on top of this (huge) rock in one spot, voice quality was perfect. After the call I climbed down from the rock and there was virtually no service again. While I wish I could disconnect totally, I was glad to be able to get that one call and billed the client for my time.

Yes we survived without cell phones, and I can remember rotary phones, but it's nice to know one can get a connection even in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Dimwhit]

I had to switch to Verizon for my new company's phone plan this past year, after being with AT&T for years. This is in Boise, ID. I prefer AT&T. They're faster (though not by much).

 

[iPhonemaster5S]

Castle Pines, Colorado. Two years ago I would have been lucky to get anything usable so they really have improved lately.

 

[chr1s60]

Good job AT&T please continue to suck, you're so very good at it.

 

[Johnny907]

Yeah they can go ahead and unyellow alaska on that map. Verizon sucks up here, in terms of speed and availability. AT&T has the best speed, reliability and coverage across the state.
If we don't get to be included in lower 48 shipping rates, Verizon doesn't get to claim us just because they have better networks in Oregon and Washington.

 

[David_19]

ATT in my area is crazy fast !!

 

[driceman]

Seems like T-Mobile is a good value for the money- great coverage here in Colorado and competitive data speeds. Verizon's always been this way- they charge through the nose because they're so proud of their network, but it looks like that gap is closing. Give it a year or two and they'll need to come up with some other ways to compete- if you think back four or five years ago, comparing Verizon coverage to T-Mobile coverage was an absolute joke.

I guess the real question is, where does AT&T get the idea that it can charge the same price as Verizon for its new unlimited plan and expect to gain any traction? They lost this test to both Verizon and T-Mobile every time. Seems like they're clinging to people on grandfathered plans and buying random companies in the hope something sticks instead of coming up with an actual plan to compete, which is unfortunate.

 

[DaveOP]

Lockport/Lemont/HomerGlen/OrlandPark/TinleyPark area

Interesting, good to know. I was with AT&T for the last 15 years, but the service just got really bad out by me, where its so congested.

 

[Makosuke]

I'm sure that the coverage opinions are accurate in general, and I know I get fairly poor T-Mobile coverage when driving through the midwest on I-80, but it's interesting that in the fairly rural part of California where I live I almost universally get better T-Mobile coverage than people with either AT&T or Verizon. So for me, personally, while I've always thought of Verizon as being the company that's going to get me good coverage out in the woods, in this particular area T-Mobile is the winner for whatever reason.

In particular, I've been working at a site in a small town where I get a solid 2-3 bars even in a room in the middle of the building, while my co-workers with Verizon or AT&T are lucky if they can get service at all. Everybody here keeps asking what carrier I have since I'm the only one with a reliably working phone apart from the one guy on US Cellular.

 

[Arsenikdote]

That's all well and good when you're sitting around the campfire swapping stories.

Now what about when the weekend is over and you'd like to use Google Maps to figure out how to get home again? Or if you got lost hiking and would like to use your phone to find your way back to the campsite?

There are plenty of reasons why you want signal even in the wilderness that do not include people wanting 24/7 access to their social media feeds.

While I understand the point, if you are truly getting remote then you are not smart to rely on coverage. It drains your battery a lot faster as it works harder in bad terrain to maintain coverage, and you are relying (often times) on apps not designed for your environment. Loading up a topo map program LOCAL to your device is the correct way to go if you are seriously considering needing directions while being in the wilderness. Don't mess around with your life or the life of rescuers.

That being said, I think you both missed the point. The point is there are times in which having service while in remote locations is a good thing. And to the other point, it is also good to be disconnected and to loose the distractions we face daily. Both points are valid and both have their places. I was recently coming back from a snowboarding trip in Whitefish MT and someone in the car needed to adjust his flight home. He didn't have good reception, and struggled to maintain a phone call. It would have been a big benefit for him to have better coverage so he had the option of adjusting his flight. However, on the same trip, when we were up on the mountain, we made a "no cell" policy. We enjoyed the mountain during the day and then had our tech fill in the evening back at the hotel.

 

[OUsooner08]

I used to think that way. But since I live in NYC, I decided to not let the tail wag the dog and left ATT for T-Mobile and haven't regretted it at all.

However, for those that travel often in remote areas or live there, I totally understand.

I travel a lot, usually on the road 2-3 weeks a month. I have T-Mobile and have no issues.

 

[itguy06]

Take a road trip away from a major city, even along major highways (e.g. the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Harrisburg and Pittsburg) and watch as the people with Verizon phones still have service (via their "extended area" coverage), while the people on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint have nothing.

I wouldn't want to have a breakdown on the side of the road without a signal. On the PA Turnpike, it can be a mile walk to the nearest emergency phone box. And if you're not on the highway, you may be completely doomed.

LOL. I've had Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile and travel that route quite frequently and there is no area that AT&T or Verizon doesn't have service. T-Mobile, circa 2015 was close with a mile or 2 dead spots where there was nothing although I believe with the B12 rollout those may have been filled in.

I have AT&T and there is fine service from Philly to Pittsburgh on the PA Turnpike. Also on US 30 and PA 31 through the same area. You get into the mountains and all are spotty. The only dead spot for ALL carriers is New Stanton PA. Seems to be a back hole for all.

I've been in areas in Eastern PA (Crystal Cave to be exact) where all carriers were a dead zone. The workers explained to a Verizon user how to drive to get where the Verizon signal was. The look on their face was priceless.

You fell victim to Verizon's marketing.
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Now what about when the weekend is over and you'd like to use Google Maps to figure out how to get home again? Or if you got lost hiking and would like to use your phone to find your way back to the campsite?

There are plenty of reasons why you want signal even in the wilderness that do not include people wanting 24/7 access to their social media feeds.

There are plenty of areas that are dead zones for all carriers. That's when you whip out your Garmin eTrex and keep on going. Or you use cached offline maps or your old school GPS unit with maps built in.

 

[shamino]

You fell victim to Verizon's marketing.

Not at all. I've made that drive many times. And when I'm in the middle of nowhere between cities, everybody in my car with other carriers has a big shiny "no service" indicator on their phones while mine works just fine (occasionally slipping into "extended area" coverage.)

 

[mi7chy]

I have Verizon but T-Mobile is just as good in my area when I recently tested it. AT&T was slower than dial-up and I've never been a fan of their criminal business ethics. Left Sprint for Verizon years ago. With Google behind T-Mobile it's going places and GSM phones are more widely available so just waiting for Verizon to give me an excuse to jump ship.