Carrier What is roaming coverage and is it really important if you never travel in remote or rural places ?

[max2]

I know postpaid has the best of this but is it really important to have roaming coverage?

Will give an example. The Grand Canyon. Yes I know no one should expect service out there but I think some providers have it.

 

[colodane]

I have a Verizon pre-paid plan and it includes roaming. Perhaps not as gold-plated as the post-paid roaming, but has certainly been adequate for the traveling that I've done.

 

[max2]

I have a Verizon pre-paid plan and it includes roaming. Perhaps not as gold-plated as the post-paid roaming, but has certainly been adequate for the traveling that I've done.

Good to know!

I was thinking of getting Verizon pre-paid.

 

[secretk]

Not sure how it is in US but in my country roaming is not for rural places but just traveling abroad. It would not give me better coverage in the mountain. It just gives me free mobile data and phone minutes when I am abroad. Otherwise it is rather expensive. I use it for business trips and leisure trips with friends abroad.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Roaming is when you are outside your network and are connected to another network's towers. These were agreements set up long ago between carriers... in a time when there were tons of different small carriers across the country.

But now that there are basically 3 national carriers... roaming isn't really a big deal anymore. You tend to stay within your own network most of the time since each carrier has enough of their own towers across the country.

It's not to be confused with "coverage" which is a different thing altogether.

If I'm in a rural or remote area with my Verizon phone and I'm still connected to Verizon's towers... I'm not roaming.

But if I was in an area that Verizon didn't have service... then I'd be "roaming" on another network.

 

[CTHarrryH]

There are locations that don't have 1 or more of the big three. Most don't realize it because roaming is included in most plans these days. There are even places where terrain may block certain signals from a certain provider

 

[max2]

I guess the true test would be Yellowstone or The Grand Canyon!

 

[DevinNj]

Again, I think you're confusing coverage areas with what roaming is. For example if you have Verizon and they have no towers in that specific area, you may be getting signal from AT&T towers, that's roaming. You can always check with your carrier and see if they cover the areas you're going to be visiting.

Now the strength of the signal, if any at all, in remote areas, well that's an entirely different thing all together.