Best Telephone Service in Western States

[smsasf]

Fellow AS roadies. I lived in 7 states west of the Mississippi and worked in the field in most all of them. But that was when you still had to put a quarter in the payphone in a booth. Two years ago I made a 35 day road trip from NC to SD, WY, UT, AZ, NM, TX and back. Stayed in motels and also used tent. Now I have a 2020 Bambi 20’ and want to do 30-60 days out that way again starting Sept 1 (yes, in a week or so). I recall my AT&T service here was dismal in a number of areas out there, especially west central WY, UT and northern AZ. Since I don’t want to plan entire trip in advance but want to find my way a week or so at a time I will get an iPad that has WiFi and Cellular so I can try to plan on the go. Which service provider has best service in those areas? Thx, Stephen

[n2916s]

We had the best luck with Verizon, especially in Yellowstone and Western Wyoming in general. I would bet AT&T would be fine but I don’t know about T-Mobile/Sprint...

[Gene]

Verizon is the best in the west, but you don’t have to pay their high prices if you use another carrier that leases their cell towers. There are several of them. We use Credo because of those carriers, it had the best deal on Gb’s of data. Things change and there are other carriers that may have better deals. Google something like “cellphone carriers using Verizon towers”. There are a wide variety of plans and carriers and trying to figure them out can lead to the temporary insanity. If you subscribe to Consumer Reports (or can access a library) they often do cellphone and carrier ratings. You can also Google something like “best cellphone carriers”.

AT&T seems to have the second best network, but not as good as Verizon. T-Mobile has been building lots of towers, but they had a long, long way to go. I believe they have an economy plan that uses Verizon towers, not T-Mobile ones. Sprint was 3rd and I think they merged with T-Mobile, but it may take a long time to for them to integrate their networks.

A lot of the prepaid phones use Verizon (most are owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim) but have very limited data. Those companies seem to want to sell fancy phones to lower income people who don’t need lots of minutes or data.

Even so, there are places with no coverage with Verizon or very weak coverage from associated carriers in rural areas. For example, US 50 through Colorado is a major highway, but through the mountains and along the Arkansas River coverage is poor.

One other way to deal with it is to use a cellphone as a hotspot and connect to an iPad or laptop. It may be best to have each device from the same manufacturer to make it easier for them to recognize each other.

You may also have to get a device in a store because of your short timeline. These companies, when you figure out what you want, have to mail you a phone, sim card or other device. The mail cannot be trusted right now. If they send by UPS or FedEx, and they don’t use the PO for the last mile, then you could get a device faster. When you talk to cell companies, most of the agents don’t know what they are talking about, give out wrong info and may not follow through on anything they promise. You have to question them closely.

There is also satellite service. It has a reputation for slowness, but it may have been improved. You can get internet and even phone I think. Dish network and Hughes seem to be the biggest and I believe they are the same company.

I can’t blame you for waiting until the last week. This is a pain in the butt to figure out. Although I use my iPad a lot, I have no idea how you connect to the internet except via a cell phone hotspot. The latter seemed to use the best way and we have used Verizon towers for 7 years to get internet at our house through a phone hotspot. A lot of larger companies can sell you a box which is really a phone that sends out wifi and you connect your devices to it. We just got a system here with towers that send out a wifi on steroids signal and so we don’t have to use a phone as a hotspot at home anymore. Much better and now we have caught up to about 2005.

[Lily&Me]

Another vote for Verizon.

Maggie

[jaybauman]

We were out west earlier this month. My work iPhone is AT&T and my personal iPhone is Verizon. For most times, when one worked so did the other one. On some occasions, Verizon worked and AT&T didn't. I don't recall finding anywhere AT&T worked and Verizon didn't.

[rd tighe]

We recommend 2 phones one of each.

[smsasf]

Originally Posted by Gene

Verizon is the best in the west, but you don’t have to pay their high prices if you use another carrier that leases their cell towers.
.
.

I can’t blame you for waiting until the last week. This is a pain in the butt to figure out. Although I use my iPad a lot, I have no idea how you connect to the internet except via a cell phone hotspot. The latter seemed to use the best way and we have used Verizon towers for 7 years to get internet at our house through a phone hotspot. A lot of larger companies can sell you a box which is really a phone that sends out wifi and you connect your devices to it. We just got a system here with towers that send out a wifi on steroids signal and so we don’t have to use a phone as a hotspot at home anymore. Much better and now we have caught up to about 2005.

Gene, thanks for all the info. My AT&T was poor around Yellowstone, could not even latch on to Verizon in Monument Valley, did not work at Grand Canyon. Only worked again at Flagstaff. But I see from coverage maps that Verizon appears much better. But I do acknowledge your statement that even with that there will be holes. I can easily use my iPhone as a hot spot with my iPad, but still the iPhone becomes another transfer point. I can buy an iPad that has both WiFi (and Bluetooth) and Cellular chips and use cellular to access internet without going through phone as hotspot transfer. But if I go this route I want to make sure coverage is better than with AT&T in central RM west states or it will be a waste.
Stephen

[smsasf]

Originally Posted by rd tighe

We recommend 2 phones one of each.

One of each meaning an AT&T service plan and a Verizon service plan?

[Czarina]

Past 100 days full time, and have been in SD, WY, NW Montana, Western WA and now Oregon... mostly in pretty remote areas so often have no signal period. ATT hotspot in AS plus ATT iPad and Verizon iPhone and watch. And a Garmin InReach mini for safety. I have definitely had spots where one carrier works (a little) and the other has nothing - I think possibly ATT maybe wins a little but it’s gone both ways. Mostly though it’s been both or none. More commonly though has been a decent signal (3+ bars) but horrible data speed.

[Atwebs]

California here and for us, it really depends where you are. We have a cabin near a canyon and in the canyon -no Verizon, but AT&T works great. At the cabin, Verizon if you stand on one foot out by the water inlet, no AT&T.

Last year we did a trip with friends to Kentucky, we had Verizon and they had AT&T. We noticed that all the way either one or the other was superior, but it was never the same two days in a row. One would have full bars while the other was struggling with one or no service at all.

All we could say at the end was we were glad the tow vehicle had On Star because that was the most reliable while traveling!

[SouthForkAS]

Back in the day, GTE ruled the west coast. Then GTE became Verizon.
In the mountains it gets tricky- on my mountain, Verizon is the only game in town. In Three Rivers (gateway to the Sequoias) Its ATT (and maybe a li'l Verizon, unless they got a new tower up in the past couple years).
Google Fi was a good idea but dodgy implementation because they use T-mobile for GSM and Sprint for CDMA and coverage for each on the rural mountains is spotty (and the coverage maps are not accurate).
For the west, go with Verizon. My prepaid plan with unltd talk/text and 5 gigs with discounts is like $30 mo.
I would research the areas you will spend the most time and study coverage maps for the main carriers.
Resellers like "Straight Talk" may have the coverage, but not give you basics like hotspot (and no real price advantage).
Verizon will cover 90% of where you are going in the west.
That's just for the phone.
Data plans? that's a whole 'nother story.
Good luck!

[CalifBob]

The best mobile service in the West is the Iridium Satellite phone. Voice and/or data. Service almost anywhere - but most importantly where mobile doesn't go. I've used it for both voice and data in some really remote areas. Otherwise as noted in other comments, AT&T or Verizon is dependent on where you are. I have both and find that in fringe areas one or the other often works - but not both. My experience has been that in real fringe areas AT&T gets a signal far more often than Verizon.

But if you want to maximize your mobile service, you have a few options. I have a WeBoost booster shoe for one phone in my Toyota. Put your phone in it and it boosts the signal - often by two or three bars. Little antenna for the roof. Comes as a complete kit. Works for any cellular carrier.

I also have a WeBoost Drive 4G-X for my Airstream. Specifically for RVs. I have a Panasonic Toughbook with an internal cellular data modem. In fringe areas, it can also boost the signal by several bars. It will help multiple devices.

[ghaynes755]

Check out the Coverage? app from the folks at technomadia. Also the https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ website.

[Krikati]

Dear All,

Using a hotspot is fine to get you wifi, but remember that it still depends on the cellular network. No signal, no hotspot . . . no wifi.

Krikati

[Lily&Me]

If good signal is critical, consider investing in a signal booster.

There are other threads on this, so let’s not derail this one discussing them, but I have one and it works great.

Maggie

[Edistobob]

Sign up with Visible. It is owned by Verizon, uses their network and offers an unbeatable unlimited plan all for $40/month all-inclusive. Can get your bill to as low as $25/month if you bring other lines/customers with you. We’ve been customers for around two years and have been very pleased. Coverage matches Verizon since you’re on the same network; hotspot service is included, unlimited , speed capped at 5mbps.

[Gene]

It wasn't that long ago we went to many places without phones, internet and such and survived. The ultimate is a sat phone, but very expensive. Having an AT&T and a Verizon phone is also expensive. Seems best to live with dead spots and cope.

[Mikebrady62]

We have both AT&T and Verizon as well as many others do. I have found both to have their better spots out West but I think Verizon did better all around than did AT&T.
Apps like The Dyrt and Campendium are good for looking at service in areas you will be in.

[bibbs]

Verizon is almost seamless, on major roads

[Janet H]

Service can be spotty. if coverage is important to you I would look into both carriers AND more importantly a booster antennae. You will occasionally find areas out west that simply have no service but more frequently you will find lean service - a booster is a must. Another vote for weBoost.