cell phone reception

[dogma]

We currently have Verizon but don't like their phone and call plan service. What other carriers have decent reception in Wolfeboro and around the lake?

[wifi]

Tho many others may have better ideas, look at US Cellular, their roaming partner is Verizon, maybe you might like one of their phones better It (US partnered with VZ) works great around the lake for me. US has free incoming voice/email/text and what in my very humble opinion are good plans. YMMV

[Argie's Wife]

Verizon and US Cellular are about it...

Trust me... it's improved from where it was at 5 years ago when there was nada...

[BroadHopper]

Originally Posted by Argie's Wife

Verizon and US Cellular are about it...

Trust me... it's improved from where it was at 5 years ago when there was nada...

I have great reception.

[Grant]

As a former long-time Verizon customer, trust me. Verizon has great coverage in the Lakes Region, their handset selection is very good, and their plans are comparable to any other carrier's. Going back ten years ago, I had outstanding coverage with Verizon in Tuftonboro, and only within the last two years have gotten halfway decent coverage with AT&T. I am locked/trapped with AT&T now (long story) and wish I could jump back to Verizon. The grass is always greener. Don't know much about the other carriers, though...

But consider this: AT&T's network is taxed to the hilt by all the iPhone traffic. Dropped calls, crappy data connections are the norm. And the GSM network is still not up to par in NH.

Just my $.02...your mileage may vary...

[Belmont Resident]

I've had both US and Verizon. I'll admit unless you go to a privately owned store the customer service at Verizon is terrible. But all in all the phone service is great.
We opted to drop our land line several years ago and now only use cell phones.
When you factor not having to pay extra for long distance service in, the cost is even less.
They also offer that friends and family thing where you do not pay extra weather they are out of network or not and unlimited minutes for up to 5 friends or family.
That substantially cut down on my minutes.
My wife recently had a test phone from work that used sprint.
She was asked to compare the coverage while commuting to and from work and running around town.
Just on the commute home she dropped 2 or 3 calls while driving from southern NH to home.

[no-engine]

ATT has been improving. 3G up to Concord, but used to be the MA border.
FIVE bars in Gilford now; last fall it was 0-2, if that.
I used to have VZW, but decided for many reasons to get iPhone, NOT for the telephone, but other uses. Telephone is secondary.

[Kerk]

+ I had a land line with Verizon for as long as I have had a place in Tuftonboro but when they sold to Fairpoint it all went to pieces and they added things etc. etc. so I dropped my land line and only use Verizon which works fine. i am on Cow Island. JMO

[Sunbeam lodge]

Originally Posted by Kerk

+ I had a land line with Verizon for as long as I have had a place in Tuftonboro but when they sold to Fairpoint it all went to pieces and they added things etc. etc. so I dropped my land line and only use Verizon which works fine. i am on Cow Island. JMO

Verizon seems to have the best coverage in the lakes region and I dropped my land line in Florida and use Verizon cell phone for 6 months. Thinking about dropping fairpoint and going to Verizon in the lakes are.

[garysanfran]

My brother uses AT&T and I use Verizon. At our place on Meredith Neck, AT&T is worthless. Verizon is excellent. If my brother wants to use his cell phone, he has to drive 5 miles down the road.

Two years ago I drove from San Francisco to Meredith along the northern route, and took the southern route back to San Francisco. I drove over 11,000 miles in three months and only once hit a dead spot with Verizon. It was on an indian reservation in Montana where I hadn't seen any sign of life in over 300 miles.

[VtSteve]

One heck of a ride Gary.

I gave up on Verizon because it stinks where I am. Since then, AT&T has poured lots of resources into the network, and I have 5 bars and 3 G in many places. I like the billing plans better, the carry forward minutes, and I'm really starting to love the Navionics app on my iPhone. They are definitely trying harder.

Many people have switched over this way to AT&T. It was interesting too, since we all lived in an area where Verizon simply didn't have any good coverage. Great ads though I hated being hostage to Verizon's crippled phones and billing system.

Seriously, in this country, you are truly a victim of coverage. When Verizon gets into the GSM system, life should become more interesting. They are rolling out their GSM lte system in many areas, but mostly metro areas.

[AC2717]

I Have gone to the all inclusive plans with MetroPCS. They are fairly new, under 4-5 years in the New England region. I tried it out all over the lakes region last Saturday. It worked great! Unlimited, talk, text, picture text, and web for $40 (taxes and fees included) Month to month no contract to sign. I love it so far. Only down side, is that you pay more for the phone, but it works out in a couple months, against the others that say your plan is $49.99 then you have to add in the fees, and taxes and it ends up being over $60
It even works in the subways in boston and on the trains. Took it down to NJ over the week for business, to a town called Morristown, and had no problem, and I was a hour west of the NY/NJ boarder by train

[Lakepilot]

Originally Posted by garysanfran

My brother uses AT&T and I use Verizon. At our place on Meredith Neck, AT&T is worthless. Verizon is excellent. If my brother wants to use his cell phone, he has to drive 5 miles down the road.

Two years ago I drove from San Francisco to Meredith along the northern route, and took the southern route back to San Francisco. I drove over 11,000 miles in three months and only once hit a dead spot with Verizon. It was on an indian reservation in Montana where I hadn't seen any sign of life in over 300 miles.

We travel around the country a lot in our RV and I agree. We almost never have no reception with Verizon. That includes getting pretty far off tarred roads on a 4x4. Our daughter has AT&T and can't get service in Wolfeboro. Verizon works great where we are.

[ossipeeboater]

Verizons not the cheapest but they have the best overall service and I've found their customer service nothing but great. Just had them retroactively change my plan today saving over 180 in overages, I had called last week and the girl couldnt; process a retor change before my normal bill ran but as she promised she called last night to fix it. WIll be moving from a BB to a HTC Incredible ina few weeks, outside the iphone Verizons phone offerings are as good as any carrier

[fpartri497]

around winnipesaukee you better have verizon or reception will be scarce

[upthesaukee]

US Cellular works well also, or it did when I had it some years back.

Originally Posted by fpartri497

around winnipesaukee you better have verizon or reception will be scarce

[trfour]

Verizon, I've found to have the best coverage not only in the Lakes Region, and also all of the nooks and crannies in the United States. While visiting in North Carolina, besides a land line, my cell phone was the only one that worked! Had to lend it out often!



Terry
_________________________________

[Lakegeezer]

I'm on Verizon's data plan with a Moto Droid and love it. Solid reception in most places and an unlimited data plan. I browse the web from almost anywhere and Verizon has an open web policy - you can do most anything, including tethering a PC. North of Laconia, AT&T is getting better, but still sketchy.

[Sman]

from 2005 through last summer I could not get cell service in my camp/yard-Gilford, I have AT&T, this past weekend I got it in the house and around the yard, full bars, this is totally new for me, something must have changed over the fall/winter

[Shore Driver]

AT&T is useless in Northern New England - look closely at the next Verizon 3G ad for the massive holes in ME/NH/VT

[VtSteve]

Verizon has some pretty massive changes going on. Their 4G rollout will probably not occur on cell phones until the middle of next year, possibly no until the end. It's a pretty tricky thing to do, especially since they will be switching from the old CDMA system to the GSM technology. I also think almost all of their phones will have to have dual chipsets so users have access to 3G networks when needed. This was a real roadblock for them having an iPhone, which should be coming next year or so.

The biggest changes will be in usage costs and billing. Verizon has so much coverage that they could afford to cripple handsets and limit services. In the 4G world, they will be limiting data usage and charging more. A necessary evil given that the bandwidth usage for 4G users could very well cripple their network.

I just wish they'd become more friendly in billing terms. Carry forward minutes, changing plans online quickly, with no contract changes, and doing so quite a few times. All handy, cost-effective, and consumer friendly. I've had a cell phone from the days of fixed-mount car units and bag phones. I'm not really sure what people mean by customer service, I think I've been in for a battery once in about 16 years.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Shore Driver

AT&T is useless in Northern New England - look closely at the next Verizon 3G ad for the massive holes in ME/NH/VT

I'm not sure why you say that as I have AT&T and have reception everywhere on the lake. The only place I do not have reception is in the Wineing butcher parking lot in Gilford for whatever reason and at the Olde Bay Diner in Alton. The funny thing is I have great reception in Alton Bay! I have no issues with AT&T whatsoever and would recommend to anyone in the Lakes Region.

Dan

[Bear Island South]

Originally Posted by VtSteve

Verizon has some pretty massive changes going on. Their 4G rollout will probably not occur on cell phones until the middle of next year, possibly no until the end. It's a pretty tricky thing to do, especially since they will be switching from the old CDMA system to the GSM technology. I also think almost all of their phones will have to have dual chipsets so users have access to 3G networks when needed. This was a real roadblock for them having an iPhone, which should be coming next year or so.

I just purchased the new HTC "Droid" Incredible from Verizon, so far love the features of the phone and the applications that are available. I own an iPod touch and the screens are similiar in the way you can scroll through the different screens and apps. I was waiting on the iPhone but didn't want to switch to ATT, I think this phone is the answer, plus it has voice texting.

[Shore Driver]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

I'm not sure why you say that as I have AT&T and have reception everywhere on the lake. The only place I do not have reception is in the Wineing butcher parking lot in Gilford for whatever reason and at the Olde Bay Diner in Alton. The funny thing is I have great reception in Alton Bay! I have no issues with AT&T whatsoever and would recommend to anyone in the Lakes Region.

Dan

It's based on my experience with both carriers. I've been deep in the Pemi Wilderness and gotten 3 bars from Verizon, yet AT&T would go stone dead in such remote places as Keene, Rochester, Laconia...I travel for work in NH and my partner has AT&T for his iPhone - God bless him for having the better phone, but I prefer reception when I need it.

[Lakepilot]

Originally Posted by Shore Driver

It's based on my experience with both carriers. I've been deep in the Pemi Wilderness and gotten 3 bars from Verizon, yet AT&T would go stone dead in such remote places as Keene, Rochester, Laconia...I travel for work in NH and my partner has AT&T for his iPhone - God bless him for having the better phone, but I prefer reception when I need it.

This is good news then. My daughter has AT&T and was never able to get service at our cottage. I guess they've added a tower or two so she'll get coverage now??

[Great Northern Cleaning]

I have been with Verizon for the last 5 years...bills just seem to go up and up. So last week I went to walmart and bought one of these "straight talk" phones. They work off the Verizon towers. I transfered my number from verizon. For a mere 45 bucks a month..and I mean thats it..45 bucks..no taxes..no hidden charges..I get unlimited minutes..texting..and internet. How can you beat this. The only thing is they offer no camera phones..I can live with that. I had been paying around 110 a month for my verizon service. At 45 a month..thats 135 a quarter..or 540 for an entire year. I have a blank areas where I may be without service for a few minutes..but I'm learning where the dead spots are and will compensate my calls accordingly. Hell of a deal...as far as I'm concerned. Frank

[VtSteve]

Verizon's days of unbelievable billing will end at some point. I don;t know hwy people think they are great for customer "service", but I do know they are great at billing.

Somebody's catching up for signal, which is the most important aspect. They need to relinquish the silly Vcast monopoly, and give up the darn crippling of phones. Many people have no iea what a phone can be without Verizon crippling it.

Heck, I'm just happy as a boat in the broads without Verizon's voice mail.

[beaner]

Originally Posted by Great Northern Cleaning

I have been with Verizon for the last 5 years...bills just seem to go up and up. So last week I went to walmart and bought one of these "straight talk" phones. They work off the Verizon towers.

A year ago when our contract with Verizon ended, we went to WalMart and bought a pair of $20 pre-paid LG TracFones. We're low-volume callers, so the per-minute rate on Verizon's least expensive contract was brutal. By switching to TracFone, we saved around $700. It really helped us weather the downturn. If we ever find a need for texting and internet on the fly in the future, we'll definitely look into the "straight talk" phones. Thanks for the tip!

[no-engine]

Originally Posted by no-engine

ATT has been improving. 3G up to Concord, but used to be the MA border.
FIVE bars in Gilford now; last fall it was 0-2, if that.
I used to have VZW, but decided for many reasons to get iPhone, NOT for the telephone, but other uses. Telephone is secondary.

FROM 4/24: CONTINUED:
I had reason to drive around Lake today. Most every time I looked, I had 5 bars but mostly 4 on ATT. Sitting in car at Hanaford's in Alton, I had very strong signal. Just my observations today Saturday 5/1.