Poll

Who is you carrier and are yo satisfied with your coverage and plan?

AT&T and I'm 100% satisfied
1 (7.7%)
At&T and it's OK
1 (7.7%)
At&T and it sucks
2 (15.4%)
Verizon and I'm 100% satisfied
3 (23.1%)
Verizon and it's OK
1 (7.7%)
Verizon and it sucks
0 (0%)
T-Mobile and I'm 100% satisfied
0 (0%)
T-Mobile and it's OK
2 (15.4%)
T-Mobile and it sucks
0 (0%)
Other, please give details
3 (23.1%)

Total Members Voted: 13

Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....

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Offline Woody469

  • David Woodward
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Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« on: February 21, 2017, 10:43:26 AM »
I've been with At&T for 25+ years but recent changes in coverage situation at work are making my work reception miserable and I have co workers with other companies not having these issues. It's a long story but after hours of talking with At&T it's been made clear that things aren't going to get any better in my situation so I'm weighing my options.

Let me know how satisfied you are with who you have, are they any good when out riding the backroads and any other pertinent information you feel like sharing...  Give me the good and the bad!

Thanks...
2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin (Backroad Brawler)
2003 Honda 919 (The N8ked Hot Rod)

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Offline Derek

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2017, 11:44:52 AM »
I've had Verizon for 2+ years now, and I'm really happy with it. However- you do pay for it. Its not cheap.  Before Verizon, I had the Unlimited Family Smart talk deal [Walmart]. It was cheap.. $40 for unlimited everything [data speed cap after a bit though].. but had difficulty sending or receiving texts.. sometimes calls wouldn't send out.. lousy coverage even in town sometimes.. it sucked.  Sometimes I would get a blast of texts that had been queuing up for a couple days, all at once.

I have the unlimited everything/6GB data plan with vzw and its great. Good coverage even way out in the flint hills, given that your at or near the top of a ridge or whatever. I pay $120/mo.. but about $25 of that is towards the phone itself and insurance on it.  Like i said, its 3x more than the walmart plan.. but the phone actually works like its supposed to, and I can depend on it working when i need it to.
Growing up is optional

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Offline Roger Nixon

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2017, 12:28:55 PM »
I use TracFone.  Most people don't realize that Tracfone allows you to bring almost any unlocked smart phone and allows you to select which network you want to use.  I have my phone set up on Verizon network and my wife's phone is on AT&T that way one of us is pretty much certain of getting a signal.  If you use phones with multiple bands (i.e. iPhone, Pixel, high end Motorolas, etc) all you have to do is switch sim cards to change networks.  So far, I've had great coverage on the Verizon network.


I am at home most of the time and I have an very good wifi setup so I don't use much cellular data.  TracFone is not good for heavy data use at all but for me, it is just right and the cost is just $100/year

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Offline Derek

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2017, 02:31:12 PM »
That sounds like a great setup, Roger.  To be fair, I don't pay for my cellphone-  its a perk of my job, so I really don't care too much what it costs. :)
Growing up is optional

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Offline Roger Nixon

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2017, 03:19:15 PM »
It works for my needs but it isn't for everyone. 
On our ride last weekend, I had coverage everywhere using Verizon so I guess that is a vote for them.


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Offline asis

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2017, 05:37:10 PM »
I've had at&t for over 10 years now. It worked fine and just as well as Verizon when I was in Washington state. Here in Kansas once I hit the city limits it seem I loose coverage. Even in town I rarely have more than 3 bars. I had an at&t only phone or would have already switched. I now have a way to unlock it and will likely be going to verizon someday.
05' KLR 650
18' KLX 250

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Offline Woody469

  • David Woodward
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    • 2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin
Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2017, 05:54:49 PM »
Is there a way to tell if a phone in unlocked? I think mine is since I bought it from Apple instead of AT&T...... Then I need to figure out if it will work on which networks!
2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin (Backroad Brawler)
2003 Honda 919 (The N8ked Hot Rod)

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Offline kryptos1

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2017, 05:59:01 PM »
Several family members have Verizon and have never complained.  Seems to work in rural Colorado and Kansas well.  I have AT&T which streamed music in the Flint Hills when I had it on during the ride Saturday.    Had Sprint before that but had to switch....that was tough since I worked there for many years but coverage at the house was very limited.   

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Offline Derek

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2017, 07:15:56 AM »
Is there a way to tell if a phone in unlocked? I think mine is since I bought it from Apple instead of AT&T...... Then I need to figure out if it will work on which networks!

If you own it outright, it should be unlocked. Any phone that you can swap the SIM card out with, can hop networks.. its usually the cheaper ones that are carrier locked.
Growing up is optional

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Offline asis

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2017, 07:53:05 AM »
I owned them both but they are locked. Tried to take the other one to Verizon and they could not help me. Sweet lil gal at at&t found me the instructions and how to unlock, basically have to contact at&t with request then wait a couple days until they realize you mean it.....sumin like that.
05' KLR 650
18' KLX 250

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Offline Roger Nixon

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2017, 12:20:21 PM »
Is there a way to tell if a phone in unlocked? I think mine is since I bought it from Apple instead of AT&T...... Then I need to figure out if it will work on which networks!


Very easy.  Go here and follow instructions if it is locked you can request unlocking.
iPhones have radios for every carrier band I'm aware of.  Here is a cheat sheet of all the carriers bands and here are the specs for an iPhone including the bands they reach.  Verizon just came out with unlimited data which is a nice feature.


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Offline Woody469

  • David Woodward
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    • 2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin
Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2017, 04:54:18 PM »
Damn Roger, your pretty handy to have around!! Thanks! 😉
2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin (Backroad Brawler)
2003 Honda 919 (The N8ked Hot Rod)

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Offline Woody469

  • David Woodward
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    • 2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin
Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2017, 05:42:03 PM »
Well of course as with all things AT&T, verifying it was unlocked turned into an apparently impossible request to get fulfilled.... I guess it's gonna take one of those damn 2 hour support phone calls when I can spare the f#%*ing time!! 😡 And apparently I'm not savvy enough to actually determine whether my phone will in fact work on Verizon or not, I guess that'll just be one of those here's my phone, will it work questions I'll have to present to Verizon.... God I hate technology some days....
2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin (Backroad Brawler)
2003 Honda 919 (The N8ked Hot Rod)

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Offline Roger Nixon

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Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2017, 05:59:01 PM »
Did the test say it was locked or did it just route you to the unlock request?
Here is site not affiliated with any carrier that will tell you if it is locked or not. 
Once you know your phone is unlocked, you can check that it works with Verizon by going here

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Offline Woody469

  • David Woodward
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  • Let's go make some dust!!
    • 2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin
Re: Cell phone carriers and coverage satisfaction....
« Reply #14 on: February 22, 2017, 06:24:34 PM »
Yeah it routed me to request screen....
2021 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin (Backroad Brawler)
2003 Honda 919 (The N8ked Hot Rod)