Wireless coverage - advice please!

[Paul Knightley]

Hi all,

In recent years I have always fancied getting wireless internet for our chase trips, but it's a bit tricky to do some coming over from the UK, as quite often you have to try to take a plan out.

However, I've seen a few companies who rent datacards or even Wifi units will datacards in. I'm trying to determine which carrier has the best coverage - obviously all the companies have coverage maps but I thought it better to ask experienced folk, such as ST members!

So, for example - which of Verizon or AT&T would folks recommend? Or is Sprint better?

Any advice gratefully received.

thanks,

Paul.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Before I got wireless, a lot of chaser friends advised me to go with Sprint. I can say this...I have not been disappointed at all. I would highly recommend them. Just get an external antenna for the data card and you'll be set.

 

[Jerry Prsha]

Before I got wireless, a lot of chaser friends advised me to go with Sprint. I can say this...I have not been disappointed at all. I would highly recommend them. Just get an external antenna for the data card and you'll be set.

I have to second Sprint as well. Not sure if I'm just lucky however the EVDO service has been flawless.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Sprint, Sprint, Sprint, hands down probably the best mobile internet in the plains. Alltel is close, but I've read some stories about people having trouble roaming on the sprint network with alltel and that has affected their coverage.

 

[J Kinkaid]

Alltel & ATT cause both offer no contract no cap options.

 

[Steve Polley]

I know the 5GB cap with Sprint has been beat to death here so I wont go into that but I do know that sprint has a 300mb roaming cap. Since most of my chasing is in Kansas and Nebraska, this was a deal breaker for me so I canceled sprint and went with alltel instead. Sprint seems to follow major highways also so if you are off the beaten path, most likely you will be roaming on Alltel anyway. As far as the service with Sprint though, I cant complain.

 

[dmckemy]

Do both Sprint and Alltel offer month-to-month plans like Verizon Wireless? If so, could someone post the links? I have had trouble finding month-to-month plans for both Sprint and Alltel...

 

[Gordon Spencer]

Try www.millenicom.com . They are a sprint and Verizon reseller. They offer month to month contracts and somehow claim to have no cap. Great place to talk to other 3G data services customers and find out pros and cons of all providers is www.dslreports.com . Here is an article you should read if considering AT&T for your 3G.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090226/BLOG01/90226026

Do both Sprint and Alltel offer month-to-month plans like Verizon Wireless? If so, could someone post the links? I have had trouble finding month-to-month plans for both Sprint and Alltel...

 

[J Kinkaid]

Try www.millenicom.com . They are a sprint and Verizon reseller. They offer month to month contracts and somehow claim to have no cap. Great place to talk to other 3G data services customers and find out pros and cons of all providers is www.dslreports.com . Here is an article you should read if considering AT&T for your 3G.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090226/BLOG01/90226026

I hate reading AT&T bashing post first thing in the morning cause they have the best network in the deep south that is even better than Alltels. First off it is not secret that the Iphone is the worst phone when it comes to reception that AT&T sells and there is no antenna port on it so it's a bad choice for chasers. The good about AT&T is that edge is everywhere that 3G is not and it blows away 1RTT away when it comes to speeds and latency. If you are going to be streaming and not in a 3G area then you will notice the difference with cleaner tower handoffs.

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

Try www.millenicom.com . They are a sprint and Verizon reseller. They offer month to month contracts and somehow claim to have no cap. Great place to talk to other 3G data services customers and find out pros and cons of all providers is www.dslreports.com . Here is an article you should read if considering AT&T for your 3G.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090226/BLOG01/90226026

After logging about 40,000 miles in the last year running AT&T across the Southeast and the Plains, it is the pits. If you are anywhere outside a major city or off the major highways or interstates, the 3G is non-existant. The remainder of their service is extremely slow for download speeds and for trying to stream. I will be really glad when my contract is up.
But if you plan on staying only in a major city, it is extremely good, but otherwise, look very strongly at another service.

 

[Gordon Spencer]

I am not a vendor for any carrier or a cheerleader for any of them . I just deal with people who are dissappointed with thier coverage and need assistance . When it comes to 3G coverage the biggest problem is that AT&T only has 3G coverage on about 35% of thier network at this time. They advertise like it is everywhere and it just is not . The area you are in AT&T may be ahead but overall across this country they lag far behind . People really need to consider the areas they are travelling to decide which service is best for them . I find www.dslreports.com a valuable tool in getting this kind of info from actual users .My biggest beef with AT&T is that they spent between 26 to 28 billion dollars branding Cingular only to drop it . That money would have much better spent on thier network . Also they used to run advertising saying because of the merger with Cingular they had more coverage. That was an outright lie. The fact is they had a tower sharing agreement with Cingular for over 10 years before they merged . None of these carriers are angels and people just need to research a little before they make a decision in what service is best for them.

I hate reading AT&T bashing post first thing in the morning cause they have the best network in the deep south that is even better than Alltels. First off it is not secret that the Iphone is the worst phone when it comes to reception that AT&T sells and there is no antenna port on it so it's a bad choice for chasers. The good about AT&T is that edge is everywhere that 3G is not and it blows away 1RTT away when it comes to speeds and latency. If you are going to be streaming and not in a 3G area then you will notice the difference with cleaner tower handoffs.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

I hate reading AT&T bashing post first thing in the morning cause they have the best network in the deep south that is even better than Alltels. First off it is not secret that the Iphone is the worst phone when it comes to reception that AT&T sells and there is no antenna port on it so it's a bad choice for chasers. The good about AT&T is that edge is everywhere that 3G is not and it blows away 1RTT away when it comes to speeds and latency. If you are going to be streaming and not in a 3G area then you will notice the difference with cleaner tower handoffs.

He's talking about data in the plains, not in the deep south. Outside of Oklahoma and much of Texas, ATT is HORRIBLE (or maybe I need to put it in neat red letters so I stand out from everyone else) HORRIBLE in the plains. I used ATT for 2 years before switching to Sprint, and even in areas where I don't have EVDO, the 1xRTT is just as good as EDGE was for ATT. And BTW, Sprint has better EVDO service in the plains than ATT has for even EDGE. Looking at coverage maps, most of the areas covered by ATTs EDGE (300k max is what I got when I had ATT) is covered by Sprints EVDO (1.5 Mbps+). There's no comparison, Sprint EVDO covers virtually 90% of W. OK, most of N. TX (exception panhandle), 90% of Kansas, most of E. Nebraska, and most of E. SD; or suffer with ATT EDGE which is about the same coverage area as Sprint's EVDO.

 

[Josh Richardson]

Ok, here's my question. Since AT&T is obviously a no go out here should Alltel be considered the way to go for month to month? Also, was it month to month for tethering or data card or does it even matter. We are looking at getting a 2nd carrier as a backup or maybe as our primary depending on good it is as right now we use a US Cellular data card.

Anyway, I dont want to tether because obviously I dont want to buy a phone or anything from a different company. I just want a data card that will be reliable and month to month.....any suggestions please.

 

[J Kinkaid]

Ok, here's my question. Since AT&T is obviously a no go out here should Alltel be considered the way to go for month to month? Also, was it month to month for tethering or data card or does it even matter. We are looking at getting a 2nd carrier as a backup or maybe as our primary depending on good it is as right now we use a US Cellular data card.

Anyway, I dont want to tether because obviously I dont want to buy a phone or anything from a different company. I just want a data card that will be reliable and month to month.....any suggestions please.

Yes go with Alltell and you can add the now $30 phone as a modem option on top of your voice plan. The good thing is that you can turn it off when you don't need it. Even then you will still have data if you want but it will use your plan minutes. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Data card will run you around $100 on ebay and your looking at $60+ for usage meaning the phone option will save you more

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Ok, here's my question. Since AT&T is obviously a no go out here should Alltel be considered the way to go for month to month? Also, was it month to month for tethering or data card or does it even matter. We are looking at getting a 2nd carrier as a backup or maybe as our primary depending on good it is as right now we use a US Cellular data card.

Anyway, I dont want to tether because obviously I dont want to buy a phone or anything from a different company. I just want a data card that will be reliable and month to month.....any suggestions please.

Using a USCC card, I would almost look at going to Alltel as your primary internet. Outside of S. WI, N. IL, and Iowa; USCC isn't very good at all. You can go month to month on both tethering and data card, as Kinkaid mentioned, tethering would save money, but you lose use of your phone if that's the case.