Best cell phone coverage :) (Dallas, San Antonio: real estate, house, price)

[Indigoblue]

I know this topic was discussed in October but the sample size was very small and cell phone coverage changes. My hubby and I are mostly going to be in the Cedar Park/NW Austin area, but I'll be traveling all over the Austin metro area for business. Which cell phone company has the least dropped calls?

[mhudson78660]

at&t for me.

[TexasHorseLady]

I use Verizon. That's after trying AT&T, Cingular, Spring, and a couple of others I can't remember right now. Since I'm a real estate agent and one of my specialities is horse properties (rural), I have to have something that will keep me in touch pretty much everywhere, and Verizon is the only one who managed to pull that off. (The rest I could only get coverage at home if I stood next to the plum tree out in my back yard in a one square foot area and didn't tilt my head too far in any direction - now I can sit at my desk or wander around the house talking on my cell phone with no problem.)

[Derek ATX]

I actually carry a backup AT&T phone because my T-Mobile is so hit and miss with coverage. I have rarely had a problem with coverage with my AT&T phone.

[jeffari-al-texani]

I never had a problem with Verizon when I was in Austin.

[AustinTexan]

This thread is similar to someone asking, what is the best car to drive? It's a question that's going to net you 100 different answers, from "loyal" subscribers. I have had Sprint PCS for going on 10 years or so and I've never had a problem, except for their customer service from time to time. As far as coverage, I really think a lot depends on the phone you buy. Some phones are stronger in terms of how powerful it is to find signals and stay connected to them (there is a technical term but I don't know it) than others. I've had 20 different phones and it seems they've all had different strengths. The newer, thinner phones seem to drop calls a lot easier than the older, thicker ones. My current phone drops more calls than the previous one because it's more of a multimedia phone that can do Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc., as well as email and all that good stuff. The phones that are dedicated to just phone calls are better at retaining the signal strength, in my opinion.

Right now Sprint and I think Verizon have the $99 unlimited everything plans which are a great deal. Hope that helps.

[atxcio]

I have Sprint too, and with different phones the service is somewhat spotty. It works fine in my home and 99% percent of the places in town, but there are dead spots in NW Hills and on 360... used to be a bad spot just west of Bastrop, too.

Dropped calls are also getting much worse IMO. I think the network is oversold; drops always seems to occur during rush hour periods. Forget about getting a call in/out near downtown during game day, either.

So overall I can't recommend Sprint. The only reason I stay with them is because of the price (you can get huge loyalty and other discounts) and for unlimited data service using the broadband card... the broadband card works very well.

[usixly]

Can I get this thread going again? Just moved here from the Seattle area with my AT&T cell service (on 2 Samsung Blackjack II phones) ...and service so far has been worse than horrible...it's been completely exasperating! Constantly dropping calls, out of service, etc.

I will be starting work soon and will absolutely need a strong cell service. I'm ready to get a new phone and provider, and will be doing most of my calling from S. Austin (Slaughter/Manchaca area), but will need the service to perform well downtown also.

Advice? Thanks in advance!

[TexasGirl@Heart]

I have never had problems with my phone on my many visits to Austin. I have Verizon and will be keeping them once I move down. I have been all over Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth with never a problem.

[Mckellyb]

I see Verizon mentioned a couple of times, but honestly, unless I'm in Dallas, I'm always finding dead-spots here and there with Verizon.

Granted, it's NOWHERE near as bad as it was in Vegas, which is RF interference Hell and every building is about four feet of concrete, thick, but I thought it'd be better, here. Part of it may be our location is too far from an antenna, but I've had a couple of calls dropped, in-town. This is on both my digital-only phone and the combo digital/analogue my wife has. I wanted to ensure, when we travel, we have one analogue phone with us, as, for example, Vermont is pretty much mobile telephone signal-free...unless you stand under one specific tree, between 4:13 and 4:17 AM, on Tuedays, with a blindfold on and standing on one leg. I forgot what the mantra you much chant, is....

Sorry for the spelling...I'm being beckoned by Australia....