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I know this thread has been started before, but I wanted to get some views on the cell phone coverage and quality via 2014 versus some of the older posts here. I currently use Verizon and they are pretty good coverage wise, but their plans are exceedingly more and more expensive. I'm hoping to hear of another carrier that would be worth taking a look at. Thanks in advance
Unfortunately Verizon is still the best by a fair amount in Idaho, followed by AT&T. To me none of the other carriers are even viable options because a phone without service is pretty useless. Now if you stay in town all the time maybe one of the others would be acceptable.
I feel your pain on cost. My plan has two iPhones with 4 GB of data and unlimited talk and text - for $150 and change a month. Not exactly cheap when you compare it to some of the discount carriers out there.
T-Mobile has quite good coverage and speeds in the city (as in, Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell and nearby areas). Once you leave the area though, you'll drop down to 2G though, so limited data, but calls and text still work in most areas along the highways. Driving to Bend, I have large pockets of no coverage between Vale and Burns (because there's nothing there), but from Burns to Bend most of the way I can make calls and texts with roaming (no extra fees or anything, just no data). If you're mostly in the cities it's a great option.
A good alternative is something like Straight Talk, NET10 or Cricket, which runs of AT&T's pretty good network but has better prices and no contracts. My parents switched from Verizon to NET10 and are happy with it, and they get better coverage than I do on T-Mobile (my data is often faster though when I have it).
T-Mobile has quite good coverage and speeds in the city (as in, Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell and nearby areas). Once you leave the area though, you'll drop down to 2G though, so limited data, but calls and text still work in most areas along the highways. Driving to Bend, I have large pockets of no coverage between Vale and Burns (because there's nothing there), but from Burns to Bend most of the way I can make calls and texts with roaming (no extra fees or anything, just no data). If you're mostly in the cities it's a great option.
A good alternative is something like Straight Talk, NET10 or Cricket, which runs of AT&T's pretty good network but has better prices and no contracts. My parents switched from Verizon to NET10 and are happy with it, and they get better coverage than I do on T-Mobile (my data is often faster though when I have it).
As a point of comparison, since I have family in Bend I've been on that run from Ontario to Bend more times than I can count. When you go through the canyon along the river west of Vale there's an area maybe 30-40 miles where service is nonexistent or spotty. Other than that you have at least 3G service all the way, and actually anymore 4G most of the way. Once you come down the west side of Stinkingwater and drop into that flat area east of Burns you've got 4G the rest of the way into Central Oregon.
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