Cell phone services??? (Knoxville, Seymour: move to, cellular, location)

[Troyv1]

Verizon bought Alltel and Alltel had great coverage in ET. I had Sprint and it dropped calls. Friends visited with AT&T and turned their phones off due to lack of coverage. I use Verizon and get 3G coverage nearly everywhere. I would predict that if you can't get coverage on Verizon that you can't get coverage or you will get poor coverage with other services. I have convinced several people in that area to switch to Verizon (or Alltel) and they are all glad they did, some are realtors.

[Tn405]

I have Sprint and have no problems. I think sometimes when we were high up in the mountains it may have roamed but for the most part it is great.

[Fishingles]

I have had trouble with T-Mobile in the Knoxville area and just switched to US Cellular. I am happy so far. I was told US Cellular uses Verzions towers. They gave me a 1000 mins on a family plan with free weekends and nights starting at 7pm, free incoming calls, and free mobile to mobile all for $70 per month. It was the best deal I found and believe me I shopped it!

[esk456]

If coverage in the mountains is important to you, then Verizon is your only choice. I have AT&T, and never have signal in the mountains. I spend a lot of time in the mountains, on both roads and trails, and never have signal anywhere, except by Laurel Falls trailhead in GSMNP, and Gatlinburg proper. Other than that, deadness. By contrast, I have seen many people talking on cell phones on trails and mountaintops (mostly to make those cheesy 'guess where I am standing right now' - type calls... eyeroll), and invariably, they have Verizon.

[LauraC]

Verizon does not have coverage in chunks of East Tennessee. Go to their coverage map. Then move the sliding up and down bar to Region. Then use the right arrow in the circle to scoot the map over to Tennessee.

Coverage Locator - Verizon Wireless

[BarbG]

Originally Posted by LauraC

Verizon does not have coverage in chunks of East Tennessee. Go to their coverage map. Then move the sliding up and down bar to Region. Then use the right arrow in the circle to scoot the map over to Tennessee.

Coverage Locator - Verizon Wireless

And even that map can be iffy. We had Alltel, which had excellent coverage, and when Verizon bought them out, our coverage went downhill fast. Their map shows coverage, but doesn't tell you that you can get numerous dropped calls in some areas, even when you aren't going between hills, or around bends. The largest number of dropped calls we get now are in very clear and open areas.

I can't tell you the number of times I have picked up the phone when my DH calls me back (after a dropped call) and drawl, with great sarcasm, "Gosh, I just LOVE Verizon!"

[mattbward]

Maps are completely deceiving, both for saying their IS coverage and for saying their ISN'T coverage. I have run into a few places where coverage is minimal (like heading the back way to Asheville on 70 and heading from Gatlinburg to Waynesville on 441) but for the most part I drop very few calls in the area. Also, keep in mind that if you live in an area that is in the mountains and is sparsley populated that could be part of the reason you don't get good reception. Alltel had towers in places that served very few people, the amount of money they spent to maintain the towers in the country that serviced hundreds prevented them from adding towers in places that would services thousands (poor planning). Kinda like Verizon shut down a tower in Bean Station, TN to put one up that patched a hole on I-40....

[richelles]

I lived in Gatlinburg for years and found out that they have two towers in the town. The tower on Mt. Harrison is in view of almost the entire populated area so there is decent coverage. The other tower is located on 321 and doesn't give decent coverage in much of the downtown area. I actually could see the tower on Mt. Harrison and can't remember a dropped call. However when we had service from the tower on 321 I couldn't even get a single bar and to use the phone at home I had to go over to 321 to make calls. Find out which tower your carrier uses before you sign a contract for Gatlinburg. Poor planning positioning for the 321 tower.

[kvandergriff]

Try Straight Talk, available at Walmart. I bought a Samsung R451C phone and the $45 plan. It seems to be using Verizons towers. The reception is good in my area (Soddy Daisy) It even works on Mowbray Mountain. This plan offers unlimited minutes, text, and data so I don't have to count minutes or messages. This isn't necessarily the best handset in the world, but it serves the purpose.

[Brian]

It seems that most people in the Loudon/LeNoir City area use Verizon. My mother constantly complained about her Verizon call drops frequently whenever visiting her mother in the southernmost part of Loudon. I recently bought a NetBook at the VerizonWireless's Turkey Creek store in western Knoxville, so I could kill some time while in Farragut/western Knoxville. It had two to three bars on the meter thing most of times. I did not get to try it in Loudon County at the time. I have decided not to keep the NetBook after using it for a while.

T-Mobile and AT&T seems to work just fine in Loudon County with occasional call drops.