Cell Phone's and Coverage (Madison, La Crosse: live in, price, best deal)

[montyc]

I'm sure most of you can relate to this topic in one way or another. Some of you may have a cell phone...some of you may not...and some of you would love to RANT and RAVE about people and their cell phones.

I currently live in Middleton, WI (connected to Madison) and am looking for a decent cell phone company that provides coverage for southern WI and southwestern WI....specifically all of Iowa County.

I have researched all of the major cell providers (eg. Alltel, Cingular, US Cellular, Sprint, Verizon) and have chosen two whom I see have the best customer reviews and coverage:

US Cellular
Verizon

These are the only two that show Mineral Point in Iowa County as being NON roaming, which is what I was going for.

My question to you all is this: Which company have you had the best success with in regards to coverage, price and customer service?

FYI: I am currently in a contract with Sprint, and just cancelled my contract without paying a cancellation fee (because they changed their terms and conditions). Sprint had the worst phones and coverage I have ever had to deal with and will be glad when I wash my hands of them.

Thanks

Monty

[dreamhunter65]

I use Alltell but up north and supposedly no roam in Wisconsin at all.Think they hooked up with Cingular or verizon though so no roam on those towers..I get the roaming flash but not steady roam so do not get billed for roaming.

[montyc]

I guess nobody in Wisconsin besided myself and Dreamhunter65 owns a cell phone. Oh well....thanks for the input everyone!

-Monty

[Turtle]

I've said it before and I'll say it again....stay away from Cingular! I had terrible coverage/service/customer service when I had them, but at the time, they had this great rate plan which seemed worth it until we realized of our 1000 min, we were using less than 200 because of constant dropped calls and bad service. We switched to Verizon and have had great luck with them...not a dropped call since we switched a year and a half ago! I don't know what the coverage would be in your area, but if you are choosing between the 2, Verizon all the way.

Good luck

[FireFly]

I use Alltel. I haven't really travelled out of the La Crosse and Tomah areas much though so I don't know about the roaming or whatnot.

[natrlvr2]

I use it only for emergencies when on the road.Because then I am not in the area I live. TERRIBLE coverage where I live.

[LML]

I live in Madison and I use US Cellular and I don't have roaming when I am in Iowa County but there are times when the calls drop at certain places. I think there aren't enough towers in Iowa County yet.

[chiados]

I have family in Mineral Point. They use Alltel and seem to have good coverage. We have Verizon which uses on US Cellular towers in much of Iowa County. We have had occasional coverage problems with Verizon when we've visited MP, but the coverage has been pretty good during our trips there in recent months. Depending on your plan and provided you don't use too high a percentage of your monthly calls on the US Cellular towers, Verizon should not charge you roaming. US Cellular is a friendlier company overall and has a better interface on their phones. If most of your calls are going to folks on one of the other network, then you'll get by more cheaply if you are on the same network with free mobile-to-mobile (IN network) minutes. Alltel also had (and may still have) the "Circle" plan option to choose 5 or 10 numbers on any network or landline to whom you can call without using minutes. So you might want o check that out too.

[nl2134]

I had Verizon through all my years in Wisconsin. Dropped maybe 2 calls in four years...unbelievable service.

Sprint is solid...my friend had it, never dropped a call from him when I talked to him, and I think it worked out well for him.

Cingular/ATT is the absolute worst. Not only does it suck in Madison and the rest of Wisconsin, but all around the nation, the coverage is spotty and many, many calls are dropped. Just stay away from the company...

No experience with US Cellular, though. I've heard for those not going to leave the immediate midwest it may be the best deal, but then again, I'm not sure exactly...

[hamjeepr]

Its important to look at the plan and who the company works with. Alltel, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and US Cellular are all CDMA carriers and one company's phone will work on the other carriers as well (depending on the status of the roaming agreements). Whichever company you choose, make sure you get a nationwide plan that eliminates the possibility of roaming. It may cost a little more up front but better than when you accidentally roam at 60 cents a minute. Verizon works will with all the other carriers and has some of the most reasonable no-roaming-charges plans.

As for Cingular/ATT/whatever they call themselves today, they only network with other GSM carriers and that is T-Mobile up there. Not really any benefit to someone in the back country.