Cell phone companies that work in Maine (Bangor: buy, to live)

[printingray]

In fact US Cellular provides great customer service, though you may have to wait, as they're probably thoroughly dealing with someone else's issue. They have progressively been getting better Android phones, prices are reasonable, upgrade time to a new phone is very quick. 5GB data cap is acceptable compared to other providers and they have AMAZING coverage.

[Brodels]

Originally Posted by cdodge04

What part of Maine are you coming to? Will you be traveling frequently? Verizon and US Cellular are the best bets. Verizon has a better selection of phones, but many times it is a bit more expensive. US Cellular never has the most up to date phones, but they are generally cheaper. Verizon and US Cellular have roaming agreements and generally wherever you have service with one you will have service with the other...depending on which phone you get. There are also prepaid options such as Straight Talk and all those..I know almost nothing about those as far as reception goes. Sprint and T-Mobile both have coverage here in Maine, but generally they aren't as good as Verizon and US Cellular.

Really depends on where in the state you will be living and if you will be traveling around at all.

This is pretty much spot-on. If you will live in the southern part of the state and spend most of your time there, anything should work fine. As you go farther north, Verizon and USCC are the only good options. I have had Verizon for years because I appreciate the national footprint and better phones, but here in The County, USCC is probably a better option for some, especially in the St. John Valley and other border towns.

[Submariner]

I went to an event in Unity, my companion uses US Cellular and I use Verizon. We both knew that previously neither of us could get signal in that area. So we tested both of our phones.

Neither of us could get any signal.

[cdodge04]

Forest, do you have older phones? I have US Cellular and was in Unity the other day, I talked on my phone(was on a conference call) when I drove through. I had signal all the way up 139 from Thorndike into Unity and then out through to Waterville.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by cdodge04

Forest, do you have older phones? I have US Cellular and was in Unity the other day, I talked on my phone(was on a conference call) when I drove through. I had signal all the way up 139 from Thorndike into Unity and then out through to Waterville.

I have a 2 yo Samsung using Verizon; my friend uses a smartphone on US Cellular.

[inthetrees]

for cheaper verizon service there is tracphone with a CDMA phone, or Page plus Cellular. Both of these prepaid companies use verizon towers. However tracphone also uses tmobile/att&t for their GSM phones. CDMA and GSM are cell phone technologys. The simple way to tell the phones apart are SIM cards...GSM uses them and CDMA doesnt...

I believe there is one more company (prepaid) that uses verizon towers but I cant remember off hand.

Ive never used US cellular but Verizon is awesome all over the northeast for good service.

[AlaMommy]

I would recommend US Cellular - they have great plans and coverage, and so long as you get a national plan, you can use other cell towers for your signal and not have to pay extra. We are still using US Cellular here in New Mexico and paying less than 50 a month for the 450 national plan. All incoming text and calls and everything is FREE. So if 450 minutes seems like it's not enough, you can make it a habit to call someone and tell them to call you right back and you'll only use the 1 minute on them! But of course, they have plans with more minutes and texting bundles and things if you really need them. They are a good company that I have done business with since my very first cell phone about 10 years ago!

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by AlaMommy

I would recommend US Cellular - they have great plans and coverage, and so long as you get a national plan, you can use other cell towers for your signal and not have to pay extra. We are still using US Cellular here in New Mexico and paying less than 50 a month for the 450 national plan. All incoming text and calls and everything is FREE. So if 450 minutes seems like it's not enough, you can make it a habit to call someone and tell them to call you right back and you'll only use the 1 minute on them! But of course, they have plans with more minutes and texting bundles and things if you really need them. They are a good company that I have done business with since my very first cell phone about 10 years ago!

$50/month may be kind of high.

A national plan is great, but the question was about Maine. Which draws a person back to where in Maine you plant to be; if anyone provides coverage to that area; and if so who.

A great plan may not be so great, when you get no signal.

[ElGreco]

We have Android phones and one week ago we were from Bangor, Bar Harbor, Milbridge where we bought a house, Harrington to Machias and we didn't have a problem with reception. Our provider is AT&T.

[maine4.us]

When my son visited from Florida, his MetroPCS worked wherever US Cellular worked. I am sure they would terminate your service if you continually roamed, or end up billing you additionally. He never complained about his bill when he went back, and he was always talking, and texting. Other than that, US Cellular probably has the best service around the state. ATT and Verizon are in the more densely populated areas, but get ready for a lot of voice mails instead of calls. You do get used to it, but it takes a while. Washington county except for a couple of places is a cell phone desert. Calais and Machias have decent service, but the rest of us are marginal at best.