Cell phone coverage in central Maine (Portland, Bangor: home, transfer, tax)

[freemejersey]

Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on which carrier has the best coverage in the Skowhegan area? The national carrier that I have cuts off after Augusta. I would like to find a phone that can work outside of the town limits as well as in other States too.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by freemejersey

Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on which carrier has the best coverage in the Skowhegan area? The national carrier that I have cuts off after Augusta. I would like to find a phone that can work outside of the town limits as well as in other States too.

We have the "can you hear me now?" guys and it seems to work fine all over the state.

[bringselpup]

I have a Motorola C261 Tracfone that I ported a new number to and use it between Augusta, Belfast, Waterville, Bangor.

It is a single rate with no roaming that I used for several months with my number from away. So I knew the phone worked fine. But I had to fight with Tracfone customer service and escalate through 3 supervisors before I found one smart enough to realize that we needed to tell their computers a Portland zip code instead of the little burg I am in to register the phone.

It works as good on my property as it does in Bangor.

[NJ2ME]

I was wondering this too. I have cingular/"the new ATT" and my contract just ended yesterday. Looking at ATT website they don't cover like ANY of Maine (they have partners that do in parts though), but the verizon website shows that they cover about the entire state. Most the state shows to be covered with digital with only a few spots covered only in analog. So the "can you hear me now?" guys seem to be good according to coverage but you never know unless you try. So I'm glad Maineah said that because I was going to verizon this week to get a new contract wth them hoping when we come up soon it will work.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Maineah

We have the "can you hear me now?" guys and it seems to work fine all over the state.

I have them too, they work fairly well for me...except at the house. I could talk if I stood out in the yard but not inside. An external antenna solved the problem.

A weak signal can be dramatically improved with an external antenna. Don't get one from the cell phone store, go to a truckstop (TA, Petro). The truckstops have the best antennas because truckers, being on the road all over the country, want something that works well everywhere...and you really don't want to be selling a product to a bunch of truckers who depend on it if it doesn't work the way its supposed to.

A company called "Wilson" makes what are probably the best antennas available, for both phones and mobile radio.

[peachie_in_maine]

This is good to know. We have been with US Cellular and our contracted ended this month. We are looking for the best family plan (Cingular doesn't work properly here, we tried them for two days and returned them. I couldn't call Steve even if he was standing beside me.

When My brother came home from Kentucky, he said his Cingular phone hardly worked in this area. So now, I have to find a plan and coverage that will work great in Maine. It may be US Cellular, but personal opinion always helps.
Tami ~peachie

[peachie_in_maine]

Originally Posted by Zymer

I have them too, they work fairly well for me...except at the house. I could talk if I stood out in the yard but not inside. An external antenna solved the problem.

A weak signal can be dramatically improved with an external antenna. Don't get one from the cell phone store, go to a truckstop (TA, Petro). The truckstops have the best antennas because truckers, being on the road all over the country, want something that works well everywhere...and you really don't want to be selling a product to a bunch of truckers who depend on it if it doesn't work the way its supposed to.

A company called "Wilson" makes what are probably the best antennas available, for both phones and mobile radio.

Excellent, I will also check there... I haven't been to dysarts for ever... but I will put that on my list. That may help "tons".

Tami~peachie

[forest beekeeper]

Each of the carriers have websites that show you where they think they cover.

When moving here I looked around and located the repeater towers, then checked to see who owned them [on the tax maps].

We live in an area saturated by Unicell towers, so we got Unicell phones.

When leaving the state, we can phone call and transfer our policy to a national carrier. Then when we return to Maine we phone call them again and transfer our policy back to regional.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by peachie_in_maine

This is good to know. We have been with US Cellular and our contracted ended this month. We are looking for the best family plan (Cingular doesn't work properly here, we tried them for two days and returned them. I couldn't call Steve even if he was standing beside me.

When My brother came home from Kentucky, he said his Cingular phone hardly worked in this area. So now, I have to find a plan and coverage that will work great in Maine. It may be US Cellular, but personal opinion always helps.
Tami ~peachie

We at least gave them a whole week! LOL But about the same result... I am thinking that NOTHING works in Darby/lower Milo <g>. Did you get charged an early term. fee? We did, after they said we wouldn't... but at least the rep fixed it (with a pleasant attitude and a smile... props to the crew at Daves World in Dover-Foxcroft).

[knightjohannes]

I have had excellent luck with my AT&T phone. It covers in 95% of the areas I go.

My work phone from US Cellular is very good on the coast, and covers most of that 5% that my AT&T doesn't.