Best cell phone carrier: eastside, Seattle, Tacoma? (Bellevue, Redmond: neighborhood, store)

[MO Fun in Philly]

Hi everyone:

We'll be moving to the Seattle area soon -- working in Tacoma (me) and likely downtown Seattle (my wife), with family in the eastside (Bellevue, Newcastle, Redmond). Our current cellphone plan contracts with Verizon have expired, and we're wondering whether to stick with Verizon or switch carriers.

Who has the best coverage overall in the eastside, Seattle, and Tacoma areas? Previous posts on this site have indicated quite a few people like T-Mobile, but these weren't specifically about these areas. I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience -- especially if you happen to travel within the above areas!

Thanks!

[Ira500]

I'm a T-Mobile customer and am mostly pleased with their service. I've never experienced coverage problems in Tacoma, though I'm not all over town and don't go there frequently. Seattle is fine, Bellevue is fine although there is a small dead zone just south of Factoria on I-405, which at that point might be Newcastle. Redmond has great T-Mobile coverage. I'm also very happy with their customer service. The Issaquah store in particular has especially helpful folks.

[jenlion]

I've heard good things about T-Mobile on the Eastside too. I have Verizon and I've never had a problem with coverage up here -- mostly Eastside but plenty of trips into Seattle or down I-5. I'm able to use my cell's internet in Tacoma no problem. My husband had problems with Verizon coverage on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, enough to make him switch to AT&T, which isn't perfect but is better for him. Not sure why.

So, while I *hear* T-Mobile is good Eastside, my personal experience with Verizon for the last 15 months has been very, very good. Hate their customer "service", but the coverage seems fine.

[Heiwos]

I vouch for T-Mobile. AT&T/Cingular had dead zones on the Eastside and was expensive. Not one dead zone found in a year with T-Mobile, in Redmond / Bellevue mostly, and Seattle (KOW). It has worked fine down the west coast too, including Redding CA, a smallish town. The customer service has been great (replaced a waterlogged phone cheaply/efficiently) and the plan has saved me a lot over AT&T.

[MichaelinWA]

I spend a lot of time in Seattle and Newcastle/Bellevue and have had no problems at all with AT&T. And their 3G network works well with our iPhones, which we love.

Check the contract, but my understanding is that the big carriers will allow you to return a phone and cancel a new contract within 30 days if their signal just doesn't work for you, in your particular neighborhood.

[jenlion]

Sprint does allow that. My husband got an HTC phone with Sprint and returned it and cancelled the contract. Service wasn't great in our house, and the phone was the only one he liked and it had a battery life of about an hour. Sprint kept trying to bill us for several more months but it was cleared up eventually.

He got an iPhone and has AT&T now, but it's awful. It seems to be the phone that's the problem, though, not the service. He can hear everyone fine, but no one can hear him. Nobody else seems to have that problem, I think we just need to get the phone fixed. Hah.