Cell phones (Casper, Gillette, Sheridan: live in, land, office)

[Godhandfreedom]

how good do cell phones work in gillette and what are good providers to try (nextell/alltell.etc)

[ElkHunter]

I have Verizon and it works great in Gillette and most of all the trip between here and there.

[jdavid93225]

I also have Verizon, and have had good reception in many parts of Wyoming (and other places) when I traveled there earlier this year. I didn't specifically visit Gillette, but from what I've seen, and what JGussler stated, you should have good coverage with Verizon. I specifically chose Verizon for their coverage in Wyoming. I received a fair amount of information about them from this forum.

[Godhandfreedom]

ok sounds good i was hoping to get nextel but verizon will do just fine thank you again

[jazzlover]

The only carriers that seem to have pretty good service statewide are Verizon, Alltel, and a "local" carrier--Union Telephone. I use Verizon and have been pretty satisfied with the service. One thing that really helps (and I have posted this before)--get a tri-band phone with 800 AMPS analog available. There is still a fair amount Wyoming's land area that does not have reliable digital cell service, though there is getting to be more and more digital. Unfortunately, most of the "fancy" cell phones (picture phones, Blackberries, etc.) DON'T have 800 AMPS analog. In remote areas of the Rocky Mountain West, you may not have cell service without it.

[molon labe]

Alltell seems to have better reception up here in my experience. There are some places in town where Verizon has better service, but it seems like Alltell takes it when you get out in the sticks.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by lak supply

Alltell seems to have better reception up here in my experience. There are some places in town where Verizon has better service, but it seems like Alltell takes it when you get out in the sticks.

Which way into the sticks? The reason I ask is that I've got Verizon and coming from Sheridan to Gillette, I have about 5 miles of no service. The rest of the trip I have a signal. Either I-90 or the old road through Arvada and into Gillette from that way.

[molon labe]

Originally Posted by jgussler

Which way into the sticks? The reason I ask is that I've got Verizon and coming from Sheridan to Gillette, I have about 5 miles of no service. The rest of the trip I have a signal. Either I-90 or the old road through Arvada and into Gillette from that way.

I have good service south of town when I'm at all the mines but one and a few miles of a back road or two, and farther south all the way down to Casper. Between Casper and the RS area I still have good service with only a few dead spots.

East of town I get coverage consistently to Rapid.... not sure about north as I haven't been far north with it, and west is good so far. I haven't spent much time over there with Alltell so I can't say what it's like in your area so much.

My company cell is so-so as it's a PDA and doesn't get quite the reception my personal cell does. A couple of the guys I work with have Verizon and their phones crap out south of town past Wright, but they seem to get better reception in parts of Gillette and in the town of Casper..... for what I'm doing Alltell seems to work the best.

Alltell and Verizon seem to be the only ones that work at all up here. When I moved back here I had AT&T, and the service was horrible. It turns out they have no towers up here and everything I was getting was affiliate towers.

I don't think you can go wrong with either Alltell or Verizon.

[ruggedindividual]

I work in Gillette and live in Buffalo. Alltel has me covered pretty well along I-90 and in both cities, as well as up in Sheridan and all the way down I-25 to as far south as at least Denver. Just a few brief (couple miles) dead spots along the way. Having a hands-free set with a roof mounted antenna and signal booster really does help by the way.

At the risk of sounding like a a salesman, I went with Alltel over Verizon because of the ability to chose 10 people, regardless of who their carrier is, and regardless of the type of phone (office, mobile, home, etc.) to make/receive calls to without counting against your anytime minutes. That saves me a lot of money, especially when a lot of other people I work with have Alltel and mobile-to-mobile is also free. Oh, and you're able to switch your service contract at any time without waiting until your current contract is up. Pretty nice feature...but I'm sure in the competitive wireless communication industry, Verizon has something similar to offer too. My experience is only with Alltel. Having been a Verizon customer in the past, I'm pretty happy with them.

[ElkHunter]

My son is here in Sheridan and he has Alltell. Me with verizon and around here, we match almost exactly with signal. He works up at Decker Montana and his phone is dead (as well as mine) from about 5 miles out of Sheridan until just before you turn in the mine. But south to Casper is fine and East to Gillette is fine for both of us.