Best Cell Phone company (Gillette, Sheridan: rent, credit, purchase)

[knut88]

What cell phone company there in wyoming any where there gets the best reception in and out of town for every one there? Thanks for any and all input.

[georgiainwyo]

Originally Posted by knut88

What cell phone company there in wyoming any where there gets the best reception in and out of town for every one there? Thanks for any and all input.

This was the subject of a thread a month or so ago. It was the concensus of most posters that Verizon is the best in Wyoming. Hope that helps!

[Darrow]

Verizon...but there are areas in WY where there's no such thing as service - no matter what.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by Darrow

Verizon...but there are areas in WY where there's no such thing as service - no matter what.

In a nutshell, yes. Basically, if Verizon doesn't have service in a part of Wyoming, nobody else will, either. This may not be true 100 percent of the time, but as a rule, it's a fairly safe bet. There will be dead zones in a lot of isolated areas, much less so in cities and towns. I have property 20 miles west of Wheatland, and my Verizon phone works there, but the signal's somewhat weak. Much further, and I doubt it would work at all.

This isn't just true of Wyoming. The same applies in California, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, and so on... No one offers 100% coverage everywhere.

[ruggedindividual]

Alltel has coverage all over too. I frequently travel I-90 between Buffalo and Gillette, south on WY50 to the Pumpkin Buttes, 387 west to Edgerton & Midwest and I-25 north from Midwest to Kaycee/Buffalo, as well as all of the back roads within that area. Without a hands-free kit, I'd say I have coverage 80% of the time, and close to 100% of the time with the booster.

The only thing I don't like about Alltel is their selection of phones. I think Verizon has better options.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by navyvet79

Alltel has coverage all over too. I frequently travel I-90 between Buffalo and Gillette, south on WY50 to the Pumpkin Buttes, 387 west to Edgerton & Midwest and I-25 north from Midwest to Kaycee/Buffalo, as well as all of the back roads within that area. Without a hands-free kit, I'd say I have coverage 80% of the time, and close to 100% of the time with the booster.

The only thing I don't like about Alltel is their selection of phones. I think Verizon has better options.

If I'm not mistaken these companies are both one in the same now. It seems to me that I read in a prior post in this forum that they merged.

[ruggedindividual]

Originally Posted by jdavid93225

If I'm not mistaken these companies are both one in the same now. It seems to me that I read in a prior post in this forum that they merged.

From what I understand Alltel and Verizon did merge, but part of their purchase agreement was for the new company to transition some of their cellular markets over to another service provider, AT&T. Probably in order to maintain some degree of competition I would imagine. This transition is supposed to happen at the end of 2009, but many details still aren't known.

Regardless, the cellular network exists in the area. Whatever service provider ends up operating those towers will have decent coverage for their customers.

[ElkHunter]

Don't know about the rest of the state but in Sheridan, AllTel and Verizon rent space on the same tower. So when people say "Such and such has better coverage around here", I just laugh. The antena's of both companies are less then a foot apart. Better coverage? :-)

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Don't know about the rest of the state but in Sheridan, AllTel and Verizon rent space on the same tower. So when people say "Such and such has better coverage around here", I just laugh. The antena's of both companies are less then a foot apart. Better coverage? :-)

It does seem to make a difference is some areas. My son has had Verizon for a few years, and I've had Alltel or the companies they bought out for 20 years. We've run into areas where he had service and I didn't, or mine was roaming. I finally switched to Verizon a couple months ago.

I made the switch April 29. Then I got a phone call from Alltel on May 14 asking for more money. I paid them what they asked for and asked if that was everything. "Yes, that pays everything." Last week I got another call from them. Seems I owed another $135 or so. I said my account was supposed to be paid in full, so they switched me to accounting. "Other cell companies only charge for the days you use your phone the final month, but Alltel charges the full month." (My phone bill cycled on April 27 -- two days before I switched.)

After 30 minutes I was told to call back later. Same crap. Then they lowered the amount owed to $40. More discussion. Then it was lowered to $5. More discussion. Finally, another half hour later, I was credited the full $135. For now. I'm waiting to see what happens next month.

What made matters even more irritating was that I'd been paying for two phones, but one of them broke last fall and I never got around to canceling the second phone line. So all this time I've been paying an extra $30 or so each month -- which I knew and accepted. Of course they had a record that I hadn't used the second phone for 6 months or so, but they still wanted to gouge me another $135 for something or another. (I never did get an explanation.) It made me very glad I'd switched to Verizon.

[ruggedindividual]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Don't know about the rest of the state but in Sheridan, AllTel and Verizon rent space on the same tower. So when people say "Such and such has better coverage around here", I just laugh. The antena's of both companies are less then a foot apart. Better coverage? :-)

If the two carriers are using different equipment (amplifiers, antenna types, etc.) then there actually could be a noticeable difference between them in some spots.