Cell phone providers in May 2013 (Hilo, Waipio: house, yard, post office)

[CyberCity]

This inquiry is to current Hawaii Island residents regarding their cell phones. I am about to switch phones, and since I am not under a long term contract, it will be a good time to change the cell phone provider that I deal with. I currently have Sprint, but their coverage is terrible in South Kona.

I am accentuating the word current, because the coverage can differ from year to year, depending on what the provider is doing with supposed "improvements". For example, Sprint has "improved" their now-owned-Nextel service by disabling its walkie-talkie feature.

So, who is your cell phone provider, and how does it do for island-wide coverage? [Posted in May 2013]

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

We use Verizon and have great coverage all over the island. There are some dead areas, but not many and I think they are areas where no carrier has coverage.

[Shorty1952]

I also have Verizon and have good coverage island-wide. Only places so far that I've lost access is in the Waipio Valley and access is very poor in the parking lot of the Honaunau Post Office.

[FallenIntoGreatness]

I have an ATT go phone so I'm not locked into a contract should service change. Coverage has been good, so far the only areas I've dropped a call are around the Volcano, the park area between South Kona and Ocean View, and one little 5 mile stretch between Na'alehu and Pahala. Coverage in Hilo and Kona have been good. I have not traveled past Waikoloa with it so unsure of north coast area. There were a few spots on Saddle Rd where I lost signal but don't remember exact location.

[terracore]

Our family has a mix of plans including Verizon and AT&T. There used to be a big difference between the two, but overall coverage seems to be about the same now. We use Verizon 4G for internet. Last I looked AT&T was 3G or less only, and the Verizon internet is about 10x AT&T speeds. In fact it is much faster than the island DSL. And more expensive.

In our location, AT&T used to have a superior signal. But now I have to leave the house and go to the front of the yard to carry on a conversation with my AT&T phone. No problems with Verizon. YMMV.

[CyberCity]

Thanks to everyone who gave advice on my inquiry.

I went with Verizon, and so far I've noticed that it catches in areas in South Kona that used to be problems with Sprint.