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I'd like to hear from anyone that has experience using Sprint as a cell phone provider on Hatteras Island. I'm in Verizon's network now, and it's been fine in past visits.
I'd like to save a few bucks, but the last thing I want is a million dollar headache every time I'm on the phone.
Verizon is only 1 of 2 cell carriers worth having in eastern North Carolina. US Cellular is the other. The problem is the entire area is sparsely populated and once you get away from larger towns then the service falls off. Verizon and US Cellular have invested in cell towers to cover most of the rural areas whereas none of the other carriers, including Sprint, have not. I had Sprint for a long time before I moved to Greenville, NC. It worked fine in the city of Greenville but once I started traveling out into the countryside, the service would quickly fall off. Then I tried T Mobile. It was the same as Sprint. I asked around and the overwhelming consensus was that US Cellular and Verizon were the only 2 real options. Since my son works for Verizon I went with that option. It works virtually everywhere.
There is no Sprint coverage on Hatteras, or just about anywhere east of I-95. Somewhere between Rocky Mount and Tarboro was the last spot I had any coverage. I have since dropped due to their terrible coverage across the state. Do not switch.
T-Mobile did not have service a few years ago on Hatteras, but they did when we were there last May.
Avoid Sprint like the plague. Their coverage (if you can call it that) is terrible. Nobody I know in ENC has Sprint for the same reason. I have Sprint’s BoostMobile service and I have the same experience as the other posters when I’m in NC.
T-Mobile has covered most of the mainland east of Washington with 600MHz LTE (coverage even in places Verizon doesn’t cover in Hyde) and they’re soon building a tower on Ocracoke. Hatteras is covered.
Verizon has the best coverage but the slowest data in the area now. Network is over saturated. AT&T is the next best. US Cellular is so far behind in technology they’re barely a player anymore.
Also - they do not address this on coverage maps but T-Mobile and US Cellular have a roaming agreeement. It only applies to specific towers that US Cellular has activated VoLTE on. This is one of the things US Cellular is far behind on - Except for Sprint the others have had VoLTE for years.
Well, thank you, all. Sprint is offering an incentivized deal with new phones now, but it sounds as if the nice phone may as well be a brick for me if I have their service while in Avon.
If you want to save money, switch to a Verizon MVNO like Total Wireless.
I'll likely keep PagePlus (Verizon MVNO, as you suggest) and start combing ebay for another round of used phones
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