Best cell phone company reception & coverage (Minneapolis, St. Paul: lease, college)

[kab0906]

Quick question:


Which cell phone provider has the best service in the city? DD is going to college there and we are thinking of getting her a new cell phone for graduation. Where we are, At&t is the best but that may be different in MSP.


Thanks!

[Tyryztoll]

We lived in Lakeville in the southern burbs, currently live in Cambridge 40 miles north of the cities, and I have jobs sites in Edina, Stillwater and Wyoming. Had Verizon the whole time and in every spot it has been excellent.

[wamer27]

Anything but Sprint.

[kab0906]

Thank you both.

[rainafadel]

Originally Posted by wamer27

Anything but Sprint.

True

[clarinet]

Hi all...looking for more replies regarding Verizon vs AT&T for Venice/Nokomis and Sarasota regions. Will be moving soon to Nokomis. Thanks

[Kebinminn]

I don't know why the hate for Sprint. We've had it for years and have never gone out of range, even in outstate.

[WoodburyWoody]

Originally Posted by Kebinminn

I don't know why the hate for Sprint. We've had it for years and have never gone out of range, even in outstate.

We’ve had Sprint servce since 2005, living in Eagan and working in southern Minnesota Then MPLS and wife working in St. Paul then eastern burbs. Now in Woodbury and still working in MPLS and wife in eastern burbs.

The only ongoing issue is one spot on Edgcombe in St paul where service always drops out for me, whether old days with cell only plan and a flip phone or now with cell/data and an iPhone. Calls always drop on one particiular block or two section of that street.

In 2010 or so, they really invested in hardware at towers. Sprint’s big issue in the Twin Cities is that the lease at the low end of the frequency, which s not ideal. But the other players lockered up the better bandwidth. That bit them whem more people moved from cell only plans to big data plans and their attempts a software solutions came up short. That is when they invested in hardware at the towers.

[ellysbelly]

I have Verizon (corporate phone)-- my husband and kids have Sprint-- we've had no issues with either.

[TheGrandViking]

We had Verizon + the company it bought out for 19 years and had no issue (other than in the boundary waters and arrow head region). Last 2 years we switched to Project Fi and, other than some hiccups in the first two months, have had no issues. The reason you would chose Fi is we pay 50 dollars (+data or $5 in our case)for 3 phone lines, pay as you go for data, and can use in different countries (170). I have to go into Minneapolis area once a week and have had no problems and have been impressed with the open networks available. Also, worked well in China but I had my doubts at the time.

Project Fi works by switching to different cell phone carriers(Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular) and any open WiFI network. Sounds great? Maybe not for some users: Limited phone selection (great phones though), $10 per Gig of data use, and I have had some messages delayed. So, if you are user that streams videos and plays video games on your phone and spends time in areas where you need to use your data, this is probably not a good plan for you. However, If you have access to a network most of the time and can control your usage when not in range, this can be great for you.

The big issue for some is paying for data. However, you get capped for data charges at $60. We have yet to top $5.00 in data use because we also have XFinity and that has Hot spots located strategically in my area. I do use netflix sometimes on it but do it from home. So, if you are a savvy user, it can work you.