Cell phone reception in the Triangle (Chapel Hill, Apex: transfer, living, pricing)

[rfb]

All carriers tend to work well along highways and in densely populated areas. As others have said, different carriers perform better or worse in some other areas. It would be ideal if you can identify where you will be spending most of your time, such as home and work locations, and can find out from others which carrier(s) work best for you. For ME, AT&T works best, and I routinely get 3 bars. I had Verizon before, and reception was rather iffy. But that is just for where I live and work.

[zitsky]

I have Verizon. It's not that great. iPhone 13 Pro Max. Verizon 5G data plan.

Funny you should ask, because this morning, I was up on Durant Road in Raleigh. I was having trouble getting my cell phone and Car Play to navigate. I figured out (I guess) that I didn't have a strong enough signal. Kind of frustrating, really. I was down to 1 bar only. I kept driving south on Falls of Neuse and eventually had a good signal again.

I used to think of Verizon as the best and I've had them for maybe 14 years. But the last few years it hasn't been too good. Inside my house in NW Raleigh, I get only 1-2 bars. That made us decide to get Google Fiber to use that with our phones instead through wifi.

[ncwheeling]

My Verizon-plan phone was "aging out", so as part of upgrading I switched to Google Fi and a Samsung S22. My new phone shows the possibility of connecting to multiple carriers but I've set it to auto-choose, as needed.

I pay an average of $47/month, which covers:

• MVNO service for one phone ($20.00)
• phone payment ($12.50)
• phone insurance ($8.00)
• taxes/fees ($5.07)
• data (<$1.00/mo)
• one data-only tablet (free)

I use most of Google's other services (email, Drive, Photos, document processing), and all of that data/documentation is available whenever/wherever. Most of my calls route over my home residential internet, so I rack up very few phone-related minutes and/or data.

Depending on one's needs and circumstances, Google Fi may be a cost-effective option. Note that not all phones will offer all of the service features.

[Allmypets]

Originally Posted by rfb

All carriers tend to work well along highways and in densely populated areas. As others have said, different carriers perform better or worse in some other areas. It would be ideal if you can identify where you will be spending most of your time, such as home and work locations, and can find out from others which carrier(s) work best for you. For ME, AT&T works best, and I routinely get 3 bars. I had Verizon before, and reception was rather iffy. But that is just for where I live and work.

Thank you. We live in Mebane on the tiny corner of Orange County it is in but spend more time in town which is Alamance County and on into Burlington. Occasionally go back to Pittsboro because our primary care is there. We go to Apex sometimes because our daughter is there. That's why I'm mostly interested in those areas. I know Pittsboro has bad Verizon reception.

[stopgo]

Originally Posted by rfb

All carriers tend to work well along highways and in densely populated areas. As others have said, different carriers perform better or worse in some other areas. It would be ideal if you can identify where you will be spending most of your time, such as home and work locations, and can find out from others which carrier(s) work best for you. For ME, AT&T works best, and I routinely get 3 bars. I had Verizon before, and reception was rather iffy. But that is just for where I live and work.

I do NOT find this to be true. North Raleigh is quite populated, has been for some time, and getting more so by the day. I live in N Raleigh and the Verizon coverage is awful. Another person just posted about having trouble with Verizon on Durant Road. From Creedmoor to Falls of Neuse, 540 to 98 it is almost unusable. That's data, text, and calls not working in a large and populated area that also has a hospital within it.

[Allmypets]

Originally Posted by stopgo

I do NOT find this to be true. North Raleigh is quite populated, has been for some time, and getting more so by the day. I live in N Raleigh and the Verizon coverage is awful. Another person just posted about having trouble with Verizon on Durant Road. From Creedmoor to Falls of Neuse, 540 to 98 it is almost unusable. That's data, text, and calls not working in a large and populated area that also has a hospital within it.

That's why I keep rethinking about Verizon. Good to hear about other areas and it's not just me questioning a change. Thanks for your response.

[Starglow]

Originally Posted by Allmypets

That's why I keep rethinking about Verizon. Good to hear about other areas and it's not just me questioning a change. Thanks for your response.

I was a die hard Verizon customer for many years and never even thought about switching to a different carrier. Then Verizon started jacking up their rates and were no longer cost competitive for my needs which forced me to shop around. I spent weeks researching carriers and pricing plans before I finally landed at T-Mobile. Verizon made some strategically bad business decisions and they aren't top dog anymore. They didn't care about working with me on a better pricing plan until I cancelled my service after 15+ years and then what they offered me to stay was too little too late.

[Universe93B]

Maybe 10 years ago, my friends with Verizon always used to have better signal than me. But recently AT&T is much better in this area and usually have good signal even in the center of buildings.

[cheapdad00]

Originally Posted by Allmypets

Thank you for your response.
I didn't know that T-mobile gave a free trial period to test their service. I know that we get very poor service in Chapel Hill, (I was told At&t works well there, don't know about T-mobile). When traveling down 15-501 to Pittsboro and along rt. 64, reception is terrible at certain points in Pittsboro in particular. We will be needing new phones soon since we have iphone xr but I refuse to upgrade to these newer iphones due to crazy prices. We are used to the iPhone but don't need all the upgrades that the newer ones have. I just want the darn things to work without glitches and I don't think that those newer expensive ones will be any better. They have us over a barrel and they know it. I'm no techie, I just find iphones easier to navigate than an android. Between the cost to purchase and monthly costs to operate, I don't know how some people keep upgrading to new ones. Sometimes I wish that the old flip phones were available but when you need the internet you're out of luck. More to think about.

Just about every carrier has a deal for devices (where you have to stick with them for 24 or 36 months) to recoup all the credits).. If you aren't someone to change carriers or look for rock bottom pricing from MVNOs, these can be good deals. We received new iPhone 13s for free in Oct 2021 in exchange for staying with Verizon for 24 months to recoup credits. This was on top of receiving $650 for each line we ported over from T-Mobile a few months prior. In essence, it was free phone service for a year. I'll look for a similar deal this fall when the new models come out. If none can be found, will switch to a low cost MVNO for lower monthly cost - but when you have 4-5 lines on a family plan, the pricing can be relatively close between the big 3 and MVNOs.

As for reception, for us Verizon penetrated best into the local schools which was an issue the last 2 years. Now my youngest has graduated from high school, so that's less of an issue. As others have stated, Verizon has more "dead" zones near West Cary and RTP then I'd expect (which is none).

[Allmypets]

Originally Posted by cheapdad00

Just about every carrier has a deal for devices (where you have to stick with them for 24 or 36 months) to recoup all the credits).. If you aren't someone to change carriers or look for rock bottom pricing from MVNOs, these can be good deals. We received new iPhone 13s for free in Oct 2021 in exchange for staying with Verizon for 24 months to recoup credits. This was on top of receiving $650 for each line we ported over from T-Mobile a few months prior. In essence, it was free phone service for a year. I'll look for a similar deal this fall when the new models come out. If none can be found, will switch to a low cost MVNO for lower monthly cost - but when you have 4-5 lines on a family plan, the pricing can be relatively close between the big 3 and MVNOs.

As for reception, for us Verizon penetrated best into the local schools which was an issue the last 2 years. Now my youngest has graduated from high school, so that's less of an issue. As others have stated, Verizon has more "dead" zones near West Cary and RTP then I'd expect (which is none).

Thanks. Because of our daughter, I want to be sure that she has better service. More concerned with her satisfaction than ours, though us too of course. Being in Apex traveling to doctors in Chapel Hill and to us in Mebane. I kept hesitating to switch in the past, but looks like we may make the switch soon when the new scheduled release of iphones happen in September. Then maybe the older phones will be less expensive.