My contract is about up. I have Sprint. Their coverage is good as long as you are on a 4 lane highway or on the main channel 
. I’m looking at AT&T/Cingular. Looks like they have pretty good coverage off the beaten path. Any one have any experience with them?
They all have their advantages and disadvantages. I used to have AT&T and dropped them about 7 years ago because of service issues. I switched to Verizon and haven’t had one reason to complain since I got them. I have friends allways asking to use my phone when out fishing to make calls because theirs don’t have a signal. I think no matter who you go with you will have some issues. Verizon would be my choice. Good Luck
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They all have their advantages and disadvantages. I used to have AT&T and dropped them about 6 years ago because of service issues. I switched to Verizon and haven’t had one reason to complain since I got them. I have friends allways asking to use my phone when out fishing to make calls because theirs don’t have a signal. I think no matter who you go with you will have some issues. Good Luck
The only thing differant in my case is that I switched 5 years ago.
From Spencer Ia, Hayward WI and Park Rapids MN I might loss a signal put it is never for long.
Verizon Works for me.
Ron
I talked to Mohamed and Akbar at Sprint. They said thier coverage is the best. 
Two words….. THEY SUCK!!!!!
Go with Midwest Wireless I have there Tri State Plan.
I use to have AT&T and the coverage is terrible and when they merged with cigular they got worse. I am not sure about Iowa but here in SE MN they have the best coverage of anyone out there bar none.
curmugeon,
I have had a few Sprint plans that I’ve upgraded to, and my current one is the best.
most areas I’m in I have Sprint network coverage, but what I like about my current Sprint plan, is IF I’m out of the network, and have to have ROAMING, there IS NO Roaming charges at ALL. the call uses minutes from my plan, but no roaming charges. After 7pm weekdays, or all weekend, any roaming minutes are NOT logged against Plan minutes, and are totally free, no mins, no charges.
I’ve never had NO coverage.
Can’t do much better than that…
good luck.
Jack.. 
I had midwest wireless for about 7 years, I agree in this area seems to really work great and cheaper then most…switched to verizon because alot of my friends had it and said it was good and it is still good, but a little more expensive and doesn’t seem to be quite as good in this area as midwest wireless. But when traveling verizon seems to be a little better…all those network guys following you though can get a little annoying especially standing outside your fishhouse 
I wish I never went with cingular, worst move of my life! horrible service, coverage in MSP area is terrible! 
I now have verizon and have no complaint what so ever 
hey this might be a good place for one of those survey things…I would like to know what most people are happy with….
I switched to Cingular service a few months ago. I like the roll-over minutes as well as their plans. They do have a great coverage area… but I will say this about their “fewest dropped calls”… that tag line is bull 
. Although we have service bars where other carriers do not… even being right down town with full bars, we will have dropped calls for no apparent reason. Also get the “network busy, try again” message once in a while. never had that while with sprint. But, again… I love the roll-over minutes and wider coverage area.
Used to have cingular and it sucks if you are traveling from La Crosse area to the Cities. Absolutely Terrible . Picked up the Midwest wireless Tri state plan and I get as good of coverage as anyone I know off. Works good in the sticks of Wi and Mn. Aswell as the populated areas.Few dropped calls. Free minutes to anyone else with Midwest. They are also one of the few companies who get service in Ely, Mn which is a big plus in my book.
Here is a really good site when doing research on Cell Phones. For instance, I have families in North Dakota. As you know, most towns in ND are very small. WireFly has an option on their site to search by carrier and all you need is the zip code (top left corner of screen). This was very helpful for us in choosing our current carrier. Here is a link to WireFly http://www.wirefly.com/.
I am a sprint customer and wont change for the world, I drive back and forth to Kansas every year without a problem or as Jack stated roaming charges. My buddy in California as well is on Sprint (Navy Man) and he says he would not change ever. Now to each there own here cause my area yes Sprint has great coverage but hunting in Benson I do have issues with them but none that I would bash them for. Mille Lacs I have great service and as I stated to Kansas and back no problems ever..But if you live in a area sprint has issues then I would advise against them as your provider..
i had at&t before the last merger and I was happy with it, then I was forced to switch to cingular after droping my cell into my minnow bucket opener weekend a few years ago. I had cingular for about 2 years when they droped me off their network saying I was useing too many mins off network 
either way now I have T-Mobile and for the most part I can’t complain about my service coverage. I can handel droping a call as long as I get service back shortly.
just my .02
by the way there was a class action lawsuit filed aginst cingular for the way they handeled the last merger 
ATT does not work on Red Lake!!
I’ll ring in on this.
My favorite wife and I both had Cingular for years (AT&T before the first merger) and had wonderful servive from every aspect of the ordeal.
I was especially impressed by how many times I had service when at a “off the beaten path” place, no one else did using other providers. I’m talking nationwide. I also thought the “roll over minutes” was a great thing and came in handy some months.
So–they dropped us as I was using to many minutes (percentage-wise) out of their own network areas. They paid ALL our fees to switch to another provider…now Cellular One. (Cell One is one of the few that would sell us a contract based on the north end of Mille Lacs)
In the end, I thought Cingular was fine. Sure, there was a few spots we lost the signal. But more times than not, I had the best service of the bunch I travel with.
4 months with Cellular One? No problems…yet.
I have sprint now and the coverage is great. Even got service (analog roam) up in the NW Angle Inlet!!!! Had Sprint for about 4 years.
However, I use too many minutes and I’m switching to T-Mobile.
I can get T-mobile with blackberry for abut $100/month with 3000 minutes.
My wife has had T-Mobile for over 2 years.
No problems with either and coverage has always been good.
I have a nextel together with Sprint and unless I am way out off the beatin path I drop signal. But that happens very Rarely. And the only other time I seem to lose Service is when I am driving along and I go down into a deep Ravine or get in between some pretty tall hills then I lose service till I get to the top or around the hill. Otherwise I am very pleased with nextel/sprint. Not to mention I like there Walkie talkie service.
Thanks for the feedback
I agree there is good and bad to each and every carrier. I can use the roaming feature on Sprint to get a signal almost everywhere, but was wondering if a carrier had really gotten great coverage around the 5 state area. I think Midwest has the best coverage in this area, but if you ever leave it you are paying out the .
Sounds like I still might have to “stand by the island in the kitchen, face east, and don’t move” to make calls inside the house. 
Hello,
I have had midwest wireless for the past 7 years. Excellent service, great price, and reception in places you don’t even know where you are. I am originally from Plum City, WI which is down in a valley…Excellent service. Midwest wireless Tri-State plan is hard to beat. Plus, if you want to buy out your contract it’s a monthly charge for as many months you have remaining. A lot of other companys are a set flat rate, like $200 – Crazy! I would definately consider midwest wireless.
I have verizon and have a dead spot here and there,but all in all have not lost neraly as many calls as I hear others lose. I know 2 dead zones, but the area is like 20 feet big for each. I like the roaming. I get reception all through the cities, Duluth, the sticks outside Webster Wisconsin A the cabin. as I was the only one at the cabin with service, until the others changed to Verizon also. Went down to Tennessee to see my dad also, retired with his own private stocked bass pond, and had no roaming charges and full reception to talk to my kids while they were still up here in the cities.
Broncs
I have verizon with nation wide coverage, and thought that with that they used any tower available. If thats true,would it matter who the carrier was? I’ve been happy with verizon.
Verizon here too for the last 2 years. Before that, I had AT&T and Sprint before that. I’m sure all the above coverages have improved over the years. Verizons coverage has been fine everywhere I’ve been in Wi and Mn. The benefits that matter to me most are the Family plan option (3 phones, 1400 shared minutes, nights and weekends free, verizon to verizon free minutes). I pay 89.00 per month. The majority of my friends have verizon, so all those minutes don’t count against our 1400. We’ve since dumped our home phone.
We had T-Mobile but didn’t like the coverage. We switched to Verizon for 2 days. The network was fine but the customer service was so horrible just getting started, we didn’t want to find out how the customer service was once we were locked in to the contract. We have Cingular now for a little over 2.5 years. They have been excellent. No dropped calls and great coverage. The customer service has been great. Although I do think if T-Mobile had better coverage we would still be with them.
I use to work for AT&T for 3 years right up to the announcment of the merger. ( I left on my terms so I’m not a disgruntled former employee ) I can say this I’m a custormer service oriented person, and I would get frustrated when trying to help a customer, when people with in my company would give me the run around. There phone service is as good as it get’s, granted you pay for it. But there customer service is about as bad as it gets. the day I gave my notice I gave them back my free phone, and signed up with sprint I’ve beeen with them for the past 5 years and wouldn’t think of going back. To me the extra money I spend ever month to get the same type of plan I have with sprint, but slighlty better coverage just isn’t worth the hassle when I actually need some one to help me. just my thoughts.
get CINGULAR man. Works good for me. Verizon users have used my phone up at Mille Lacs, “can you hear me now ?”… was a no for them.
big g 
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