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I have Verizon and love it...but in my particular area it doesn't work the best. My hubby got Alltel cause many friends living in and around NC said it works well in NC. He gets great reception. Now their customer service leaves something to be desired. I will probably keep my Verizon for when we go away from our home area---it's is the over all best IMPO.
Stanly county. New London. When I went to get a new cell phone and re-up my contract at Verizon I asked them why I didn't have any better reception. They pulled up a map and right where my house is, a very small area on the map, the reception was limited there. I just figured we have a land line in our home and my hubby has his Alltel phone that works well here so I will use my phone when we are away from home. It works great every where else we go.
I think USCellular is the best for eastern Carolina.. Verizon doesn't do very well around here and I had Cingular/AT&T Mobility and they are not truthful when they say the network with the fewest dropped calls they drop on me all the time (at least where I live) and my mom has Alltel but she gets dropped a lot or the sound on my end listening to her isn't very good and she only lives 1 town over.
Sorry for being late to the game, but I just discovered the website. I'm slowly reading through many of the threads though I think I've finally found one I can add some insight.
I live in Elizabeth City but have family throughout many cities in the Carolinas. I'm a bit of a tech geek so I carry an Alltel, Verizon and At&t phone. But one important point is that it really matters what your exact location is. 5 providers might serve your area and each cell provider specializes in different areas. It seems like Verizon is very hard to beat in western North Carolina. In Asheville and Boone, they always sound the best and have the best signal. I've heard USCC is very good in eastern North Carolina though I don't have them. But I would rate alltel overall as the best in general throughout the state. Definitely in the Triangle and Charlotte as I spend a lot of time there and have moved both phones into test field comparison to test signal strength in a number of areas. Alltel's first covered city was actually in Charlotte. In New Bern nobody is close to alltel because of what I believe is 2 alltel only towers that I've located. Overall, they seem to be the most solid throughout the state in my humble experience and travels.
No offense to any Verizon diehards, but I think their best quality is that they do a ton of advertising so they're the first provider that many people associate with a good network. They don't do a bad job either. Much more solid that at&t in general. But their prices are so much higher and the big secret is that if Verizon phones don't get a Verizon signal, they'll roam on alltel. That's what Extended Network means. If alltel phones don't get a signal, they'll roam on Verizon. Same goes for Sprint. Sprint's problem is that their signal will fade faster indoors because it's PCS and will give more areas of weak signal that won't switch over. But paying more for Verizon, without any special incentives like My Circle or nights at 7, is really just paying more for a false sense of security in better coverage that advertising has convinced you you'll get. It'll work, but you could pay less and get more with another option.
I will say though I've heard many complaints about SunCom and would not sign up for their service. The plans are good if they cover your area, but they have so many add-on fees and poor coverage areas where they won't roam on another provider that I would definitely avoid them at all costs. But again, there are a lot of regional differences for many areas and what's good on the Atlantic Coast might not be the best on the Tennessee border.
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