mowermech wrote:
WyoTraveler wrote:
mowermech wrote:
Many areas of the West have poor cell coverage, regardless of carrier. Here in Montana, coverage is good near many towns, and along the freeway corridors, but generally on State and Federal highways between towns you can forget it. Oh, you might catch a tower from the top of a hill somewhere, but you will lose it in a half mile or less.
Verizon seems to be the best bet here, or one of the pre-paid plans that use the Verizon network, such as Trac-Fone.
wi-fi will not be found at the best camping spots (state parks and Forest Service campgrounds). Most of them don't have cell service, either.
Many commercial campgrounds have wi-fi, but it often isn't very good. "Adequate", but not "excellent". Some of the out-of-town RV parks don't have cell service.
Very interesting. I make a lot of trips to and from Bllings using AT&T. Never had a problem. Took I -90 west from Billings to Wash and Oregon. Never a problem except in a few places very rural.
Well, like I said "...coverage is good near many towns, and along the freeway corridors,..."
That is, I-90, I-15, and I-94.
The next time you go, get off the freeway and take U.S. 87 to State 200 West to Missoula. Let us know how your cell coverage is on that route. Or, travel North to U.S. 2, and take that highway all the way to Everett, WA. Again, let us know how your Smart Phone works.
good luck.
Or try MT 200 from Glendive west to Great Falls. You will loose cell service pretty quick out there before the next town of size. We use that route when coming in from the east on I-94. We even loose it when we go out of Billings on 3 to 12 to 3 to 200 to Great Falls. Heck I can even loose it in some spots in my home county here in southern Ind. and I am on Verizon. My cell was a very nice thing to have this past Oct. when we broke down 25 miles west out of Glendive,MT. I was able to call my road service for help. I have used it to locate address of places we want to visit so I could load it in my GPS. Very glad I have what I have. My life goes on.
