If both Verizon and AT&T show on their maps that they provide full 4G-LTE service coverage in an area you plan on visiting, is there a way to tell which carrier provides the stronger coverage? We're going to snowbird in Mims, Florida and both Verizon and AT&T maps show the area is covered with 4G-LTE but I have no idea which carrier has the stronger signal. We need to buy a Hotspot plan and we don't want to buy from the carrier whose signal is weaker. I know that the number of connections makes a difference and there are other factors but having 3 bars of service is going to be better than 1 bar. Does anyone know if there is a website that shows better information than what the carrier websites themselves show? I'm not going to bother calling them because both with tell me theirs is better to try and get my business.

We have one phone on Verizon and one phone on ATT, both with unlimited hotspot. We have never been limited on data and we use quite a bit. We use Cricket($55) for our ATT and Visible($40)for our Verizon. ur primary is Cricket and we have used it throughout Canada and Alaska with no problems.

Get yourself some dice roll them.

Use cellmapper.com or opensignal.com. The first locates towers for you, the second gives detailed and current signal strength maps.

Buy a SAT phone. Good aywhere, anytime and pay as you go for airtime.

Have had them BOTH, VZ hands down has the best coverage overall no question!!!

Which Cell Phone Carrier is best in specific locations?

13 Replies

kknowlton
Explorer II
Aug 09, 2019
It seems that Verizon has chosen to go for wider area coverage, while AT&T has opted to focus on population centers. For camping, and now that we live in the West, Verizon is the way to go. It doesn't cover every area, and even at home we have issues as the tower(s) are "over the hill" from our house, but they are still the best game in town for less populated parts of the country.
swphotobug
Explorer
Aug 09, 2019
Do it online and pick a different area code.
crcr
Explorer
Aug 09, 2019
Bumpyroad wrote:
swphotobug wrote:
We have one phone on Verizon and one phone on ATT, both with unlimited hotspot. We have never been limited on data and we use quite a bit. We use Cricket($55) for our ATT and Visible($40)for our Verizon. ur primary is Cricket and we have used it throughout Canada and Alaska with no problems.

my BIL in MN who does a lot of travel out west recommended ATT. I called ATT and they wouldn't sell me service in my area code.
bumpy

In the SouthWest and West where we live and travel, anytime we are even barely out of a town or city, we have no ATT signal at all. We have Verizon signal most areas, even when camping.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Aug 08, 2019
swphotobug wrote:
We have one phone on Verizon and one phone on ATT, both with unlimited hotspot. We have never been limited on data and we use quite a bit. We use Cricket($55) for our ATT and Visible($40)for our Verizon. ur primary is Cricket and we have used it throughout Canada and Alaska with no problems.

my BIL in MN who does a lot of travel out west recommended ATT. I called ATT and they wouldn't sell me service in my area code.
bumpy
ependydad
Explorer
Aug 08, 2019
The problem in snowbird areas is that the cell towers get overloaded at the height of the season. There's no way of telling which will be better and it can actually change periodically.

I carry both AT&T and Verizon and can definitively say neither is significantly better than the other. Some places one is better; other places the other is better. Even other places, neither works or both are great.

As said, roll a coin and flip the dice.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 08, 2019
The company with the closest tower usually wins, all other things being equal.

However, if a USA account is being used in Canada, and a Canadian add on is in place, coverage may be identical.

Also, in Canada Bell and Telus have a tower sharing agreement--so there is identical coverage. One more tidbit is that in Saskatchewan, Bell and Telus piggyback on Sasktel towers. Data through put is another issue and at least in Saskatchewan Telus and Bell don't get the same speed as a native Sasktel device. These rules were Federally mandated in Saskatchewan.
PNW_Steve
Explorer
Aug 08, 2019
jkwilson wrote:
Use cellmapper.com or opensignal.com. The first locates towers for you, the second gives detailed and current signal strength maps.

Apparently cellmapper is a little lite on tower data.

I used to work on four sites in my county. None of them show up in the app. :(
BB_TX
Nomad
Aug 08, 2019
You can't really tell from a map. We live just outside a city of 200,000 people with generally good cell signal. But for some reason the area at our house and a couple miles around, cell signal for both AT&T and Verizon is weak to the point that some times it is hard to make/receive calls. Go 2 miles in any direction and signal is strong.

We had AT&T for years. But due to a very poor customer relations experience with AT&T, we changed to Verizon. Overall in our travels Verizon has been best.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Aug 08, 2019
Have had them BOTH, VZ hands down has the best coverage overall no question!!!
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Aug 08, 2019
Buy a SAT phone. Good aywhere, anytime and pay as you go for airtime.