Smart phone - Which service & which phone?

[GlennB]

This past weekend did it for me. I decided to get off my butt and get a smart phone instead of just talking about it. We were camped with friends in an open area just south of Quartzsite, AZ.
Friday AM we were getting ready to return to San Diego when I got a call asking if I knew about the winds along I-8. Nope, I hadn't heard a word. I used my cell phone to call Calif. Hwy. Road Conditions Info. The recording for I-8 said a Wind Warning was in effect in the general areas of Boulevard and Jacumba
and high profile vehicles, and on and on were advised to stay off the road. So, what do I do??? Now, if I had a smart phone I figure I could at least have checked one or more weather sites. As it was I could only call some friends and ask them to do some checking for me.
I am now home in San Diego (turns out the Wind Warning was, how should I put it, not accurate. Sort of like the weather forecast for NYC & Philly for today. Huge snowstorm was predicted. It snowed some, but nothing major as I understand it).
Now, I think I'll start shopping for a smart phone. I'm not a heavy user of cell phones, don't do Facebook, etc. But I would like to go online when I want to, have a hotspot so I can use my laptop online whether or not our campground/RV park has wi-fi, etc. (I know not to do NetFlix and things like that 'cause they are data hogs.)
We plan to hit the road for about 4 months this spring and I would like to be all set up by then. By the way, when traveling we stay off the interstates and take US & state highways when feasible. We avoid large towns and congestion as much as possible.
So, which carrier should I go with; Verizon (I'd really prefer to avoid a 2 yr contract although I understand Verizon has the best overall coverage of them all), Sprint, or T-Mobile (doesn't require a contract but as I understand it, their coverage isn't nearly as good as Verizon)?
So, I ask your advice. What do you suggest? Is T-Mobile's coverage really that bad? Is Verizon that much better?

This morning I went into a Verizon store and a T-Mobile store. I gave the same story of how I think I'd use their device.
The T-Mobile guy said I'd probably use 1, maybe 2 GB of data/month. He said cost would be approx. $50/mo plus cost of a phone.
The Verizon guy said I'd probably need at least 10 GB at a cost of a little over $100/mo which I think included a basic smart phone.
Also, do I need a pretty fancy smart phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 or would a pretty basic one such as the LG L90 be OK for my use? I really don't know and would like your input.

Thanx,
Glenn

[donn0128]

Verizon for sure. T mobile is OK in town but lacking in rural areas. As for data plans, start at mo more than 4gb and move up or down from there depending on your use. We have 3 smart phones and a mifi and can get by nicely on 6gb a month. And I am a fairly heavy user.
As for phones? Motorola and Samsung both offer solid phones. Most of the others are lacking some things. The Galaxy S5 is a big phone and can be difficult to carry and handle. The good part is a big readable screen for surfing.

[trop-a-cal]

Get a MIFI tower for your vehicle and use Verizon and an I6 or 6 plus. Go to WalMart, they beat the Verizon stores and only get the 16 GB base phone.

[Tom_Barb]

We were required to up grade to a smart phone, we shopped around and finally settled on a Samsung G3, (It was a free upgrade) I don't use the internet much and run with a 5 gig data package, I seldom go over and get billed for it.

the service is better than any other we have seen with AT&T we used it from Wa to NY with no outages. yes we go remote where no body gets cell service. no we don't get it either.

[The_Texan]

Go look at the "straight talk" phones and plans. It can be had on the Verizon network and is a month to month plan. Yes, the Verizon coverage is the best there is, but depending on your home area and where you travel, it may not be the best for you. Check out their coverage maps and decide it either one will work. Also, with straight talk, you can play with your data and figure just how much you would actually need, probably in the 2-4 gig range.