AT&T Vs. Verizon Coverage

[Jim1348]

I bought a Google Pixel 6 in March 2022. It has dual SIM, so I have AT&T as my eSIM (primary) and I have Verizon service in the physical SIM (secondary) slot. I bought it to hedge my bet on rural coverage. Anyway, now that summer is over and we won't be getting into very remote areas as often as we did this summer, which were primarily out state Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan

So, thinking back on our travels this summer, I never had any areas in which Verizon had coverage and AT&T did not. I realize that many cell sites are towers that AT&T and Verizon both lease on. I also know that coverage varies around the United States quite a bit.

So, with that in mind, has anybody here been in areas where Verizon had coverage and AT&T did not? Or, conversely, where AT&T had coverage and Verizon did not? The article I have linked below is a bit dated, but indicates that Verizon has an edge over AT&T in coverage across the entire country Coverage, of course, varies from state to state. Here in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan AT&T seems to have a slight edge over Verizon, however

What I am trying to determine is if it is time to simply drop my Verizon line of service and simply go with AT&T exclusively? The $99 I pay for a year of service on Verizon isn't going to kill me, so if I keep both for a few more years it isn't the end of the world.

https://coveragecritic.com/verizons-...-atts-coverage

[VVivian]

I know of only one spot near me that gets AT&T but not Verizon coverage, and it’s inside a building.

[tekfranz]

I am not aware of of any either. Most spots that would matter are indoors or are so rural that it is a matter of which mountain or valley you are hiking on to determine which Carrier has service.

And I know this wasn’t the question but I haven’t seen a place yet where T-Mobile lagged either, except extremely rural or indoors places.

I have been real rural recently myself but I understand the boonies still exist.

Still if you get stuck somewhere with no service on a Carrier it’s nice to have options. I have two eSms 1 T-Mobile and one AT&T but will probably go back to T-Mobile as main and Verizon as backup. Yet even then I think I mess with the eSims to much and should just set it and forget it with a single carrier.

Also little consolation, but some carriers will activate and give you an instant eSim so you could wait until you need it, connect to WiFi and download a new eSim on the spot. So you are never without options.


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[mwdewey]

I have been real rural recently myself but I understand the boonies still exist.

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The boonies still exist, LOL, and people still live there, work there, play there (a LOT so far in the pandemic) and drive through there on their way to work or wherever, and they do still have a certain expectation of having service from their carrier as they do. I don't think that is an unreasonable expectation. The sheer number of WeBoost antennas you see on every type of vehicle in the boonies attests to the desire, demand, and necessity of service. And an indicator of the need to spend $500 on some sort of booster to enable use from a very weak signal.

As for the Verizon map, it shows where the LTEiRA program partner service areas are and I have highlighted them. There are a few others but they are small, and in some of the larger areas there are multiple member carriers. These carriers are still independent and have not been bought out by Verizon as lots of pundits said they would be. It remains to be seen what will happen in these areas with 5G as Verizon has not said anything publicly nor has any of the partners said anything about providing 5G to their customers.

[jpiszcz]

"So, with that in mind, has anybody here been in areas where Verizon had coverage and AT&T did not?"

Yes, Circleville, UT, no AT&T coverage whatsoever in that town but Verizon worked fine.

However, driving around Utah/Idaho/Wyoming previously and some of the National Parks, I did see AT&T had and held onto coverage more so than Verizon (LTE only, no option on newer phones to utilize 1x/EVDO).

[Jim1348]

One thing I am considering is switching to Red Pocket Verizon as my main calling/texting number. At $99 per year, that is quite affordable.

For data, instead of renewing my AT&T Prepaid $300 per year plan, I would simply use the $20 per month unlimited AT&T Tablet plan in my Google Nexus 6. What I still need to determine is if AT&T throttles those lines of service any time it is used in a device other than a tablet.

[chris4434]

There’s many areas in Alaska, West Virginia and Texas that have AT&T service but nothing from Verizon. When I was in New England this summer, AT&T worked in many areas of Acadia National Park in Maine while Verizon had no service. AT&T worked on and around Mt. Washington in NH and Verizon had zero service there. There were also several spots we drove through in NH that had no service with Verizon, but AT&T had great service. Overall, AT&T’s network covers more area in the US thanks to their FirstNet buildout.

[rpz1]

Add Arizona to the list of crap shoots unless you're in a metro area. I know the coverage maps on any network are a joke here.

[bobdevnul]

...So, with that in mind, has anybody here been in areas where Verizon had coverage and AT&T did not? Or, conversely, where AT&T had coverage and Verizon did not?...

Sure, Verizon is the only one with usable signal inside my house. There is one spot in the house at a windows where I can get marginally usable AT&T. T-Mo is completely unusable.

I'm not out in the boondocks of some fly-over state. I am in the mid-Atlantic a few miles from I95 and a town. The four county area around my home has a population of about half a million. All three work ok in town and the major roads near town.

A friend closer to town had AT&T and did ok with it, but has since switched to Verizon.

This is not to say that Verizon is the best everywhere. That tends to vary between Verizon and AT&T. T-Mo still tends to be very weak rurally. That is not just my guess. T-Mo says so themselves.

There is no way around it for now. If you travel widely and want to have usable cell signal as much as possible, you need more than one carrier. Personally, I just accept that cell signal might not good some places I go.

[VVivian]

For data, instead of renewing my AT&T Prepaid $300 per year plan, I would simply use the $20 per month unlimited AT&T Tablet plan in my Google Nexus 6. What I still need to determine is if AT&T throttles those lines of service any time it is used in a device other than a tablet.

Or you could use it in a 2021 iPad mini, which fits in a hoodie pocket and is narrow enough for thumb typing.

[rdekema]

There are parts of Michigan's upper peninsula that have Verizon coverage but no AT&T coverage. There are also areas up there that have AT&T coverage but no Verizon coverage. It's really all about where _you_ go and where _you_ need/want there to be coverage.

[mpaque]

Same apples to the northern 3rd of the lower peninsula when I was last there. Areas around Secord Lake had Verizon but no AT&T. Same around Baldwin.

[MountainBikerMark]

It's been a few years but last time I drove to/from Bowling Green Kentucky from Central Virginia much of Western Virginia and most of West Virginia had decent signal with my ATT and 0 coverage with my wife's Verizon . There were plenty of spots in West Virginia where we both had no signal .

[VVivian]

This is why my phone is on Verizon and my hoodie-pocket-sized iPad mini is on AT&T: Redundancy.

I strongly recommend having a cellular tablet on a separate carrier from your phone.

[mwdewey]

There is no way around it for now. If you travel widely and want to have usable cell signal as much as possible, you need more than one carrier.

Ah, the good old days, back in the late 80's, analog cellphones, when if you crossed a county line or drove into a neighboring town, your phone would be useless without having to call and give a credit card number to a different company in every jurisdiction.. Travel a few miles into another county or license area and you would have to do the same thing. It was totally maddening.

We are still in that era after all these years. How sad is that?