How does cell phone coverage work across the U.S.
March 29, 2021 4:32 PM Subscribe
After years of having a prepaid flip phone, I'd like to switch to a prepaid smartphone. Since I don't use my phone much, Tracfone seemed like a good low cost option. But I might be taking a long road trip, so I tried looking at their coverage map, and that's when I got nervous.
On their website, you can only check coverage for a specific zip code. But I'm thinking of taking a long road trip from the east coast to visit family in Utah. I looked at pictures of Tracfone coverage maps using Google and it seemed that there are very large areas in some western states with no coverage. But then I looked at maps for Verizon and T-Mobile and those didn't look all that much different. I realize these might be sparsely populated areas, but my anxiety kicked in when I saw how large the no-coverage areas are.
I can't believe I'm asking such a stupid question, but if you're driving through states like Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and you're staying on highways and occasionally secondary roads and not going off the beaten path, will there be coverage most of the time regardless of which major carrier you use? Will the areas of no coverage be relatively small or will I need to plan my driving route to make sure I (mostly always) have coverage?
This trip is still in the "thinking about it" stage but if I do it, I'll be making a few stops along the way for a day or two. Because of places I want to stop at, I'm thinking of a somewhat southern route: Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, a small portion of northwest Texas, New Mexico, and southern Colorado.
As one example, I might drive from Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado to Moab, Utah. I imagine the driving route gets a fair amount of traffic, but much of the area it goes through is, I think, sparsely populated. I would be driving alone and want the phone to work in case of an emergency. I live in an urban area and never think about coverage and so I don't really know how this all works.
On their website, you can only check coverage for a specific zip code. But I'm thinking of taking a long road trip from the east coast to visit family in Utah. I looked at pictures of Tracfone coverage maps using Google and it seemed that there are very large areas in some western states with no coverage. But then I looked at maps for Verizon and T-Mobile and those didn't look all that much different. I realize these might be sparsely populated areas, but my anxiety kicked in when I saw how large the no-coverage areas are.
I can't believe I'm asking such a stupid question, but if you're driving through states like Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and you're staying on highways and occasionally secondary roads and not going off the beaten path, will there be coverage most of the time regardless of which major carrier you use? Will the areas of no coverage be relatively small or will I need to plan my driving route to make sure I (mostly always) have coverage?
This trip is still in the "thinking about it" stage but if I do it, I'll be making a few stops along the way for a day or two. Because of places I want to stop at, I'm thinking of a somewhat southern route: Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, a small portion of northwest Texas, New Mexico, and southern Colorado.
As one example, I might drive from Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado to Moab, Utah. I imagine the driving route gets a fair amount of traffic, but much of the area it goes through is, I think, sparsely populated. I would be driving alone and want the phone to work in case of an emergency. I live in an urban area and never think about coverage and so I don't really know how this all works.
It looks like Tracfone is weird and the specific coverage you get depends on what network your phone is "homed" to, because the networks use slightly different frequencies and such. So if your phone gets "attached" to either Verizon or AT&T you will have good coverage out west, but if your phone is attached to Sprint + T-Mobile it may not be great. It is unclear how you tell the difference with a specific phone, which appears to be why there are no good Tracfone coverage maps.
So I'm not 100% sure this will apply to your case, but I use Google Fi which is basically the Sprint and T-Mobile networks combined so might be similar to the worst case on Tracfone. My experience is that coverage is rural areas is not great, if I'm on a long roadtrip through a mix of forests and mountains I'll have coverage about 50% of the time. But I will have coverage pretty reliably every half hour or so as I drive so getting texts and such isn't a problem. Coverage can also be a problem in Utah and Colorado as the mountains block cell phone signals unless there are local towers near towns. Coverage in rural areas was definitely better for me on Verizon and AT&T than it is on Google Fi.
One big thing to remember is you can pre-download Google Maps for wherever you are going, so you're at no danger of being lost without signal. You will also periodically get signal as you drive on any of the major highways, so you could stop and take a call if needed. In my opinion the only real risk from losing coverage is if you have car trouble or something, but as long as you stick to the major routes there will be lots of other people around who would be happy to stop and help. In my experience people are very friendly and helpful on those kinds of tourist routes. With the current mediocre coverage I have with Google Fi I feel completely safe on major highways in remote areas but kind of nervous when I go off the main path to find a hiking trail.
posted by JZig at 5:02 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
So I'm not 100% sure this will apply to your case, but I use Google Fi which is basically the Sprint and T-Mobile networks combined so might be similar to the worst case on Tracfone. My experience is that coverage is rural areas is not great, if I'm on a long roadtrip through a mix of forests and mountains I'll have coverage about 50% of the time. But I will have coverage pretty reliably every half hour or so as I drive so getting texts and such isn't a problem. Coverage can also be a problem in Utah and Colorado as the mountains block cell phone signals unless there are local towers near towns. Coverage in rural areas was definitely better for me on Verizon and AT&T than it is on Google Fi.
One big thing to remember is you can pre-download Google Maps for wherever you are going, so you're at no danger of being lost without signal. You will also periodically get signal as you drive on any of the major highways, so you could stop and take a call if needed. In my opinion the only real risk from losing coverage is if you have car trouble or something, but as long as you stick to the major routes there will be lots of other people around who would be happy to stop and help. In my experience people are very friendly and helpful on those kinds of tourist routes. With the current mediocre coverage I have with Google Fi I feel completely safe on major highways in remote areas but kind of nervous when I go off the main path to find a hiking trail.
posted by JZig at 5:02 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I agree with bbqturtle that most carriers have coverage most of the time. My husband and I have had Tracfone, Mint Mobile, and Tello, and we have mostly had coverage, and when we have not had coverage, it has varied seemingly unpredictably (i.e. no one carrier was consistently better than the other). There's a chance you won't have coverage in some remote area, but I don't think it's going to be possible to predict in advance which carrier will or won't have coverage on all the various points on your route, so I'm not sure it much matters which you go with.
By the way, Tracfone has been by far my least favorite out of our three carriers (I had Tracfone for several years, so I know what I'm talking about). The phones themselves are awful: they're cheap and slow and heavy and hard to use. My impression was that companies make specific (worse) phone models just for Tracfone, so you're not getting anything mainstream, and you can't take the phone to any other carrier. Also, Tracfone's customer service in my experience is terrible. And the fact that Tracfone charges per text in this day and age is outrageous. The plans are quite expensive for what they include: unless you're literally going to use only 100 minutes and 100 texts a month, or whatever (i.e. unless it's truly an emergency phone), it's going to be cheaper to go with a different carrier.
We've been very impressed with both Tello and Mint Mobile. Tello is great for its flexibility (you can change your plan every month if you like). I like the 1 GB data, unlimited minutes, and unlimited texts for $10/month. They also have a 2GB data, unlimited minutes, and unlimited texts for $14/month. If you think you might use more than 2 GB data, Mint Mobile has a $15/month plan with 4 GB data, unlimited minutes, unlimited texts. After the first three month period though (basically a trial), you have to prepay for a year to get that rate. That hasn't been a problem for us, but if you need more flexibility, Tello might be a better option. I believe that with both of these carriers, you can either buy a phone from them (Mint allows you to have monthly payments rather than paying the whole cost up front; don't know about Tello). You could also just get a refurbished/used phone elsewhere. (I have no personal connection to any of these three phone companies. I spent a lot of time doing research about various low-cost carriers and plans before I switched, and so I thought I'd share the fruits of my research. My understanding is that Tello and Mint Mobile are the cheapest/best of all the low-cost carriers in terms of the amount of data they provide for the price, the customer service, and the general user experience. Both are a lot cheaper, for instance, than XFinity Mobile and Google Fi, which I also looked at.)
posted by ClaireBear at 5:05 PM on March 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
By the way, Tracfone has been by far my least favorite out of our three carriers (I had Tracfone for several years, so I know what I'm talking about). The phones themselves are awful: they're cheap and slow and heavy and hard to use. My impression was that companies make specific (worse) phone models just for Tracfone, so you're not getting anything mainstream, and you can't take the phone to any other carrier. Also, Tracfone's customer service in my experience is terrible. And the fact that Tracfone charges per text in this day and age is outrageous. The plans are quite expensive for what they include: unless you're literally going to use only 100 minutes and 100 texts a month, or whatever (i.e. unless it's truly an emergency phone), it's going to be cheaper to go with a different carrier.
We've been very impressed with both Tello and Mint Mobile. Tello is great for its flexibility (you can change your plan every month if you like). I like the 1 GB data, unlimited minutes, and unlimited texts for $10/month. They also have a 2GB data, unlimited minutes, and unlimited texts for $14/month. If you think you might use more than 2 GB data, Mint Mobile has a $15/month plan with 4 GB data, unlimited minutes, unlimited texts. After the first three month period though (basically a trial), you have to prepay for a year to get that rate. That hasn't been a problem for us, but if you need more flexibility, Tello might be a better option. I believe that with both of these carriers, you can either buy a phone from them (Mint allows you to have monthly payments rather than paying the whole cost up front; don't know about Tello). You could also just get a refurbished/used phone elsewhere. (I have no personal connection to any of these three phone companies. I spent a lot of time doing research about various low-cost carriers and plans before I switched, and so I thought I'd share the fruits of my research. My understanding is that Tello and Mint Mobile are the cheapest/best of all the low-cost carriers in terms of the amount of data they provide for the price, the customer service, and the general user experience. Both are a lot cheaper, for instance, than XFinity Mobile and Google Fi, which I also looked at.)
posted by ClaireBear at 5:05 PM on March 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
Looking at the Tracfone coverage checker -- if I put in a zip code I get a small coverage map for that zip, but it also allows me to zoom out and scroll around and see the whole country. Does that work for you?
As a general rule, cell phone coverage along the US interstate highway system is pretty good even in really remote areas. There will be a few gaps here and there, but if you were to to take say, I-70 from the East Coast to visit your family in Utah, you'd find decent coverage along pretty much the entire route, aside from maybe some short stretches in the mountains. Your southern route wouldn't be any worse than that in terms of coverage.
posted by theory at 5:16 PM on March 29, 2021
As a general rule, cell phone coverage along the US interstate highway system is pretty good even in really remote areas. There will be a few gaps here and there, but if you were to to take say, I-70 from the East Coast to visit your family in Utah, you'd find decent coverage along pretty much the entire route, aside from maybe some short stretches in the mountains. Your southern route wouldn't be any worse than that in terms of coverage.
posted by theory at 5:16 PM on March 29, 2021
I have an ancient Tracfone from a family member with literally years of service left; I use it as backup. I think they are less of a good deal than they used to be. I currently have Republic, which mostly uses wifi, then uses TMobile or Sprint, is super-cheap, service is subpar. I'm considering visible; you can join a 'family' group on Reddit or elsewhere to get a group rate of 25/month, or Spectrum (I hate the company a lot) because they use Verizon.
Download maps for where you're going. I did some major road trips 6 - 7 years ago, and rarely lost all connectivity, but would lose adequate Internet access for map downloads. National Park visitor centers have reliable wifi, probably many state parks, too. I rarely lost phone service. I might have had AT&T then.
posted by theora55 at 5:17 PM on March 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Download maps for where you're going. I did some major road trips 6 - 7 years ago, and rarely lost all connectivity, but would lose adequate Internet access for map downloads. National Park visitor centers have reliable wifi, probably many state parks, too. I rarely lost phone service. I might have had AT&T then.
posted by theora55 at 5:17 PM on March 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
There are only 3-4 actual tower networks, all the others are piggybacking. Verizon, att, tmobile/sprint.
Tmobile/sprint businesses merged recently, but it takes a while to get the tower networks merged and figured out, sprint was kind of a smaller player so I don't think that matters.
The west is really really big, and there aren't people out there some places, so no need for towers. If there were, the competition could justify towers there too....
Unless you have a specific address to check service for, I'd chalk all 3 up as roughly equivalent, but maybe give a slight edge to verizon&att. But I don't even have anecdata for them over tmobile.
Pick whatever is cheapest, but make sure it's got LTE, since all the providers are itching to turn 3g off to reuse the bands for 5g.
posted by TheAdamist at 5:34 PM on March 29, 2021
Tmobile/sprint businesses merged recently, but it takes a while to get the tower networks merged and figured out, sprint was kind of a smaller player so I don't think that matters.
The west is really really big, and there aren't people out there some places, so no need for towers. If there were, the competition could justify towers there too....
Unless you have a specific address to check service for, I'd chalk all 3 up as roughly equivalent, but maybe give a slight edge to verizon&att. But I don't even have anecdata for them over tmobile.
Pick whatever is cheapest, but make sure it's got LTE, since all the providers are itching to turn 3g off to reuse the bands for 5g.
posted by TheAdamist at 5:34 PM on March 29, 2021
I've used many different prepaid providers and my current favorite is U.S. Mobile. They have a good app and website, low-cost plans, use the Verizon network. Verizon tends to have the best coverage in remote and rural areas.
The west is really really big
"The west" is a colonialist construction.
posted by medusa at 6:00 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
The west is really really big
"The west" is a colonialist construction.
posted by medusa at 6:00 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Tracfone is a "MVNO", meaning it operates no network of its own. It's a virtual carrier that resells someone else's service.
However, it's unique in that it resells service from all major providers: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mob (and formerly Sprint, until they merged with T-Mob). And when you get a phone from them, you get a phone provisioned for one of the Big Three, and that's considered your "home" network, and your local metro area is considered your "home" area.
If you leave your local metro area, you are considered to be "roaming", and using roaming may lead to additional charges. Unfortunately, you have to check with tracfone to find out who you have, what's your default coverage, and what are the charges for roaming, and whether you can mitigate that with an additional cost plan that would cover your entire road trip (sometimes called "nation wide plan").
I personally would recommend you skip all that and go with Google Fi, which is $70 a month, unlimited data (you are bandwidth limited when you hit 22GB a month) free call, text, and data all across the US, and it does this by switching among all its partner providers including T-mob and US Cellular automatically). It does NOT come with a phone, so you will need to get a compatible phone, or "subscribe" to for extra cost and get automatic "upgrades" every few years. You also get Google One extra storage.
There are of course, other plans with extra perks.
posted by kschang at 7:12 PM on March 29, 2021
However, it's unique in that it resells service from all major providers: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mob (and formerly Sprint, until they merged with T-Mob). And when you get a phone from them, you get a phone provisioned for one of the Big Three, and that's considered your "home" network, and your local metro area is considered your "home" area.
If you leave your local metro area, you are considered to be "roaming", and using roaming may lead to additional charges. Unfortunately, you have to check with tracfone to find out who you have, what's your default coverage, and what are the charges for roaming, and whether you can mitigate that with an additional cost plan that would cover your entire road trip (sometimes called "nation wide plan").
I personally would recommend you skip all that and go with Google Fi, which is $70 a month, unlimited data (you are bandwidth limited when you hit 22GB a month) free call, text, and data all across the US, and it does this by switching among all its partner providers including T-mob and US Cellular automatically). It does NOT come with a phone, so you will need to get a compatible phone, or "subscribe" to for extra cost and get automatic "upgrades" every few years. You also get Google One extra storage.
There are of course, other plans with extra perks.
posted by kschang at 7:12 PM on March 29, 2021
I would be driving alone and want the phone to work in case of an emergency.
911 will work from almost any phone using any carrier's tower. See this page from the FCC and click on "FCC Wireless 911 rules". Though not all emergencies will mean you want to call 911, when you need to do so, you will be able to as long as any carrier covers that area.
posted by soelo at 7:21 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
911 will work from almost any phone using any carrier's tower. See this page from the FCC and click on "FCC Wireless 911 rules". Though not all emergencies will mean you want to call 911, when you need to do so, you will be able to as long as any carrier covers that area.
posted by soelo at 7:21 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Just coverage-wise, FWIW, I was a delivery driver for about 2 years, and use our own smartphones for dispatching. And we get into some weird hills and valleys with sketchy coverage in the mountains north and South of San Francisco. I had Verizon, and I have pretty consistent signal throughout the area except one or two spots. My colleagues have all sorts of coverage from all carriers and many MVNOs, but the big Three are the ones more likely to retain reception. I had compared notes with a guy using Xfinity Mobile (from Comcast) and it's actually a Verizon MVNO, so hypothetically should be same as mine (Moto X4 on Verizon) but in reality I get much better reception than he does. Weird, eh?
posted by kschang at 7:30 PM on March 29, 2021
posted by kschang at 7:30 PM on March 29, 2021
I live in New Mexico, and I have a Straight Talk phone, which I believe is essentially Trac Fone. The only place I’ve not had coverage is a section of highway 70 between Alamogordo and Las Cruces, and the reason I don’t have coverage there is because it goes through White Sands Missile Range, and the military deliberately blocks cell signal there. And unless you’re traveling late at night, there’s always a lot of traffic on that road, so if you did have a problem, there’d be someone to help you out.
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:02 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:02 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I have a prepaid Tracfone plan and am a satisfied customer. I've lived in rural places and done a fair amount of long-distance traveling, and definitely recommend getting on the Verizon network if you can. I spend $10-20 a month on my phone and cannot see my way to spending more.
I bought an cheapo LG phone directly from Tracfone (it's surprisingly functional), and that model gives me access to Verizon. If you decide to go with Tracfone, research your phone to make sure it will hook up to the correct network.
Until reading this thread I didn't know about Tracfone's roaming charges, though I've seen the roaming icon show up on my phone. I spend most of my time close to home, and again, I'm only spending ~$15 a month, so it's not exactly breaking the bank.
posted by toastedcheese at 5:05 AM on March 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
I bought an cheapo LG phone directly from Tracfone (it's surprisingly functional), and that model gives me access to Verizon. If you decide to go with Tracfone, research your phone to make sure it will hook up to the correct network.
Until reading this thread I didn't know about Tracfone's roaming charges, though I've seen the roaming icon show up on my phone. I spend most of my time close to home, and again, I'm only spending ~$15 a month, so it's not exactly breaking the bank.
posted by toastedcheese at 5:05 AM on March 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
I pay less for my Cricket Wireless monthly plan than my neighbor pays for his Tracfone. Uses AT&T towers and works a charm in a rural area. Can add and subtract services/data as needed.
posted by Hey, Zeus! at 7:07 AM on March 30, 2021
posted by Hey, Zeus! at 7:07 AM on March 30, 2021
I'll add a plug for Visible. They run on Verizon. $40 all inclusive including unlimited data. Theora, I knew about the group thing, but didn't know people on Reddit were doing it. But I still think it's still a deal at $40. The one time I had to talk to someone in customer service, I had a very positive experience. PM me if you want a referral code.
posted by kathrynm at 8:13 AM on March 30, 2021
posted by kathrynm at 8:13 AM on March 30, 2021
Response by poster: Thanks for all the great answers! My reason for the question was my concern about what happens if my car breaks down. I don't care about texts or making regular phone calls when I'm on the road, that can wait until I'm in an area with coverage. In the end, I think I won't let anxiety about occasionally not having cell phone coverage stop me from taking this road trip.
You've also given me a lot to think about when choosing my new phone and plan. My current flip phone is with Verizon and I pay $30 every 3 months. I don't want to go much above that because I don't use the phone much. As it is, I have years worth of minutes carried over that I'll never use. One option is to get rid of my landline and free up some money in my budget, but I'm not ready to do that yet.
I like T-Mobile's prepaid plan best of all, good amount of data, good price. But unfortunately they're not an option because I get no reception inside my house. I have T-Mobile as my carrier for my iPad and I have no service in my house. Which doesn't matter for an iPad but matters a lot for a phone. I'll look into all the suggestions everyone made and hope to select a new phone soon.
posted by daikon at 4:10 PM on March 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
You've also given me a lot to think about when choosing my new phone and plan. My current flip phone is with Verizon and I pay $30 every 3 months. I don't want to go much above that because I don't use the phone much. As it is, I have years worth of minutes carried over that I'll never use. One option is to get rid of my landline and free up some money in my budget, but I'm not ready to do that yet.
I like T-Mobile's prepaid plan best of all, good amount of data, good price. But unfortunately they're not an option because I get no reception inside my house. I have T-Mobile as my carrier for my iPad and I have no service in my house. Which doesn't matter for an iPad but matters a lot for a phone. I'll look into all the suggestions everyone made and hope to select a new phone soon.
posted by daikon at 4:10 PM on March 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
@daikon -- FWIW, if you have internet in your house, T-Mob may subsidize a "4g LTE CellSpot" for your location. Basically, you hook that up to your Internet router, and voila, you have 4G / LTE microtower in your place from T-Mob
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/4g-lte-cellspot
Other service providers have similar arrangements.
posted by kschang at 12:38 PM on March 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/4g-lte-cellspot
Other service providers have similar arrangements.
posted by kschang at 12:38 PM on March 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you do decide to go with tracfone, check bundles on hsn.com or qvc.com. You can get a cheap smart phone with a year card/minutes for under $100. It's cheaper than tracfone's site.
posted by stray thoughts at 7:54 PM on April 1, 2021
posted by stray thoughts at 7:54 PM on April 1, 2021
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Also, I don't think I'd recommend Tracfone price points. There's lots of options here: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/prepaid-cell-phone-plans that seem a bit less than tracfone. Both T-Mobile's and AT&T plans sound incredibly cheap for your purposes!
posted by bbqturtle at 4:49 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]