Does anyone have Sprint for cell service and what is your experience? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

2 KOZs · RV-Dreams Family Member

Does anyone have Sprint for cell service and what is your experience?

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I use Sprint....(Boost Mobile)

I have used it for 6 years....

I use it for my internet connections Via hotspot from my phone / private phone /Business phone

There maps are downloadable....

Mine is 50.00 a month unlimited & Internet NO contract.... and I have no problems out of the normal!!! and it has yet to have me left stranded.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Keith and Jeanne,

I've had no experience with Sprint, but I've heard that their "overall U.S." coverage map is not as good as Verizon's. I suggest finding sources for their coverage maps to see if either one would cover the area where you plan to be. CellReception.com is one that can be used to check by zip code or city.

We used to be AT&T customers and complained a lot about dropped calls, lost or weak signals and cases of calls not getting through and messages being as late as 3 days after the call was originated. We were in an RV park NW of Pagosa Springs and had nothing. Yet a lady by the office was talking on her phone. She said she only had one tower, but she was talking. We've since changed to Verizon and have been very happy.

Terry

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

If you do not care about running a smartphone or internet, Sprint seems to work fine. We have family on a real Sprint plan, using feature/dumb phones, and they seem to be able to call or text in most places. You will be "roaming" without extra fees some of the time, so pre-paid will not have the same coverage.

Nationally Verizon and AT&T have the best coverage on their own network, Sprint is next and T-Mobile is way behind. For pre-paid you need to check the native coverage and you can on each carrier's website.

2 KOZs · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks. We do plan to purchase a smart phone so we have internet connection etc. Looking for plan that gives us best wide range coverage which sounds like it may be Verison even tho more $

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

I am planning on leaving Sprint as soon as my contracts are up; nothing personal, Sprint is a fine company, but 1/2 the time, I get nothing. I have a smart phone and a hot spot, and Sprint is mostly only good in cities, and towns along major highways. Didn't work in Mount Shasta, or other scenic places on top of mountains, in the woods, or too far from civilization.

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Check their coverage maps and cross compare them to your desired travel destinations. Sprint is pretty decent in urban areas, but tends to roam to very slow speeds in rural areas. We used them for a while and are so much happier with a combo of Verizon and AT&T.

- Cherie

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hina wrote:
I am planning on leaving Sprint as soon as my contracts are up; nothing personal, Sprint is a fine company, but 1/2 the time, I get nothing. I have a smart phone and a hot spot, and Sprint is mostly only good in cities, and towns along major highways. Didn't work in Mount Shasta, or other scenic places on top of mountains, in the woods, or too far from civilization.

Jane,

With regards to the part above in bold and underlined, it may be that very few cell services will work in those areas. Cell service is "line-of-sight" communication with the towers and if the towers are not on mountain tops, getting nothing is normal. Because of line-of-sight, being in the woods would be a problem as well. I've never worked with them, but even satellite phones might have a problem in the woods.

In 2009, we vacationed in an RV park/campground about 18 miles NW of Pagosa Springs. Our AT&T phones that we had at the time would not work at all. When we saw a woman down by the office talking on her cell phone, we asked about her service. She said it was Verizon, but even with the Verizon, she was only getting one bar on her meter. But, she was talking.

Terry

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Saturday 24th of August 2013 10:41:23 AM

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Listen closely to Cherie.....she is totally correct. :)

For nationwide service Verizon is best with ATT right behind it. The combo is perfect if you feel you need the best chance of service in any area. But it costs far more to have both, than two phones with Verizon - so you have to balance your needs of connectivity against the costs.

And, if you want to learn the "ins and outs" of Internet on the Road, then I highly recommend Chris and Cherie's book (The Mobile Internet Handbook). There is no better source available on what the options are and the tradeoffs. Believe me, it is worth the nominal charge.

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

The local folks in Mount Shasta all had Verizon, and said they never had any problems. It is a town, with other towns around, so there must be some cell phone towers somewhere (and they all seem to be Verizon). I know I'll hit some places with no coverage at all from anyone, but very soon, I'll be getting the Millenicom Verizon network plan.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

If worse comes to worse.........check the coverage map for each major provider and compare them to your travel plans

depending on the region your in will depend on coverage.......or just get a satalite phone and all problems will be solved

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Let me be real clear....

For RVers that constantly travel - like fulltimers - the very best single selection right now for a smartphone is Verizon. No question.

IF you are fixed in an area where one of the other providers have better coverage then that might be a smarter choice. Not all providers have coverage in all areas - but Verizon comes closest to providing good data and voice coverage around the country.

If you want to increase your chances of having good voice/data in any particular area then the strategy of having two separate providers should be considered. And unless you have fixed areas you frequent that require certain providers then the two to have are ATT and Verizon. No question.

And on the tree thing - cell phone signals penetrate trees quite well...especially the lower frequencies first being deployed for LTE. But you do need line of site. Ravines, mountain canyons and the like will kill you.

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lucky Mike, absolutely, until I can get out of Sprint, I've been using both the coverage map, and the Mountain Guide to plan my route; Sprint is absolutely dead on much of the mid-West and South West. Don't want to be caught out in the desert in the summer with no coverage!

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We are finding more and more places, especially campgrounds, where Verizon is overloaded and AT&T is working fine. Here at Evergreen Coho Escapees Coop in Chimacum, WA, Verizon is flaky and slow while AT&T has fast and solid 4GLTE. A couple years ago AT&T had only Edge data (slow, but not as slow as Verizon 1X) many places we went, but friends using AT&T say most of those places are now 4G (really H+) and 4GLTE. I now believe the choice for RVers is "Verizon or AT&T" instead of "Verizon first, with AT&T second". For voice and texting, the two have been comparable for years.

There is no deal for AT&T data like the Millenicom $70 20GB plan for Verizon. A data only device, hotspot or aircard, is $50 for 5GB with $10/GB overage charges on AT&T, and the share plans are similar to Verizon's.

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

Real time update: I am having lunch here in South Lake Tahoe, typing this out on my Blackberry tablet, connected to my new Millenicom/Verizon 3G/4G hot spot. My Sprint smartphone is getting absolutely nothing.

RVRon · RV-Dreams Family Member

We've used Sprint on my smart phone for the last 1.5 years on the road both for voice and as a hotspot. It was OK until we decided to go through the upper western and mid-western states. I wouldn't say in those places it was worthless but it was pretty close. From Wyoming east to Michigan we had only a weak roaming signal or nothing at all. Since for the most part the phone was our internet link we decided to get a Verizon Mi-Fi and couldn't be happier with the coverage.