Does Sprint provide coverage in the Whites?

[B the Hiker]

Hi all,

I've had Verizon forever and have been generally pleased with it in the Whites. It's just so darn expensive, and I can get a better deal with Sprint.

What have been people's experiences with the different carriers?

Thank you in advance,


Brian

 

[Ken MacGray]

Following... Also a VZW customer, but always on the lookout for something less expensive.

 

[DayTrip]

Also a Verizon customer and I find that my coverage is not all that great in the White Mountains. Many trail heads and peaks I can't get enough of a signal to even send a text. I suspect many times this happens because my phone is toggling between 3G and 4GLTE. I imagine there is a way to turn that off but I have no clue so if anyone does this instructions would be appreciated. And if Sprint is better I'd definitely be interested too. Verizon is indeed pricey.

 

[peakbagger]

There could be some additional carriers in the far north country soon but I don't know the impact to the actual whites. There is some Northern Border Initiative money to install cell coverage in Groveton, Colebrook and Errol. There was also a large tower built on a mountain in Groveton but as far I know it was only set up for ATT data service as no other carriers were interested. The Northern Border project has gone painfully slow due to local political squabbles. With the exception of Berlin and Gorham, the coverage pretty well stops north of RT 2 with a gap along Rt 2 in Randolph.

 

[jniehof]

Verizon is hands-down the best up north. I'm a Republic (a Sprint MVNO) and haven't really noticed any difference between their coverage and T-mobile's, i.e., pretty bad. I wind up making calls off of the WiFi at Pinkham and Crawford. (Pinkham's a notorious dead zone.)

 

[Stan]

I feel the same way about Verizon ... expensive but the best coverage and that seems to be true across the country. I figured they must be making a lot of money since they drain so much out of me ... no easy task ... so I bought some stock thinking at least I'll get a piece of the action.

 

[Becca M]

I have a prepaid Verizon plan (no contract) - cost is the same as the 3GB Sprint plan for 3GB/mo: about $45/mo and I bought my phone outright. The few hikers I know all have Verizon.

 

[DougPaul]

My coverage is via the AT&T network through a third-party provider ($25/month for voice and light-usage data). I haven't tested it very much or north of the Notches, but it has worked when I needed it. (Particularly after my accident in the Waterville Valley back country. One bar was enough...)

Doug

 

[Quietman]

I'm not a heavy user so I've been with Tracfone for many years. I always made sure to get a Verizon based Tracfone as my brothers with AT&T never had the service in the mountains that I did with Verizon. Since I upgraded to a smart phone, I discovered that Tracfone Verizon smart phones will not roam on any other networks. That being said, I still have very good service in the Whites(yes, mostly south of Rte 2). My LG Ultimate 2 came with 1 year of service, 1,200 minutes and 1.2 GB of data for $120. I am religious about turning off the data when not in use, and only allow updates to take place off of wifi and the minutes and data lasted me almost 12 months, so my cost including the phone was $10/month. Now I pay around $10/month for service, voice and data, but as I said I am a light user.

 

[JustJoe]

I also have Verizon, because of their coverage. Verizon is so pricey for that very reason. Unless another carrier can equal or surpass them, they'll keep on gouging because they can.

 

[yogi]

I have Sprint. I do not really pay much attention to service when actually hiking, my phone stays in the pack. But I do have adequate service in the car in most places I have wanted it or bothered to check, with the one exception I recall being the Kanc from the hairpin until somewhere around Champney Falls area. The one time recently when I really needed service (my dog was injured near Galehead Hut) I did have practically full 3G service in that area.

 

[OnAClearDay]

Sprint user, but only used it once with no issues in the Whites for a lockout from the Crawford Path TH across from the Highland Center. On the trail my phone is either in airplane mode or completely off...