Cell Phone service

Excursion

Ten Pointer
I am currently with Verizon. I have talked with all the big players and have determined the following:
Unlimited talk/text/data
Verizon- $250 month
At&T- $235 month
Sprint- $230 month
US Cellular - $175 month

Why is US Cellular so much cheaper?
How is the phone reception?
I am in Sanford and travel east a lot.
This also includes 4 new phones. I know they said 2gb of data at 4g speed then it slows to 2g but other than that it looks like apples to apples.

Help??? I do not want to change service and find out I have a brick to talk on.
 

gameland

Twelve Pointer
I've been with Verizon for years and I tried at&t one time but went back to Verizon as quick as I could. Nobody has the coverage that Verizon has. If you stay in and around the city you should be fine. But I like getting away in the mountains and eastern parts of the state and people with me who have at&t lose service way before I do.
 

Soilman

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My wife and I have been with US Cellular for over 15 years, and I have Zero complaints. We started out with them in Vance County, and now in New Bern. I have found that US Cellular actually provides better service in rural areas, than most other providers. I work in over 30 counties in the eastern part of the state, and have been able to get reception in all of them. Yeah, if driving you will on rare occasions hit a small no coverage area, but a mile or so down the road it will pick back up.
 
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pinkfletch

Ten Pointer
I too have been with US Cellular for over 15 years. I frequently travel as far north as DC and south to Charleston and Atlanta, west to Hickory and have had no problems with service.
 

mdunker

Ten Pointer
I tried it last year and switched back to Verizon. I just had too many areas where I either got no coverage or poor coverage. There were a lot of areas where I only got 3G. They use Verizon and Sprint towers to roam when you are not hitting their towers. I had battery problems in rural areas I think because it was always searching for a tower.

I have friends who swear by them. They get good signals in their area. Go to their website and look at their coverage map and that will give you a good idea about what kind of signal you are going to get.
 

stilker

Old Mossy Horns
Check with Randolph communications,they share Verizon towers and they have a really good plan and deals on new phones..they have an office on Jefferson Davis hwy
 

alt1001

Old Mossy Horns
US Cellular has great service for rural areas in the mountains however they had one big flaw for me that caused me to go back to Verizon 2 years ago. I'm not sure if they have fixed it but when you leave your coverage area, they would cut you off the high speed network. I didn't know that when I went with them. I traveled a lot for work and used my phone as my laptop router. When I left the 828 area code, I couldn't download anything. It would take me 5 minutes to pull up my webmail, that's how slow it was.

Yes it was cheaper but I quickly realized why. However, if you don't travel a lot and don't use your phone when you travel, then it shouldn't be a problem for you.
 
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Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
We left US Cellular for Verizon years ago. Verizon rural service in Eastern NC is as good as any IMO. I have found it much better in international areas.
 

Muzzleodor

Eight Pointer
I had no idea a $250 a month phone bill was a thing. Why would anyone need something like that? Seriously asking, not judging.
 

alt1001

Old Mossy Horns
I had no idea a $250 a month phone bill was a thing. Why would anyone need something like that? Seriously asking, not judging.

That's what I pay but I have 2 cell phones, my home phone and my home internet through Verizon.
 
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dc bigdaddy

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
US Cellular has great service for rural areas in the mountains however they had one big flaw for me that caused me to go back to Verizon 2 years ago. I'm not sure if they have fixed it but when you leave your coverage area, they would cut you off the high speed network. I didn't know that when I went with them. I traveled a lot for work and used my phone as my laptop router. When I left the 828 area code, I couldn't download anything. It would take me 5 minutes to pull up my webmail, that's how slow it was.

Yes it was cheaper but I quickly realized why. However, if you don't travel a lot and don't use your phone when you travel, then it shouldn't be a problem for you.

I will say that once I leave the Eastern Part of the state, my download speeds do drop way off. But I don't leave that often so it hasn't been a big deal for me, yet.
 

alt1001

Old Mossy Horns
I will say that once I leave the Eastern Part of the state, my download speeds do drop way off.

That's because for a time they didn't have data roaming. Once you left you're coverage area, you were getting 1x network.

I don't want to give incorrect advice however because they may have done away with that. I feel like they would have to, to keep up in this market.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
If you live in the eastern part of the state, US cellular is nice. In this area (Sanford), verizon cant be beat. My fiance has USCellular and has a lot more issues with coverage than I do. I cant think of the last time i didnt have signal to make a call. Interweb gets slow at times, but that is the only thing Ican say.
 

ako_deerking

Twelve Pointer
Verizon sure does cost a little more.... but the service can't be beat. Plus with them introducing unlimited data again, that seals the deal. I read they won't throttle your speed back until you have hit 25 gigs of data usage on the line.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Im with US Cellular and its fine for the most part but the times I have been out of state it seemed slow to me compared to my friends who were with Verizon.

sent from...... Tapatalk
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
I would love a cheap plan, but I need Verizon's coverage so I pay the man. Doesn't mean I like it lol
 

Crappie man

Six Pointer
I have a free work issued phone that is AT&T and have had it for years. I still had to keep my personal phone that is with Verizon because at our lease and many other places did not have service with the AT&T.
 

flyingtigerusa

Six Pointer
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Excursion

Ten Pointer
Yea it worked to get me in the door but when you add all the fees taxes fees and fees it is about $230-$250. Oh and don't forget the fees.......
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
I would love a cheap plan, but I need Verizon's coverage so I pay the man. Doesn't mean I like it lol

And there you have it. In my world anyways.

I once had Sprint for 2 days at 1/3 the cost of my Verizon bill and gladly got rid of sprint.

Granted, I haven't tried US Cellular yet. If they can compete with Verizon at a better price, I'd lock into them in a heartbeat. But I have been all over North America and watched other people have 0 signal when I could call for pizza. And in the end......thats what truly matters.
 
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