I have T-Mobile as a result of its purchase of Sprint. It was chosen by someone else. However, it seems okay in my general travel area. I'm on a grandfathered plan that saves me a good amount. None of the providers work well at my home location because of the topography and tower placements. I have to rely on the boost provided by wifi. I have been very pleased with the level and quality of the assistance provided at my local retail location.

Over the years, I've had a few of the providers and found them all to be pretty comparable with one another, although some have had a geographical advantage. As they've built up their nationwide networks, that advantage has been reduced.

I still lose service in some areas that I drive on Interstate highways.

We switched from ATT to Verizon for better local coverage and a better rate. However, I am flummoxed that accessing voicemail from the phone app requires I have mobile data on, not normal wifi. I don’t leave mobile on all the time.

I believe we have AT&T - my phone is an add-on to Kevin's, and so he pays the bill. It costs very little to add my phone.

It works very well now, although we used to have spotty coverage in Coachella Valley, but now not so much. I use my phone mostly to get driving directions - I rarely talk to anyone on it, unless I am making appointments or dealing with contractors. I use text as little as possible and only when I have to. I rarely use any apps on my phone, except the ones for controlling the pool, A/C, sprinkler system, etc, and these do not need adjusting very often, although I do adjust the A/C when we travel.

We just got back from L.A. this afternoon (after the Cruel World Festival), and I noticed that our Nest thermostat had put us on Eco Mode, which I had not asked it to do, but I took it off of that while we were driving back, as the house was 82°, and I wanted it cool when we got back.

I don't care about saving electricity during the day because our solar panels create way more energy than we use, and after they charge the batteries, the excess power goes back to the grid, for which we get paid pennies on the dollar of what it is worth. Therefore, I am not interested in sending SCE much of our excess energy.

Verizon. It was the provider that reached to where our oldest went to college. We've had no reason to change. Never had a dropped call, a dead zone, a billing issue.

T-Mobile for the same reason as Fun2BHere. Had a nice discount through my employer w/Sprint, which carried over to T-Mobile. I see no reason to change. I don't use my personal cell much (hardly ever...), and T-Mobile seems good enough to me.

T-Mobil on a family plan that our DIL took as a novice teacher. Nothing can touch the price she still gets. I still have one of her early not-smart phones that's our 'away phone' for DH to call me from the grocery store with pressing questions -- "Whole milk or two percent?"

Our town is trying to wear down citizen NIMBY resistance to adding a much-needed cell tower. There's spotty-to-no service on an East/West axis despite callers being only two miles apart and boosting with WiFi. Dropped calls; beeping every time I'm on a call where I have to choose an option.

Chisue, I know that area! I can’t ask DH ”whole milk or 2%?” from the store there. But no, can’t have a cell tower there (which people over there say they need) because, well, you know the two lines of thinking why not. (and one of those reasons is why the Target and the Costco tax dollars go to other towns.)

" I am flummoxed that accessing voicemail from the phone app requires I have mobile data on, not normal wifi. I don’t leave mobile on all the time. "

I just tested that with mobile data off and it worked fine.

Why do you turn mobile data off? Do you have a limited data plan?

Elmer, that’s interesting that you can access without mobile data. I even had looked on their site and they confirmed that mobile data needs to be on for voicemail. I’ll look into that more.

Verizon for forever. We have a package with internet and cable. I never lose coverage anywhere I go and am Facetiming my daughter in Athens.

We had Verizon in California, but swtiched to AT&T here in PA. It's very location dependent, and AT&T is better in our location.

bpath, why do you turn off data?

habit it, I guess, from when we didn’t have unlimited data.

Seems like you have an easy fix. Turn it on, leave it on.

Another who has had Verizon since my first mobile phone. My experience almost exactly mirrors Elmer’s. I traveled a lot in my working days and needed nationwide coverage which no other service could provide. Back then you could look at ’coverage maps’ and most others just covered major cities for the most part. DH had AT&T for a while when we first married, but when we built our current home, he had no service here and finally joined my Verizon plan and never looked back. My only complaint might be that they seem to increase a few dollars in fees or another tax for some odd reason every few months. Well, not really but it sure seems like it. I’m betting all of them do this.

I did have a work-provided Blackberry (remember those!) and then later a cell phone which I could use overseas and I think it was T-Mobile or maybe AT&T, which had improved by then. I’ve since used my personal Verizon service in Europe and it is fine. They have greatly improved the ease of use (and cost) of using your phone while traveling overseas.

I have verizon, probably the most expensive option, arguably not the best. Long Island is full of dead spots which seem to be different among different providers. It’s frustrating to be at the beach or on the train or in the doctor’s waiting room and not be able to get service while others do, but then I do find myself getting service where others can’t. Based on reddit discussions I’ve not seen concensus for who’s got the best coverage, it’s really up to the individual experience. I do feel like I pay too much and have often been tempted to try another service, but laziness kicks in.

For remote access in wilderness areas, TEllO gets a GREAT signal! I pay $9 + tax for 1G data, DH wants 2G of data for $10 + tax per month. It's really cheap! I can be hiking up the pass in a remotely wooded area and get a great signal. Tried At&T, couldn't get a good signal at our house, much less up the mountain pass....hiking a remote trail.

We used to have AT&T with good discount due to DH employer. We couldn’t get a reliable signal at our new home in new city so we changed to Xfinity mobile when Comcast was rolling out their cell service to existing customers only & at a killer cheap price. They use Verizon lines so we have good coverage out of our local area too. Their price went up when they opened up their service to all & they offered their best rates to customers who bundled with other services - internet/TV/security etc. We’re still at a very low price & we’ve had great coverage with added hot spots for WiFi so not planning on changing anytime soon.

Metro PCS. I have had it for many years. My bill has increased from $25. per line to $40. per line now that I am the only one on my plan over the past 15 years or so. No complaints, it provides everything that I need.

Nicole, I believe Tello is an MVNO with no network of its own. I believe the signal you're getting is T-Mobile.

" I did have a work-provided Blackberry (remember those!) "

Indeed I do. I had one of the early ones, I could access my business email system (which included messages from clients too) and it also had a functioning phone. I remember very well there would be times when in client offices that my AT+T Blackberry would have no signal and my Verizon flip phone would have 2 or 3 bars. It was a pain carrying both, one in each of my two front pockets.

Which highlights, food, that sometimes a building's orientation relative to the cell location OR its construction (metal rather than wood studs in interior walls and metal exterior superstructure) can block signals.

Like fun2behere, I spend time in areas where the topography affects reception. Hills, twisty canyons and valleys, etc., block signals. There's one fairly heavily travelled street I drive on regularly that's has a lot of turns and is on a hill. There's about a 3 block stretch where I usually have no reception. I try to make and finish calls before I get there or wait until after I pass. The problem is the hills. A friend's house is in a spot where the road in a canyon takes a dip down for about a block and comes back up again. I get no reception there and I have to remember to turn off my phone because otherwise, my phone goes nuts trying to use maximum power to make a connection and I can have a dead battery when I leave.

We’ve had ATT forever and dont usually have any problems

I wonder just how cheap phone use must be in foreign countries. TV documentaries show phones in the hands of every rag picker in the slums in India, (Free phone with every pack of gum?)

AT&T, 1 Flip phone, good coverage, only used when traveling. Hard wired line used at home via Comcast. Total cost of both ~ $40/month.

‘…my AT+T Blackberry would have no signal and my Verizon flip phone would have 2 or 3 bars. It was a pain carrying both, one in each of my two front pockets.’

Exactly! One more bulky thing i had to carry in my bag.

We still have spots on the (approx 3 miles) road leading from the main highway to our house where coverage drops. A few years ago we found out that the FAA made Verizon reduce the height of the main antenna that services our area, which of course reduced their coverage slightly. Apparently they were worried it might interfere with some of the flight path into Huntsville’s airport. And although none actually fly directly over our house, they do occasionally fly a pattern over the nearby mountain which is where the antenna is located.

I wonder just how cheap phone use must be in foreign countries. TV documentaries show phones in the hands of every rag picker in the slums in India, (Free phone with every pack of gum?)

Without digging too deep into the stats, a quick google search suggests that food insecurity may be more prevalent among American youth than lack of smart phone.

Living in a school district where I believe half or more kids were eligible for free or reduced lunch before it became free for everyone, every kid seems to have a phone. My kids were mortified that we held out until fifth grade.

" I wonder just how cheap phone use must be in foreign countries "

I can't speak for Third World countries but in Western Europe and modern developed countries elsewhere, I believe monthly phone charges are the same or sometimes a bit cheaper than the Big Guys charge here. But the phones can be more expensive to buy.

Signal strength in cities and towns also seems to be more reliable than here. But, "here" seems to be getting better with 5G signals and more towers.

" My kids were mortified that we held out until fifth grade. "

A new wrinkle on this , thanks to the modernity of our world. When my oldest grandchild became "of age" to consider this question (yeah, in elementary school), he was surprised at how cool his parents were to get him an Apple watch. He was given strict instructions on what it could and couldn't be used for, violation of which was loss of the watch. He's still very happy to have it.

Why were his parents (my kid+spouse) "so cool"? Why, because it has the GPS location on it that stays on and his parents can always know where he is. Good parenting often involves needing to outsmart your kid.

Tracking might have literally saved my son’s life this past winter. We didn’t have it on for him at the time, now we do, but fortunately someone thought to contact his girlfriend who was in Europe and she was able to help out. It seems intrusive to the kids but after thst horrible experience I really don’t care.

FOAS, far be it for any of us to judge, and I know I certainly will not. I fully support parents or grandparents keeping up with family members in any way they can for safety reasons. A couple of examples:

My DD always tracks her daughter (our DGD) when she is driving from/to her new home in Kansas. She is now 26 and has lived there almost 2 years now since grad school but we still worry when she’s driving alone, given all we hear about human trafficking. DGD is aware she’s being tracked and knows she is loved.

Last summer one of our grandsons finished his freshman year of college and wanted to travel and camp/fish/tour out west. The kid would rather fish than breathe. He rigged his truck with a fold-down camper, solar panels, propane, water, his fishing gear, food, and his black lab and off he went. Our son bought satellite phones to communicate with him and they would talk every night even when there was no cell service. All went well and he camped solo in some very remote areas with no one around. Peace of mind for everyone was key. There was one funny story associated with all this one night but I won’t bore you all with it. Again, this kid is so sweet and good, he knows all this was done with love and care for his well-being. He will be doing an engineering internship this summer, so no chance of a repeat for a while.

What are the reasons NOT to enable tracking? (Presuming you haven't recently escaped from jail.)

Here are my views, chisue. This applies not only for having the capability off, but also for never granting "always" access to location to apps not in current use :

1)On my phone (relatively new iPhone 16), it cuts battery life in half.

2)Easier than wearing an aluminum foil skull helmet to protect me from evil doers and data sellers

3)It's necessary when using the phone as a primary GPS navigation device, but not really for anything else otherwise. Unless, for example, using Yelp and one is too lazy to type in present location. Or Gas Buddy. In such cases you can turn it on, take advantage of it as desired in the particular app, turn it off when done.

3)Unless sharing one's position with a family member or friend for whatever reason, having it on accomplishes nothing.

If you're worried about aiding the police to find your lifeless torso, even having a phone on will indicate in the carrier's records what cell tower the phone was connected to. So they can look in the woods of Wisconsin instead of throughout the entire Midwest. ;-)

I don't have it, but I was looking to hear if someone else had Mint mobile. Wonder if it's any good?

Don’t know anyone who has it but Ted is cute in their ads. I was confused about his presence in the Mint ad because he does the Consumer Cellular ads. Connected?

Mint Mobile is an MVNO. It was acquired last year by T-Mobile, whose network it uses. Consumer Cellular is an MVNO too. While it uses both AT&T and T-Mobile networks, new activations are now exclusively on AT&T's network, according to Wikipedia

All of the above info from a search.

I searched on Ted Danson so didn’t see any of that. But, since it was just a random ramble in my head I didn’t care enough about Mint or Ted’s ads to pursue. Made me think of Girl Scout cookies too.