Got T-Mobile?

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Also - the phone makes all the difference ... I have used an LG (ugh), an HTE (tolerable) and a Samsung (usable) in the same house -- they are not the same beasts. Just ordered up a Moto X ... will see how it fares.
 
over the years, we like the LG and the Samsung in our household
 
With the exception of your desire to have a phone that works in Mexico, Verizon is your best bet for maximum coverage, period. I suppose as long as you could hit one of the Autopatch repeaters you'd be pretty well covered in the boonies but I'm not sure if your running a bigger mobil or just a handheld.

I was amazed (and a bit pissed) when I was getting emails while I was in the CanyonLands back in May. I couldn't believe it.
 
I now have ATT and my phone has very poor reception at home and will go dead at Scottsdale Rd & Cactus but I was driving along HERE <link and my phone rang with 5 bars..go figure
'HERE' is line of sight to Navaho Mountain ... and some iPhone's are infamous for their lackluster antenna design - bad enough that Verizon asked Apple to redesign the antenna system for their version of one of the iPhones - and we all know antennas are key to any radio communications :)
 
You can get antenna boosters that fit under the battery. Haven't used one, don't know how they work but IIRC they're cheap.
 
I was west of Lake Mary Friday night with no ATT service. A friend and kids had T-mobile were calling home and streaming video with 4G.

Here is what I know about the Happy Jack area. Had Alltel then Verizon. Only tower was the Alltel tower at the lodge. Verizon phones won't work off the that tower years ago. Verizon bought Alltel and took over the tower by the Happy Jack lodge. They installed a tower by mile post 305 on 87 shortly before buying Alltel. T Mobil and Sprint both work. Sprint I just heard works but have family come and T Mobil does work. Last summer had my sister and family visited. Sister's and her husband's ATT phone didn't work from either tower. Had a break down on highway 87 just a little south of the FS road 300 (rim road) and was able to walk up the road to call AAA. Very weak signal but got thru. Where the 321 road ends at the 300 road I had great service. When we first got the cabin we planned on only have a cell phone but with grown kids back in the valley we ended up getting a landline instead of driving fifteen miles to get service. Once we got the other tower we dropped the landline. Never tried but guessing from the Moqui lockout tower one of those towers would have service if you have the right provider. If you like to visit East Clear Creek the lookout is close by and make it easier to keep in contact with the valley.
 
Any more most carriers have agreements to use each other's towers, unless you have roaming blocked or are on an incomparable signal type, cell service is cell service. Is ATT still restricted to their own towers? That would suck.

Also, agree with Tim, some phones are better at picking up signals that others.
 
Verizon FTW, the data and 4G LTE also works great in remote areas. About 4 years ago I remember writing and submitting some mid-term papers in college via my HTC Thunderbolt while at Man Camp deep in the Florence Junction area near Chocran. I have been camping in the same area for he past couple of decades and I had never been able to get any service at all in that exact area when using AllTell, Boomerang, Cricket, Cingular, ATT, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Some of the guys could always get service and all of them had the old free Verizon flip phones with the old antennas when I had the latest and greatest full QWERTY phone. When I finally switched to Verizon it was the first time in my life a had full cell phone and data connection all the way while driving to California. Verizon may cost a little more but they also offer the best mil and bus discounts, and cheaper warranty service. It actually evens out with T-Mobile you actually need two types of warranty service to be fully covered with other providers. The best prices are not from the actual Verizon stores but from 3rd party dealers. Wal-Mart always has some crazy promotions going on, the little 3rd party booth at the base will give you unlimited data if its a new contract along with the best pricing tax free. Most of the time they will even throw in free car car charger, otter box, or life proof case. If you are going to Mexico, every single one of my buddies who lives in Yuma and frequents Mexico uses Verizon.
 
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While not the cheapest we've kept Verizon because we were switched t0 Verizon when they bought Alltel and came in with unlimited data. If we were to leave we could never get it back. Currently don't use that much data (son who is on our plan does) but once up north will probably tether for our computer usage.
 
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