Cell phone service

[Ollieboba]

My wife & I will be picking up our new Elite II Nov 8th and wondered if any of you could weigh in on which cell phone service is the most reliable for traveling across the country?

I currently have Verizon and my wife has ATT, which seems to be sketchy here in Michigan

We didn’t opt for the cell phone or WiFi booster and understand service can be poor or unavailable when boondocking   in many places 

Any recommendations or thoughts?

[Landrover]

Ollieboba

you should be ok with both carriers. For some reason at&t works best in the east, south east states and Verizon works best in the western states. There are many remote areas were nothing works.  That’s why a good ole atlas map comes in handy when there is no cell service to help find your way. At least you’ll find a small town. And hopefully cell service will return. 

[Mike and Carol]

We have AT&T and have had pretty good service.  From what I’ve read the two best for RVers is Verizon and AT&T so you should be good.  Mike

[SeaDawg]

A combination of two services can  be a very good thing.

We have verizon, and t-mobile. One often works where the other doesn't. 

[Ollieboba]

Really appreciate everyone’s feedback

My wife and I will be retiring the end of this month and will be turning in our company phones, so wanted to know if we should keep or switch the ATT & Verizon services we’ve had for a number of years

Thank you all!

[AndrewK]

We have Visible (Verizon) and ATT and at times we find we need the both.  Often one will work when the other won't.

I would check to see if your company will allow you to keep your number and just switch over the account to your name.  

It sure is nice not having to start out with a new number and everyone already has is.  

Andrew

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

A stand alone GPS / mapping unit which does not require an active cell signal is a must in many areas ... particularly in the west.  Garmin makes many good units aimed at RV'ers.  We use a Garmin Overlander and, as we do a lot of our travel and camping off the beaten track, we feel it is worth the relatively high price.

A paper map is always a good backup and will astound your children and grandchildren!

[thompsonkd]

Somewhat off topic, and this is an old tread, however I was hoping to get some input from fellow Ollie owners. We have had Verizon for years as our cell carrier, and service has been decent when traveling with our Oliver. However, it is a pricey carrier, and Spectrum has moved into our area recently with some aggressive pricing options for cell service. I was wondering if folks have had Spectrum for cell service and what their experiences were, especially in more remote areas and out in the western states. Thanks is advance.

David

[topgun2]

3 hours ago, thompsonkd said:

I was wondering if folks have had Spectrum for cell service and what their experiences were, especially in more remote areas and out in the western states.

You might want to ask Spectrum for a "coverage map of the USA" and see what it tells you.  Or, simply go straight to the horse like I just did at:

https://www.spectrum.com/mobile/coverage-map.

Bill

[FloraFauna]

On 10/20/2021 at 7:17 PM, Ollieboba said:

We didn’t opt for the cell phone or WiFi booster

We did get this with our LE II and to tell you the truth I have not been able to discern that it makes any difference in cell reception.  I turn it on and I turn it off in various locations and see no difference - maybe mine is not even working.  

[CRM]

42 minutes ago, FloraFauna said:

We did get this with our LE II and to tell you the truth I have not been able to discern that it makes any difference in cell reception.  I turn it on and I turn it off in various locations and see no difference - maybe mine is not even working.  

I find it works fairly well if you keep the phone close to the internal antenna mounted in the cabin. Usually adds 2, sometimes 3 bars for us. . 

[jd1923]

16 hours ago, FloraFauna said:

We did get this with our LE II and to tell you the truth I have not been able to discern that it makes any difference in cell reception.  I turn it on and I turn it off in various locations and see no difference - maybe mine is not even working.  

I also found it useless! Removed the rooftop rectangular antenna box, inside HW and cabling. Patched the Fiberglass on the roof for all the too many drill holes made in installation! Weboost is old-tech. Phones today have very good internal antennas!

We went with a tow vehicle mounted Pepwave router and Parsec cell antenna with a T-Mobile 5G business plan! 😎

It doesn’t boost cell, but we’re online and text more often vs. talking when traveling. We’re connected wherever we travel, Chris can use her computer while I’m towing or away from the trailer in a day trip. We add Starlink when there’s no cell service Boondocking!

[Ronbrink]

When I got the Starlink Mini, I ditched the weBoost and now rely on Wi-Fi rather than a cellular network in areas with poor cellular service. 

[rideandfly]

1 hour ago, Ronbrink said:

When I got the Starlink Mini, I ditched the weBoost and now rely on Wi-Fi rather than a cellular network in areas with poor cellular service. 

We have Spectrum internet at home, but use a discount cell service that uses another large carrier network.  Some places we camp still have poor cell service.  Starlink Mini Wi-Fi works great with our smartphone & Roku as long as we have an opening in the trees for satellite reception at the campsite.

[thompsonkd]

Thank you Rideandfly (Bill); do you use Visible as your discount provider?

[rideandfly]

38 minutes ago, thompsonkd said:

Thank you Rideandfly (Bill); do you use Visible as your discount provider?

We use Puretalk. There are probably better discount smartphone internet services, but always receive calls & text messages OK unless there is no signal. The phone works great with Spectrum Wi-Fi at home and Starlink Mini Wi-Fi when camping. When using Spectrum internet at home, around every 12 months they increase their service price, so I make a trip to their store and let them know I can also get Verizon home internet or another service for a better price, so they lower the price.

Edited December 4 by rideandfly

[Geronimo John]

On 10/20/2021 at 2:17 PM, Ollieboba said:

I currently have Verizon and my wife has ATT, which seems to be sketchy here in Michigan

 

On 10/20/2021 at 2:35 PM, Landrover said:

you should be ok with both carriers. 

I agree with both posts.  I use Consumer Cellular, mostly out west.  They use AT&T towers.  Their customer service is second to none, and I am very pleased with their connectivity. 

If you are going to be doing a lot of Off-Grid Boondocking  and need multi-media connectivity, or have emergency medial communication needs where WiFi is weak or non-existant;  then Star Link seems to be the way to go.  LOTS of great  install info here on our forum.  Like Lithium Batteries, I'm in "Absorption Mode" for the Star LInk topic myself.

GJ 

Edited December 4 by Geronimo John
typos.