Treo 650 verizon reception poor in West WI

[dred]

I've used a TREO 650 for 2 years in Minneapolis with Verizon as my wireless carrier. In the past year, I've spent more time in Western Wisconsin near the St. Croix (Osceola area), where the reception is poor to mostly unusable.

In addition the phone turns on and off constantly as it roams and drains the battery after a day.

Is there a way to make the phone more usable in this area and keep Verizon?
Or am I forced to change to to Alltel or another carrier?

I am looking to add family coverge with a Treo and basic phone, at least one of which should work well in the 54020 zip code (Osceola, Polk County).

Thanks for any suggestions!

[Andy]

Sounds like your phone is switching between Verizon and Extended Network "ALLTEL" a lot. Why do you say reception is unusable? Is it because your phone is holding on to a weak Verizon signal instead of switching over to ALLTEL?
ALLTEL has coverage in the 54020 zip code, so they definitely may be an option for you.
~Andy

[dred]

I assume that it's trying to hold on to the Verizon signal, but I honestly don't know. If it's possible to get a connection at all, the quality is poor and usally disconnects after a few seconds.
How do I tell? Is there a way to force it to connect to the Alltel network and prevent the phone from switching back and forth

[Andy]

Originally Posted by dred

I assume that it's trying to hold on to the Verizon signal, but I honestly don't know. If it's possible to get a connection at all, the quality is poor and usally disconnects after a few seconds.
How do I tell? Is there a way to force it to connect to the Alltel network and prevent the phone from switching back and forth

Well, if you have low signal and the phone says "Verizon Wireless" then it is trying to hold on to a weak Verizon signal. If the phone says "Extended Network" it is probably roaming on ALLTEL(since I think that is the roaming partner in your area). There are ways of "forcing" your phone to idle on a certain system, but I don't know how to do that on a Treo device.