Verizon Eastern Upper Peninsula Update

[TSPOS]

Ok, I finally made it to Sault Ste. Marie after getting stranded on Mackinac Island. But you guys only care about Verizon coverage in the EUP, so here we go...

Verizon coverage in the EUP is much better than it was last year. Whatever Verizon did with the Alltel/RFB situation, it is extremely improved. We now get seamless 1x Alltel coverage from the Mackinac Bridge all the way to Sault Ste. Marie (along I-75 of course). As long as you have the most recent PRL, you should be fine. For most of the trip I only had 1 or 2 bars, but I made 2 calls and the call quality was fine. Coverage in the Soo seems to be fine (3-4 bars), as long as you're in town. Unfortunately, my parents live a little west of town on the St. Mary's river and I keep picking up the Canadian towers.

Ok, here's a question for those of you who know. If I update my plan to the new "no roaming" plans, will verizon charge me for roaming on the Canadian towers?

To be honest, I was seriously considering dropping Verizon for Cingular after my contract was up, but now I don't know. The Alltel coverage in the Eastern UP is dramatically better than it was a year ago. Now we'll just have to watch out for the new Dobson GSM network coming this summer.

[Andy]

If you get the North America's Choice, Verizon will not charge you roaming for using Canadian providers, but if you are using a regular America's Choice Plan, then, yes, there is a charge for roaming in Canada.

[jk231]

When I'm in that area I set my phone to home only to avoid roaming on canadian towers. You should be able to do this by setting your NAM2 to SID 244 and setting to home only when you are in the area.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by jk231 When I'm in that area I set my phone to home only to avoid roaming on canadian towers. You should be able to do this by setting your NAM2 to SID 244 and setting to home only when you are in the area.

Great idea, I didn't even think about suggesting that !