Roaming comparrison to Verizon while traveling

On these trips, I have compared service between my Alltel and friends with Verizon. Areas observed were Las Vegas, NV areas, driving to Bullhead City, AZ and into southeast CA. Along interstate hwys and large cities, both were fine. In remote rural areas the roaming agreements Alltel has were almost always giving service, while my friends with Verizon had no service. During those times, I could dial #21 and hear either Sprint or Cingular.

During drives from Sioux Falls, SD to Grand Junction, CO, both services provided good coverage along interstates and cities. However, along a large stretch of I-90 through SD, the Alltel kept service when the Verizon did not. This occured again when turning south off of I-70 near Vail, CO. The Verizon lost service for most of the way and the Alltel managed to use Alltel, Sprint and even Cingular Analog service to keep service. These again were discovered using #21. I did at one point think I heard AT&T, but could have been mistaken with the quick recording. The Alltel also performed better in some remote areas of WY.

While celebrating the 4th of July in the Iowa Great Lakes region (Okoboji), I was with friends using Verizon, Cinular and Midwest Wireless. On that holiday, the summer fun area becomes extremely populated with visitors, to the extent that cell towers are used to capacity. The Verizon and Midwest Wireless were both using the MWW system and having difficulty making calls and recieving none. The Cingular was similar, maybe a bit better. The Alltel phone wasn't perfect but did find another system called Great Lakes of Iowa, and Cellular One (?) all roaming I guess(?). It incurred $29 of roaming charges but Alltel removed them. And the point was, the phone kept trying different services just so it worked for me.

I have desired a cellular company that will provide service if there is any company with service available, even if it's not the native carrier. At this point, Alltel has done it the best, and I have used Alltel, Midwest Wireless, Qwest, Sprint and Verizon. I can't speak for other providers like Cingular, USCC, etc. I hope this is informative. My phone is a Nokia 6015i. It was reported to be great with reception. Other phones may be better with Alltel at this time, like a Motorola E815. (?) Thanks

 

It almost always uses the Great Lakes of Iowa /Cell One when I am in the Okoboji and Estherville areas. It does produce roaming charges, but they have always taken them off. It has a PRL of 206, and I did *228 last night and it stayed PRL 206. It seems to prefer the CellOne over Sprint in those areas too.

 

Approximately two weeks ago the phone changed to PRL 606. Since that happening, it has used Midwest Wireless towers in the Spirit Lake, Estherville and Spencer, IA areas. Pleasantly, the coverage seems better.

As to finding the roaming carrier, I have had some success dialing #21. I used to dial 611, but almost always, it still gets forwarded to Alltel. If there is another way to find the roaming carrier, please notify me. The #21 only seems to work 1/2 the time.

As a note, I did not do a *228 update to get the new PRL 606. So far, it seems to work quite well. Again, I have been most impressed with the Alltel coverage. I've always used the Total Freedon 1000/$49.99; what a value, especially with Nights starting at 8pm!

The Nokia 6015i is working ok, but with ~40,000 mins is having some button issues. With my TOTAL concern being reception, what is the best Alltel phone to replace it? Again, features and gadgets are irrelevant, reception is the most important concern.

Thank You!!

 

Thank you for the information and advice. It is much appreciated. I did make the mistake of incorrectly stating the Total Freedom, when I have the National Freedom plan for $49.99, so that re-validates the comparision to my friends with Verizon. I appologize for the mistake. A good look at the Nokia 6235 will be done. Thanks!!