Mobile Phone Service

Which (personal) mobile phone service do you recommend for truckers? I have TMobile right now, but there are certain areas it doesn't cover, so I am looking to change carriers.

I have yet to find a place my Verizon phone has no signal.

I suggest Cricket. A LOT cheaper than Verizon and they use AT&Ts tower so similar coverage. FYI despite what Verizon and AT&T say they both are sucking wind in KY. The only way to get good cell service in Kentucky is BlueGrass Cellular. AT&T has service up and down I-65 corridor. Verizon has service up and down the I-75 corridor. you have nada for service on 75 with AT&T and nothing on 65 with Verizon. Both have ok service up and down I-69.

I've been very happy with TMO. I've actually seen areas where there was no signal sprout bars in the last two years. They're definitely expanding their footprint BUT they have to do it on the new spectrum they've bought in the last year or two which isn't the same frequency as what they've been using. If you're using an older or lower-tiered phone you won't see the difference. I've actually had some of my students badmouth TMO because they didn't have any bars only to show them my phone with 5 bars! They're SHOCKED to learn we're on the same network. Does your phone support band 12? Band 66?

Cricket is an affordable alternative that may work for older users or folks who use their data only to send texts but more sophisticated users will be disappointed. Cricket is prepaid only. Cricket does not allow tethering. Cricket has some of the slowest data speeds around, much slower than AT&T. While AT&T doesn't cap the total amount of data you can use on the Cricket plan they do cap downloads to 8 Mbps! Real world users average about 4.5 Mbps, which pales in comparison to AT&T's 20.8 Mbps and is a fifth of what you'll see on the fastest networks (Verizon and TMO).

Which (personal) mobile phone service do you recommend for truckers? I have TMobile right now, but there are certain areas it doesn't cover, so I am looking to change carriers.

I got an LG Stylo 2 to use on Cricket. $125 for the phone.

Cricket allows tethering for an extra $10 a month on plans above $50 but not the unlimited plan.

I don't watch movies on my phone (maybe because I'm old) but I just streamed a couple 1080p movies on my Cricket/LG Stylo 2 phone and they were fine. Perusing the interwebs shows that streaming 1080p movies runs about 75MB a minute. Even with the 22GB cap AT&T and Verizon both have you'll run out of data LONG before your month is up. Oh yeah, they just throttle it to 128kb. Good luck with that.

So my advice it to get a phone that can run on Cricket. Give it a shot and see if it works for you. If so you'll save tons of money. If not, use the same phone that you got cheap and move to an AT&T plan (Bring Your Own Phone) and get there unlimited Plus or Choice plan.

I live in Kentucky and swear by AT&T or Straight Talk (Walmart) phones with the BLUE coverage map. Don't get one with the red map on the box. You'll be left without coverage in quite a few areas. I can get a signal virtually anywhere.

I left Verizon after billing never was what they said. Well, one thing was true ..... ALWAYS MORE, ha, ha.

I have used my Verizon IPHONE 5 on Straight Talk from NY to Seattle, from Big Ben to Canada. Never have had a problem. Data stream is fine. I use it for calls, texting, email and some Web browsing. Mapping, I use my gps, photos, etc.

Traffic Jam

Oh, and billing is always the same.

-Traffic Jam

Don't forget to check with your company if they offer deals with a cell phone carrier. For example, Prime gets a special plan with Sprint and deducts the phone plan from your paycheck.