Good Cell Phone Companies To Use OTR?

I'm going to start this off with a story or two. Once upon a time, in a land exactly where I am now and in the not to distant past (we're talking a few years). My wife was still under contract with Sprint. While she played on her phone she received sudden interruptions.....in a data stream. It would just stop working for no reason. Would require to restart the phone and/or the data each time. While connected to WiFi it would work just fine but, for some reason not her data that she paid her monthly fees for.

A week or two had passed while struggling with the situation before we finally gave in and took it to a sprint store. After some moments had passed the associate informed us that there was nothing wrong with the phone but suggested a reset. So home we went to back up the phone and factory reset. Once it finished it's thing we loaded everything back onto the phone. Very next day, what would you know, the problem had returned.

A few days later we returned to the Sprint store. Yet again to be told that there's nothing wrong with the phone and that the problem is on their end. The feeling of re-assurance washed over us as we discovered that it's not us, it's them. As we point out that we are overwhelmed knowing what a great and reliable service she has that we pay money for each month.

As soon as her contract was up we opened up a line on my plan. Verizon, of which I have had for 10+ years. I have only had minimal complaints since (when they dropped unlimited data, when I discovered that they no longer do contracts with reduced phone cost, and the cost of service).

One more quick story. My mentor had AT&T I believe it was. He would be in the middle of a phone call and his call would drop in certain areas. Meanwhile, I would be streaming music from the web. Only a couple times had I lost data, while he kept losing is phone calls.

Verizon, while it has been very costly, it has been worth it on several occasions of not losing service. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of dead zones out there. I've seen even more dead zones from other carriers.

One more quick Sprint bash. Years and years ago a company I worked for had supplied a company phone with Sprint. I'm not sure how many times my calls would drop just in the city. (Note: this last Sprint bash was pre smart phone era so it has been a while.)

I have Verizon as well and it seems to work even in the middle of nowhere and it's fast enough to allow me to tether it to my computer and watch HD movies. Actually I ran some speed tests on it and in many spots it was going faster then my in home FIOS fiber optics.

Here is yet another vote for Verizon.

I have tried all the major carriers. The non-majors lease from the majors, so trying all the majors is the same as trying everyone from a coverage standpoint.

The leader in coverage footprint and customer service in the USA is Verizon. I doubt if you will find many who would dispute that. Pricing...well, Verizon is not cheap but it boils down to what plan best fits your needs.

Verizon offers an unlimited plan which is what I have. I have a phone, a wifi hotspot device, and a tablet.

Their unlimited plan has limits...LTE speed is limited to 22gb/month. After that, you get 600kb speed when using any device as a hotspot; in the case of the hotspot gadget, you only get 15gb/month at the LTE speed. You get something between 600kb and LTE when using a device directly, with the speed dependent on the amount of traffic on the tower you're connected to. I have my TV, another tablet, and an Amazon Echo connected to the hotspot gizmo - that stuff burns through the 15gb with a baseball game or two movies, so the party doesn't last long there, but I have found that I can continue watching Netflix even at 600kb. To watch my beloved Detroit Tigers, either it has to be at the beginning of the month or I need to watch on a tablet. Someday I might get Direct TV or something and subscribe to MLB on that. I know some of the 6x11then34 guys will say we don't need TV, but I am a 8.45xforever guy, so I do.

In the eastern half of the country, Verizon has few dead spots. Out west, there are still plenty of low to no coverage areas. In order to boost the low coverage areas, I have a WeBoost gadget. It works pretty well and helps a lot, but it cannot amplify nothing, so there are still plenty of no coverage areas out west. In those areas, I switch to SirriusXM or audio books.

Can anyone give me any advice on a good cell phone company to use OTR. I plan on starting over the road and want to be able to keep in touch with my Boyfriend and family while I'm out. I have a Prepaid Straight talk phone now. I'm not sure if it will be good for service or if I should get a contract phone. Any advice would be Greatly Appreciated. I would also like to Thank Everyone for all the Great Tips and Advice. Thanks to all the good advice on this site I have several companies who want to hire me straight out of school and I'm ready for the challenge.

Thanks Joan

Thanks everyone for the Great Advice. I'm going to listen to Pete B. right now and keep my Straight Talk phone. We can't afford a change at this time anyway. I'm not a real tech savvy person and have no idea what all uses data. I use my phone mainly for texting and talking anyway. I have no clue as to video calls. My daughter called me that way only once. I'm surprised I even figured out how to answer it. Lol. Anything requiring internet I prefer to use my iPad. Hope you all stay safe out there. I'll hopefully be joining you out there with a Trainer Dec. 18.

Straight Talk is now unlimited 4G no throttling for $55 a month.

I have Verizon and have 3 phones (family) with unlimited data on all. Comes out with all taxes to about $190.00 a month. I am not on a contract and can leave tomorrow. I am very satisfied with their coverage and customer service.

I am a Verizon customer, have been for decades. It's very rare that I loose a tower no matter where I am. Just as rare when a call to their customer service number is necessary. "Never" is close to the last time I had to call them.

Cost? Considering the phone is an essential safety and communication tool required to perform our jobs, at least part of it is a write-off.

.......I'm not a real tech savvy person and have no idea what all uses data. I use my phone mainly for texting and talking anyway. I have no clue as to video calls. My daughter called me that way only once. I'm surprised I even figured out how to answer it. Lol.

Anything (assuming it's a smart phone and I'm guessing that based on the video call) that is NOT talk OR text, WILL use data. This includes the video call and any app. that is installed and running on your phone (not all apps need internet and those won't use data but this is where being tech savvy can come in handy because you can find out which ones do and which ones don't use data) uses data to some extent.

Since it sounds like you won't be using a lot, and you can find out how much you do use, you can adjust your plan to fit your data needs. Depending on how you receive internet for your tablet will make up for other factors in figuring all that up.

Best Wishes.

On a separate note....I found a spot in Rush, Co. that has a Verizon dead zone.

I'm going with Verizon's "unlimited" plan, pre-pay with auto-pay, and bring my own Samsung S7 from a previous Verizon account. $75/month. Not too bad for Big Red's speed/coverage. If I use more than 22GB a month, something's wrong.

Unfortunately, the -no throttling- doesn't apply to hotspot use

I wish I could find unlimited LTE hotspot at some reasonable price...I'd pay $150/month for a wi-fi gadget plan such as that

Straight Talk is now unlimited 4G no throttling for $55 a month.