HikeArizona.COM

So I just made the switch from AT&T ( :yuck: ) to Verizon.... And I'm absolutely appalled by my reception. I backpacked Ash Creek this past weekend and camped at the falls, and had 6 bars of reception at my campsite (at most, it fluctuated between 2 and 6). Two weeks ago at Canyon Creek there were several high points, full reception all the way up Kenderick Mountain that same weekend, and really good reception at Wolf Creek in the Bradshaws. Are other providers like this (other than a satellite phone)? With AT&T (who, by the way, boasts "more bars in more places"), I never got anything anywhere, but Verizon is amazing. Just curious. I know many people probably shut off their phones during hikes and forget about them, but I like to check my reception, particularly if I'm alone. You never know.

Mostly just surprised. Appalled was the wrong word, sorry.

dshillis wrote:lots of people are hacking iphones and moving them over to other networks, but you can't with verizon since they're on a totally different kind of cell system (CDMA). Looks like they may be moving away from it though for GSM-based LTE in 4G networks.

Yeah, that's what I always thought. But, I was talking to a Verizon representative 2 days ago because I was having problems with my modem and I happened to ask him about that same issue. His answer was, "Any Verizon phone can be used on any network". And, he knew I was talking about an older phone (2 years. HA! That's considered old in the cell phone universe!). I didn't get into it any further with him, but now I wish I had.

Yeah, sometimes I wonder if it's the actual phone unit that's giving me fits. I really need to walk into the local vendor and talk to him about it. They are also supposed to build a new Verizon tower in Eagar that should help with all the dead zones around here.