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Best cell service at crags
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Which service provider do you recommend for climbing areas in your part of the country? I have Verizon and never seem to have cell reception at the crag compared to my friends who have At&t. This seems to be the case in the California/Nevada/Idaho/Utah/Wyoming/South Dakota areas. |
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You should NOT be on your phone while belaying. But, in Utah, when I need to post on Instagram from the crag, I use T-Mobile. |
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According to the FCC website for 4G LTE mobile coverage areas that meet certain standards of service, Verizon has the best coverage in the Tetons, with AT&T coming in 2nd as of May 2021. Depends where you want coverage, really. The accuracy of the FCC's data (provided by the most trustworthy companies in America) is open to debate. And, service providers are currently upgrading coverage areas in the Tetons. In regards to T-mobile, the FCC's map shows T-Mobile's coverage lacking in areas where it actually provides service, and it shows adequate service where there isn't any. Wyoming has some pretty poor coverage in the NW part of the state. |
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Craig my friend, I have Verizon and feel the exact opposite. I always tend to have service, where my friend with ATT usually doesn’t. |
Craig Chang wrote: Considering cell service (and which provider is best) can change just by walking around the corner of a crag, or can change based upon whether you're at the base or at the top of a route, I'd say that your "seems to be the case" as it applies across 617,806 square miles is a worthless statement. Just the small 6 square miles of the valley floor in Yosemite will have differences between ATT vs Verizon to the point where ATT will work and Verizon will not work, then walk for a minute and now Verizon will work and ATT will not work. Same goes for base of routes versus tops of routes. |
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I've been on T-mobile and I feel like I get terrible service everywhere, not just at the crags. My wife who is on ATT always has better service, but obviously its going to vary a lot depending on the location |
Dan Cooksey wrote: But what if the leader is also on their phone? |
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I think you need a whole new phone |
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Verizon coverage is hands down better in most of New Mexico. Sometimes I have more bars on a rural mountain top than I do in the Albuquerque suburbs. |
Steve Olson wrote: Feel like? Oh, no, you do get terrible service. It's not in your head. Is fact. I used to live just a few miles off of the Appalachian Trail, and would always be giving rides into town or having the thru hikers stay at my house. I wish I had done video interviews about cell service, because the crushing despair on the faces and in the voices of the T-Mobile users was only matched by those who had ... Sprint. T-Mobile really excels in urban and suburban areas, but they've had a slow roll into the big green expanse. |
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Leave the phone at home |
bernard wolfe wrote: 100% …….. not practical |
bernard wolfe wrote: Then how am I going to use my inreach mini to communicate with search and rescue? If you're going to try to be a gatekeeper to other people's experiences, at least try to not keep safety outside the gates as well. |
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Wife and I are on AT&T. I've had a few cheap-o Android phones, she's had a few mid-range iPhones. She's regularly had service in places I didn't. I can't remember a single time when I had service and she didn't. If you want some advice that is applicable across all of the Western US, it's not carriers you should be looking at. It's buying a better phone. |
