Looking for Cell phone provider recommendations

[DGx2]

Hi ! Would appreciate feedback on your experiences with cell phone providers in the Villages. We are looking to switch from a company that is not located in Fl. We are primarily concerned with good reception, and good coverage nation wide. Thanks for any and all input!

[MikeV]

If you are below 466A I would recommend Verizon. I have a wireless home security system which uses cellular to contact the monitoring service. It used T-Mobile. It could not reliably connect so the company sent me a new module that uses Verizon and it works fine. I also use Verizon for my cell phone service and never have a problem.

[Snowbirdtobe]

Sprint service has declined in the past year. I haven't moved but they are converting their 3G phone service to 4G on a tower by tower basis.
The sprint store told me that I could buy a new phone and get better service.
When I replace my phone it won't be with Sprint.

[pooh]

We've had Verizon for many years....starting when we lived in CA. Coverage across the US is great, we've driven from one coast to the other five times. Coverage here in TV has been very good.

[ugotme]

Had Sprint down in south Florida (Ft. Lauderdale area). It was great!!!!

However - up here it is not very good. Dropped calls, no reception, even sitting in my garage most times I have "no bars".

Contract ends in July so it is bye bye Sprint!

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Verizon is your best choice for coverage and reception. But they will not be the least expensive. You could try a no contract phone like Straight Talk from Walmart. They use Verizon towers.

[JMEZARIC3]

Verizon is your best choice for coverage and reception. But they will not be the least expensive. You could try a no contract phone like Straight Talk from Walmart. They use Verizon towers.

Be careful with Straight talk.Only the phones with a red map on the box works off of Verizon towers.Also the model # has a V in it.My wife has a Straight Talk Proclaim that is a Verizon towers phone. It is a low end smart phone but works well for my wife.Great service in TV,Pennsylvania and all along I95.Costs less than $50 a month,includes service,fee and taxes.Unlimited talk ,text and data.The data slows down after you reach 3 giga bits but you still have internet access.Not the phone for you if you use lots of data.

[OurHappyHome]

My wife and have ATT and love it.

[HMLRHT1]

AT&T works well for us here. Have used it all across the country. Also lived in AZ and worked great there.

[drcar]

Best Price, best service, great Customer Service, Consumer Cellular. If you are referred we both get $20.00 off first months bill. Check out the web site, YOU will not be disappointed.

[BeetleBailey]

Hi ! Would appreciate feedback on your experiences with cell phone providers in the Villages. We are looking to switch from a company that is not located in Fl. We are primarily concerned with good reception, and good coverage nation wide. Thanks for any and all input!

My wife and I have been using PuretalkUSA for the last 5 years. It is 10.00 a month for 130 minutes and the unused minutes roll over and never expire. .5cents per text. They will give you a free phone and a sim card. We are very happy with the quality and service they provide. hope this was of some benefit.

[Hopeful2]

Our house is south of 466A and we have experienced very poor reception with AT&T. (We are going to be changing to another provider.)

[blueeagle65]

Been here ten + years w/ Verizon and not one dropped call and never failed to connect. Two thumbs up!

[redwitch]

I like Smart Talk with Verizon. Have had an occasional dropped call but got that with Verizon as well. Love not having a contract and reasonable monthly charges with everything being unlimited.

[Bizdoc]

I'm south of 466a and have excellant service with AT&T. Have been with them since 2002 and had reception in places like on a cruise ship in Alaska when no one else had any bars.

[Ourtime]

Be careful with Straight talk.Only the phones with a red map on the box works off of Verizon towers.Also the model # has a V in it.My wife has a Straight Talk Proclaim that is a Verizon towers phone. It is a low end smart phone but works well for my wife.Great service in TV,Pennsylvania and all along I95.Costs less than $50 a month,includes service,fee and taxes.Unlimited talk ,text and data.The data slows down after you reach 3 giga bits but you still have internet access.Not the phone for you if you use lots of data.

We had Straight Talk for 4 months and left that service. Very spotty service in TV and that was on a Brand New Samsung Galaxy s3 phone. The other issue is any phone you get with their service IS NOT transferable to another service IF (when) you decide to leave their service and the phone is worthless to you! I purchased the S3 for their service for $399.00 and 4 months later when I had had enough dropped calls, bad reception etc and switched to Verizon they offered me $64.00 as a trade in. Needless to say we took a LOSS on Straight Talk! Inexpensive service is FINE when it works but stinks when it doesn't. The last issue with them is DO NOT pay ahead of time. We paid for 6 months since it was cheaper than month by month. when we left them and requested our 2 months back that we did not use the service they refused. I spoke to more than 10 managers on this issue and got nowhere! I had to report them to the Florida BBB to get my money returned. It was only after I made the Better Business Bureau complaint that I was contacted by Straight Talk to offer us the money back. Their service is also Very Spotty from Florida to Georgia where I have another home. Beware Straight Talk!!!

[kwtoman]

We have had no issues with Verizon wireless.

[sailor47]

First we had AT&T they had poor service about 2 years ago, switched to Verizon but expensive. Then AT&T finally got their act together here and Consumer Cellular uses AT&T.
We switched to Consumer Cellular, the service has been very good for over a year now. Consumer has way better pricing than the others. The price is as listed no extra costs. The phones can be anything from flips to smarts of varying quality. They all work as a phone. We have two lines that we ported with a total of 650 minutes combined and 1000 texts and some data??? for $45.00/mo. You can get even lower costs if you use less minutes. We can get more minuted for very little additional costs. check out the web site. consumercellular.com
Works very well for us. We never approach the 650 minutes.
Our Land line is OOMA. another great service.

[Halibut]

I've used and been happy with a prepaid TracFone for several years. But it's not for heavy phone users. My current phone uses the Verizon network and reception has always been good here and when we travel.

[sailor47]

First we had AT&T they had poor service about 2 years ago, switched to Verizon but expensive. Then AT&T finally got their act together here and Consumer Cellular uses AT&T.
We switched to Consumer Cellular, the service has been very good for over a year now. Consumer has way better pricing than the others and it is month to month. If service declines we can change again. The price is as listed no extra costs. The phones can be anything from flips to smarts of varying quality. They all work as a phone. You can use any phone that works on AT&T, by from them or bring your own from any source. We have two lines that we ported with a total of 650 minutes combined and 1000 texts and some data??? for $45.00/mo. You can get even lower costs if you use less minutes. We can get more minuted for very little additional costs. check out the web site. consumercellular.com
Works very well for us. We never approach the 650 minutes.
Our Land line is OOMA. another great service.

[Avista]

Cricket is what we have and are very pleased. No contract, good service and uses ATT towers. I pay $45 unlimited.

[cbh1975]

Consumer Cellular. We have two cellphones and our land line through them. For right around 70.00 a month we get:

600 Minutes
5,000 Messages
1,024 MB Data (Web)

We never come anywhere near those numbers. They even have iPhones available now--but they're pricey! Best thing for me is there is no contract and you can change the services you use at any time, without penalty. Very good service, too! We're very happy with them.

[Cincinnatus]

Had AT&T for many years.
Recommend :smiley:

[red tail]

Consumer Cellular. We have two cellphones and our land line through them. For right around 70.00 a month we get:

600 Minutes
5,000 Messages
1,024 MB Data (Web)

We never come anywhere near those numbers. They even have iPhones available now--but they're pricey! Best thing for me is there is no contract and you can change the services you use at any time, without penalty. Very good service, too! We're very happy with them.

I use them with my iPhone 5...great service....I don't know what towers they use but I have always had a good signal from Hawaii all over the us that I have traveled.

[sailor47]

I forgot to mention that Consumer Cellular is a no contract service. You can change your minutes up or down every month. If you link up your e-mail address you can get instant warnings if you are about to go over in minutes and then simply add minutes. Turn it back down the next month. If you have a smart phone it can check your minutes too.

This is all fancy/dancy stuff to me. My smart phone is probably one of the dumber ones but it was only $65.00 from Consumer. Still great for me. I am just so glad to be rid of $100.00 Verizon bills for our two lines with limited minutes. I use my phone as a phone, that's about it.