Cell Phone Service

[Buster46]

Does anyone have a recommendation on cell phone service? I currently have Verizon and last evening they allowed me out of my contract due to very poor service. We have two phones and both are dropping calls, static and most of the time have to go outside to talk on the phone. We live in the southern part of the TV's and would like to find the best service provider. Any information is greatly appreciated.

[Villageswimmer]

I have ATT. Although not perfect, reception has improved significantly over the past two years. We live just north of 466A.

[stevebotts]

My son is at The Villages as I type this, wiring a new cell tower for Verizon. This should make a big difference in service.

[stevebotts]

My son is in The Villages as I write this, wiring a new cell tower for Verizon.

[laceylady]

I live in Sanibel. My neighbor and I both have Verizon. She has no problems, yet I had to go out in a certain spot in my front lawn to get reception. Somewhere on the Verizon website is the email addresses of Verizon Wireless Executives. I emailed the Director of Wireless Communications and then sent me FREE (call center people wanted me to pay $200) a box to attach to my Internet modem and now my reception is fine. I don't believe it is the phone company you choose, but where exactly your house is. There are many previous threads on this subject.

[villagetinker]

OP, my wife and I have Verizon (village of Pinellas), and just recently I have seen a significant increase in the number of bars at our house, from 1 to 3 or 4. Also, there is a new cell tower under construction along Micro Raceway road. When I complained to Verizon about bad service, they mentioned that a new cell tower was going to be installed, it might be this one, not sure if this will help the area south of 466A.

[SCCHAMBY2000@YAHOO.COM]

WE live south of 466A and have At&t..We had terrible service and called AT&T. We were told of a micro cell tower available. We went to the AT&T store on 441/27 by Spanish Springs and they gave us the tower because they have no towers by Brownwood. We now have 5 bars all the time!!

[LndLocked]

The "search" function is a wonderful thing:

Talk of The Villages - Search Results (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/search.php?searchid=9111564)

[ureout]

i just left verizon and went with cricket...they are owned by ATT great rates unlimited talk, text and data....$35 month with auto pay....data pkg is 4g for first 1/2 gig then slows to about 3g but NO EXTRA charges for overage also no contract and you can bring your old phones

[janrbob]

We also want to change.. We have new unlocked Tmobile GMS phones, so we can only change to AT&T, so I'm told.

I would like to know if AT&T has service when riding around inside TV? I'm prepared to "fight" for an in-home booster.

Can anyone verify that I'll get data service from AT&T while out and about in addition to in home calls?

We're thinking of going with Straight Talk.

[Hancle704]

We have Consumer Cellular. No contract, use AT&T network.2 lines, shared 600 minutes,1000 messages 100mb data/month. Basically just use phones for calls and text messages. $45/month total, includes all taxes.

[OurHappyHome]

We have ATT and have not dropped one call other than one spot on the way to Gainsville

[janrbob]

Hancle, how is your service when going down BVBlvd?

[Hancle704]

Hancle, how is your service when going down BVBlvd?

Have not had occasion to use phone on BV Blvd south of 466A. I have had no problems using phone north of 466A .

[JoMar]

Live in Hillsborough, have Verizon and so far, no issues with the service.

[pklein9747]

i just left verizon and went with cricket...they are owned by ATT great rates unlimited talk, text and data....$35 month with auto pay....data pkg is 4g for first 1/2 gig then slows to about 3g but NO EXTRA charges for overage also no contract and you can bring your old phones

Ureout...what type of phone did you have with Verizon? We both have iPhones with Verizon and I am under the impression that we would could not transfer these phones to another carrier as they are "locked".

[Bizdoc]

I have AT&T with no problems. Have not seen anywhere in TV that my phone didn't work, tho with varying numbers of bars. Having said that, I know that the phone model can make a difference - have had times over the years when I had a signal and DW didn't.

Note that some of the homes have poured concrete walls with rebar in them (and look like block homes from the outside). While I haven't tested my phone inside one of them, I would expect them to really screw up signals as they canl act as a Faraday cage (just like some office buildings).

[Cedwards38]

I live south of 466A and I use ATT. I purchased an ATT MicroCell for my home and I never have any problems. You can get those at the ATT store or on eBay. You can put multiple phones on the Microcell. Phone service is pretty strong all over The Villages, but at home with the Microcell it's always five bars.

[outahere]

Ureout...what type of phone did you have with Verizon? We both have iPhones with Verizon and I am under the impression that we would could not transfer these phones to another carrier as they are "locked".

We thought that as well, but when we switched from Verizon to AT&T we had no problem transferring my wife's iPhone. She can not get LTE data reception, but everything else works just fine (voice, data, etc.). We went to the AT&T store near Lowes and told them that supposedly the phone was "locked" but they slipped an AT&T sim card into her phone and everything worked.

As to the OP's original post - we live in Hillsborough and have AT&T cell phones and an AT&T wireless home phone and have never had a dropped call and always have clear reception. We were told that AT&T will be turning on new towers near Brownwood and Wildwood in the near future to "blanket" the area with 4G data capability. We usually have 2 - 3 bars inside the house but once those towers go live I'm sure that will go up.

[NYGUY]

When I bought my new Samsung Galaxy S5 a couple of weeks ago at Verizon, the salesman mentioned 2 new towers were going up in the south side of The Villages. That should help Verizon's coverage south of 466A.

[ureout]

Ureout...what type of phone did you have with Verizon? We both have iPhones with Verizon and I am under the impression that we would could not transfer these phones to another carrier as they are "locked".

I just had an old flip phone so I purchased a new smart phone....but they advertise bring your old phone and number with you....Tuesday I just changed my wifes service from verizon over to cricket... 2 smart phones, unlimited talk, text and data for $70 a month. Ive only had service for about a month but have made calls and recieved calls all over TV.s with no dropped calls https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phones here is there web site and office is across from Wal Mart in Fruitland Park