AT&T service
 

I have read that AT&T is not very good in the Villages. I am planning a week lifestyle visit- with limited service will my phone still work using the Villages GPS app / Waze app etc? Plan on putting on the miles on the golf cart - seeing as much as I can. Doesn’t matter to me how good the service is in the rental - just don’t want to always be lost when out on the road.

Weak coverage.................but you will survive.............should be able to get around.


Plus, there are thousands of smiling villagers here to help.

We have AT&T and haven't had trouble connecting in The Villages. Granted we haven't had need to check our GPS all the way through in every direction, so your mileage may vary as they say. But it works fine in and around Spanish Springs, from there to Sumter Landing, and from Sumter Landing to Staples and back, that much I can vouch for.

I have had AT&T for 10 years here in the Villages and no issues anywhere. I live near Lake Sumter. Not sure about the new areas, but works fine everywhere I go.

Five years now in TV and no problems with ATT. Calls, GPS and internet are fine.

We live in McClure and the connection with AT&T is weak, at Fenney Grill there is no signal at all. My wife's phone will lose the signal when she moves around the house while talking on the phone. My phone isn't quite as sensitive but it will drop the connection sometimes. We have no problem north of 44.

I live south of Lake Sumter Landing (village of Dunedin) and the signal in our house from AT&T was so close to non-existent when we moved here that we switched to Verizon (which actually isn't all that terribly great either). We were able to get a weak signal outside of the hose but not so much inside. We probably need more cell towers scattered through The Villages, but I'm sure nobody wants them in their back yards.

AT&T service
 

Depends on where you live. I am in Amelia and got virtually zero Att coverage at and within a block of my home. It was an ATT dead zone. Wifi calling worked in my house but call quality was horrendous. After probably 30 years with them under all their previous names until we moved up here I switched to Verizon which gives me full coverage everywhere. Best thing is to test it first. Get a prepaid sim and try it for a few weeks.

Oh, I always have the newest phones so that was not an issue.


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I had AT&T up north and it worked great all over New England. When I came down here in TV, coverage was weak. At least for me. After a while I left AT&T and went with Verizon. Much better coverage.

I don't understand why everyone doesn't use the Verizon network. It has always been independently rated as the best cell network for more than 20 years. And, you don't have to buy cell service directly from Verizon to use their network. I also don't understand why the other 3 network providers are satisfied to offer an inferior network year after year after year.

The simple reason Verizon has the best coverage is that they have more towers in more places.

Get a map
 

For $5 you can get a map of The Villages. Some Realtors give out free ones, “old school”, but I still like a map as I can get a better feel for an area. We have AT&T and sometimes get a weak signal in TV but strong signal too. Depends on your location in TV. We get by... good luck on your Lifestyle visit.

I (and others) would find it helpful if you could

1) List the names of the "other 3 network providers"

2) List the names of the companies that that also sell Verizon cell service besides Verizon.

We used the Verizon network since cell service originally began (until last year.)
Even with the retired employee discount, it was just too expensive.

North of Rt. 44 all the way to New England, with the exception of between some mountains a few times, Consumer Cellular is working great for us at about 60% of the cost.

The big four network providers are Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. There are lots of companies that provide cell phone plans, but most, if not all of them use one of the 4 network providers to deliver service. I think the most popular service that uses the Verizon network is Straight Talk sold by Walmart. There is also Total Wireless. I use Xfinity Mobile and have been paying only 12 dollars per month because I limit my mobile data use to less than 1 GB per month. But, I do have unlimited talk and text, which uses no mobile data. You can also get an unlimited plan for about 45 dollars per month or pay 12 dollars per GB per month. However, Xfinity Mobile requires you to have internet service with Xfinity.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I’ll pick up a map as a backup - part of the adventure is getting lost and finding your way back.