Maine coverage

[SurryMark]

Could I get some feedback on cell coverage for cruising on the Maine coast - Verizon vs ATT?
It's time for a new phone. I've found ATT very spotty. Is Verizon OK?
I assume that both are reasonably good west of Maine.
thanks a lot
mark

[bottomscraper]

Verizon is significantly better than T-Mobile but not perfect. In general out on the water near the coast works rather well, not so well in the best protected harbors. Buck's harbor for example has rather lousy coverage in the actual harbor but fine up the hill. Once you get east of MDI all bets are off.

[Joe CD MS 300]

I have Verizon, my wife had ATT until she was due for a new phone and went to Verizon. Verizon has much better coverage on the water and on land.

[Maine Sail]

Could I get some feedback on cell coverage for cruising on the Maine coast - Verizon vs ATT?
It's time for a new phone. I've found ATT very spotty. Is Verizon OK?
I assume that both are reasonably good west of Maine.
thanks a lot
mark

Mark,

When I used to work in the Biotech industry I had two phones, my own phone on Verizon and my company phone on AT&T..

I ran these phones side by side for three years and hands down Verizon wins in Maine and also along the Maine coast. There are very few spots West of MDI that I don't have Verizon service or even 3G coverage. Sure you find holes like NE Harbor tucked into mountains where the coverage is weak but when weak on Verizon it was usually non-existent on AT&T. We do have a cell phone amp which can be a big help but with Verizon we have much better coverage along the coast then I did with AT&T...

[Sea Hunt Video]

Hello Mark:

I am a couple of miles away from your area.

However, I have found Verizon to be the best at coverage in the Florida Keys and in more remote areas of the Everglades, etc. I used to have AT&T and I was always getting "no signal" or a dropped call in the middle of a conversation. I have had none of this with Verizon over the past 3 years. Also, FWIW, I think Consumer Reports recently rated Verizon at or near the top of nationwide coverage.

[SurryMark]

I knew I came to the right place for useful feedback. Thanks a whole lot.
Mark

[CD_Sailor]

... I have found Verizon to be the best at coverage in the Florida Keys and in more remote areas of the Everglades, etc. ...

Thanks for sharing. Getting back to the original question about the Maine coast: as noted by several writers, Verizon is by far the most effective coverage. In fact you can get a signal offshore up to about 25 nm, which should cover that majority of coastal needs. You will also find that using VZ with a modem will give reasonable (if not super fast) Internet coverage.

[Klem]

I used to work on one of the schooners in Maine so I got to see people try all different types of cell phones. Between Penobscot Bay and MDI, my observation was that Verizon was slightly better than AT&T for voice and much better for data. I felt that as we went West from there, the difference became more pronounced and as we went East, it was so hit or miss that I couldn't tell. I installed a cell phone antenna at the top of the mast and my AT&T phone could beat any other phone on board always. Overall though, there is amazingly good cell coverage until you get past Schoodic so either phone will do the trick unless you really need reception at all times.

If you are willing to to install an antenna and/or amplifier, either one will likely be fine. There are other factors such as customer service and cost which would matter more to me than the slight difference in reception if you have a better antenna/amp.

When we had passengers who were tied to their phone for the entire first day, we would usually go to Buck's Harbor which would shut them up pretty quick.

[Steve Laume]

I sailed to to Maine a couple of years ago. I was supposed to call when I got there and found that the only way I could do that with AT&T was to go into Stonnington, dock the boat, climb the hill and then stand on top of an oil tank at the gas station to get a weak signal. I will never make plans based on a cell phone call again.

I would be very interested in what sort of an antenna can be used to increase reception and how it interfaces with the phone.

I have been amazed at some of the reception I have had quite a ways off shore. Sometimes it goes away and comes back even further from land.

Mostly, I don't want to talk to anybody while I am off sailing, Steve.

[Brian2]

I use a tracfone, and have no problems in Maine, but I asked a buddy of mine and his reply was

"My experience is that there is very good coverage from Verizon in almost all areas of the Maine coast, and I’ve covered it from Kittery to Jonesport and beyond. Over the past twenty years, I’ve used a variety of carriers, but Verizon has provided the best and most consistent service of them all. I’ve never used ATT, but my children have, and in comparing notes with them, have found that my Verizon coverage was far better than their ATT; invariably, they too complained about spotty coverage. My vote is certainly for Verizon."

Brian

[NateHanson]

I haven't used Verizon, but I do spend a lot of time on the water with an ATT smart phone. ATT coverage has improved dramatically in the past 4-5 years. I'm not sure if most of the folks here are commenting on recent experience with ATT in Downeast Maine, but personally I'm constantly suprised, because I nearly always have reception in the coastal islands, from Boothbay to Jonesport. Reception is more often a problem when on shore, where land elevation can block the signal, but go a mile or 10 miles off shore, and reception is rarely a problem.

[Joe CD MS 300]

I was refering to the recent past, within the last year. Didn't seem to matter with my wife's AT&T phone whether on water or land. My Verizon was a fair amount better.

[SurryMark]

As the OP in this string, I made a decision and got Verizon with my new iPhone, after years with AT&T.. So far, on land up and down the coast, VZ is much better than I had been getting. If you don't need an iPhone in Maine, US Cellular is the way to go, but they won't let the others use their towers, I hear.

Thanks so much for all the feedback.
Mark

[barfwinkle]

Here in the heartland any time my sister travels into a US Cellular region her phone doesn't work. I have had issues with US Cellular since cells were invented.....

Fair Winds and Happy Holidays

[Evergreen]

Been sailing Maine for years --- Have found that Verizon generally has very good coverage --- this also applies to data transmission for access to the internet for the laptops. East of Rockland it gets a little slower but is still adequate although a little slow for pictures for our blog. We recommend Verizon. If you plan to use Verizon for your laptop I recommend getting an extension antenna from them to improve reception --- it does make a difference.