Best Cellphone Carrier & Coverage for Trucking.

I've been shopping for a way to lower my cellphone bill and still keep unlimited talk and texts with as much data as possible, or unlimited data.

I found the web site CoverageMap.com and the connected YouTube channel is helpful. I have no interest in the web site, I just use it.

The web site shows you the coverage maps for each of the carriers and their deals to consumers. You can also search all deals for all carriers and compare them and see their maps. I'm retired recently, so nationwide data isn't my biggest concern just the details in my city and region.

What I like best are the video comparisons between all carriers. Are you looking for the best plans for $15, $20, $30, $40...$100 they have a video. Their YT channel is youtube.com/@StetsonDoggett

For Over-The-Road driving you should consider plans by US Mobile. Most of Us Mobile's plans allow you to choose which Big 3 network you want to connect with. If you know 1 carrier is very good in the area you drive this allows you to use that strong network.

 

The big cellphone network providers are called Mobile Network Operators (MNO). These include Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile, etc. I have used what's called a MVNO for 10 years or more. A Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) doesn't build and maintain cellphone towers and networks. The MVNOs just buy a huge amount of talk, text, and data on the MNO networks. The main advantage to getting your service and/or smartphone from an MVNO rather than the network provider, MNO, directly is you save money, often a lot of money per month. I saved about half of my Verizon bill by switching to an MVNO that uses the Verizon network. There was absolutely no change to my service quality or permitted uses. I just paid a company with a different name and kept using my smartphone on the Verizon network. You save AT LEAST all of the "additional taxes and fees" Verizon & ATT forget to advertise. You may think Verizon is going to charge you $50 per month until you get your bill and see you are getting charged $79 with all of the fees & taxes. The MVNO usually advertises their price per month with all taxes & fees included. My MVNO advertises $15/mo for unlimited talk, text, and 1 GB of data. I pay exactly $15 per month, nothing more. If I wanted a higher-data plan I would pay exactly the advertised price and not a penny more.

The Big Three cellphone networks even operate a few MVNOs and sell their own service to customers at a lower rate than the customers buying service from the network directly. MVNOs are the way to save money, uses the big reliable networks that have coverage almost everywhere, and avoid the routine price increases and poor customer service.

If you want a forum with experts on the cellphone/smartphones and networks, including some network employees, look around Howard Forums . You can get help from experts and users of your phone, your network, your MVNO, etc. You can get the user reviews of the various MVNOs and pick one that helps you rather than having to buy a phone and roll the dice trying a new carrier and then fix whatever problems you only learn about after starting service.

 

I'm lucky. I've maybe had 3 contacts with customer service for ANY cellphone plan besides starting or stopping service in the last 15 years. The MVNOs frequently offer "double data" for 1 year. So if you switch at the right time, you can probably cut your bill in half AND get twice as much data as you have been using. Your phone has a tool that shows how much data you use and how much each app is using. Great info to have when shopping for a plan.

Some unlimited plans cut your data off when you reach a limit. Most unlimited data plans slow your max data speed to some lower limit or they "deprioritize" your data so it slows down and buffers, for example. The YT video on the particular data plans covers exactly what happens when you hit the data cap and/or what the data cap is. Some of the $80 and up plans of the MVNOs do have unlimited data. The point being, cellphone plans are not frozen in cement. What happened with plans even a few years ago are not necessarily how all data plans are now. Some people naturally want to find ANY excuse for not looking at info and some people feel like they can't get enough info. It pays to read the agreement before signing. I prefer to watch a 25 minute video from a professional cellphone plan reviewer and pick what works for me. I suggest anyone tired of their plan or wanting to see if there are better plans at least look around rather than ONLY remember what happened in 2018 on one or two plans.

I left Trucker Path open all day every day I was driving with a 10 or 20 GB per month plan. I don't remember TP using even 1GB of data in a month I know I never used even 2GB for it. Even downloading audio podcasts didn't use up a lot of data. Netflix and YouTube did use up data, Netflix because it only offers standard def or something still reasonable quality, and YouTube because at the lowest quality setting I still watched plenty. Of course, everyone's use of data will vary but there are plans that can work well for almost everyone. The web site and the YT videos were very useful to me, but nobody is required to use either of them. I can't benefit even if everyone on earth uses the web site.

 

Here is an awesome smartphone plan. $44/month for true unlimited data, unlimited hotspot, unlimited 4k streaming. It's on the ATT network.

 

The video I posted is using ATT network. In my opinion nobody paying for smartphone service out of their own pocket should ever buy service directly from the Big 3 like Verizon (great experience everywhere for me), ATT, or T-Mobile. EVERYONE should be buying their service from what is called an MVNO, or re-seller of Verizon, ATT, or T-Mobile. Visible, Straight Talk, Talk, Xfinity Mobile, there are dozens of big MVNOs to choose from and some of them are owned by the Big 3 carriers. Getting your service from an MVNO, rather that the Big 3 will often cut your bill in half, avoid all the taxes and fees, and double the amount of data you get every month. US Mobile is an MVNO that also lets you choose which Big 3 network your phone will will use. I believe they even let you change which Big 3 network you connect to up to 8 times per month or quarter.

If the deal I posted was on the Verizon network I would have bought it before I posted it. The deal is so good I would cancel my home internet service and use my phone as a hotspot at home for all internet needs, which is internet & streaming video. I haven't had cable TV in 2 or 3 years. Before picking a smartphone plan you need to know your needs, coverage in the areas you live and work. If you just pick based only on price you are making a big mistake. A plan that doesn't connect very well where you need it isn't worth the money you save. Whichever Big 3 network you prefer, get your service from an MVNO. It's just as reliable, just as safe, just a lot cheaper.