Best phone service for the road?

What are data download rates like under the mobile plans you guys are talking about. Is it reasonable to download a few TV shows or movies to watch during your downtime.

How about some of the popular truck stops and company terminals, do they often offer a WiFi connection that a driver can use? As in, download a stockpile of stuff to watch when you are otherwise out of range of mobile service.

 

I use ATT with no complaints. I was thinking about switching to verizon for more 4g coverage, but then reminded myself I promised I would never use them again.

Several years ago when i terminated service with verizon they charged me monies I didn't owe, failed to send me a bill, and put a delinquent account on my credit report. To clear it up I had to talk to someone in india with broken english skills on 3 occasions over a 2 month period, and even then they were failing to remove it from one of the reporting agencies. I had to dispute it with the agency because after 2 months of them saying it would come off my report next month I was out of time to waste.

A little off topic, but sometimes coverage isn't everything. When I'm east of TX (which is most of the time) I don't have any problems with ATT, out west there are a lot of places off the interstate with no 3g. It was a lot more frustrating when I was running up and down US97 in OR a few times a week, now its just an occasional annoyance.

 

I have both sprint and verizon phones. My sprint phone spends a lot of time with no service or no data. The only time I ever have an issue with my verizon is when I'm way up in wisconsin or UP michigan and then I usually just don't have data. I stay mostly east of the mississippi.

 

I used to run US97 through Oregon quite a bit as well, I don't expect the carriers to have a cell tower every ten feet anyway, it is kinda nice to be out of touch sometimes. By the way, I read the other day that Mollies is now a pilot. Before they closed the restaurant at Mollies, they had the best breakfast in the state.

 

Right...Sort of
Except
TMobile and ATT are GSM
Verizon is CDMA

Pretty sure Sprint is also on CDMA but don't quote me on that.

 

That kind of data usage would not work well for you on Straight Talk I'm sure. As for the truckstops they do mostly have wifi for a small fee, usually $4.29 for twenty four hours, or you can buy it by the month a lot cheaper, but here again, I'm not sure that you would be satisfied with that much data usage on their networks. I don't have much data usage experience yet so I am not one to answer that very well.

 

Problem is you can't get unlimited data on a new Verizon or ATT Accounts.

As far as Truckstop Wifi...a lot of them aren't worth it....

I use my Android Phone as Hotspot, I do have unlimited Data with Verizon.

 

That is correct. When you leave the USA the only thing available is GSM, it is pretty much the world standard. I've been told that service is a lot cheaper in other countries because they have one standard. In America they set it up with several networks more for captive customers than anything, where as the other countries, (Japan for example), the focus was more on advancing the technology, rather than revenues.

 

I'm getting ready to run into this right now.
Going to go to Germany in a few weeks...Last time I went back in 2005 (I think) I had ATT.
I was able to use my Cell Phone, wasn't super cheap but doable.

Now with Verizon I wont be able to use my Phone at all.

 

I can tether my laptop to my phone with a usb cable, but it doesn't have the hotspot capability, it does come in handy, when I left AT&T I let the internet service go as well.