Cell Phone Service providers - Arizona Trail

[oldmanonthetrail]

Just wondering about the best provider for cell phone reception on the southern half of AZT.
AT&T was very sketchy in 2015.....Anything better for 2018?
Thank you Dave

[chumley]

Different areas have different coverage by different carriers. However the consensus that I hear most often is that Verizon provides the most consistent coverage in the remote areas of Arizona.

[big_load]

I agree that Verizon is hard to beat, but AZ still has a lot of big holes. So does UT.

[SpiderLegs]

One of the perks of my past life in a sales gig was a company provided cell phone. So I've had all of the carriers at some point over the past 20 years. Nothing beats Verizon in my opinion. Even had coverage while driving through the big empty stretches of Nevada where the towns are 100 miles apart.

Doesn't help all of the time, but I've found that if you simply climb up to the top of the nearest hill, generally you can at least get a text out if you need to on many trails here in Arizona.

[oldmanonthetrail]

Thank you very much for the info. For any international hikers looking to add U.S. roaming that includes verizon you must have a 4g phone and according to the verizon person I just spent the last hour with, a carrier in your country that uses verizon as their U.S. provider. Canada has none they all use AT&T and Tmobile which are pretty useless on the AZT. So I have to stop in phoenix and prepay the $50 international plan (monthly) for free text and phone and 10 gigs data. They switch sim cards and your good to go.
I paid $15 a month to add U.S. roaming to my canadian plan last year and will gladly pay the extra to have verizon coverage

[azbackpackr]

Couldn't you just buy a Verizon prepaid phone while you're in the US, and skip all that other stuff?

[oldmanonthetrail]

Couldn't you just buy a Verizon prepaid phone while you're in the US, and skip all that other stuff?

Verizon phones plus 2 months coverage cost aprox $300 and may not work in your home country. I prefer to get a compatible phone at home with the camera and battery that I want . Plus I save about $100 which warms this old Scotsman heart

[azbackpackr]

Oh, I guess I was just thinking about a cheap flip-phone that you'd just toss when you were done.

[oldmanonthetrail]

@azbackpackr
Between guthooks app and kindle and camera I really rely (too much) on my phone. Definitely an option for more purist hikers who use that thingy with a needle that points north which hopefully will stay at the bottom of my pack;)