Vermont cell phone service

urungus · Feb 1, 2019

Interesting article. The cell phone service in Vermont, especially outside the large towns, is terrible. It’s laughable that the cell phone companies are claiming virtually the entire state is blanketed with 4G LTE service https://www.npr.org/2019/02/01/690071045/one-mans-quest-to-prove-vermont-has-terrible-cell-service

cdskier · Feb 1, 2019

I'm not surprised. I have 3-4 bars at my condo usually with AT&T, yet data often either is 28.8k modem slow or doesn't connect at all (except really early in the morning or very late at night). I'm less than a mile from the base of Sugarbush. At the base of Sugarbush itself, data connection is fine.

andrec10 · Feb 1, 2019

Not a big surprise....

Glenn · Feb 1, 2019

No signal at our place up there. We have to use wifi calling. At least it's an option. Rt 30 is a mix of signal and dead zones.

BenedictGomez · Feb 1, 2019

If you think cell phone coverage in Vermont is terrible now, you should have seen what it was like a decade or so ago. Vastly improved.

Smellytele · Feb 1, 2019

The valleys in VT are deep and not very wide (usually just wide enough for the river, a road and 1 house, hard to get cell coverage in those valleys or the sides of those valleys.

Killingtime · Feb 1, 2019

Lots of places along 103/100 with no service. Even Sirius XM craps out there too.

benski · Feb 1, 2019

cdskier said:
I'm not surprised. I have 3-4 bars at my condo usually with AT&T, yet data often either is 28.8k modem slow or doesn't connect at all (except really early in the morning or very late at night). I'm less than a mile from the base of Sugarbush. At the base of Sugarbush itself, data connection is fine.

I feel like I used to get better cell phone service on the mountain with AT&T. I now can’t get phone service on a good chunk of Castlerock. I don’t remember ever having an issues before.

benski · Feb 1, 2019

Smellytele said:
The valleys in VT are deep and not very wide (usually just wide enough for the river, a road and 1 house, hard to get cell coverage in those valleys or the sides of those valleys.

This defiantly does not help. I think the Catskills have the same problem only worse. I think even FM struggles to get into some of those valleys.

ceo · Feb 2, 2019

I well remember the time we went in the ditch coming down the east side of Roxbury Gap, I had to hike uphill a bit to get signal, and after getting pulled out we got the car and its leaking radiator down to the bottom and there was stone flat nothing. I still have the calling card I had to buy at the Roxbury general store in order to call road service and have us flatbedded home. Wonder if there's better signal there now; that's a lovely valley.

mikec142 · Feb 3, 2019

I spend a lot of time traveling to and from VT to ski and visit family. I've gotten to know the dead cell zones pretty well on the 5.5 hour ride from NJ. This past December 28th (Friday afternoon) I was on the way home and had to deal with an urgent work issue that had to be solved by end of business on 12/31. I had to pull over a couple of times during the ride because I knew I'd be out of service for a while. Frustrating when you're up against the clock or in an emergency situation.

That said, sometimes its kinda nice as it forces the family to get their noses out of their cell phones (me included) and interact with each other.

machski · Feb 3, 2019

Recall that when Apple launched the iPhone, it was exclusive to AT&T and if you lived in VT, you could not get an iPhone as AT&T did not include VT in it's coverage. If you tried to, say get an iPhone through a business outside of VT but still lived/used it mostly in VT, AT&T could void the contract and cancel your service! My guess is while they cover VT now, they probably piggy back on someone else's network outside of Burlington and maybe Montpelier and Rutland.

All that said, my Verizon coverage has a lot of gaps on the state highways but seems very solid by most ski areas. My biggest problem with Verizon over the years has been at Jay and getting nailed for Canada usage there (which I call and complain I was skiing Jay and they remove it immediately).

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BenedictGomez · Feb 3, 2019

machski said:
All that said, my Verizon coverage has a lot of gaps on the state highways but seems very solid by most ski areas. My biggest problem with Verizon over the years has been at Jay and getting nailed for Canada usage there (which I call and complain I was skiing Jay and they remove it immediately).

Interesting. That happens with AT&T at Jay Peak too, I leave AT&T and Rogers picks me up, but AT&T never charges me for it.

machski · Feb 3, 2019

BenedictGomez said:
Interesting. That happens with AT&T at Jay Peak too, I leave AT&T and Rogers picks me up, but AT&T never charges me for it.

Been a while since I was last at Jay. Hopefully Verizon is better as phones have gotten better, especially with regards to GPS position in them.

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benski · Feb 3, 2019

machski said:
Recall that when Apple launched the iPhone, it was exclusive to AT&T and if you lived in VT, you could not get an iPhone as AT&T did not include VT in it's coverage. If you tried to, say get an iPhone through a business outside of VT but still lived/used it mostly in VT, AT&T could void the contract and cancel your service! My guess is while they cover VT now, they probably piggy back on someone else's network outside of Burlington and maybe Montpelier and Rutland.

I have always had AT&T and we have had decent service in Vermont for as long as I can remember, which may not include the first few years of the iPhone. I think they bought a network that had good VT coverage from another operator.

machski · Feb 3, 2019

benski said:
I have always had AT&T and we have had decent service in Vermont for as long as I can remember, which may not include the first few years of the iPhone. I think they bought a network that had good VT coverage from another operator.

Good to know but I still don't trust AT&T in more remote areas. They have coverage at SR, but as recent as 5 years ago, I know they were throttling data use there as they were piggy backing network coverage in the area. Not sure now, all my friends switched to Verizon or other networks to be done with that BS.

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rocks860 · Feb 3, 2019

I know I have att and never get service pretty much all the way from Brattleboro to Stratton and then again from okemo to killington going up 100

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cdskier · Feb 3, 2019

BenedictGomez said:
If you think cell phone coverage in Vermont is terrible now, you should have seen what it was like a decade or so ago. Vastly improved.

This is true...first time I went to Sugarbush I had to stand on my car to barely get enough signal to get a call through to my parents to let them know me and my brother made it there.

ThinkSnow · Feb 4, 2019

I enjoy the lack of cell phone coverage in VT. Makes me realize I'm definitely someplace special.

Ol Dirty Noodle · Feb 4, 2019

I had 4 bars LTE all last week at Smuggs, yesterday at Bellayre however... not a ting, phone went fucking nuts when I hit 87. I also noticed there’s next to no FM radio up there.

Vermont cell phone service

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