I was considering changing to Consumer Cellular to avoid a NEW contract but after looking at the crappy reception from all these other carriers I may just stay with Alltel. FYI, Consumer Cellular buys blocks of time from ATT (GSM network)

I Live out in east bradenton and daily drive to west bradenton. I have not had any problems with my singal or customer service. Great company!

Even at 2 bars I rarely drop calls. Out of Florida though, getting calls is iffy and sending is difficult... . even in Atlanta, an AllTel hub!

We had Verizon with practically no reception. We changed to Alltel with Motorla V265 handsets. Now we get adequate indoor reception and transmission anywhere in the house even with only 2 bars. Visitors with Nextel or Verizon or Cingular or Sprint or T-Mobile can't reliably initiate or receive calls even outdoors here. We told a neighbor, an Ebay entrepreneur who needs reliable coverage, about our good experience with Alltel. He has switched and is very happy with the grade of service he gets.

Horrible reception indoors, great coverage outdoors. Friend has Blackberry from Alltel, reception is still bad indoors.

Drop calls every day within 3 miles of this intersection. Alltel blows

Just moved back to town from out of state. We switched to AT&T for the iphone but since we are back in our house, the reception is pathetic - 1 or 2 bars or no service. Internet is spotty and slow. What's the deal AT&T?

Have AT&T and would like to switch carriers and get newer phones, but would like something that would work in our area. So far neither AT&T nor Verizon have good reviews. Phone will appear to have a signal (E or 3G with 1 or 2 bars), UNTIL you need to use it and then it's gone! No reception in the house OR outside. Son doesn't even want to carry his cell phone when he's out in the neighborhood because it never works when he needs us or when we need him - How many kids have you EVER heard say that? Talked to AT&T this past weekend and they say 2 or 3 towers in our area are working in a diminished capacity so that may be why our signal is so poor. How about we get that fixed for how much everyone is paying each month?!?

AT&T and T-Mobile absolutely suck indoors here. Both GSM carriers are available outside, but indoors is none to nothing. When does FTC finally allow more GSM carriers? Little Italy has 4, why does the US only have 2 and still support these outdated propritary services?

Moved into new offices. T Mobil, Verizon can be subscribers can sitting next to me and they have five bars and are talking. My AT&T has no service. I have five phones on my account from the simple Motorala to the Iphone. All of them have no service. It's ridiculous. Clay O'Steen, The O'Steen Group, Inc.

I wrote this a moment ago, and the message cameback that I don't live in a valid zip code. Helllooooooo A T and T... .I live in a valid zip code but you don't have any service here. SR 70 and I-75 IS A VERY VALID PLACE, and since you took over from Cingular in the last 3-4 weeks, I no longer can make or receive calls in my house or in my car as I'm driving in the neighborhood. Cingular was MUCH BETTER... .could place and receive calls with perfect clarity. You are the worst... ... You will be gone the minute I can switch my vast network of service to another company. You have no reliabilityand no integrity.

Barely any signal in the house, can't even call home from the grocery store 4 blocks away. Decent coverage outdoors, but stick with Verizon in this area.

Had Nextel with cheap Motorolas, awesome reception 98% of the time. Clear sound even with low signals. Have had AT&T with Motorola V220 now for 3 weeks. Customer complaints, dropped calls, poor reception, can hear about every 3rd word most of the time. Returning phones, cancelling plan.

Reception in only one room of the house. Calls are possible when walking outside, but still experience many dropped calls. It's unfortunate that lakewood ranch area has such poor cell service. I've been told by several carrier sales people that Alltel has the best service in the lakewood ranch area.

All throughout Manatee County you can count on Nextel / Sprint cancelling out your calls. Dropped calls, no service and caller not available are the usual responses you'll receive. Ever since the wonderful merger have connections with both their direct connect service and phone diminished. They are reliable for being unreliable

I can barely get a reception with Nextel since the switch to Sprint. It used to be my phone was the only one in the house that worked (my wife's Cingular has always had poor reception, like 1 / 2 of a bar). However Sprint has been lowering the bar everywhere, so I've noticed. Hence, it's cancelled as of August 10th. Now I've got to find a better company.

I have recenty relocated back to Perico Island (West of Bradenton on Manatee Ave. / SR-64) and when we lived here over a year ago we had terrible (if any) coverage. Well over 1 year later still the same crappy signal drops 95% of the time. Many people here had Nextel and swiched over to other carriers because of this. Some are waithing for their contracts with Nextel to expire. There are a lot of public safety personel that live out here and had Nextel and complain all of the time. We thought that when the Sprint Merger (Takeover) happened maybe the coverage would improve. NOT! My wife and I use Nextel exclusively for our main phone (No Land Based phone for the past 3 years) but with all of this trouble and voice mail sometimes as late as 2 days delay we are thinking of other alternatives over Nextel unless they fix this issue in the next few months. Bradenton coverage in general is nothing near what Sarasota Nextel coverage is. That is very sad. If ony Nextel would spend money on providing better signals by spending less money on Nascar (I love Nascar but Nascar does not get my business done) Ok enough on the vent.

Awesome reception even with the cheapest older phones. 98% availability and clarity, some outage West of Manatee Ave., which seems to be the case for all carriers. Apparently no tower covers that sliver. Rest of Bradenton all the way to Arcadia, fantastic and clear calls except for a 2 minute stretch of Hwy. near Myakka City. Service for 2 years, pleased with service. Customer Service is terrible though. And forget the mail-in rebate. I did it all correctly and never got a check. "Sorry Ma'am we never received anything from you" How do you prove them wrong? Was worth 2 good years of service but don't depend on the rebate.

I live near I-75 and S.R. 64, I get barely any service at my house inside crappy service touch and go or outside dismissed call... I work within a block of the Sarasota Airport and even worst service there than at my house... . Sprint sent us a box to plug into our server at my office, still service is touch and go... . 4G Service... ... What is that... ..? LOL I got 4G Service when I am in my boat in the center of the Tampa Bay but not 10 miles south at my house... . Come on what is the deal? Sprint needs to get a clue. Their Nextel service in these areas are even worse yet... . Thats why I switched from Nextel to Sprint Their suggestion... .! What a hugh pain in the ass... .

Cannot use phone inside my house! Must go outside to talk. Poor reception in spots all over Manatee and Sarasota counties. Will not work in a lot of building around these two counties. Sprint should be ashamed!