I have had no problems with reception anywhere in Gainesville. I occasionally get a dropped call in the VA hospital, but not often. I have 3 bars at home in the NW. My major complaint about Sprint is that the sales department is relentless. I receive either a call or a text about about promotions monthly. If I screen the call and don't answer, they will call every single day at the same time. I finally called back and asked to be taken off the call list--the sales rep said he'd make a note on my account, then tried to sell me something before hanging up... .and I received yet another promotion call 3 days later. I find it intrusive and annoying--especially when I'm receiving calls and texts during working hours. I'd love to switch providers, but based on comments here, I don't see any others with good reception in Gainseville :(

Been all over the US even in the mountains one east coast and I don't drop calls. My service is great!

Works great where I work and at home - way out on Archer Rd. Love the iPhone - 3G and cell service is great in Gainesville except at Royal Park area, that seems to be the only dead zone. Had Alltel before and it dropped calls quite a bit.

Had Cingular / ATT for about 8 years now, never had one dropped call in all that time, even when roaming away from Gainesville on trips. Two lines (wife and I) costs about $70 per month.

I recently switched to Nextel despite the rumors of terrible service, and I have been quite satisfied. I live off Archer Rd. near Haile Plantation and have full service and direct connect all the time, even inside. Much better than my service with AT&T which dropped most of my calls in this area.

I always have amazing reception in the dorms and outside anywhere on the UF campus in Gainesville; at least 5 bars, 24 / 7. No dropped calls ever.

I was surprised to read so many bad reports with other providers, but I do agree with all the reviews of Alltel. I'm guessing there aren't as many Alltel reviews here because nobody is having any bad reception problems and looking for websites to write reviews but I found this site shopping around and wanted to share my experience. Great service all over, I never get a 'network busy' messages or dropped calls as reported by others with Cingular, I can use my phone whenever, all over the area. I'm not sure how they do it placing towers, but signal is always at full signal, 5 bars outside and might drop down one to 4 bars inside usually. But I can make or receive calls wherever, whenever. No problems when UF is having a big event, no problems at the mall, hospital, walmart, any residential areas I've been to, or anywhere else I visit. If coverage is most important and you don't want to be missing any calls, I would definitely recommend Alltel to others. I've been impressed with service here since I signed up several months ago.

I can't stand the poor phone selection from Alltel, BUT the phones work. I rarely have a call dropped. Even though they don't have the greatest selection of the newest gizmo phones--you can actually use a phone for what it supposed to be used for--talking and making calls. I highly recommend Alltel in gainesville. And for our trip to California this summer--we had phone reception everywhere except the boonies of Nevada. We even made calls in the Grand Canyon!

False. 4 to 5 bars no matter where I go... .upgrade your old v-series motorolas before saying anything.

I was in Gainesville recently touring the UF campus and at a football game. I was very happy with Alltel's reception in the area. I had heard this was a problem area for some carriers but the coverage was great. I had no problem placing a call at any time and I don't remember ever dropping below 4 / 5 bars anywhere around Gainesville while going out to eat and shop in the city. I stayed on 5 / 5 bars throughout the campus, even indoors I only noticed a drop to 3 / 5 bars one time but there was generally no drop at all. Very good indoor coverage and the call quality was very clear. This must be a strong area for Alltel as far as coverage goes. I was impressed and would not hesitate to recommend them to others.

No problems with dropped calls for the past 4 years; excellent reception. Other carriers from this location have poor reception and some of our friends have to go outside the house to connect well with their phones. We're very happy with Alltel (other than the cost!).

When I moved back to Gainesville in 2003, I had a Samsung phone and used Sprint service. The service was okay in Gainesville, but anytime I visited my family in High Springs, I lost all reception once I passed through Alachua on US-441. Through word-of-mouth, I heard that Alltell provided reliable service in Alachua and High Springs, and my experience has confirmed this. The service has been exceptional in Gainesville as well. I may have one or two dropped calls per month, but overall I am very pleased.

Sprint PCS has always given me a better signal than ANY of my friends phones on various networks. I think a lot of peoples problems are related to the phone they use. I always have Sanyo and its worked great for years. Some friends with older Samsungs can be right next to me and have completely different results. Sanyo all the way. Good luck with Cingular if you get away from I-75 more than 10 miles.

I had Sprint PCS for 2 years and the service sucked really bad. I would NEVER persuade people to try Sprint. I now have Cingular, and I get reception all over town. I always have between 4 and 5 bars. I travel back and forth between Santa Fe Community College and UF, and my signal never goes down. Now that Cingular and AT&T have joined forces, the reception is great in Chiefland where my mom lives when I visit her. I am very happy with Cingular and would spread the word to anyone who is thinking of switching companies!

I own a LG VX6000 camera phone which I use on Verizon's America's Choice plan. I get great coverage all over Gainesville, FL (32614 and 32606). I have used the phone also in Orlando and Cape Canaveral, FL and I have had no problems. GSM coverage is lousy and spotty here, they (AT&T Wireless) should of never gotten rid of TDMA. Both AT&T Wireless and Cingular customer service is one of the worst in the business. Would beleive that Cingular customer service is closed on Sundays! You have to be kidding!

Never had a problem. Can go from Gainesville, FL to Fayetteville, NC without losing signal. Far more superior than other companies I have used.

Verizon has the best signal in town as far as I can tell. I have friends who have sprint, AT&T and t-mobile, and they always have problems where we live. I also travel a lot and Verizon has a very good to excellent signal anywhere I go in the US or Canada.

Switched from Verizon (yuk!) to T-Mobile (even worse) to Alltel - yippeee, I finally have reception at home and in my office downtown. Verizion used to just drop calls for no real reason - sometomes 5 bars but call would drop. T-Mobile has just poor coverage. Not very reliable. AllTel I think uses everyones elses towers as well as its own so as long as someone has reception, AllTel should get it. I have found a couple of drop zones, mainly on Interstate 75 north of Alachua but as you come out of the dip, it comes back on. Not had any problems in Gainesville though

BIGGEST problem with AT&T: I got locked into a 2 year contract without knowing it when I renewed my 1 year contract. They did away with 1 yrs. and I was stuck with a very crappy, old, less than spectacular LG phone. To buy a new one was hundreds of dollars I couldn't afford, and they wouldn't let me upgrade for TWO years. It was a very boring 2 years with a phone that had horrible battery life and a tunnel sound. Poor phone selection is a big one. The only real phone they have is the iPhone. Also customer service is not very helpful. A variety of experiences led me to that conclusion. I agree, have experienced a dead zone at NW 16th Ave. and NW 34th too, calls also always dropped driving down NW 8th Ave. Reception is good, but other problems plague AT&T for me.

Detailed observations: House: I live at SW 8th Ave and 91st I have great coverage in my house and around my neighborhood. On 91st St: Between SW 8th Ave and Newberry, I have no reception in most patches. I don't have issues once I get closer to Haile. Within a house in Haile: A friend lives in Matheson Woods, a Haile neighborhood across from the Haile Country Club. I get no signal inside her home, even next to a window. Occasionally I may get 1 bar, but it is random and sporadic. This is consistent with other phone models as well. Haile Market Square Publix: No signal inside the store for the most part, occasionally I can get 1 bar. Overall, I think AT&T gives good coverage to my area. However, I suggest bringing a friend into your home who has AT&T to verify coverage. Haile is quite large, so other neighborhoods might not have the issue I described. Happy Hunting :)