In my area (I live behind 2 grain silos that block line of sight to one of the towers in the area) I get 5 bars all the time on my VX6000. Great coverage in the Iowa City area, too, never a dropped call, sometimes it's slow to connect right when classes get out ;-) in downtown IC. Bars fluctuate like mad and drop out completely in most of the UI hospitals as well as the underground parts of the BSB and the health science tunnels. My Verizon BlackBerry is not as prone to this. See previous post for that story...

Outside by my house, I was getting around -98 dBm. Inside, I get around -106 or -107 dBm, but I could still talk on the phone and it sounded okay. I was on SID 1236, which looks like Midwest Wireless. I have the most recent Verizon ACII, EVDO PRL 50494. US Cellular has great 1xRTT coverage in the English River valley, but Verizon seems to have put them in the "RM" or worse, "Denied"(!) part of the lowest priority of the PRL. This is annoying, because I had to get this phone for work, so I could move around the country without getting ripped off for roaming. The only real cellular providers with good coverage in Kalona are US Cellular (my previous provider- 5 bars all the time in my house) and Iowa Wireless, which is a GSM provider. Both are regional carriers and have pitiful networks when you leave the area. I also needed to be able to get logs mailed to my phone at home, which is why I got the BlackBerry. Oh well, at least I seem to be able to make calls. Verizon, please put a cell or two on some of the towers in the English River Valley- Riverside and Kalona need coverage.

I get 3 to 4 bars in my home near the middle school always. When outside the same all over Kalona.