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I have lived in this area for over 8 yrs. And I must be the lucky one after seeing the postings here. I have had several phones and use to use Verizon but now am with ATT / Cingular. I live in Bunker Hill and get 5 bars most of the time. I have spoken with reps from Verizon and AT&T and they tell me that most towers only reach 5-7 miles. These phones operate on very little power. most carries allow for tower sharing which means your call can go thru another companies tower BUT! If enough people with that carrier get on the phone your call will be dropped. Now as far as I know there is a Verizon tower just 5 miles north of town and another right in town but it is owned by US Cellular and they dont allow tower sharing. There is one east of town which I do not know who owns it but I get good to excellent service evrywhere from carlinville to staunton, and around. Now out in this area there are deep hills and such. You have to keep in mind that if your traveling and go down in a behind a hill or such YOU WILL loose service. The signal must not be blocked by the earth. I get service inside my home and others except when I get on the opposite side of the home where more than one wall is between me and the tower. Know where your towers are and keep that in mind. when traveling toward bethalto I lose signal about halfway in between and when ever the road dips down in a low area. Thats just the way it works. Its almost like a satellite signal you must have good line of sight toward the tower. but in larger populated areas where the population is denser they put up more towers to handle the volume of calls. There is a limit to how many calls a tower can handle at one time thats why sometimes you may get a signal and other times not. In Alton I get excellent service except when in large apartment bldgs or traveling along broadway as the towns elevation rises fast to the north of broadway. This blocks your signal. A fifty to 100 ft wall of dirt will do that. call your reps at customer service and inquire as to what blocks the signal and they will tell you. When traveling along the river road you are most likely getting your signal from across the river as you are traveling next to a giant wall of rock to your north. In rural areas there just isnt enough population and people purchasing service on one carrier to obligate them to put up more than one tower in an area. The population in macoupin co. alone isnt as much as whats in the alton, godfrey and woodriver area. macoupin co is mostly small towns and farm land. Carlinville is the capital and Alton Dwarfs it. This all has relevance on your signal strength.

If US Cellular would spend some money in Macoupin county like they do in St. Louis, an area that is already covered by many other carriers maybe more people would buy their service.

There is a loss of signal from Moreland Rd. putside of Bethalto (south of town) to a few miles north of town with Verizon service and the Kyocera phone. Even when it's plugged in to the charger.