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Alltel is by far the best choice. Coverage area is way better than Verizon. And forget about chinook if you want to leave missoula. Alltel has perfect reception and the store on south reserve across from university motors really takes care of you!

ALWAYS lose any reception for about 1 / 4 mile either side of that highway intersection when traveling on I-90.

Qwest sucks... only used them to bundle with my phone svc and save $5 / mo... now it's $40 / mo for no reception. Get 1 bar sometimes, but calls drop almost immediately. Used to live 6 blocks closer to the city and got avg reception. Qwests response to our complaints was to ask us if we'd like to sign another 2 year contract. Have had guests with Alltel and Verizon phones in the house that get slightly better reception.

We had Cell One and could not receive or make calls at our home near Jim and Mary's RV park. Our phone might ring, but as soon as we answered, the call was dropped. We knew people who had Verizon who could get service at our house. We recently upgraded to Alltel, because they said they have a contract with Verizon that they can use each other's towers. Went home, and got 0-1 bars at most. Still couldn't make calls. Switched to Verizon, and went home, same deal--0-1 bars. My husband borrowed his dad's phone which has service through Chinook. Perfectly clear reception in every room. We'll see how we do when we switch. Unfortunately, I hear they have a very small service area--not sure yet if this is accurate. In Missoula city limits, we had excellent reception with all 3 (Cell One, Alltel, and Verizon).

Reception is spotty all around Missoula--downtown, at the University, and on the south side of town. I often get no bars, and mostly one or two. Even with more than two bars showing, recpetion is poor. I experience static and interruptions during every call; and one out of two calls are dropped. Reception in any structure is poor. If you are traveling to Missoula with Cingular as your carrier, don't count on using your cell phone.

Verizon has little or no digital coverage through most of the 59802 zipcode (upper Rattlesnake residential area of Missoula). Even standing on a mountain top above Duncan Drive, coverage is almost nill. Very disappointing.

Verizon's coverage in the University is better than Alltels. If you are attending school there, I recommend going with Verizon, so that you can hold you calls better, Alltel seems to drop calls and the reception fades in the buildings. I also like Verizon's customer service better

Alltel is great in Montana, but if you're just at the U of M, Verizon is better (10-15dB better). Alltel dies places like the library basement where Verizon is still strong.

Alltel, what used to be used to be cellularone ultil it was bought out by alltel, has aweful customer service, isn't very reliable, always getting dropped calls both here and in kalispell. I just switched to Verizon wireless about 2 weeks ago thanks to all of this and boy am I glad. I get great reception, Verizon has better, more reliable and feature rich phones, and their network is more reliable. Plus, verizon's customer service is A+ compared to Alltels

No reception on the eastside of missoula with Cingular or t-mobile