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I've had little trouble with my Sprint cell or 3G recpt., but I also have high-gain ext. antennas. Biggest problem here is with overloaded towers - too many users, too little backhaul capacity, and far TOO few towers to serve the client base. All you arrogant whiny rich a$$holes in this town SHUT UP, and try to imagine having a functional BRAIN. Stop b*tching about cell carriers. It's largely NOT their fault - it's YOURS. Here's your CLUE: Buncombe county has had (over a decade) and continues to have a moratorium on new cell tower construction (except for the county itself, which apparently CAN lease out / rent its OWN land for towers use, conveniently - but private individuals CANNOT). Now, what moron thinks the number of towers required to serve wireless users over a decade ago is sufficient today, in the exponentially exploding wireless market? Apparently, most of Buncombe county - gee, how surprising. IT'S simple physics, Asheville Einsteins. The fact that you don't like it or are not capable of understanding it does not change the propagation principles of RF signals, or ANYTHING else. Verizon and US Cell may have better coverage, but there is a reason, having nothing to do with their advertising hype. VZW inherited the extensive BellAtlantic network - along with t the wireless assets and infrastructure - giving them an early jumpstart in this market segment. They (like most other carriers in the area except Sprint and ATT) use the 800 MHz (upper UHF) band for cell and data communication. ATT and Sprint use the 1900 MHz band, which typically operates at much lower power than 800 MHz carriers, but requires more cell sites to effectively cover the same area. Mountain terrain ADVERSELY effects signal propagation, but the microwave bands are hardest hit (1GHz up) due to being strict LOS path, as well as absorption and diffraction issues. But, 1900MHz band carriers can carry many more clients overall, due to the smaller RF footprint each tower sector. 800Mhz (& now 700MHz 4G / LTE) presents a more significant long term RF exposure hazard than higher freq's, since they penetrate the body deeper, and are typically more powerful... . So, yes, you likely have better coverage on the 800 MHz carriers... assuming you don't get knocked off the overloaded tower. In most areas not infested with technophobic freaks, your cell phone would typically "see" at least 2, preferably 3 towers; so connection hand-offs are transparent and instant. Not in Asheville. Lucky if you can stay on one band, with one network, and don't get dropped in the hand-off from sector to sector, tower to tower. Then there is the abysmal lack of FO or even hi-cap copper in this town. Even remote rural areas outside of AVL have better access to broadband. Cell carriers almost always have to microwave backhaul to the towers, since T1 / T3 and up access is more scarce than intelligence in this town. I found the easiest and most effective way to solve this problem was to MOVE somewhere the local govt isn't rabid anti-business, and the average IQ actually surpasses the average age...

My cell service is Liberty Wireless, a Sprint re-seller. Even though I often have only 2-3 bars, I seldom have dropped calls, and the voice quality is good. Ignoring the above reception rating based on bar count, my level of satisfaction would be 4 or 5 stars. There is trouble with reception out in the mountains or little towns, but in Asheville or along the interstate, reception is very good. However, I am dropping my service because the extraordinarily poor customer service of Liberty Wireless. Spring may be quite acceptable but avoid Liberty.

I'm having to swap carriers because Sprint won't stop dropping my calls... I travel a lot and service usually works great in populated areas, but dies outside of them. Doesn't even always work in my house - is different everyday.

Very poor reception almost everywhere in Asheville. I live in North Asheville and work in South Asheville. Both areas have almost no reception and I always have to stand outside a house or building if I want to use my cell phone. I do not recommend Sprint. I usually have either no bars or one bar at the most.

I spend a month or two in Asheville each year and bring my Sprint cell phone with me. Have had no problems making or receiving calls in this area or in all our travels around Asheville and suburbs.

with both a Motorola and sanyo phone, we get 1-2 bars in our house, and drop some calls in the house. I've also dropped a call on Merrimon. the number of bars does not seem to change the sound / talk quality (until I drop a call!)

My business partner and I bought Sprint before a major job hoping to improve our effeciency. How sad that someone would sell such a poor product and demand that you use it for 2 years. I try to tell everyone, even strangers, how impossibly poor Sprint service and coverage is. If you have a problem with your Sprint service, plan to make an appointment with their customer service operators- it may take a while. Working North of Asheville, through into Tennessee, we are often 5 minutes from town without coverage. Bottomline = we hate Sprint.

Can Get great signal with 2 blocks either direction with my Sanyo 7300 and my wifes 8200. But service drops completely when we pull off of Pisgah View Rd. Into Canteberi Court. Nothing throughout whole complex. Same with a Samsung N-400. My brother has US Cellular and he talks fine at this location. They are also CDMA.

I get very little reception in or around any Wal-Mart: the SuperCenter on 81, or the one on Hendersonville Rd near Arden. Riverside Dr.is bad, too. Anywhere on the Blue Ridge Pkwy. is pretty much out.

In Biltmore Forest I can get only 2 bars, and then only if I go out of the house and walk down the street.

The Charlotte St.end of Murdock is totally dead. Well, okay, maybe not quite totally. If you're parked on the street you can hold an in-progress call until another car passes by. Inside the old brick apartment buildings (first floor), forget it. One tenant had to install a land line to supplement his Verizon service. Otherwise, I get great coverage here in Asheville--except that notorious dead zone on Beaverdam.

Reception dies at the church just before the firehouse, and will only resume some distance up Webb Cove Rd. The rest of the time is spent bouncing between analog and digital roams (mostly to Verizon, from what I can tell). Don't try to call anyone from the parking lot at Ingle's, either. The other one is on Kimberly Ave., right next to the Grove Park Inn's golf course... dead every single time.

Keep in mind that Sprint goes in and out depending on which side of what hill you're on. I've also noticed a marked tendency for utter signal loss while inside many older homes in the North Asheville area. Even in my house, I'll sometimes roam in the bathroom, while I've normally got 3 to 4 bars throughout the house. Overall, not bad, but they could stand to stuff another couple of building-mounted repeaters around the northern end of town, at the very least.