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Love Verizon! This whole state is covered in 3G. We will never switch from them.

Verizon works great here! No one els has service threw central OR other than Verizon. The added 3G all over the place as well! Way to go Verizon!

I live near 14th and Galveston and my Verizon coverage is spotless. Granted, I don't ever go to Redmond or any of the other towns much in Central Oregon. In the downtown core and the near westside (old mill, 14th street) coverage never fades (obviously though because the towers Verizon initially bought were mostly located close to the center of town). I was surprised to hear that someone on 15th and Newport got bad reception with Verizon. I previous lived at 13th and Newport and got the same, good reception there. I never had to change rooms to make a call or text whereas my friend with an iphone on ATT barely got coverage anywhere in town at all and usually had to go outside to make calls, if she could make them at all. I have encountered terrible Verizon reception in Washington D.C. where I used to live, and I always assumed my phone has a poor antenna and also that the issue was related to D.C.'s rather severe restrictions on tall buildings compared to other major cities. I have also lived in Chicago where Verizon was fine. Bend has even stricter laws than D.C. regarding new and tall buildings and cell phone towers (to preserve the natural look of Bend) and yet I have no issues, other than not being able to access Verizon's 2.5G network outside of downtown. Maybe the people experiencing issues with Verizon either have really new phones that really on 3g we don't have or really old phones which tend to have crappy antennas (unless they are external). Verizon has spent a lot of $$$ to make coverage in Bend great, as they have the most money to spend of any carrier. Now, I don't really get much coverage at all outside of town or while on rural highways, and even coverage on highways between Bend and Portland is quite spotty but since I'm mostly out of town while hiking, I don't really need my cell phone while I am doing that. Granted, I will admit the coverage drops off REALLY quickly as you head out from downtown, like outside of a 10 mile radius of Bend its pretty minimal apart from Rt 97 but I guess that hasn't really bothered me. I didn't get ANY reception in my neighborhood in D.C. such that I would drive my car 10 blocks to the nearest hill to check my voicemail it was so bad. But, here my coverage is practically dreamy in town. So I guess it depends on where you intend to use your phone. I mean would people in Bend really want Cell Phone towers dotting the hillsides and natural areas? Deschutes county is over 50% government forest so what do you expect? I'm sure there are better or at least equivalent carriers for rural coverage but for "urban" coverage, Verizon is best in Bend, I think. Also, I don't use a "smartphone" aka something with wifi or a data plan. If I did, I might think twice. Most of my friends here have Verizon as well and I have never heard them complain about service either here.

Just switched from US cellular to Verizon. So far, one week and 6 dropped calls. US may have crappy phones but they do have the best coverage in the area. Before Verizon came here, they used US Cellular's towers and the coverage was great. Now I'm pretty dissapointed

Switching from Unicel since Verizon bought them out, I got great coverage on unicel and I have great coverage on verizon. to make thing even better they told me that Verizon is switching all the unicel towers to Verizon YAY. by far the best cell company in bend. NOTE: I had T-Mobile for a while, DO NOT GET IT, the coverage is really bad.

We signed up for Verizon in April 2007 because we are snowbirds and their coverage is good in La Quinta, CA. However, at home in Bend, the coverage is terrible. Our calls usually end up dropping although we have two or three bars showing. The coverage in downtown and Old Mill is fine, but on Awbrey Butte it doesn't work well at all. We would switch to AT&T, but their coverage is poor in La Quinta, and we use our cell phones exclusively when we are in California. It's a no win situation for us.

I was told when I switched from Unicel to Verizon that the reception would be the same as the great reception I had with Unicel by January 15, then I was told February, now I am told March. Not sure what the problem is but I am paying for a huge plan that I can't use. I had exeptional coverage with Unicel all over the state of Oregon including BEND. Now I have zero coverage on the East side, North side and most of the West side of Bend. I have called multiple times and they are working on it. Asked about the plan I am paying for and no follow up per email from Verizon. I have a Chocolate, my kids have a Sway and my husband has a Blackberry. None of us have coverage. Any suggestions. Oh, we have dialed *228... .2 everyday since we purchased the plan.

Ever since I got my Verizon phone ( I switched from unicel when I heard Verizon was going to buy them) The service has been better than good. Unfortunately, I went to the authorized dealer on Hwy. 20( Greenwood), for the most part they did a good job, but when my moms glyde wasnt working properly they just kept saying its not the phone, and guess what... It was the phone^_^, but in the end it was all worked out

Great service. I used to have T-Mobile and didn't get the reception I needed outside of town. I also had Sprint and had lots of dropped calls. Verizon is the best I have found in this area. I went to The WirelessSouce on Greenwood and they were very helpful. The staff did more than any other place I have ever done business with. Give them a try! You won't regret it.

With Verizon launching service roughly a year and a half ago, I suspect they will corner the Central Oregon market. There service is superior to all other carriers with regards to both voice quality and customer service. I purchased my service from The Wireless Source (I would suggest never purchasing service from a corporate store). The sales rep was extremely knowledgeable and gave the best service, by far, that I have ever received when purchasing a phone. Verizon blows all other Central Oregon carriers out of the water!

I just got a new Dare phone from The Wireless Source on Greenwood. It is a great phone; the service seems to be the best I have ever had and I have exclusively used cell phones for the last 11 years. No more landlines for me! The people at the store were great - spent lots of time going through features of the phone and helped me understand my first bill. They did a followup call and reminded me about my rebate (I had put it in the file with my other papers and forgot all about sending it in). That saved me $50! Can't say enough good things about the people over there. Nice and efficient! I would highly recommend them!

I love my phone and the service is great. I used to have T-Mobile and can get much better reception in outlining areas with Verizon, as well as in town. I am so happy they came to Central Oregon. I think they are going to purchase Unicel, which will bring more towers to the area when that is completed. I tried the direct store on Hwy. 97, but wasn't satisfied with the service, so I went to their authorized dealer, The Wireless Source, on Greenwood near Pilot Butte. They were great, had time to spend helping me with using my device as a tethering tool for my laptop when I travel. I also like that I can change plans without extending my contract - no other carrier in town does that. I highly recommend this service and those people over at the Greenwood store.

I have recently switched to Verizon Wireless and it is the only carrier to work at my house. There is a new little store next to Longboard Louies on the East side of Town, right off of Hwy. 20. It's called The Wireless Source. They sell only Verizon Service but it is by far the best cellular experience I have ever had. They are knowledgeable, kind and patient. They have followed up with me to see how my service has been, (which it's been great, no dropped calls, easy to use phone, etc.) made sure I mailed my rebate in, and I could tell they genuinely cared about how my service ways! 2 thumbs up to The Wireless Source. I'd recommend them to anyone! It's amazing how much great service can make a difference.

30 day no hassle trial. DON'T DO IT! I did and the reception was lousy but all you have to do is cancel service if it doesn't work, right? WRONG! I canceled the day after I received my phones via FedEX. I sent the phones back the next day with the FedEx shipping form provided. I called and canceled the account the same day. It's been two months and numerous calls. On every call a nice person says they are so sorry and I am right and everything will be straightened out. Then I get another bill or nasty call from financial services about my past due account. Talk is cheep. Verizon has poor coverage and worse customer service. Nice people don't make up for no follow through.

Longtime Verizon customer. Moved to Bend in Sep 06. No local Verizon coverage at that time, but I had spectacular reception, I believe through the US Cellular towers. No data service, but voice was excellent. Unfortunately, on April 15th, 2007, Verizon started offering local service through their own equipment. Since then, I can't reliable use my phone within a mile of the house. I get very good coverage in downtown and near the Old Mill. Spotty coverage on the road to Mt Bachelor. I have tried to work with Verizon tech support to come up with a solution, but was finally told yesterday that they won't be able to provide adequate coverage in those areas. I sometimes see 1 bar at home and on Mt Washington heading south, usually 0 bars. I can't get reliable service near Summit HS, but things start improving near broken top golf course. I'm looking for a better solution. Ironically, since their coverage started on April 15th, I now get EV data coverage at the house, often 2 bars. So I can't make calls, but I could browse the internet. Disappointing!

My reception is good, but the Vcast and photo sending / receiving is not available. Since this is an "extended" area it's just not an option. Text messaging does work, however I think it's an arm and a leg to pay for. I noticed a $.30 data charge on my bill and I only sent one message this month. So check this out before doing a lot of messaging.

Verizon is horrific in Bend. Treo is impossible to use as it locks up and is worthless. Over 1000 people work at the Bend Airport, but Verizon does not support the area

Hit and Miss on reception. Does any cell service work in Bend?