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I work in rual areas along the coast and Nextel has proven to work when other phones will not receive reception.( customer phones) I do not use direct conect only voice and text.

This phone works perfectly almost everwhere on campus, including the student apartments. I had Edge Wireless (AT&T), but it didn't have good indoor reception and I got tired of having to stand outside my apartment in the cold to have conversations.

If getting the call is paramount, and it should be, the clear choice in the Coos Bay-North Bend area is AT&T Wireless (known locally as Edge Wireless, at least until the Cingular merger moves along). The technology is far from sexy and the sound quality metallic, but AT&T simply has far, far more transmitters on the Southern Oregon Coast than its competitors. I moved here from New York City and had to abandon my Sprint PCS handset, simply because CB / NB was the ONLY coastal area where it worked! An AT&T handset will get the call from most points along the coast and a good many places inland, too. In Coos County, it even gets a signal in the mountain town of Powers, something no other service can claim. Would I like cleaner sound and some better pricing plans? Well, who wouldn't? But I'm a reporter and the deal-maker is getting connected, period. In my home area, it works well enough that I've adopted it as my only voice calling service, using the landline solely for the Internet.

I bought this phone for my mother two years ago. She has perfect reception. Further, when I visit her, I never have any problems with reception anywhere in Coos Bay / North Bend (with the understandable exception of the beaches). AT&T wireless goes by the name EDGE wireless in this area. My only complaint is that EDGE customer service is sub-par and they couldn't answer a question to save their lives.

When downtown in either Coos Bay or North Bend, you will almost always have Full Signal(5-Bars). But once you leave town via HWY-101 heading towards Coquille, signal goes dead after about 5 mins of driving and stays dead. When taking Libby DR or Cape Arago HWY - Signal will very from 0-3 bars. When in the town part of Charleston, signal is usually 1-2 bars. I live in the Englewood area on one of the "State" streets, and usually have 1 bar when inside, and 2-3 bars when outside... *North Bend gets a much better signal(I think the tower is around there). Almost always 5 bars. *1 bar is actually enough to hear people clearly, and to be heard clearly as well. *Being inside a building / home in coos bay effects the signal quite a bit. But if downtown, your fine. *If you don't mind spending more money, and having ugly(ish) phones, Tracfone is much more reliable.

I'm tired of AT&T's poor reception everywhere I go. When I compare my Verizon work phone to my personal AT&T phone, AT&T rarely has reception in areas that the Verizon phone always does. My job brings me into some of the most remote places in coastal Oregon, including into the State Forests, and out on the ocean. As soon as I leave downtown Coos Bay, I can be assured that I also leave behind my reception. Across the bar onto the high seas, anyone with Verizon has coverage, (sometimes up to fifteen miles out, depending on relativity to certain areas on the coast), while I can be certain that once past the jetties, my phone drains battery life in a fruitless search for reception. Even in my house in Empire, I have to stand in the middle of my living room, away from the walls, or outside to connect. FAT&T.