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Switched from AT&T to Sprint hoping to get better reception. Was told by sales associate Sprint had better coverage, but I could not get a single bar indoors when I took the phone home, so I returned it after a few days.

I have had Sprint here in Cville since late 09 and the voice service has been good; the Internet service on the phone, however, has been hit and miss. When driving towards DC, the voice service gets much worse. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what service is better out here in the "sticks" of VA.

Spotty reception at best, and none with previous Sprint phone. The coverage map shows a triangular-shaped area with the point towards the southeast - it is fairly accurate. If I walk down my driveway, I exit the triangle, and lose reception. If I walk into the woods behind my house, reception improves. Sprint told me reception would be better with better phones, best with their Blackberry. Reception is passable when driving between home and Charlottesville on Carter's Mountain Rd.and 53 by Monticello - it goes into and out of roaming a couple of times. It does not get that dependable until the Michie Tavern side of Carter's Mountain.

With three different Sprint phones I have had for 5 years, I have had great reception in Charlottesville (and the USA) with Sprint. Where I loose service is just at the traffic light at Ednam Dr.and Ivy Rd (just near Boar's Head Inn), in the back woodsy area of Ednam Forest (Wellington Dr.and Wellington Place), inside of Walmart (except near the make up section), on hilly and windng roads (and some deep pockets of dirt roads) along highway 20 (maybe 2-3 miles past Darden Towe Park, as you drive north [away from Pantops]), and on very farm-rural areas of 29 north on the way to Washington DC. Other then that, I get GREAT reception, and so does my husband, using his palm pilot / phone with Sprint as the carrier. I would rate the reception as Perfect, if it weren't for loosing reception in the back of Ednam Forest, at my friend's house). Up on the hill with the good views and while walking throughout Ednam Forest I get great reception, just not at that one woodsy area in the back of Ednam (it's kind of in a dip in the hills). On U.Va. campus the Sprint works great too. I think it looses reception in Marshall's too, but not in Harris Teeter or Whole Foods.

I have drop calls almost every day and calls that do not ring in but the voice message does. I went to the Sprint store today and told the clerk about my drop calls she said it was the first time anyone every told her about drop calls! I realized after I had left the store I didn't ask her how long she had worked at the store and yes maybe today was her first day. I'm just not happy with Sprint service and if by chance this was not the clerks first day at work I'm not happy with the honesty of the employee of Sprint.

Coverage has always been very good around Charlottesville. Remember, though, call quality is a combination of the phone and the carrier. Read some reviews before you choose a phone. What I really need to mention, though, is that Sprint customer service is TERRIBLE! Long waits, and the odds are about 50% that you'll get someone totally unhelpful. They socked me with international roaming charges 3 months after the fact and they won't even contact me regarding a resolution despite promising to do so twice. If customer service is important to you, stay away from Sprint.

Sprint has many areas we found that do not connect with roaming. We found areas at JPJ, Barrack's Road, the Mall, 29, and Pantops where you had signal but it would not connect to roaming. Many dropped calls even on West Main, and on the Downtown Mall. Customer service is just the poorest we have ever had with a cellphone carrier.

Pretty good reception around town and the North Grounds. A little spotty in my Barracks West apartment, but it's a basement place, and I still get reception if I'm 6 feet or so from one of the windows.

I didn't really have too much trouble with my cell phone service when I lived in town (near UVA, along Jefferson Park Avenue). Calls rarely if ever got dropped, and there were only occasional times when my calls would be spotty. I usually had five signal bars. Now over hear in my new neighborhood and apt, my calls routinely get dropped. If I'm lucky I have one or two reception bars and my phone often starts roaming. I can't carry on a normal cell conversation in my apt with o it either getting dropped or fading in and out very badly. Sprint needs to put up more towers in the South Side (Southwest) side of Charlottesville! Sometimes, it is also annoying that, (often) I can hear the other person clear as a bell, but they can't hear me at all. Very frustrating.

I had US Cellular and a usable, if weak signal. I changed to Sprint and had no signal. Even 400 yards off I-64 on Dick Woods Rd heading towards Ivy I get no Sprint signal.

Not very good reception in the souhtern area of Albemarle county. OK around town, but south if red hill rd spotty at best.

The construction of the new shopping center (Target, Harris Teeter, PetsMart, and the rest), and a lightning strike to the tower have left the reception poor. You might get a good call or two, but half my calls seem to go choppy. I am getting two bars right now, so maybe my phone has stopped teasing me with three bars. Complaints to Sprint have gone unfixed. They have blaimed the phone (Samsung A660 / VI660), but refuse to let me have a promotional price on a new phone. They have told me that "I shouldn't have to call them this often", but haven't fixed the problems that lead to me having to call them 3-5 times a month. They won't let me out of my contract, so I'll have to pay them $200 to go somewhere that will provide better service... but wait, Sprint is about the only game in town, no Verizon here. Our only other choices here for CDMA providers are Alltel, Ntelos, and US Cellular.

Good reception outside, in town. No reception in Wintergreen Resort, and parts of southern Albemarle. No reception on some sections of Rte 29 towards DC, around Madison County. Reception inside buildings is weak. I always have reception at home, but sound quality is sometimes low. I don't always get reception at my UVa office (phone switches to digital roam), and if I do get reception, call quality is far from satisfactory.