i hate the fact AT&T cant cover all of virginia I spend lots of time visiting family in sw va and its bullcrap that I have to drive an hour just to get reception.

The campus here is in a bit of a rural area with mountains and I've had several friends that have described coming here with a new cell phone on their family's plan and get no signal. So this is the only site I could find to write a review to say that Alltel does have a great signal at UVa-W. I get high-speed data on my Treo through them and I can make a call throughout campus. I get full bars outside, but some of the brick buildings like Darden does knock it down a couple bars. The dorms sit in a little bit of a valley but it still works in all the dorms I've been in and I usually hold onto a pretty good signal even there. But Alltel seems to be what out-performs all others in this area and is what the vast majority of people carry. As far as other providers go, I know several people with Verizon and they always complain about dead areas and the signal around this rural area. AT&T is dead as soon as you get off I-81 almost. Hopefully in the future, for the students who come here, other providers will be able to add their signals to alltel's towers, but for now I would go with Alltel for people coming here.

Alltel definitely has the best service in the area because whenever any family comes in that has another carrier my cell phone is the only one that will pick up service. I have no complaints. Wise, Norton, Big Stone, Coeburn and most areas around them get 4-5 bars in my experience. I even get 3 in Pound But with the digital service, be sure to invest in a good phone such as a Motorola Razr, E815, or V262 (the newest at the time of this posting). In some places I can pick up an extra 2 bars than other people I know with a Nokia or LG phone.