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WOW! Just switch to Verizon the other day! They just brought there network here and I LOVE it! there 3G is better then AT&Ts. We switch to Verizon from AT&T! Everyone in the area should switch over to Verizon Wireless!

Just switched over to Alltel a couple weeks ago, mainly because the plan worked out far cheaper for my family. But I've also noticed that the coverage is great. Far better than our previous provider. So far, we're all very pleased with service. It tends to be much stronger outside of the city in the more rural areas also.

I have been with Sprint for almost 5 years and I love them. They are a bit more expensive but I believe the service is by far the best and clearest.

SprintPCS has excellent reception in the Charleston, WV area. Interstate coverage is excellent. The surrounding cities are covered almost 100%: South Charleston, Dunbar, Big Chimney, Kanawha City. Once you get out into rural areas in Cross Lanes and Elkview you will start to roam. No Sprint coverage on the interstate past Clendinin exit, nor any coverage past Beckley.

Alltel has excellent reception in Charleston. When you head farther along Greenbrier St. toward Elkview it weakens in a few spots, but is still usable. They also have better than average coverage into Ohio. However, if live down Route 60, you'll want something different. The service is strong through Glasgow, but drops off completely right by the London Locks. This means Alltel has no reception at at WVU Tech in Montgomery. NTelos has good service in Montgomery, but is really weak once you go up Oakridge Drive. NTelos has good coverage in Ohio if you have a national plan. Cingular also has good coverage in Montgomery.

Here's the rundown. If you're in the more rural areas, like out Woodward Dr. or Elkview, Alltel has you covered. Ntelos is great for local coverage, from charleston to Deepwater in Fayette County. Also all the way to huntington and Ashland is Great. Cingular has very good coverage on their TDMA, GSM isn't all that in Kanawha County. Nextel is good for local coverage, only bad thing is you can't roam if you travel. Nextel has added a tower in the childress road area off Rt. 119, which helps alot from there all the way to Charleston.

Pretty good coverage throughout the state, with the exception of the north eastern portion of the state that is covered by Easterbrooke cellular. Cingular claims they will have a roaming agreement done March 1 with Easterbrooke. I Started with a Motorola V551, but had spotty reception a loads of dropped calls. Switched to the Nokia and have had much better reception and no dropped calls. Works well in Bluefield, Lewisburg, Wheeling, Huntington, and just about everywhere else I've been. A glimmer of hope on the cust service front: after screwing me on an AT&T phone return rebate (they said my rebate was invalid but would not return the phone either) I got an instant credit from the store for the rebate amount.

Phone works just fine in EVDO mode with a -99dBm level. Reports working off tower at lat 38 degrees, 21 minutes, 47 seconds by -81 degrees, 35 minutes, 37 seconds. (Using Open Signal Maps)

Honestly, I don't know that one carrier is any better than another here.

We moved here from Illinois. We are using Altell towers because that is the only network that will allow Verizon users service. If driving, service drops in and out in various spots in south Hills / South Charleston. Also, if driving through Southern Ohio or eastern KY service drops out completely. We cannot receive GPS service or picture sending services like we had in Illinios either. They have said they have the largest service area nation wide, but have none in this state at all. It's frustrating. We like our plan, our minutes, and features... we just wanted to keep them. They say they MIGHT have service here within the year but they have no definite information on if this is a guess or a fact.