Wireless reception

[20mile]

Has any experienced the loss of wireless reception in Tuftonboro? I have Verizon wireless and my cell phone worked great for years at my home in Tuftonboro up until about a month ago. Now I get reception 1 out of 20 times I try to make a call.

I asked the dealer in Wolfeboro but they can't help. Just curious if anyone has had the same problem. Also, does anyone have suggestions for a better alternative to Verizon?

Thanks

[beaner]

It wouldn't hurt to try updating your roaming capacity, if you haven't already done so. (Dial *228 from your cell phone, hit send and follow the prompts.) If that doesn't help, I'm not sure what to tell you. How old is your phone? If it's very old, maybe it isn't equipped to handle the newer technology they're using. We've had the best luck with Verizon. We had US Cellular a few years ago, and their service was comparable to Verizon in the local area...but they were terrible in other areas - like the NH Seacoast, for example. Some areas of Tuftonboro are tough to get service. Hope this helps.

[BroadHopper]

I stay with a friend of mine on 20 Mile bay. My reception with Verizon Wireless was spotty until I update my roaming with *228.

My friend had to switch from Sprint because he had no reception.

[Eagle54]

If you're considering alternatives, don't bother with AT&T. In tuftonboro (near 109 & Tuf Neck Rd) I get absolutely no signal, ever. I only get a signal as I drive back into Wolfeboro. I was thinking I should switch to Verizon but the above comments make me wonder if that's much better. For those that have updated roaming, does Verizon provide good coverage?

[Argie's Wife]

We travel around the lake on a weekly basis - work in Bristol, family in Laconia, Alton Bay, Ossipee, and errands in Wolfeboro, Meredith, Gilford - you get the idea... Verizon Wireless is "it" for the area, I'm afraid. At least for now. I've been a US Cellular customer and liked their service a lot - no problems - until I moved up here. Verizon has a more consistent signal and even tho there's some dead areas, they don't last long and are somewhat far between (other than in Barnstead...)

[beaner]

... Verizon Wireless is "it" for the area, I'm afraid.

I think Argie's wife is spot-on. Unfortunately, Verizon realizes they essentially have a monopoly here, and the pricing/calling plans they offer in this area reflect that. The per-minute cost of their least expensive plan is especially high for low-volume callers. Their pre-paid plan offered no savings to folks like us (we make 1 or 2 short calls every day) because of the $1 per-day fee for each day you use the service.

Fortunately, we finally found a way to get decent, reasonably priced cell phone service. As soon as our Verizon contract expired, we went online and bought a couple of pre-paid LG TracFones. We figured, what the heck, they're cheap, we might as well give it a try. Turns out they run on the Verizon network, and they work great! You can buy additional minutes at WalMart, online or directly from your phone. We'll save at least $600 on our cell phone bills this year, with no discernable difference in service. We don't do any texting, so I can't vouch for how TracFone works for that. And they don't offer a lot of choice for phones. However, if you're just looking for decent calling service at a reasonable price, they're certainly worth trying.

[Argie's Wife]

We had TracPhones prior to having Verizon...

I went from US Cellular to Verizon in 2000 and found they were horrible. We never got a signal anywhere it seemed. When I got in an accident on the bridge in Dover on Route 16 and couldn't get a Verizon signal I promptly ended my contract with Verizon.

We had TracPhones from 2000-2006, then decided to try Verizon again - found it to be much better.

[beaner]

We had TracPhones prior to having Verizon...

I went from US Cellular to Verizon in 2000 and found they were horrible. We never got a signal anywhere it seemed. When I got in an accident on the bridge in Dover on Route 16 and couldn't get a Verizon signal I promptly ended my contract with Verizon.

We had TracPhones from 2000-2006, then decided to try Verizon again - found it to be much better.

There have been a number of changes to local cell service since 2000. While Verizon seems to have the best service in our area, the phone you're using makes a difference, too. Whether you have a contract with Verizon or you're piggybacking off Verizon service with TracFone, your phone must be compatible with the current transmission standard for our area.

[tis]

Verizon put a new tower up on Rte 109A a couple of years ago and it made their service go from almost nothing to very good. I never used to bother to use my phone because I knew there were only a few spots where it would work. Since they put up the new tower it works almost all the time.

[Heaven]

I have US Cellular but I think I hook into whatever tower is available, whatever the company ownership. I pay a small amount for "expanded home area" which means I don't pay roaming charges while using other towers. A new phone helped quite a bit, although there are dead spots here and there.

[wifi]

I also have US Cellular, and US and Verizon are roaming partners, meaning, if you can't get a US tower, you roam (in your area) to a Verizon tower (and visa versa for a Verizon customer). The problem is, if your phone can barely receive a signal off a US Cellular tower, it will not roam to a much stronger Verizon tower (and visa versa). For example, Verizon brought Rural Cellular, with a tower on Smith hill in Holderness. It serves Squam well, but if you try to call on a USCC phone, it will barely hear the Moultonboro towers and fail trying to place a call on them whereas the Verizon tower is 3-4 bars.

I think the problem is its all economics, technology could permit you to use the strongest tower (such as dialing 911 does), but the companies don't make money paying roaming fees :)

[RI Swamp Yankee]

It wouldn't hurt to try updating your roaming capacity, if you haven't already done so. (Dial *228 from your cell phone, hit send and follow the prompts.) .....
Dial *22899 and you will bypass the prompts and it will also update the programming on the cell phone if needed. You will not find this on Verizon's site but it works. When the updates are complete the phone will reboot and search for a signal, give it a few seconds (under a minute) and you will have an updated PRL (Preferred Roaming List) and any programming updates.

[Argie's Wife]

There have been a number of changes to local cell service since 2000. While Verizon seems to have the best service in our area, the phone you're using makes a difference, too. Whether you have a contract with Verizon or you're piggybacking off Verizon service with TracFone, your phone must be compatible with the current transmission standard for our area.

Yes and when we had the first contract with Verizon we went through four different brands/models of phones. We got our contract through Radio Shack in Concord and we found them to be very responsive to our concerns and issues we had with the phones/service. The only reason we did the TracPhone thing is because of the ranges we traveled in those days (I was working in Portsmouth, Argie works in Bristol) and having very young children we felt it was necessary for emergencies. Prior to going back to Verizon we had been in contact with them about network improvements - I can take frugal to a new level, so I wanted to make sure that we were going to be satisfied with the service for the money we would be paying. So far, so good.

[Grant]

The GSM rollout in the Lakes Region has been painfully slow, but has made substantial progress in the past 3-4 years. Originally, the only GSM service in the area originated from over near Laconia, so folks on the eastern side of the Lake using services such as AT&T/Cingular were subject to crappy (most non-existent) signals. Verizon was much stronger in the Tuftonboro area (only reason I switched from it was when my company moved into a new building that acted as a Verizon "anti-antenna" -- total dead zone).

Heading up from Concord, GSM users still can count on losing signal once you pass the Epsom circle, and not really gain a meaningful signal again until South Wolfeboro. Head north out of Wolfeboro on 109 and you'll lose signal before the cemetery. You can get sporadic GSM signal on 19-Mile-Bay, but lose it completely as you hit the hill heading north. Abenaki Tower - great signal :D...then nothing till Moultonboro. I've had good GSM signal all over the Lake in a boat.

It's hard to say what impacted the Verizon signal...their coverage, although it's a proprietary network, is darn good. The truly baffling thing is the lack of GSM service, given the number of carriers who use it.

And, no, I don't make a habit of talking while driving on 109, 28, 25, 16, 109A, etc., but have paid attention to signal strength & availability up there over the years.

[OCDACTIVE]

I stay with a friend of mine on 20 Mile bay. My reception with Verizon Wireless was spotty until I update my roaming with *228.

My friend had to switch from Sprint because he had no reception.

what's this *228? I have never heard of doing that? what does it do switch you to roaming? or does it notify verizon that you are having trouble in that area?

[tis]

It just updates your phone to pick up new towers in the area. I have been doing it for years.

[SIKSUKR]

what's this *228? I have never heard of doing that? what does it do switch you to roaming?

As tis stated,it updates your phone.I did it last week and only had to key in one button for the english version.The rest was done automatically.