We had tracphones a number of years back and although we had horrible reception at our house, a friend with a different tracphone had spectacular signal when she visited. Confused, we discussed this with the desk at WalMart in Tilton and discovered that different phones use different carriers and will experience different signal strengths in various areas.
I have no idea if this is still the case, but if you do go that route be sure to purchase it locally and ask questions about which carrier's signal you will be attaching to. If it's Verizon, you should be able to receive an excellent signal anywhere in the region. If it's any other carrier, choose a different tracphone - one that will use a Verizon signal.
Hope that helps!
