Slightly OT, but last time I went up Whitney, my friend got coverage on the summit with his Verizon phone...I couldn't even make a call on the Portal Rd.
Damn T-Mobile.
The same problem with me.
It seems that my T-Mobile doesn't have any coverage on my US hikes almost anywhere.
I understand that T-Mobile is only for large cities and that Verizon has much better coverage in sparsely populated areas.
So it definitely makes sense for a US hiker to switch to Verizon.
well, along the John Muir Trail, AT&T has more coverage than Verizon. Not sure about Whitney summit, but I am quite sure that it is also possible to call from there. I had full 3G service and full bars just above Upper Boyscout Lake in April this year, which previously was never possible. These things are changing frequently as towers are bought or leased from different providers, and not necessarily owned by phone companies.
ultimately, cell coverage in proper wilderness areas is insufficient to rely on. Along 220 miles of the John Muir trail, there is service in Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows, south of Donohue Pass (looking at Mammoth Mountain), Reds Meadow, Lake Edison (AT&T only), and then maybe on Mt. Whitney. That leaves hundreds of miles without cell phone coverage of any provider.
