In my experience it depends on what area you are and how that provider has coverage. I have had AT&T since the days it was Bellsouth Mobility. Here in South FL I have not had any issues with service even when I go out in the ocean fishing. I travel yearly all over the east coast from Florida to Maine and never any issues. For work they give us Sprint and it sucks big time. The only time I ever saw full bars and great service with Sprint was in San Francisco CA during a trip to Oracle Open World conference. A co-worker had Verizon and his connection was never better than my AT&T. Even doing data tests side by side My data was a lot faster than his. He recently switched to google cell service.
Not sure how the coverage is in the Pacific North West but I can say that all these new digital signals do not like mountains like the old analog cellphones.
Not sure how the coverage is in the Pacific North West but I can say that all these new digital signals do not like mountains like the old analog cellphones.