Armed Forces Wireless Coverage Map

Armed Forces Wireless Coverage Map

Armed Forces Data Plans

Armed Forces mobile operates as an MVNO on the Verizon Network.  It is unclear weather you able to bring your own phone and purchase a SIM or if purchasing a phone required?  

Armed Forces Wireless/Mobile, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is based in Vista, California. A prepaid wireless cellular phone service that provides a no contract, discount pricing option to consumers and donates a portion of all profits to https://OSOV.org

Purchase an Armed Forces SIM card, which can be done on the website. Once you have the SIM card in your possession, you can either Activate a New Phone Number or Port Your Existing Phone Number. Once you receive your SIM, call 888-804-1448 to activate your service - or ACTIVATE by filling out this form.

Please submit your reviews of the service and coverage below in the discussion.

Airvoice Wireless Coverage Map

Airvoice Wireless Coverage Map

Airvoice Wireless Database Plans

You may use any unlocked 850/1900 MHz GSM device with Airvoice.  You can purchase an Airvoice Wireless SIM card, which can be done on the AirvoiceWireless.com website. Once you have the SIM card in your possession, you can either Activate a New Phone Number or Port Your Existing Phone Number.  What towers does Airvoice Wireless use? 

Airvoice Wireless is a prepaid wireless service provider in the United States. They offer affordable no-contract cell phone plans and operate on the AT&T network, providing nationwide coverage.

Here are some key features of Airvoice Wireless:

Plan Options: Airvoice Wireless offers a range of prepaid plans with various talk, text, and data allowances to cater to different usage needs. They have both monthly plans and pay-as-you-go options, allowing customers to choose a plan that suits their usage patterns.

Unlimited Plans: Airvoice Wireless provides unlimited talk and text plans with varying data options. These plans include unlimited talk and text messages, and customers can select the amount of high-speed data they need each month.

Pay-As-You-Go: Airvoice Wireless offers pay-as-you-go plans for customers who prefer to have more control over their usage and only pay for what they use. With this option, customers purchase a specific amount of minutes, texts, and data that can be used within a designated time frame.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): Airvoice Wireless supports BYOD, allowing customers to bring their own compatible devices to use with their service. This gives users the flexibility to use their existing devices rather than purchasing new ones.

International Calling: Airvoice Wireless offers international calling options for customers who need to make calls to other countries. They have international calling add-ons or separate plans available for those who require frequent international communication.

Customer Service: Airvoice Wireless provides customer support through various channels, including phone support and online resources. They strive to assist customers with any questions or issues they may have.

It's important to note that coverage maps and network performance may vary, so it's always advisable to check the coverage availability in your specific area before choosing a wireless service provider.

Overall, Airvoice Wireless aims to provide affordable and flexible prepaid wireless service options with nationwide coverage on the AT&T network. If you are interested in their services, you can visit their official website or contact their customer service for more information on their current plans and offerings.

Please submit your reviews of the service and coverage below in the discussion.  

Affinity Cellular Coverage Area Map

Affinity Cellular Coverage Map

Affinity Cellular is a wireless service provider in the United States that specializes in offering cell phone plans and services tailored for seniors. Here are some key features of Affinity Cellular:

How to Search Database by Date Submitted?

How to Search Database Dead Zones by Date?

Our database has been around since 2001.  However, we only have data from 2008-2015 on the map published as of today.  You can now search the entire live database by date.  See the example above.  

In the future, we will be logging dead zones on a month-to-month basis and selling reports to carriers who want only recent problems.  However, we all know that dead zones and coverage problems can persist for a long time and that is why continue to publish the data until a carrier can confirm that the problem has been fixed.  

If you are interested in reporting coverage areas that have improved please read the previous link?  

We also publish date-based heat maps of the coverage problems reported so you can see the reports evolve over time.  

Why Does My Phone Keep Dropping Calls?

Social Networking Apps Causing Cell Tower Signaling Issues

A recent survey found that 72% of Americans experience some form of dropped calls, and 32% experience dropped calls at least a few times per week or more. Like it or not, dropped calls and poor coverage are still a major problem for a large number of people. Carriers continue to add cell towers and expand coverage areas, this is not a problem that's going to go away soon. So what is there to do?   Get a small cell (aka femtocell) or a cell phone booster for your house.

You can also, tell all of your friend's kids and neighbors using the same cell phone tower to stop using their chatty messaging apps.  If you see the chart above it is looks like these apps are constantly pinging the cell towers which is causing people to drop calls.  Would love additional feedback below.  

Yes, dead zones or poor signal strength areas do cause many dropped calls.  However, the majority of dropped calls are in areas near cell phone towers.  The more smartphones pinging the tower the more dropped calls will persist.  

Where Are Wireless Carriers Turning Off 2G & Why?

Why Are Carriers Are Turning Off 2G & 3G Reception?

AT&T & Verizon are slowly turning off 2G cell phone towers in many rural markets.  Why?  Because they need the capacity and or spectrum in that market for 4G and LTE.  3G and 4G provide faster data speeds but voice service can often be less reliable.  

If you have been a long time customer with an older phone and suddenly you don't have coverage any longer, you are probably one of those people who either have to upgrade their phone or find a new carrier.  Many carriers still service 2G customers so its best you do your homework in a particular market and find out who has 2G service.   

I think the FCC has done an incredible disservice to consumers not mandating that carriers provide transparency on where they are turning off 2G service.  Thus, our map database Deadcellzones.com has exploded with contributions of dead zone problems this year on our map.  Consumers are confused and don't know what to do.  These present an opportunity for an aggressive smaller carrier to capitalize on this incredibly horrible service and transparency the big carriers are providing.  Stay tuned because the fireworks are just beginning!  

Dead Cell Zones Location Database Growth Since 2000

Here is a chart graph showing our dead zone database growth and current active locations in red over the last 14 years.  We have had over 120,000 complaints submitted to our map.  We try and remove older locations and remove locations that were submitted prior to 3 or 4 years ago.

Carriers tend to upgrade networks and fix dead zones but this does not always fix the problem.  Carriers can also create new dead zones while upgrading networks depending on how new your phone is.  For example, many customers who once had good 2G coverage may no longer have coverage if 4G LTE as been upgrade on this tower.   

Marin County Cell Phone Reception Review

Marin County Cell Phone Reception Dead Zones

(Click on the Map to Submit a New Location)

I was shocked recently on our family vacation how poor the cell phone reception was in Marin County.  I would be surprised if cell phone companies Verizon, Sprint & T-Mobile had any satisfied customers in the area.  The terrain is quite hilly and the trees are enormous.  It is one of the most beautiful areas in the County but probably has the worst cell phone reception of anywhere I have ever visited or vacationed with a reasonable population density.  This area is also the home to thousands of commuting technology professionals who work in San Francisco and rely on coverage during their daily commutes.

West Marin County especially almost had no reception at all.  This was surprising to me because of the population density and the amount of tourism and residents.  I would guess it is also a safety nightmare for emergency services in the area.  There are long stretches of road that have no signal and the roads are dangerous.  There are bicyclist all over the narrow roads that don't have any shoulder to ride on.  The roads are steep, have lots of blind curves and make for hazardous driving conditions if you are not alert behind the wheel.  I would imagine there are lot of car accidents.

Here is a list of cities, highways and locations in the area that had NO RECEPTION for T-Mobile and Verizon.  AT&T had a weak signal in many of these locations.

Bolinas - No signal
San Anselmo - No signal
Muir Woods National Monument - No Signal
Highway 1 in West Marin - No Signal most of the way
Panoramoic Highway - No Signal
Ridgecrest Blvd. - No Signal
Sleepy Hollow - No Signal
Butterfield Rd. - No Signal
Stinson Beach - 2 bars of 2G Edge on T-Mobile

AT&T probably had the best reception in the area and this seemed to be the carrier of choice for most residents in the area.  If any reception was available it was likely 2G and downloading data or email was virtually impossible.  I would imagine that there are lots of AT&T Microcells used by residents in the area.

I was not able to review Sprint's coverage in the area but it is likely not much better.  Thankfully I am a  T-Mobile customer and was able to make and receive phone calls through WiFi at our friends house.  T-Mobile WiFi phone calls save the day once again.

I would imagine there is lot of resistance from the residents for installing cell phone towers in the area.  I would characterize the population of residents to be quite "earthy".  I have found these communities and the City Council's o be quite resistant to the installation of cell phone towers or new antennas.  

2G, 3G, 4G: WTF is 4th Generation Anyway?

Techies throw terminology around all the time, and often we have to pretend that we understand what they're referring to. In this post, we'll try to explain and elucidate some of the tricky lingo used frequently in today's circles. Specifically, we'll look at the G's, 2G, 3G, and 4G - what they are, and what they mean for us.

The Gs refer to stages in the development of cellular technology. G stands for "generation." 2G, therefore, means "second generation" cellular systems. Service providers have just begun to roll out fourth generation networks, the most advanced technology developed to date. We'll get to fourth generation in a bit, but let's back up to the beginning, with 1G.

The systems retroactively dubbed 1G were the world's first mobile telephone networks. The first 1G network surfaced in Tokyo, in 1979. Over the next ten years, mobile networks were slowly built in countries all over the world. 1G systems communicated with analog signals, using continuous radio waves to transmit information. The analog system was dumped for digital communication with the advent of 2G in the early 90s.

The second generation of cell phone technology improved system capacity, allowed mobile data service with text messaging, and lowered the radiation emitted from phones. Much of this was affected by the move to digital communication, swapping continuous analog signals with the short burst, message-style transmissions of digital technology. 2G is still used in many parts of the world today.

It would be another ten years before the debut of 3G onto the world stage. 2G systems were strengthened and altered, ushering in mobile internet, video calling, mobile TV, and videoconferencing. Officially, 3G is not a specific technology, but a standard—an outline of specifications for cellular networks. Several different systems have been built that all comply with 3G requirements, such as EDGE, CDMA2000, and UMTS. Different service providers, like AT&T and Verizon Wireless, build and use their own designs for their respective networks. It's the differences in this sort of network structure that define whether or not your phone uses a SIM card.

Recently, the wireless communications world has been abuzz about 4G, the latest development of digital communication. The fourth generation standard aims to increase the speeds and thus the capabilities of 3G-enabled tasks, like mobile internet. Before 4G, downloading or streaming movies, songs, or any significant amounts of data to a mobile device was an abysmally slow process, if at all possible. 4G minimizes the difference in user experience between using a top-speed computer and your smartphone. In fact, it's 4G technology that justifies smartphones' existence.

"So that was all very nice," you might say, "but how does that affect me?" Well, the sort of technology your phone or mobile device uses will affect what accessories, upgrades, and supplemental systems you can attach and sync with it. For instance, signal boosters, which enhance weak cellular signals, read very specific transmissions. To amplify the weak signal for your 4G phone, you'll need a 4G booster capable of decoding and transmitting 4G signals. It's all quite simple, really. You now have the power to take on those tech nuts and show them who's boss.

Related Article:
What does 1G 2G 2.5G 3G 3.5G 4G 5G mean

What Does LTE Stand For?

LTE = Long Term Evolution

Long Term Evolution (LTE).  It is a new radio platform technology that will allow carriers to give you higher wireless upload and download speeds currently between 5-12 mbps but expected to increase. Verizon Wireless,  AT&T & MetroPCS in the United States and several worldwide LTE carriers began rolling out the new network in 2009.  The world's first publicly available LTE service was opened by TeliaSonera in the two Scandinavia in December of 2009.

LTE and is part of the GSM evolutionary path beyond 3G technology, following EDGE, UMTS, HSPA (HSDPA and HSUPA combined) and HSPA Evolution (HSPA+). LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) which was introduced in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 8.  HSPA Evolution is a stepping-stone of speeds to LTE for many carriers that will be rolled out slowly. Carriers began working on LTE in 2004 3GPP and the initial deployment of LTE is targeted for 2010 and 2011. The objective of LTE is to provide a high-performance radio access that offers good signal coverage in vehicles that are moving and that can coexist with HSPA and earlier networks. Carriers can scale bandwidth to migrate their networks and users from HSPA to LTE over time in areas that need it most.

Related Articles:
List of Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Cities
How Does 4G & LTE Compete with Free?
LTE Cell Phone Tower Industry Growth
How Each Carrier Defines 4G
3G & 4G Coverage Parity by 2013
Will AT&T's New Faster HSPA+ Data Network Result in Fewer Dropped Calls?
Wireless Network Armageddon in 2012
Who Has the Best 4G Coverage?

What Does G Stand For in 4G?

4G = 4th Generation Data Network

4th generation phone or data network. 3G is 3rd generation and 2G etc.  The chart above shows you why carriers have an identity crisis of what they truly offer as speeds and service.  Each cell phone tower has to support all three types of customer speeds and thus showing you the combined bandwidth requirement at each tower.  Industry experts and geeks refer to the type of data network such as HSPA+, HSPDA, Wimax and now LTE to confuse consumers even further. The real question then becomes are all 4G LTE speeds the same and who is going to be the first to start marketing 5G?  For more details and a video what does 2G, 3G, 4G mean?

EVDO Advantages Over Satellite & WiFi

EVDO Advantages Over Satellite Internet & WiFi

1. Always on with seamless roaming assuming coverage
2. Fully portable
3. You are your own hotspot and not  relying on someone else's internet connection
4. Goes beyond the 300-ft range from a "hotspot"
5. Access corporate VPN (virtual private network) get a cellular signal via a secure, encrypted signal
6. Can provide service outside of cable-modem or DSL areas
7. Relative low cost with high capacity – allows rich web browsing and application usage.
8. VOIP compatible with Skype, Google Voice or Magic Jack

How Does EVDO Work

EVO stands for Evolution Data Optimized and works similarly to the way your cell phone operates in that it relies on signal from a wireless tower rather than a physical connection like a phone line or cable. An EVDO modem (often referred to as an "aircard") receives the signal and allows you to connect to the internet -it's as simple as that! EVDO modems come in as a 3G Router.  Most 3G EVDO service plan have a 5 gig cap but some do not have any data cap.

Why Use EVDO?

• Line of site issues
• Data latency 
• Can't get DSL or broadband at your home or office
• Can't get satellite broadband
• Gamers and traders people who want fast persistent connections.

Who uses EVDO?

There are countless reasons to use EVDO and we have helped customers get set up for a huge variety of applications! Below are just a few common ways people use EVDO:

Mobile applications: Cars, trucks, RV's, commercial service/fleet vehicles, shuttles, carpool/vanpool, transit (busses, trains, ferries), taxis/limos, private/commercial vessels Portable uses: Mobile work teams, trade shows, conferences, conventions, vacations, commute access, emergency response setup

Fixed-location customers: Backup to cable/DSL/T-1, dial-up alternative, satellite alternative

How does EVDO compare to other technologies?

The best aspect of EVDO (to most users) is the mobility it offers, but EVDO is also FAST! With a good signal, EVDO Rev A averages about 600-1400Kbps download with upload speeds averaging between
500-800Kbps. Here is how it stacks up to other common internet technologies:

• EVDO Rev A: 600Kbps - 1,400Kbps Down (with bursts to 3.1Mbps); 500Kbps-800Kbps Up (with bursts to 1.8Mbps)
• EVDO Rev 0: 400 - 1000Kbps Down (with bursts to 2.0 Mbps); 50 - 100Kbps Up (with bursts to 144Kbps)
• 1xRTT: 50Kbps - 100Kbps with bursts up to 144kbps Down/Up
• EDGE (2G): 50Kbps - 100Kbps Down/Up
• HSPA: 700-1700kbps Down; 500-1200kbps upload
• DSL: Varies based on provider. Average appoximately 1500Kbps Down; 128Kbps Up
• Cable: Varies based on provider. Average appoximately 1000-5000Kbps Down; 200-800Kbps Up
• Satellite: 512Kbps - 1500Kbps Down; 128 - 256Kbps Up
• Dial-Up: 56Kbps Down/Up

Verizon 3G Network Extender Questions?

Click Femtocell to Search Availability by Zip Code

Verizon Wireless has updated its latest femtocell device with the launch of a 3G Network Extender replacing its previously offered Network Extender. The Samsung Electronics device will boost coverage in buildings and homes where a customer might have poor cellular coverage due to walls or challenging topography.  Similar to other carrier femotcell products, the 3G Network Extender relies on a customer’s broadband connection to backhaul voice and data traffic.  Six devices can access the femtocell, and that there would be no special rate plans or additional monthly fees for the device beyond the one-time charge of $250.

It also brings up the question why are they not simply using a Wifi network to rout data traffic?  Also, will this device work alongside a normal FIOS Wifi router?  Why not simply embed the femtocell technology into your FIOS router or FIOS DVR?

Even though Verizon claims they cover 98% of the population they still sell hundreds of thousands of these devices.  These poor cell reception locations are also known as dead zones even though the carrier touts they cover 98% of the population.  Verizon must assume that we all live outdoors and their cell phone signals can penetrate walls and trees.  

How to Get a Free Sprint 3G Femtocell

Sprint Airave 3G EV-DO Femtocell

Sprint will apparently begin offering FREE femtocells for its "qualified customers" that have reception problems on their 3G / EV-DO phones. Sprint's new Airave femtocell now supports 3G which technically should be 3X faster (500-700 kbps kilobytes per second ) than their 2G Samsung femtocell of 150 (kbps).  The updated Airave Access Point (aka what is a femtocell?) uses a customer's broadband internet connection to route calls back to the Sprint network and is being marketed by Sprint as a mini cell tower. It covers up to 5,000 square feet and supports up to six calls simultaneously.  The Airave will be available in stores to customers with specific in-building reception issues.

Sprint 2G Airave femtocell has been around for almost 3 years since 2007 and sells for $100.  For some reason that makes no business sense, Sprint will still continue to offering its' 2G data version of Airave for $99.99, plus a required $4.99/month plus an activation fee of $10 for a single line or $20 multi-line plans.  We don't have a clue why they would continue charging for a old product other than possibly trying to avoid cannibalizing their existing customers.

Sprint is riding the data wave that AT&T creating launched their AT&T femtocell earlier this year.  Sprint seems to be doing it right and offering the device for free which is how it should be.  We are not quite sure what criteria will get you the "qualified customer" status yet but here are some ideas below that might help get you a free femtocell:

1. Find out if the Sprint 3G femtocell is available in your market.
2. Use Sprint Dead Zones Map map to share reception problems in your neighborhood (see map below)
3. Complain a lot to Sprint customer service that your home reception is poor
4. Document your dropped calls on a daily basis using your monthly bill
5. Show Sprint that you have been a customer for many years
6. Show Sprint that you have multiple Sprint phones in the house
7. Show Sprint that you have multiple subscribers in the house
8. Show Sprint that you are a Clearwire customer
9. Become friendly with your local Sprint store sales manager
10. Find out when your contract expires and use renewal as leverage

If you know of any other factors that could help influence Sprint to give you a free femtocell please submit in the comments below or email us. See our map below to build your case to the carrier and use the map to show problems in your area.