This is the 2008 Review. Click here for the 2009 Verizon Wireless Coverage Review.
The Facts
Verizon Wireless coverage for mobile broadband reaches “more then 240 million people in 248 major metropolitan areas and 232 primary airports in the United States”. According to Verizon, they cover 80% of the U.S. population which makes them “the biggest and the best in the wireless industry”. This may expand even more with the acquisition of Alltel. While Sprint has EVDO Revision A areas and slower EVDO Revision 0 areas, Verizon’s 3G network is fully EVDO Rev. A.
That means if you connect to Verizon Wireless internet, you’re connecting at the highest speed.
As we covered in the speed section, Verizon Wireless coverage is split into the Mobile Broadband 3G network or the NationalAccess (1xRTT) slower network. You can expect to switch over to the slower network if you’re travelling long distances on highways or in rural areas. Mobile broadband will be available in urban areas. The quickest way to find out if you will have coverage in a given area is to use the Verizon Coverage Locator below after the fine print.
The Fine Print
Verizon is not sure exactly sure where they have coverage. They can tell you where they think they have coverage:
“These Coverage Locator maps are not a guarantee of coverage and may contain areas with no service. The maps reflect a depiction of predicted and approximate wireless coverage. The coverage areas shown do not guarantee service availability, and may include locations with limited or no coverage. Even within a coverage area, there are many factors, including customer’s equipment, terrain, proximity to buildings, foliage, and weather that may impact service.”
So in other words:
‘We don’t know if our map is accurate.
We put stuff on there that might not be there yet.
Where it says we have coverage, we may in fact, have none.
Just about anything could be affecting your service quality so you can’t blame it on us’.
“The Extended Enhanced Services Coverage Areas include networks run by other carriers; some of the coverage depicted is based on their information and public sources, and we cannot ensure its accuracy.”
Simply put, ‘we can’t vouch for our partners. We’re not entirely sure what they’re up to’.
To use the tool for checking Verizon Wireless coverage , start throwing your address in below. If it doesn’t show up you can find the Verizon Coverage Locater here(pop-out).
view Verizon Coverage
To compare Verizon Wireless coverage against other providers, see our carrier comparison.
For why they’re said to have “America’s Most Reliable Network”, check out Verizon Wireless Broadband Reliability…
