okay thanks, whats the second best? I can't afford verizons expensive contract plans so whats the second best for recption?
To be honest, a lot of this depends on where you live/work. No mobile network has 100% coverage all over the US. As one person pointed out, in their rural area Verizon is the only one with service. In other areas, I've heard where AT&T is the only one that you can get a signal from.
One good source to use is
Sensorly, which shows where people with different carriers have gotten signals on their phones. The one caveat, since it only shows what the Sensorly app on various users phones report, it does not give a complete picture of where you can get service with a carrier -- but it typically does a great job of showing which carriers have the strongest networks in your area.
As for nationwide, Verizon has the best coverage, and they are followed by AT&T -- these two are by far the two largest. They are then followed by Sprint and T-Mobile, which more frequently only have solid coverage in large cities. Of course, the flip side of this is that Sprint and T-Mobile tend to be much cheaper than AT&T and Verizon.
Another thing to consider is that GSM phones (T-Mobile and AT&T) can typically be switched between carriers, you just need to get a SIM card for your new carrier -- though the phone needs to be carrier unlocked. CDMA phones (Verizon and Sprint) tend to not work with other carriers. So, one thought would be to start on a T-Mobile (or T-Mobile MVNO) prepaid plan and see how it works for you -- then if coverage isn't good enough you could possibly switch your phone to AT&T (or an AT&T MVNO) to get better coverage. Though, to do this, you either need to buy a carrier unlocked phone, such as the Nexus (phones bought through the carrier are almost always locked to that carrier), or stay with a carrier long enough for them to be willing to unlock your phone (typically 3-6 months of constant service).
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