The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
Choosing a cell phone carrier isn't easy. Should your choice come down to network coverage, or should you decide based on the selection of phones? Or perhaps the level of customer service is most important?
In a perfect world, network coverage and carrier price would be the most important factors in your decision, but popular handsets like the iPhone give many people the only reason they need to switch.
Understanding cell phone carriers
At CNET, we spend plenty of time rating cell phones and carrier services, but rating the quality of nationwide coverage remains a challenge. While we can tell you if a carrier offers good coverage in our handset-testing locations--typically, San Francisco and New York--we can't tell you how the carrier will perform across the United States. It's a big country, and to accurately say which carrier possesses the best network, we'd have to make calls in thousands of locations across America.The good news is that we've partnered with Root Wireless to create a tool to help you determine which carrier has the best coverage for your neighborhood, commute, or workplace. Be sure to check out the tool and remember that word of mouth also is important. Ask your friends, neighbors, family and colleagues which carrier they use and if they're satisfied.
In this guide we also can tell you everything you need to know about the carrier and the phones and services that they provide. Also, we'd like to continue to ask for your help in rating the carriers and sending your feedback.
Now, on to what you need to know about America's cell phone carriers. We've also provided links to each carrier's coverage map, though we would take such information with a grain of salt. For more information on buying a cell phone, check out CNET's Cell Phone Buying Guide.
