I have Verizon wireless, I pay through the nose but I do it because I’m addicted to the speed and the coverage. Everywhere I go I can tether and get a decent connection if I need to.
That said, I hate the phone selection. I just got an invite for the OnePlus 2 but it’s worthless because it doesn’t support any of Verizon’s technologies.
Questions – First off, is my perception that Verizon has a better wireless network justified? I had AT&T 10 years ago and it was garbage, I had sprint after that and it was garbage, but times change.
If Verizon’s network is better, does that have anything to do with the technologies they chose to push, or is it just that they have more and more powerful towers?
Lastly, assuming Verizon’s choice of technologies is irrelevant, will they ever roll out with the same stuff that everyone else is using? Like, will 5G still be split between Verizon and everyone else, or will they converge on a common technology so I can actually use an unlocked phone?
I don’t know if their coverage is better than others’. IME, everywhere I don’t have service with T-Mobile, my friends don’t have it with Verizon.
In my area people hate towers. Verizon was fortunate enough to have been putting up towers before people realized they hate them. Because of this there is no question, Verizon has better overall coverage. There are still a number of areas that have no reception. There are certainly areas where other networks have coverage but Verizon doesn’t.
I have business account with Verizon. I maintain 5-6 phones at any given time. I’m not all that happy with them but I don’t have a better option. Overall in my companies service area Verizon has the best coverage which is the most important factor to me. I need to be able to make and receive phone calls on job sites.
At my house I have/had little to no reception. When my brother was living in the same area he ended up dropping Verizon and going to T-Mobile. T-Mobile is the only carrier I’m aware of that has good reception at my house. I have neighbors with Sprint who when they had an issue with coverage were able to get sprint to provide them a range extender free of charge. I spent about a year fighting with Verizon trying to convince them to offer me the same. In the end I shelled out a couple hundred bucks so I could have reception at my house, that I pay for via my Comcast internet.
To answer the question you didn’t ask, there are a few options for good Android phones that aren’t available through the Verizon store or other major retailers. There’s the 3rd generation Moto X (the “pure edition”) available direct from Motorola, and the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P currently can be pre-ordered from Google.
Of course if you wanted the Oneplus 2 because it’s android-like but without Google’s all-pervasive tendrils, more flagship Android phones probably aren’t what you’re looking for…
The 5X appeals to me, but I just bought my phone 2 months ago and there were no Google branded phones available. Obviously I’m not really in the market for a OnePlus 2 now, but I may have held off on my S6 purchase if I thought it were a possibility. Same is probably true for the 5X but they didn’t do a good enough job of dropping clues, I wasn’t sure it’d exist.
This is more of a general lamentation 
It really depends on where you are. I live in the Detroit area, and last year switched from Verizon to Sprint.
I’ve regretted it ever since. AT&T used to be spotty but they must have built out because people I talk to with their service seem fairly satisfied.
One of the things with Verizon is the frequencies that they own the rights to. Historically, relative to the other major carriers, they’ve had the lower frequencies that go farther and penetrate buildings and other obstacles better. Recently, that’s begun to change since there have been new vacancies in those low frequencies due to the conversion of TV stations’ signals to digital, so you’ve seen companies like Tmobile gobbling up those newly available, primo frequencies.