SIMple Calling SIM card coverage in the hinterlands

[rfranzq]

When one looks at the AT&T's Prepaid coverage maps, one sees very little coverage in the 'Far West.' Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota have almost nothing. Nebraska, Colorado, and Nevada have almost nothing except their biggest cities. New Mexico and Arizona are the same.
T-Mobile's Prepaid coverage map seems to have a lot of coverage but requires roaming and one needs to make sure one has a US dual band phone to take advantage of all the roaming.

SIMple Calling claims better coverage than both and now that it has dual [USA & UK] phone numbers and international roaming it might be a good option for those who need modest US/Canada rates and good prepaid coverage in North America. [I have seen others on the forums claim [which I have not verified] that the rates are cheaper than Canadian predaid SIM's rates in the USA. So the SIMple Calling SIM card seems
to be a good option for both European and North American users of prepaid SIMs.

I will post below some coverage reviews in different states & hope others can add to it.

My nephew is on a road trip to South Dakota from Los Angeles and will investigate for me how two SIMple Calling SIM SIMs do in the hinterlands. Which networks besides ATT and T-Mobile will be a major focus.

Happy Roaming!

[rfranzq]

Wyoming

Wyoming is the 10th largest state and the least populous [50th!] state in the USA.

The SIMple Calling SIM card connect to Union Telephone Company in Wyoming. Union Telephone Company covers a lot of Wyoming and bits of Utah and Idaho, and a chunk of NW Colorado.

UT GSM World coverage map

UT GSM World roaming partner list

Union Telephone Company Coverage maps


Their 'Home' map has an interesting feature I have not seen in other coverage maps. The legend has 'In-building & Outdoor Coverage' and 'Outdoor Coverage' colorings.

[PhotoJim]

There's still a need for a phone that supports GSM 850 with this product too. Otherwise you are quite right that it is a good choice.

The advantage of T-Mobile is that $100 in it lets you keep it going for $10 a year. Therefore, for very low-minute users it is the most cost-effective solution at the expense of some coverage. (For example, AT&T has a much better network in New York City than T-Mobile does, although T-Mobile is alright.)

[adam917]

Do the new dual-US/UK SIMs allow you to use the 3G networks as well? This may be important down the road as the operators expand 3G coverage. There may even be areas w/o 2G that could have 3G. My single SIMple Calling SIM allows me to roam on just 2G for AT&T & T-Mobile (though w/ T-Mobile, I do not have an unlocked device w/ AWS band to test their 3G network).

[VladS]

Can't speak for the SIMple Calling SIM, but the dual IMSI Passport SIM would not roam on the Rogers 3G network.

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by adam917

My single SIMple Calling SIM allows me to roam on just 2G for AT&T & T-Mobile

Thanks for mentioning that, I hadn't noticed the Simple Calling doesn't work on 3G - mainly because I'm rarely in areas with 3G coverage! Tonight though I'm in a town that has an excellent AT&T 3G signal - works fine on 7-11 Speakout - but the Simple Calling (US/Canada edition) won't register on 3G (fine on GSM).

I really doubt there will be any areas with 3G coverage but not 2G, but if Simple Calling ever gets data 3G would be helpful. Another use might be during a disaster, if the 3G has more capacity than 2G.

[adam917]

Originally Posted by RTuesday

Thanks for mentioning that, I hadn't noticed the Simple Calling doesn't work on 3G - mainly because I'm rarely in areas with 3G coverage! Tonight though I'm in a town that has an excellent AT&T 3G signal - works fine on 7-11 Speakout - but the Simple Calling (US/Canada edition) won't register on 3G (fine on GSM).

I really doubt there will be any areas with 3G coverage but not 2G, but if Simple Calling ever gets data 3G would be helpful. Another use might be during a disaster, if the 3G has more capacity than 2G.

I hope they do decide to add 3G roaming on it as that will be important in the coming years after more users migrate to 3G & more sites become 3G, especially with T-Mobile's AWS sites & the whole new Bell & Telus networks coming about in Canada which will be 3G-only and could fill in some huge gaps in the Canadian GSM/UMTS footprint that Rogers never addressed, such as the Territories & Maritimes.

[RTuesday]

The Simple Calling sim is roaming fine today on Edge Wireless in Gold Beach, Oregon (30 miles north of California). Voicemail and balance shortcodes work OK.

Coverage map (also covers SE Idaho): Edge Wireless :: Coverage Areas

There is supposed to also be some AT&T coverage here but it doesn't exist in this part of town.

[rfranzq]

Thanks. I lived in Portland, Oregon for about 25 years ending in 2004 and I had never heard of Edge until I left.

[RTuesday]

3G roaming (on AT&T) worked for me yesterday, in Reno NV.