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WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS Jackson County cellphone users seek a strong signal, sometimes in vain Report on cellphone coverage shows highs and lows of local service Comment By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 2:18 PM Updated Aug 21, 2015 at 4:48 PM By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 2:18 PM Updated Aug 21, 2015 at 4:48 PM --> The Mail Tribune solicited Facebook comments from local cellphone users about their coverage. Here are some of their comments: David Bray: U.S. Cellular works every time, even in the m... » Read more X The Mail Tribune solicited Facebook comments from local cellphone users about their coverage. Here are some of their comments: David Bray: U.S. Cellular works every time, even in the mountains and at the mountain lakes. Dorinda Hogue: I've had Boost Mobile for about six years now and haven't had any problems with it. Jason Ziegler: Sprint has dead zones all over town. Especially on Maple Park Drive. I've had AT&T, Verizon and Sprint here. AT&T and Verizon have worked almost everywhere. AT&T has a bunch of dead zones in Gold Beach and all over the coast. Verizon doesn't. Gold Beach is a dead zone for Sprint. So far my Verizon phone works everywhere. When I was with Sprint, I lived in Maple Park Drive and it didn't work at all in my house. It was a total dead zone, that's why I left Sprint. I left AT&T because of billing issues, not coverage issues. Leticia Medina: Verizon gets almost everywhere, I love it. Isha Pralou: I'm going on 20 years at Sprint, and my signal can be weak even in town. We used to drive to Portland one or two times a month, and no problem. I was once told, and the info could be outdated now, the valley has four major towers and belong to Sprint, with that said, Sprint Boost gets the better signal. Liz Huffman: Hated U.S. Cellular when I had my Galaxy S3. It had terrible coverage, and I was always roaming. As soon as I switched to my iPhone 6, I have not had one problem. I haven't found a place where I don't have service yet. Keri Kessler: With AT&T, and southeast Medford is a black hole for me. Kathleen Kellenbeck: Things have gotten progressively better. Verizon, even compared to the old U.S. Cellular service, has improved incrementally; actually even in last year for phone coverage areas. We keep talking about getting a landline to make outgoing calls. Even with an extra little tower in our house, the reception is inconsistent. There is a spot right around Blackwell Hill where there is always a dead spot. We used to have an office in Grants Pass. Inevitably, in the middle of a conversation, it would drop between exits 35 and 40. Chris Henry: I've been using U.S. Cellular for about 15 years for business and personal. Anytime I had trouble with coverage, they seemed to take care of it fairly quick. I've heard plenty of complaints about the other providers. Bunny Lincoln: AT&T coverage is extremely sporadic on the Green Springs, east of Ashland. It's very frustrating because I have four jobs that require good access. Jackie Smith: AT&T will not work on Crowfoot Road up by Lost Creek Lake. That's why I had to change service providers. Candy Lipscomb: U.S. Cellular works almost everywhere! Shelby Pulliam: Verizon works pretty well. Rick Tree: Verizon, and all carriers, have a big hole in southern Eagle Point. I worked for 40 years in the telecom industry. Lisa James: AT&T works well for me near Eagle Point and traveling, but Verizon owns Portland, and it's spotty up there. » Social News Anyone who has traveled with a group of people using different cellular companies can tell you that not all cellphone reception is created equal. There are good spots, bad spots and just plain old dead spots — and they're often different, depending on which provider you use. If you're in Oregon, Verizon is your best bet for avoiding a digital blackout, according to Bellevue, Wash.-based mobile analytics firm RootMetrics. The company recently posted its semiannual report detailing the quality of cell coverage throughout the U.S. Verizon's overall performance topped the charts in 48 states, including Oregon. The New York-based firm also led in the categories of reliability, network speed, data and call quality during the first half of 2015. The measures employed by RootMetrics indicate Verizon is on a hot streak, having outperformed its competitors since the beginning of 2014, a year in which it spent $52 million to improve its infrastructure in Oregon. That doesn't mean Verizon is best for everyone, however, as, like its brethren, it has its problem spots. RootMetrics focuses on the nation's top 125 markets and 50-busiest airports, meaning Jackson County isn't on its primary radar. However, there is secondary data extrapolated from people using its crowd-sourcing app on their mobile devices.  "We don’t use a Google Car approach," said RootMetrics spokesperson Annette Hamilton. "Rather, we have a fleet of employees that get behind the wheel and drive randomly selected routes." RootMetrics' coverage map  reveals there are places in the Rogue Valley where the quality for any particular service has problems. Verizon, for example, gets a poor rating near Wilson and Lincoln elementary schools, Foothill Road, the Larson Creek Shopping Center and the corner of East Barnett Road and Ellendale Drive, which happens to be where the local IRS office is located. According to a coverage map generated by users, AT&T has failing grades near Boise Cascade on North Pacific Highway, Railroad Park and North Medford High School. If you're a T-Mobile user heading west on Highway 238 from Jacksonville, just turn your phone off and save the battery until you reach Red Lily Vineyards. The area around the Country Store at the intersection of Kings Highway and Garfield Street also gets a poor grade for T-Mobile. For Sprint, troubles pop up along Highway 62 in White City. A Facebook query of cell customers posted Thursday by the Mail Tribune turned up many more trouble spots. It also revealed that U.S. Cellular, which is not included in the RootMetrics' detailed research, has strong coverage in the region. Hamilton said RootMetrics tracks only the top four wireless companies, which boast the lion's share of subscribers, according to FierceWireless. "AT&T, generally seems to work everywhere I've needed it," said Medford resident Steve Ryan, who responded to the Mail Tribune's Facebook query. "It would be nice if it worked in more rural and remote areas, though. When I had U.S. Cellular back around 2000, it worked everywhere. It even works in the basement of (Asante Rogue Regional) hospital, too." For many cellphone users, there is a love-hate relationship with their provider, based on the benefits of the service. But for telecom veteran Ryan Mallory, now the co-owner of online crime and public information service Scanner Group LLC in Talent, there are other factors. "Most cell providers like to provide national coverage numbers," Mallory said. "AT&T looks great because it's older and larger and has made upgrades. But the local coverage map is what matters the most. The providers with the most towers in the area, who have focused on their 4G upgrades, are best for citizens spending most of their time in a geographical area, especially if you go out into the sticks." Most cell towers are planted along highways and byways, which adds to the challenges for providers in the mountainous West. "If you choose your company by the metro areas they serve, but don't live in a metro area, you're paying for a lot of areas you don't go," Mallory said. "I'd say 95 percent of the people living in Southern Oregon spend most of their time in Southern Oregon." All the cell service maps in the world are of little help to Julie Gray, who lives on a particularly hilly stretch of Pioneer Road west of Phoenix. "The only coverage we get here is AT&T, and it comes and goes," Gray said. "We're so close to other people with great coverage but we don't get it."  Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or  [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at  www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness , on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31 , and read his blog at  www.mailtribune.com/EconomicEdge .     By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 2:18 PM Updated Aug 21, 2015 at 4:48 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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