Before you decide which phone is right for you find out which carriers have good reception where you live. If you live in a big city you can usually choose any of the major carriers.

Don’t look at coverage maps. Coverage maps are basically a marketing ploy. Instead, ask people who live and work in your area which carriers have the best reception.

Don’t sign up with a carrier unless you know that they provide good reception in the places where you spend most of your time. This includes your home, work, business trips, and vacation destinations.

As a rule, Verizon Wireless has the best overall coverage in the US. For the rest of the carriers you will need to investigate locally.

Coverage ins-and-outs Cell phones are in fact just an advanced version of the old walkie-talkies we all came to love as kids and are not always going to have 100% perfect reception.

And, when the cell phone salesman at the local dealer is about to close his sale the last thing he is going to do is wreck it by telling you that the local mall is a dead zone! (an area where cell phone has poor or no reception)

We have found that if you question a cell phone sales man about dead zones and coverage they will try their best to give you an honest answer and hand you a useless coverage map which isn’t more than a marketing piece.

The worst case scenario is after you’ve signed a one or two year contract, you then go home, or to your office or on vacation only to discover the new service plan you’ve just signed is worthless because you have no coverage.

Unfortunately, you realize too late that most of the places you make your calls from are dead zones, so much for the carrier coverage map.

So you can’t count on the carriers and dealers to be super helpful about coverage issues. Their sole purpose is to sell you phones and plans.

Again, our research has revealed that Verizon has the best overall coverage than the other major carriers but a good tip is to always try out a friend’s phone in the places where you talk the most!

Note: Also remember that most carriers will give you 2 weeks to 1 month to try out your coverage before you get locked into a new contract.

Use this time span wisely, trying out your new phone in key spots and if there are any problem do not hesitate to contact your new carrier and if need be cancel the contract.

Do not be timid, most of us learn by trial and error. Better to find out sooner rather than later and be locked into a contract you can’t get out of.