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5 airports with best/worst cell phone reception

September 22, 2016

A study finds Oakland International has the nation’s best cell phone service. (Image: Oakland Airport)

Although Los Angeles International is one of the busiest airports in the nation, a new study of cell phone service quality at the 50 top U.S. airports in passenger volume finds that LAX ranks dead last. By contrast, Oakland International ranked number one. (See rankings below)

When it comes to carriers, Verizon ranked highest, AT&T came in second. T-Mobile ranked third and Sprint came in last place.

RootMetrics collected data on data speeds and connection reliability for the four major network carriers (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint) by sending testers equipped with off-the-shelf smartphones to all 50 airports. Results vary not only by airport, but by carrier as well, so the company compiles overall composite scores for each facility.

The company carries out these surveys twice a year, and the results show significant changes. For instance, in the second half of 2015, Oakland ranked 33^rd overall and now ranks first. Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport jumped from 16^th place last year to second place today, and California’s Orange County Airport rose from 35^th to fourth place in the rankings.

BEST

And Los Angeles? “Due to very slow speeds and shaky reliability, LAX has routinely appeared in the bottom five. This time, LAX placed dead last for the same reasons. It’s not necessarily a surprise, though, given the fastest median download speed we recorded at LAX was 88.0 Mbps slower than that of our #1 finisher,” RootMetrics said.

What does that difference mean in practical terms? Say you want to download an HD episode of a 45-minute TV program, which takes up 600 MB. RootMetrics said that if you were at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson (which ranked sixth overall) and used AT&T (with a median download speed of 40.4 Mbps at that airport), it would take 2.0 minutes. By contrast, a Verizon user at LAX (median download speed 0.5 Mbps) would take more than two and a half hours to do the same thing.

You can read the full report here, including a comparison of the overall performance of the four network carriers; the full rankings of all 50 airports; and an interactive feature that lets you compare median download speeds and connectivity rates for the four carriers at Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth and New York JFK.

Airports in the top 10 in addition to those mentioned above include Southwest Florida International in Ft. Myers (3^rd), Boston Logan (5^th), Indianapolis (7^th), Sacramento (8^th), Dallas Love Field (9th) and Chicago Midway (10^th). Among very large airports, Newark was in 11^th place, O’Hare 14^th, San Francisco 19^th, Miami 24^th, DFW 25^th, JFK 29^th, and LaGuardia 40^th.

Worst

Readers: Do you run into issues with cell phone reception at airports? Which carrier do you use and why?

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International roaming with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile

May 18, 2016

Using phones in other countries getting cheaper, easier (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Remember when turning on your mobile phone while roaming in another country felt like opening up your wallet on a windy day? Thankfully, that ripped off feeling is on the wane.

Recently AT&T announced that it will add free roaming in Canada and Mexico. This comes on the heels of Verizon’s recent introduction of the helpful, cheaper TravelPass plan. And it all started with T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan, offering free data and texting and 20-cent calls in 140+ countries.

AT&T:

Starting this Friday, all AT&T customers on Mobile Share Value 15GB and higher plans will have unlimited calling, texting and use of their plan data in Mexico. (Customers currently on one of these plans just have to call, use the MyAT&T app, go online to www.att.com to enroll.

Also starting this Friday, new and existing customers with AT&T’s new Unlimited Plan will have unlimited talk, text and data in both Mexico and Canada. To add the AT&T Roam North America feature on your phone or tablet, just go to www.att.com. (AT&T plan details here)

Business customers on a MSV 15GB or higher plan can get the new features as well. Business customers who activate on new Mobile Select plans priced $20 per month or higher will automatically receive Mexico roaming benefits.

Image: Verizon

Verizon:

If Verizon is your smartphone carrier and you travel the world a lot, you have a new option called TravelPass. Priced at $2 a day per line in Mexico and Canada and $10 a day in 65 other countries, the new plan lets you “take your domestic talk, text and data allowances with you,” Verizon says.

The $2 per day deal is excellent for quick trips to Mexico and Canada. But that $10 daily fee

Using TravelPass in Australia was easy…and much cheaper than last time I was there! (Chris McGinnis)

elsewhere still seems pretty high, even though it’s at least better than Verizon’s pricey monthly plans.

Once you sign up for TravelPass, the fee kicks in when you receive a call, connect to a data service, or send a text inside one of the 100+ countries where it works. Once that 24 hours is up, the daily fee won’t kick in again until you receive a call, connect to a data service, or send a text – at which point another TravelPass day will begin.

To sign up go to MyVerizon.com and select “manage international services” or use the MyVerizon app on your phone to activate it before embarking on a trip. Once at your destination, you’ll receive a text message welcoming you to the country and reminding you of the service and the daily fee.

T-Mobile:

T-Mobile has the most economical plan for international travelers– unlimited calling, data and texting in the U.S., Mexico, & Canada is automatically included with its Simple Choice plans.

The Simple Choice Plan also offers unlimited data and texting in what it says are “95% of the places Americans travel most” That is currently 140+ countries and destinations. Details on using T-Mobile overseas.

I just wish T-Mobile worked better inside my house and around SF!

Which carrier do you use when traveling overseas? Do you instead rely on wi-fi connected apps like Viber? Are you happy with your current plan? Please leave your comments and tips for other readers below.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: United’s newest, longest flight + Tipping Uber drivers + Qantas 747 Trip Report + Confusion over PreCheck policies + No-fee earlier flights

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Are you a “data traveler?”

December 30, 2013

The average business traveler checks his or her email 34 times per day when on the road…and 75% of business travelers say that their mobile phones enable them to get more sleep at night. Find those and several more insights in this interesting infographic from Mophie, the makers of those mobile phone battery packs that keep us juiced up all over the world.