- Airvoice is out due to lack of coverage. As is Virgin and H20.
- PagePlus seems like the obvious choice. But making our existing phones work with PP seems like an adventure.
- Platinumtel seems great but Sprint coverage without roaming won't cut it.
- Ting may win out. But it chaps my hide that we have to buy new phones.
It sounds like the weak networks in your area are AT&T and Sprint, and at minimum Verizon has strong coverage. Ting might be an option as they do allow Verizon roaming, but they are primarily a Sprint MVNO, which means they'll want you to primarily use your minutes on the native network. Since Sprint is right out due to your statements about Virgin and P'tel, Ting probably wouldn't be a good choice anyway.
Re-check P'tel's coverage map. The thing to understand is that yes, they were a Sprint MVNO the past 12+ years, but they're actually transitioning over to T-Mobile RIGHT NOW. They're selling SIM cards and the whole nine, and will be phasing out their Sprint users by March-April 2013. This means their
network coverage map is drastically changing, and from what I know of T-Mobile, they have pretty decent coverage there in Husker territory. Like I said, AT&T has to be getting their roaming coverage from
somebody... that somebody appears to be T-Mo.
As for Page Plus, what phones do you currently have? Yes, there's models that Page Plus doesn't officialy support, and models that aren't supposed to be brought over at all... but if they're in the MSL code unlock, change and go territory, you're golden. It's downright trivial to get set up, too, and you should be walked through it. Several non-technical people in the community here have easily transitioned over from Verizon to Page Plus with no difficulty. If you're really concerned, get in touch with the folks over at
Kitty Wireless and give
this amongst other things a read from their documentation.
TheDude here on the forums is a pretty ardent supporter of P+ as well, maybe give him a poke. You're going to have to buy out your contract anyway, might as well do so before you port your number out so you can still potentially use or even sell your handsets if you want.