With beaches, Disney, national parks, and so much more, Florida is a state with something for everyone. With around 22 million residents, it is a bustling state that sees some serious heat all year long. Whether you are preparing to move down there or are simply dissatisfied with your current cell phone service, we are here to help you find the best cell phone coverage in Florida. We’ve done the research and are here to tell you all about the top three cell phone carriers in Florida. This article will break down the top three carriers for the best phone coverage in Florida, what we like about each carrier, and help you decide which one is right for you!
Our research found that AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Cricket Wireless are the top three for best phone coverage in Florida overall. This article features detailed information on the following:
Florida is a big state with a lot of separate regions. As you can see in the above Map, AT&T and Verizon dominate the best cell phone coverage in Florida. The major difference between the two is that AT&T’s coverage is better in its weaker areas. Where Verizon has the best coverage, AT&T is close behind. Where AT&T has the best coverage, occasionally, Verizon’s is significantly worse or nonexistent. There are also various complaints about Verizon’s congestion in Florida, with serious slowdowns all around the state.
The best cell phone coverage in Florida changes with your location, but AT&T is the best overall. Let’s break down the top three.
The top three carriers in Florida are AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Cricket Wireless.
AT&T is your best option for cell phone coverage in Florida. It keeps its top spot with very reliable cell phone coverage all around the state, with a fast 5G network backed by its 4G LTE network. Additionally, AT&T’s robust network evades congestion more than the other two networks, helping all their users keep high-speed data as much as possible.
The third carrier on our list is Cricket Wireless, a Mobile Virtual Network Operator. MVNOs rent their bandwidth from the big three networks to give their customers cheaper access to data. The two major downsides to MVNOs are that their plans offer limited high-speed data and lower data priority, meaning your data gets slowed down whenever bandwidth is strained. Cricket Wireless, fortunately, offers a pair of plans with unlimited high-speed data, but customers will experience more data slowdowns than AT&T’s customers. Data priority is most important in cities or areas where a lot of people are gathered, like the various metropolitan centers in Florida, especially ones that see large gatherings for events or tourism throughout the year.
Out of all the carriers, AT&T takes the crown for the best cell phone coverage in Florida. AT&T’s coverage is reliable and fast, with few dead spots or other slow zones relative to the other major wireless carriers. Whether you are in Tampa, Tallahassee, or are living in the ‘burbs, you can access your mobile network confidently, knowing that you are covered.
Price: Varies
Plan: AT&T offers three unlimited plans at various price points.
AT&T offers three unlimited plans.
AT&T’s unlimited plans start at a high price point and become much more affordable with the addition of new lines. Multi-line savings are similar among the three major providers and are essential to avoid paying huge cell phone bills each month. These are the basic details of AT&T’s three cell phone plans:
AT&T’s premium plan also comes with UHD streaming which is quite nice. It does mean, however, that the other two plans available at AT&T only allow SD streaming when on mobile data. This is a good time to think about what you need from your cell phone plan. Things like unlimited high-speed data, HD streaming, and mobile hotspot data can be incredible parts of the plan as long as you use them. If you notice that parts of your current cell phone plan won’t give you any value, we recommend looking for plans without them. If you live in one of the bigger Floridian cities, you may find data slowdowns when you use basic data, but AT&T’s network in the metropolitan areas is regarded as super strong and rarely congested. Their Florida coverage exceeds either of the other major wireless networks regarding strength and reliability.
Verizon falls behind AT&T in network overall, but they still deliver a great network in and around Florida. Verizon’s big 5G Ultra Wideband network provides insane network speeds, but they are still rolling it out. This leads to certain areas where their max data speeds are through the roof, while others are in a range comparable to AT&T and T-Mobile.
Price: Varies
Plan: Verizon offers a pair of unlimited plans. One has unlimited high-speed data, and the other has unlimited premium high-speed data.
Verizon offers two unlimited plans.
These plans bring a lot to the table. Both have unlimited high-speed data, and the unlimited plus brings a number of additional incentives to the table, including:
Verizon’s premium data is nice, but dissatisfied customers report occasional slowdowns even when using premium data in Florida. Data slowdowns in Disney are to be expected, but customers report unstable data speeds in all the major metropolitan areas of the state. Although Verizon’s max speeds are amazing, their network has a lot of holes. The good news: Verizon’s basic 5G network and their 4G LTE networks provide a blanket of coverage where their Ultra Wideband does not reach.
Verizon offers a wide variety of add-ons, which are nice bonuses to their service. The best part — they are optional. Each add-on is $10 a month and saves you some money on the service, but if none of them seem like things you need, then you can skip it entirely and stick with the base plan.
If you are thinking that this coverage map looks familiar — You’re right! Cricket operates through AT&T’s mobile network, so you will receive the same coverage throughout Florida as you would with the major wireless carrier. This is an amazing way to receive the best cell phone coverage in Florida without paying the premium prices of AT&T’s network.
Price: Varies
Plan: Cricket Wireless has four plans, two of which provide unlimited high-speed data and two that provide limited data.
Cricket Wireless's four plans for one line are as follows:
While the base pricing of Cricket’s plans is rather pricey, the company provides excellent multi-line savings.
These multi-line savings are what really draw us to their service. Cricket is one of the more expensive MVNOs, but they provide unlimited high-speed data with their two more expensive plans, justifying the cost in our eyes. As they work on AT&T’s network, you can rest assured that Cricket’s service in Florida is one of the best.
Cricket’s two unlimited plans provide unlimited high-speed data which is what separates them from the other AT&T MVNOs in our eyes. There are few MVNO data plans that offer the same. Make sure you read the fine print as you browse the offerings. Lots of MVNO unlimited plans offer unlimited 3G data and a limited amount of high-speed data, taking them out of the running for high-data users. Most of these plans offer between 30 and 50 GB per month, which, while sizeable, is not a lot if you use your phone on the mobile network every day. As data speeds increase, so does your phone’s data consumption. It is all too easy to burn through any limited data allocation before the month is done, leaving you with slow, slow 3G data for the rest of the time..
This article highlighted two of the three major wireless carriers, but rest assured that T-Mobile is another fantastic option for the best cell phone coverage in Florida. Their 5G network, while not as reliable as AT&T’s, covers the majority of the state and outputs excellent connection. This article only delivered three cell providers, but many more are available if none of these seems like the right choice for you and your fellow account members.
One of the biggest factors in choosing a carrier is whether you are a single-line account or a multi-line account. All of the options on this list benefit greatly from multi-line accounts, but there are many carriers that have fantastic single-line deals. Two of our favorites are Tello Mobile and Visible Wireless. Neither offer multi-line savings but have great single-line pricing. Visible Wireless offers unlimited high-speed data for only $30 a month on Verizon’s network. Tello Mobile offers various low-data plans, perfect for those who don’t need to use much mobile data.
AT&T has the best cell phone coverage in Florida with its high-speed and very reliable network across the state. It bests Verizon because of Verizon’s recent congestion issues. Cell phone activities use more and more data, and all three major networks are racing to keep up with the recent increase in data consumption.
AT&T has the best cell phone coverage in SW Florida. Their network reaches the edges of Florida, providing reliable coverage out to the beaches.
While AT&T is the best overall, T-Mobile does exceptionally well in the Southern parts of Florida. They are almost as fast and reliable as AT&T, making T-Mobile a great choice for cell coverage in Florida.
AT&T and T-Mobile are equally fast and reliable in South Florida. If you have either carrier, you will receive excellent coverage as you travel to South Florida.
Use really.com to compare!
Florida offers many excellent options for solid cell phone coverage. With so many metropolitan centers throughout the state, all three major wireless networks have upgraded their cell coverage. If you want more info about plans available in Florida, you can compare carriers at Really.com to decide which phone carrier is best for you.
Yep, we offer premium wireless service on the T-Mobile® 5G Network, the nation’s largest and fastest 5G network. If you are in our dewi coverage areas, you’ll also get access to our decentralized phone network powered by the people which will give you even faster speeds and better coverage.
Nope, it’s pay as you go.
Yeah! You put your card on file and prepay each month so that you never experience any disruption.
Yep, but it’s super easy to unlock your device as long as it’s paid off. Chat with us and a real human can help you here.
We have some recommendations on what we think you should get, from iPhones to Droids. Check out our list here which includes affordable places online to get a good deal.
It means we are building a phone network that is powered by the people. Your neighbors put small radios on their roof and help extend the phone network to cover deadzones™ and get even faster speeds. Right now our DeWi network is available in Austin, but we’ll be expanding to other cities REALLY soon. Learn more about DeWi here.
Great question. If you’re in Austin, TX, you’ll install 2 new SIMs. The REALLY nationwide SIM as your first SIM, which will give you voice / text & data on the nation’s largest and fastest 5G network powered by T-Mobile®. Your 2nd SIM will give you access to the REALLY DeWi network in Austin, TX, which you’ll prioritize when available so that you get even faster speeds and better coverage. Depending on your device, you may be able to install eSIMs via a QR code.
Yep, we are powered by T-Mobile®, the nation’s largest and fastest 5G network. If you are in Austin, TX you’ll also get access to our decentralized phone network powered by the people which will give you even faster speeds and better coverage.
The plan is unlimited, but once you reach 20GB you may experience slower speeds depending on network usage.
You get 10GB of hotspot data per month, but can add more if you need to.
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