Best Phone Coverage in San Bernardino, CA: Cell Service in the Golden State

With just over 200,000 residents, San Bernardino is the largest city in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. It is close to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Palm Springs and is known for its adventurous outdoor activities and vibrant culture in the city. There is a lot of exciting activity within the city, and it’s received a lot of network upgrades from the major wireless carriers in the recent past. This means there is some congestion in the city, but not so much that MVNOs are out of the running. 

Finding the best cell phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA, is key to staying connected during your travels. This article will list the top three carriers for the best cell phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA, what we like about each carrier, and how to decide which is best for you.  

Our research found that  Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Visible Wireless are the top three for best phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA. This article features detailed information on the following: 

• Map of the fastest cell phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA
• Local and national carriers that cover San Bernardino, CA
• Frequently asked questions about phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA

Phone Coverage in San Bernardino, CA, at a Glance

Lightning-Fast Data Speeds on Major Networks

Southern California is a sunny and open spot of the country that’s filled with amazing cities and towns, beautiful natural sights, and long stretches of open roads. The popularity of Southern California’s many cities and towns has drawn in many residents and tourism, which, in turn, has drawn the attention of major wireless providers. Most of Southern California, San Bernardino included, enjoys excellent 5G coverage. 

Let’s take a look at the carriers that provide the best cell phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA.

Local and National Cell Phone Carriers in San Bernardino, CA

The top three carriers in San Bernardino, CA, are Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Visible Wireless. 

Verizon’s network is the strongest in San Bernardino, CA, closely followed by AT&T’s network. Both have strong 5G networks in the area with solid 4G LTE coverage, shoring up the gaps. We recommend major wireless networks over MVNOs in this area due to overall congestion. 

A major wireless network is any provider that owns its own network. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are the big three major providers in the United States. They cover maintenance and upgrades on their network, and their customers receive unlimited high-speed data and fewer data slowdowns in exchange for more expensive cell phone plans. 

Mobile Virtual Network Operators are the other kind of cellular provider in the United States, and they are companies that rent network bandwidth from major providers. They offer cheaper cell phone plans that often have less high-speed data and a lower data priority, meaning your data gets slowed whenever bandwidth is strained. Data priority is most important in big cities so you will receive less daily congestion. 

Let’s look at which of these carriers use the network that gives people in San Bernardino, CA, the best phone coverage.

#1 in San Bernardino, CA: Verizon Wireless

Fastest 5G and 4G LTE in San Bernardino, CA

We’re starting this list off with the one and only Verizon Wireless. We favor Verizon over its MVNOs in San Bernardino due to the network’s congestion. Read on for more information about Visible! Verizon Wireless is a mobile powerhouse with high data speeds in areas of great coverage. Their Ultra Wideband 5G network gives out the absolute fastest data speeds in the country, but it is not yet out in full force. 

Even so, Verizon’s normal 5G network and its 4G LTE networks make up stellar nationwide coverage. Let’s take a look at what Verizon has to offer.

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. 

• Welcome Unlimited, priced at $65/55/40/30 a month per line
• Unlimited Plus, priced at $80/70/55/45 a month per line

While expensive, multi-line savings make these two plans much more affordable. On top of unlimited premium data, the Unlimited Plus comes with the following: 

• 30 GB mobile hotspot
• Device savings
• Price guarantee
• Premium data

The premium data and mobile hotspots are the headliners of Verizon’s premium cell phone plan. While basic data on Verizon is still slowed down less than MVNO data, paying extra for premium data means you always have the fastest data Verizon can offer. 

We recommend starting with the Welcome Unlimited cell phone plan, as you may not have much congestion in your day-to-day activities. Congestion is always hard to predict. Certain times are when there are big events in the city, like festivals or concerts, but any group of people all streaming on their phones may bog down a certain block of the city. Due to this, we like to start with basic data and switch if you notice regular congestion on your device. 

There are many areas around the country where Verizon’s network is strong enough to keep everyone using full-speed data, but there are a lot of other areas, especially in big cities, where data is slowed down almost every day. 

Alongside the base plans, Verizon offers a package of optional add-ons that each add $10 to your cell phone bill. The best part is that you can skip them entirely and stick to the base plan price, but if you find any Verizon add-ons you like, adding them to your plan always saves a few dollars on the service. 

Regardless of your chosen plan, the multi-line savings make Verizon’s service much more affordable. Spending a flat $65 or $80 for your service line before taxes and fees is a lot of money. Finding like-minded people to share the account is an excellent way to get some of the best phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA. 

👍 What We Liked

• High-Speed Coverage. Verizon’s 5G network provides the fastest data speeds in the country. Speeds so fast that sometimes you don’t know how to handle them. San Bernardino residents enjoy these lightning-fast speeds
• Family Plan Savings. Verizon's family plans to make up for its single-line costs. There are huge savings if you get together with a few people who are willing to share services from Verizon. 

👎 What We Didn’t Like

• Price. Even though they have a strong network and provide services to make the price worthwhile, Verizon is very expensive. If you plan to open a single-line plan, the best way to utilize Verizon’s amazing network is through an MVNO like Visible Wireless. 
• Customer Service. This appears to be a common trend among cell phone companies, but there are many negative experiences with Verizon’s customer service.

#2 in San Bernardino, CA: AT&T

Best Cell Phone Plan Range in San Bernardino, CA

AT&T’s network is a bit weaker than Verizon’s in San Bernardino, but it still provides excellent service to its residents and people around the state. 

AT&T has excellent 5G and 4G LTE coverage in California. It especially rises above the competition on the coast and in the Bay Area. AT&T is your best bet if you spend a lot of time on the beaches of California.

AT&T offers basic and premium unlimited high-speed data. Their basic data is strong, and their premium data ensures you have maximum data speeds no matter where you are. Let’s look at all of AT&T’s cell phone plans.

Price: Varies

Plan: AT&T offers three unlimited plans at various price points. Their price is comparable to the plans at Verizon. 

AT&T offers three unlimited plans. 

• AT&T Unlimited Starter Plan
• AT&T Unlimited Extra Plan
• AT&T Unlimited Premium Plan

Like all major wireless networks, AT&T’s unlimited plans start at a high price point and become much more affordable with the addition of new lines. With three cell phone plans, AT&T has a basic plan with new bells and whistles, a medium plan, and a premium plan with many extras. 

• AT&T’s starter plan has unlimited high-speed data with 3 GBs of high-speed hotspot data.  
• AT&T’s extra plan includes 50 GB of premium data and 15 GB of high-speed hotspot data. 
• AT&T’s premium plan includes unlimited premium data and 50 GB of high-speed hotspot data.

Unfortunately, AT&T limits streaming speeds on all but their premium cell phone plan. This makes their other plans imperfect for people who like to stream video when out and about. If you have a big commute to work and like to boot up your favorite Netflix shows or watch some TikTok, you will notice significantly less resolution than when you stream on WiFi. You can mitigate this by downloading shows in advance and trying to connect to WiFi whenever you can. 

👍 What We Liked

• Large 5G Network.  AT&T has a great 5G network. It is fast and covers almost all of California. AT&T is constantly working to improve its coverage and the speed of its network. 
• High-Speed Hotspot. High-speed hotspot data is a great emergency pool in case you ever need to connect your laptop, and there’s no WiFi in sight. 

👎 What We Didn’t Like

• SD Streaming. Cutting video streaming off at standard definition for the starter and the mid-tier plan is a tough sell for anyone who likes to stream video when on the move. 
• Mid-Tier Premium Data. AT&T’s Unlimited Extra Plan is nice, but an account with three lines might use all 50 GBs of premium data in the first week of each month. 

#3 in San Bernardino, CA: Visible Wireless

Most affordable cell phone plans in San Bernardino, CA 

Last but not least is Visible Wireless, our favorite MVNO for San Bernardino. 

Visible is perfect for high-data single-line users. They do not have multi-line savings, but their unlimited high-speed data plan starts at $30 for a single line, which is amazing compared to the competition. Visible uses Verizon’s network, which provides some of the best cell phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA.

Let’s look at what Visible Wireless has to offer. 

Price: From just $30/month

Plan: Visible Wireless has two wireless plans. Each of them has unlimited high-speed data, an amazing feature of this MVNO. The two Visible Wireless phone plans are as follows:

• $30 per month for Unlimited
• $45 per month for Unlimited plus

Visible is great for any San Bernardino, CA resident. Many other MVNOs, while they have unlimited plans, do not offer unlimited high-speed data. It is common for these plans to offer unlimited 3G data and a limited quantity of high-speed (5G or 4G LTE) data with each plan. They are often well-priced but only provide between 25 and 50 GB of high-speed data. 

Visible is the perfect plan for you if you use more than that each month. There is a striking difference between 3G and 4G LTE data speeds. On 4G LTE, you can do almost everything on a smartphone, barring HD streaming and mobile gaming. Websites take a bit longer to load, but only a few seconds. 

3G data speeds, on the other hand, let you do almost nothing on your device. As median data speeds grow, mobile app and UI developers have upped the data needed to run many applications. We recommend high-speed data at all times, and Visible ensures that’s the case! 

One of the big benefits of major wireless networks is the priority data. Anytime there is stress on the bandwidth, the network owner will slow down all MVNO users. This frees up some bandwidth for their customers to keep maximum speeds. In cities and other major population centers, networks often slow down their MVNO customers. Visible Wireless users run into that risk. 

👍 What We Liked

• Affordable Plans. The low price point of Visible’s unlimited plans is a huge draw for single-line users. 
• Verizon’s Coverage. Verizon Wireless has great coverage in San Bernardino, CA. 

👎 What We Didn’t Like

• No family plans. There are no multi-line savings from Visible. Their plan is great on its own, but what you see is what you get. 
• Data deprioritization. We do not expect your data to slow down due to deprioritization in San Bernardino, CA, but you may find slowdowns if you travel the country.

Get to Know Your Local Carrier Options in San Bernardino, CA

We focused on Visible, Verizon, and AT&T in this article, but there are many more MVNOs available in the area. If you are interested in more information regarding the cell phone plans in San Bernardino, you can compare carriers at Really.com for more information. 

There are a number of MVNOs on AT&T’s network that deliver fantastic cell phone coverage to users in this area. Our favorite MVNO that didn’t make this list is Cricket Wireless. Cricket is one such MVNO that also provides unlimited high-speed data, like Visible. Cricket’s plans are expensive, but they have multi-line savings that look similar to major wireless networks, making it a great choice if you are interested in some MVNO savings while retaining unlimited high-speed data. 

FAQ: Your Questions About Cell Phone Coverage in San Bernardino, CA, Answered

Who has the best cell phone coverage in California?

Verizon Wireless provides the best cell phone coverage in California, closely followed by AT&T. 

Is AT&T or Verizon better in California?

Verizon is stronger around the major cities, but AT&T provides the best service in the less populated areas of the state. 

How do I determine which cell carrier has the best coverage in my area?

We recommend looking at local message boards and coverage maps to determine the best cell carrier in your area. While Verizon’s network is the best overall in the state, there are many locations where its network is weaker than the competition.

TLDR: Verizon Wireless is your best bet for fast phone coverage in San Bernardino, CA

Use really.com to compare! 

Whether you live in San Bernardino or are planning a move, we hope this article has answered all your questions. Cell phone coverage is crucial to stay connected on your travels. Both MVNOs and major wireless providers are great choices for residents in the area. If you want more info about plans available in San Bernardino, CA, you can compare carriers at Really.com to decide which phone carrier is best for you.