Poor coverage for past 10 years in Upstate SC

Question

We have endured 10 years of abysmal coverage from Verizon and are so tempted to go elsewhere. We would like to ditch our land line but can't.  Verizon keeps advertising they are expanding, even bringing expanded 4G LTE and have the largest network, while some of us still get 1X.  Regardless of what any map shows, there is no 4G here, only 0-1 bars of 3G sometimes, and many times only 1X with 0-1 bars.  We are only 7 miles from a major Interstate exit, only 6 miles from a Verizon store, and if you go towards the exit and store, not 3 miles away, you can get 5 bars and 4G.  We've been through multiple phones over the years, so it's not the phones.  It's not our home, coverage is still bad at the road at a high point and even down the road a mile or so in the other direction towards the Interstate, where data and calls have dropped.  I've called customer service many times so they can ask me the same questions, I give them the same answers, and then they proceed to tell me we're in a marginal service area.  Gee, you think???  So why not do something about it?  Southern Greenville County in SC is a VERY under-served area if you ever get on a map of cell towers, yet we have subdivisions out here too.  How about expanding where people need service for a change, instead of ignoring us.  And they want us to PAY for the privilege of a network extender so that we can run their service through OUR Internet.  It is very disappointing.  Don't get me started on the service near the SC/NC coast where a friend of ours lives.  They just got 4G in the last year and service is still kind of spotty.

Answer 1

One more thing, even when the phone shows 3G, not a whole lot happens when you do try to use the data.  It's almost like there isn't a data connection, so bad as to be unusable most of the time.  I usually just have to turn data/calls off and switch to Wi-Fi when I get home, which means no calls without standing by a door or over the toilet in the bathroom, lol.