There is no single answer to the question about what cell phone provider works best here.
It depends.
“Ask those who live around you what cell phone provider they are using and how well it works for them,” says Curtis Sheets. “And good luck. It can vary quite a bit over just a few feet.”
There are now seven cell phone towers on the mountain and two in Stoney Creek, says Sheets. He is the lead administrator regarding cell towers on Wintergreen property in addition to his job as chief of Wintergreen Fire and Rescue operations.
There is also a new-ish T-Mobile cell tower near Devils Backbone where Routes 151 and 664 intersect next to the long-standing Verizon tower. A new T-Mobile tower also recently went live on Route 151 near Rockfish Presbyterian Church.
At one time AT&T had an overall coverage edge here, but with the merge of T-Mobile and Sprint, this new company now has the most towers here. Verizon–which has only one tower on Wintergreen’s property–has had the best coverage in Nelson County, notes Sheets. But, that’s changing, too.
There are already some 5G towers at Wintergreen and they will eventually all be super-fast 5G. But most will not be able to drop their internet service provider anytime soon. 5G uses a shorter wavelength than 4G. "The shorter wavelength means 5G can carry a lot of data much faster than 4G, but it also means a much shorter range," this October 2020 article in Business Insider explained. "So to ensure a reliable 5G signal, there needs to be a lot of 5G cell towers and antennas everywhere. ...even trees can block 5G signals.”
While there are more towers here and many of the towers have been improved, as a public safety professional Sheets would like to see more of Wintergreen covered with adequate cell phone service.
Much of the northern half of the homes on the mountain now have no cell coverage and there are dead spots in Stoney Creek. While he couldn't go into specifics, he said the property owners association would likely "cut a deal" with a provider to broaden the coverage in some areas.
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