On Jun 19, 9:24 pm, Redigoogle <redicl...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I live in a mountainous area in northern California.
....
> Recently, within the last three to five months,
> Verizon service has changed noticeably even dramatically.
> So much so that some of my friends have changed providers.

This could be to a change in roaming agreements; your phone may have
been receiving service from a different carrier, even though it didn't
show roam.

Changing to a different phone might help, as would an external
antenna, such as those made by Wilson Electronics.

As far as different phones, both of my Motos do very well in fringe
areas. Unfortunately, both have been discontinued, but still might be
found on eBay. One is a 325i, the other an 815. The 815 easily has be
best reception of any digital-only phone I've used.