Thanks for the advice. I did ask the folks at the store which phones had a reputation for being better in fringe areas but Samsung was actually their choice. *sigh* I think I could have almost been talked into trying another GNex but was warned it would not be returnable. Go figure. I think I might check out Apple's return policy. My hunch is if I buy my phone at the Apple store and it is defective then they will exchange it without charging a fee. I could be wrong but I'm going to look into that. When I did have a problem with an older AT&T iPhone the apple store hooks it up and runs diagnostics. Apparently the verizon stores can't do that. I didn't want another iPhone this time; wanted to give android a try but I'm not interested in being frustrated for months on end. Thanks again.