These are charts for LTE coverage. You might be more interested in a 3G chart, which is sufficient for safety in wilderness and will have more coverage.
Apparently 3G is being phased out by AT&T (and I think most other providers have already left 3G) in the US.
Which sucks because I can get a 3G module for my iot projects for 5$ and I think 4G modules start at 50$?
Are we just at the mercy of 4G now for services that need large coverage but low throughput? I know 5G technically has a spec for IOT type stuff but I haven't seen anything about it, and I haven't seen modules for it.
It’s been awhile since I’ve been near this space, but I know that several LTE-A vendors were at one point working on the low-bandwidth RAN tech for IOT in the 5G spec. Not sure if that changes anything about your post, but at least it’s not been totally ignored.
Which sucks because I can get a 3G module for my iot projects for 5$ and I think 4G modules start at 50$?
Are we just at the mercy of 4G now for services that need large coverage but low throughput? I know 5G technically has a spec for IOT type stuff but I haven't seen anything about it, and I haven't seen modules for it.