Kim, If your phone fails while under contract you should be able to replace it with an upgrade. The problem you're having was the same issue that owners of iPhone 1's had around here side by side with other phones (nokia) they couldn't get a signal. Today, out on the water my Samsung and a friends HTC have the strongest signal compared to all others no matter the service provider. It's been a game around here for years. The new Sony phone is really nice as well, and it's water proof. If you read books on your phone the larger screen are great. Samsung has a layer called touch wiz that makes reading a pleasure, you should try it.
LG are OK, for second tier phone, but they run on raw android which is kind of clunky, so unless you like to wrench on your phone it's not that much fun to use. Perhaps the new iPhones will have larger screens, I know many who would trade-in their iPnones for a larger screen. I use my phone as a TV remote...a lot...these days, and it has all the programming built-in. Lit background, really the best remote by far, and the phone controls my thermostat, lights and fan, alarm an security cameras.
My point here is that if your considering an LG you may want to look at other android devices, there are better choices. ;-)
We have Verizon and AT&T service around here, with Verizon being the biggest and best carrier. If there's another carrier, they aren't big enough to consider. Many of the cell towers have come up for variance issues with planning commissions and city councils, so they always hit the local paper, thus we tend to know who owns which tower.
My bigger gripe is that my service, and this phone, is supposed to do satellite connections. Now the fishing boats are out there using these satellites, so I know the blast thing is up in the sky, but my phone can't ever find it. Friends who have non-Motorola phones are always able to connect to the satellites.
Still, I need to decide whether I want to spend the bucks for the iPhone, or pay just a few bucks for a non Motorola replacement.