Cell reception on most islands is decent in town, terrible in the middle of nowhere.

It depends entirely on which island and where you are. If you’re on Maui near Lahaina or Oahu in Waikiki, expect solid LTE and decent streaming. Head up the Road to Hana or into the backcountry of Kauai’s Napali Coast, and you’re lucky to get a single bar for texts.

Streaming is where it gets painful. Even if you have a signal, bandwidth gets shared with tourists and locals, so Netflix might buffer constantly. Download everything before you leave your hotel.

Bottom line: you’ll have reception for calls and basic maps in populated areas, but don’t count on it for work video calls or streaming a movie on the beach. Bring a book.