T-Mobile Prepaid coverage is worse than regular T-Mobile, or just no cell towers?

Lost my job and couldn't afford my Verizon plan anymore, so switched to T-Mobile Connect prepaid (bestphoneplans.net said it was one of the few in my price range that didn't de-prioritize data). I live in a rural part of the East Coast, and at my house with Verizon I had 4-5 bars. With T-Mobile Connect, I now have 1. At my favorite park nearby where I used to have 2-3, I now have none - can't call, use GPS, nothing.

Is this a drawback of prepaid plans? Or is this just that T-Mobile doesn't have towers where I am? There was a Verizon prepaid I also considered (MobileX) but it looked sketchy. Would it have the same coverage I did before?