Cel Phone Signal Strength Where You Climb?

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Trad climber

Dawson, GA

Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 20, 2005 - 11:33am PT

I'm considering changing my cel provider and thought it might be a good idea to see what kind of reception climbers in various areas get with their phones. I don't carry our cel all that much on routes, in part because I don't get much of a signal. We climb all over the US and Canada and know that you can't get honest info from the companies themselves. So, what do you use, where at and how reliable is the signal?

Thanks,
Scumbutt

NeverSurfaced

Trad climber

Someplace F*#ked!

Jan 20, 2005 - 11:45am PT

Sh#t, I don't even get a signal within 100' of my house!

up2top

Big Wall climber

Phoenix, AZ

Jan 20, 2005 - 12:07pm PT

Your best bet for coverage is Verizon. Not the cheapest out there, but a good value. Cingular/AT&T is excellent on the east coast -- still contracting with other providers and building their own netwrok out west. Their coverage is very adequate in metropolitan areas and major highways, but not as good off the grid in the west as they are in the east.

Sprint -- sucks.
Nextel -- sucks.
T-Mobile -- getting better in less populated areas, but still sucks. I'd pick them third in coverage behind Verizon and Cingular.

Those are my opinions, anyway. No refunds for the advice should you deem it full of mallarkey.

Ed

Rhodo-Router

Trad climber

Otto, NC

Jan 20, 2005 - 12:09pm PT

Sprint sucks

Melissa

Big Wall climber

oakland, ca

Jan 20, 2005 - 12:38pm PT

My limited experience w/ this is that that in the boonies the cell towers are less likely to have been upgraded to the latest technology. The old style digital (TDMA) phones are more likely to work. You have to specifically ask for these phones since the cell companies are trying to phase them out.

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?

Jan 20, 2005 - 12:47pm PT

I'm on Bell Mobility Canada. When I'm in the states - specifically Yosemite - I'm on some roaming signal, so I don't know what provider they use. I can tell you the cell phone signal is really good on the SE face of El Cap, and not bad on the SW face. If you're at the base of the SE face, you should walk out on the talus below A.O. Wall for the best signal.

wildone

Trad climber

Yosemite, Ca

Jan 20, 2005 - 01:02pm PT

Wow. I've had the exact opposite experience as you, uptotop. I have At&T/Cingular, and my experience has been that in rural areas, my phone service kicks the pants off of all the other ones that you mentioned that my frinds have. This while in rural cali, nev, Ore, WA, ID, Mt, BC, etc... And with regards to analog, when my phone can't get a digital signal, it automatically goes to analog, then roam.
b

Melissa

Big Wall climber

oakland, ca

Jan 20, 2005 - 01:02pm PT

I actually got AT&T TDMA b/c Werner checked out what protocol the towers in Yosemite used. There's an old thread here somewhere with more details. It works well when it works. For Yosemite, it comes in throughout the valley (like from just beyond Pulpit Rock) and tuolumne, but not in the Merced Canyon beyond the town of Merced. I've never had a problem with it in cities. I don't travel much, but I can say that it gets spotty coverage in Joshua Tree as you get towards Trashcan Rock, then it comes in fine. It works in Red Rocks, as do most phones, probably, although I haven't ventured back into the canyons with it. I think it works in Zion....Wildone, sounds like you don't have an old-protocol phone and that's probably why you get signal? I think the new towers all support TDMA, but the TDMA towers don't support the new phones.

up2top

Big Wall climber

Phoenix, AZ

Jan 20, 2005 - 01:10pm PT

Yeah, the Cingular/AT&T stuff is second best in the back woods these days. Mainly because Cingular now has all of AT&Ts old TDMA infrastructure in addition to the GSM (new technology) they acquired from them.

The only mobile towers in the Valley, itself, right now are still the old TDMA AT&T towers. If you have an old TDMA or dual-band AT&T phone, or one that will do TDMA as a roaming network provider (like Pete's) you'll be able to get service in the Valley.

Verizon, overall, has the best digital coverage in the backwoods area of any provider out there. They have more digital towers than anyone on the planet -- just not one in Yosemite Valley yet.

Ed

up2top

Big Wall climber

Phoenix, AZ

Jan 20, 2005 - 01:11pm PT

So, doc...do you have a mobile phone?

Festus

Mountain climber

Antelope Valley

Jan 20, 2005 - 01:22pm PT

I can't climb for sh*t, but I can figure this thread as a sign that the apocalypse is right around the corner. What's next "Cel Phone Signal Strength Where You Surf?"

"Dude, Verizon works bitchen in the line-up at Mavericks, but it sucks at the Pipeline."

up2top

Big Wall climber

Phoenix, AZ

Jan 20, 2005 - 01:39pm PT

You're floating in the pool of insignificance just like me.

Good article:

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/electronics/wireless_plans_-_cell_phone_plans/fullstory.html

Melissa

Big Wall climber

oakland, ca

Jan 20, 2005 - 01:45pm PT

After I'd wasted yet another day when I potentially could have been climbing by driving circles around the valley and leaving notes in the dirt of my partners' trucks, I decided that it was time to let go of resistance to getting a cell phone. When I'm driving or sleeping alone in my truck off the highway in some ultra-safe, well trafficked locale like Mojave, I like having it too.

Your surfing analogy makes it sound like surfers are too good to use cell phones. An afternoon drive down highway 1 in between SF and Mavericks to look at the fancy cars with boards on top and and guys exiting their business casual to get into their wet suits would tell you that that apocolypse came and went a long time ago. Heck, if surfing was still so insulated from modern communications, I wouldn't even know what Mavericks is, let alone been part of an electronic contact list informing me when the Quiksilver(tm) Men Who Ride Mountains (tm) competition would be occuring.

Festus

Mountain climber

Antelope Valley

Jan 20, 2005 - 02:06pm PT

Melissa, you're right, it came and went--and, hey look, we survived! My little (mediocre to bad) joke was only to say that I think something really valuable is lost--if you're not careful--when you use technology where you don't really need it. Hey, I can't surf for sh*t either now, but back when I did a fair amount of it, it was about paddling out and pretty much leaving everything else behind--which I'm sure it still is for most. Same thing for climbing, I'd guess (or, at least, I hope). I'm more of a backpacker than a climber, and I get having a cell phone tucked in your car or pack for emergencies, but beyond that, well...

up2top

Big Wall climber

Phoenix, AZ

Jan 20, 2005 - 02:10pm PT

On the other hand, it makes it a lot easier to call in sick to work if you're in the middle of an epic. I extended my stay in the Valley that way a couple of years ago.

Ed

Festus

Mountain climber

Antelope Valley

Jan 20, 2005 - 02:13pm PT

Ed, you're right, and I do use mine to call in the occassional bomb threat and shut down work, but that's an emergency use, dammit!

Melissa

Big Wall climber

oakland, ca

Jan 20, 2005 - 02:15pm PT

I think climbing (and surfing) still is what you say. I don't make a habit out of bring my phone on climbs with me (although there's a time when I think this is reasonable), but I sure do like having it on road trips when I trying to keep the rest of my life in motion so that I can climb more.

Festus

Mountain climber

Antelope Valley

Jan 20, 2005 - 02:25pm PT

I don't disagree with that either, and I realize there's no going back for most, but I wonder if anyone really climbs/surfs/hikes or whatever more because of what they can do with a cell phone. My guess is that pre-cell we'd have found (and did find) a way, and the road trip out there was a helluva lot more fun 'cuz everything was instantly left behind the moment you left the driveway.