I am trying to purchase a cell phone for my AT trip this year. I know that even if the range of service from all of the providers will vary some in the mountains. Which cell phone service did you find to be the best. AT&T, Verison, T-Mobile, Sprint, others. Thank you. If you are taking a cell phone this year on the AT which phone are you planning to take.
Margaret
There is no better than Verizon. Period. Seen all the other carriers come up short on the AT compared to Verizon.
The thru hiker formerly known as Jeff
Thanks Jeff. That at least resolves one of my questions. Now for the phone itself. I will definately go with Verizon. That lets the Apple iPhone out in favor of one of the Verizon phones. I sort of wanted the iPhone, but don’t like AT&T. Thanks.
Margaret
Stumpknocker used the LG nV last year on the AT with great success until Maine. He incurred no Verizon service in Maine. I plan on using the LG nV2 this year and then switch to pocketmail in Maine if I’m fortunate to get that far. The LG nV makes it easy to send text as well as photos using the phone’s 2 MP camera.
Ned
Ned
I had a Cingular (AT&T) phone with me on my 2006 AT thru- hike. I felt it worked pretty well throughout the hike. There were times where I had service and the Verizon phones didn’t and then there were times the opposite was true. One time when neither worked and a guy with Alltell had service, Verizon just bought them out.
This is not to say the phone worked everywhere it didn’t. I would just turn it on from time to time to see if I had service, I was surprised with all the places it did work. I had service in Maine too, I was surprised that it worked in the 100 mile wilderness at Chairback Gap Lean-to, Antlers Campsite, White House Landing and Hurd Brook Lean-to.
Old Goat
Look at the coverage maps. I know that I have used verizon and sprint and for wilderness coverage, verizon kicks everyone’s butt.
I used Verizon in the 100 mile wilderness in Maine and on Kathadin to get ahold of my folks who picked me up.
windex
Our local Verizon dealer has someone who will and can hijack the iPhone for Verizon service. Of course it voids warranty.
SouthMark
I sincerely appreciate all of the responses. I am going with Verizon. I have selected the Blackberry Curve as my device. It will do all of the things I need. Thanks again.
Margaret
I think I know what you are talking about Ned when you said no Verizon service in Maine. US Cellular bought out the Maine region from Verizon I think a year or two ago. But both Verizon and US Cellular work together and do not have any overlapping coverage. I have US Cellular here in West Virginia but once I go out of the state I use Verizon towers. And if a someone with Verizon comes to West Virginia or an other US Cellular area (such as Chicago) they use US Cellular towers. It does not bother me because I have a national plan. So Margaret, if you do go with Verizon, you will probably be roaming in Maine, but reception wont too much of a problem, all things considered. Coverage wont be perfect, but it’ll be decent.
My brother is a member of the Best Buy geek squad. He’s a electronic junkie. He left Verizon to get the iPhone. Loves the iphone, misses Verizon’s coverage.
The thru hiker formerly known as Jeff
In 2008, there was coverage for outgoing and incoming phone calls with Verizon in Maine, although spotty. It was the data service feature that was non existent along the Trail through Maine. That made it impossible to send journal entries for uploading to TJ. Mrs Gorpinski, the sixth Stumpknocker transcriber.
MrsGorp
Margaret,
I too used a Verizon phone on one of my hikes. Here is a bit of advise, get the GPS option. Your system may or may not tell you where you are in the woods but, when near a main road, it will tell you where everything can be found in town. Library, laundry mat, hotels and such. It was nice to be able to barter for a good price.
Have fun, WB
Wilderness Bob
I tried this with a Treo smartphone a couple of years ago. You’d be better off with newer Garmin gps and an ordinary phone. Your Blackberry will be dead 3 days after you charge it and you will need a vehicle or hotel room to charge it again. Using the gps will increase the battery drain a lot. At least, with a dedicated gps you can just throw in another set of AA batteries. Of course, you could mitigate this by carrying several extra rechargable batteries for the phone, but then you’ll be carrying a lot more stuff.
bearcreek
I sincerely appreciate all of these responses. I did get the GPS and the Maps features on the Blackberry Curve phone (weight 4 oz) so I am covered. I don’t plan to leave the GPS (Navigation) on while I am hiking. I just want to be able to check where I am occasionally. Between the Navigation and maps features, I should be ok. That seems to work for me. Look forward to seeing some of you on the AT this year. Thanks again.
Margaret
Margaret - A problem with cell phones is that they will lose coverage then regain it often in a trail environment. Each time that happens, a lot of power is consumed by searching for and switching towers. In addition, smartphones are constantly getting e-mail pushed to them and that eats some power as well. Even when they are turned off, some power is being used. I would suggest that you remove the battery when you aren’t using it to make it last longer.
Most of the gps programs for smart phones do not place the maps on the phone, but downlod them in real time via the internet. If you are in a no-service area, the proper maps won’t be installed. If you could find a program that can be set up so the desired maps are pre-loaded on the phone that would be a plus.
Here is a link to a bunch of programs for Blackberry GPS:
http://blackberry.handmark.com/c/325/GPSMapping
Have a great hike - I’d be interested in hearing how the phone gps works for you.
bearcreek