Fulltiming cell phone provider - Montana Owners Club

Montana_3334 · 05-19-2005, 07:55 AM

Hi! again
Thanks for the good input when I asked about the 3400RL model. Finally bought it, and my wife LOVES it. The house is up for sale and when it sells we are gone. Unfortunately the real estate market in this part of Michigan is pretty depressed, so it may take awhile to sell.
We plan on travelling the country and would like to see what MOC members prefer for cell phone company's. Which one has the best overall coverage? We want to use it for our e-mail connection as well.
Also I saw a cell phone antenna booster for sale, any comment on that?

Thanks!

vickster · 05-19-2005, 09:20 AM

Ian and Kathy - Last fall I asked a very similar question. You may want to do a topic search on cell phones and I am sure you will come up with lots of good information. Based upon the replys to my thread, we decided to change to Verizon. Having traveled for the winter, we were very pleased with the service, reception, etc. We experienced very few areas where we could not get service - mainly in the Big Bend National Park in Texas and Chirichaua National Park in Arizona. Good luck in your research.

Glenn and Lorraine · 05-19-2005, 01:05 PM

One word "Verizon"
As of yesterday we have been fulltiming 19 months and have had Verizon for not only our cell phone but our air card as well. The air card is what I use for internet access.
Been very pleased with the connections with the exception of the state of Kentucky. Not sure what the problem is but apparently Verizon has no towers in Kentucky.

adelmoll · 05-19-2005, 01:51 PM

To be on the safe side we have one phone from verizon and one with cingular. Don't want to be without.
Bill and Helen

Kathi · 05-19-2005, 01:53 PM

VERIZON!!!

sreigle · 05-19-2005, 02:32 PM

We have used Cingular throughout our fulltiming and have been so very pleased with the coverage that we have absolutely no desire to use anything else. We even had cell coverage in Big Bend National Park except when we were up in a valley within the mountains. Cingular's map shows the park as a no coverage area but we had coverage then entire eight days we were there. We do not have an external antenna nor do we have a super duper phone. We use the Nokia that comes free with the service. I'm sure there are other good services but Cingular is the only one I can comment on from experience all over this country.

Charlie · 05-19-2005, 04:28 PM

Another vote for VERIZON!!!!!!

stiles watson · 05-19-2005, 07:06 PM

You have another Verizon user here. I have used other carriers but have finally settled on Verizon. The family plan works for us.

jsmitfl · 05-20-2005, 05:14 AM

Get Verizon. They got out real well even up in the wilderness areas last fall. Oh and for a note here. Did anyone see the thread on TV news last night about not being able to call 911 with their cell service bought online. Appears alot of the companys were not subscribing to it. And the ones that did were transfering the calls directly to the Sheriffs Admin. offices. Of course they are open 24/7 right? Just a heads up here.

tollmann · 05-20-2005, 10:04 AM

CINGULAR has my vote. Great coverage and "roll-over minutes".

richfaa · 05-20-2005, 02:02 PM

I'm with Cingular..Verizon and Cingular are about the same..Cingular has the roll over mins..you can roll them over for one year.If you have two cell's it is best to be with the same carrier (family plan) Helen and I can call each other and it cost nothing and we do a lot of that...

uhftx · 05-21-2005, 02:25 AM

A word of caution. No matter which carrier you go with. Put some thought into which manufacturer, model or phone you get free/small charge/or pay big bucks for. My wife has always had Nokia phone. The cheap free one. And we have no complaints about this phone. I have an other brand (older model) and Do not get the same reception and more frequent dropped signals. I'm sure its the phone we both have the same service provider. So ask about phone's and model #'s.

Also be sure the Phone you get is Tri Mode. Some phones are digital only and you won't receive the same coverage as one that will drop back to analog mode when digital service is not available.

The way it works is if company ABC doesn't have digital coverage in a particular area they may contract with another provider for analog service. This all takes place without U or I knowing about it.

With a National plan you will never know or most likely never see it on you bill, dependent on the company you choose. With Regional plan you may see extra charges for areas outside your coverage area and additional charges for roaming and maybe additional charges for analog service.

If you have a digital only dual band phone you can not access the analog signals because the phone is not capable. In fringe area's analog may be your only signal available. If you are full timing go with the national plan without a doubt.

AMPS is the Analog mode. It stands for Advanced Mobile Phone Service If you do a search on the web site below.

Good luck in your search

If you want you can go here to start looking for phones
http://www.phonescoop.com/

Parrothead · 05-21-2005, 05:53 AM

We recently switched to Verizon and it has worked much better for us than ATT did. All of our family has Verizon so we get a lot of free calling. I also choose them because of the internet access they offer, We don't use it now but probably will when we travel. DirecWay is kind of heavy and takes a bit to set up so we won't use it unless we are parked for a week or more.

jrgwdenner · 05-21-2005, 05:32 PM

We have Verizon for good coverage and internet connection. For about $35.00 you can buy a Mobile Office Kit and get the cable and software that you need. I think you can around most of this expense by buying on ebay, etc. After 9:00 pm and on the weekends you get free, unlimited internet access. I added my dad who happens to be in another state to my family plan. Don't think that people have to live next door to be on your plan. We also have Cingular now that our second phone has been added to the family plan with our daughter's phone as the primary phone. My question for anyone using Cingular for an internet connection, what is your monthly charge? Can you use the connection for free during your off-prime minutes? We actually get on Cingular at 7 pm for an extra five dollar monthly fee.

sreigle · 05-21-2005, 07:37 PM

Judy, we've used our Cingular phone for internet connection and paid zip/nada/nothing extra. We have a separate isp (highstream) and the phone just acts as a modem, dials the isp, and connects.

Uhftx, good info. Our Cingular Nation Plan shows 'Cingular' when we're using one of their towers and something else (forgot what) when using someone else's. Fortunately ours does both digital and analog. We've been very happy with the coverage we've had with Cingular. I think there are several good choices out there, just like with nearly everything else. Get what works best for your situation.

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