[at-l] Newbe Question. Cellphone coverage

[TrailR at aol.com (TrailR@aol.com)]

In a message dated 4/10/2005 6:28:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time,  
thornel@attglobal.net writes:

Jason  has entered the strange world of cyber-hiking with the dreaded 
question of  cell phone coverage!

Welcome to the list, Jason. Cell Phones tend to be  one of those topics that 
elicit rage from some quarters, particularly  those able to detect your cell 
phone, hidden away in your pack, turned  off, yet somehow ruining their 
personal sense of wildness.

In  general, cell phones are not worth their weight due to poor coverage and  
limited battery life. I can assure you that Cingular is essentially  useless 
in the mountains of NC and TN. Verizon seems to have a better  reputation. 
You will find some towns do not have coverage, for instance  Hot Springs, NC
**
I carried my cell phone on my Thru in 2003.
My service was Verizon, which seems to have the best coverage.
If you carry a phone because you HAVE to use it to talk to someone 
every day, you will be disappointed... If you carry it for security, or for 
emergencies, chances are it won't have service when you need it... 
So don't "DEPEND" on it.
If you carry it to call someone once in a while (from a mountain top), 
then go for it. It's a "want", not a "need"... Just be discrete when using  
it.
It was a convenience for me, to contact home about maildrops & gear, 
to say hello once in a while, to arrange pickups when family was coming, 
etc... I could have done with out it, but carried it anyway. I got the  phone 
with the longest battery life, bounced the charger ahead, and kept it off, 
unless I was using it. 
 
hotdog AT 03
**



911 coverage is one of those possible bonuses that often fails  to actually 
help. One still has to be able to direct 911 to your location,  with self 
evacuation usually a better plan for aiding rescue. You have  essentially no 
control over where your 911 call would go, with centers in  NC or TN failing 
to connect to each other or have familiarity with AT  names and places.

But welcome to the list. Grab a log by the cyber  campfire. I hope someone 
will find that bag of smashmellows and let you  toast one.

OrangeBug