Phones and Phone Plans and Staying Connected

[marshmallow muncher]

Hi there,

First of all, I am planning a NOBO thru hike hopefully in 2015. I am from Canada, and am trying to find a way to stay in touch with people back home - mainly parents. However, I don't know how I should go about doing it.

I already have an InReach device (like a spot) that lets me send texts via satellite when it's paired to my iPhone, or I can just use it and send pre programmed messages. But for 5 months I am planning on bringing my phone - I usually use it when I'm hiking in the Rockies here, where I can easily go multiple days without any kind of service. I could use that but its heavy, and expensive to send lots of messages. I also know that there will be of cell service in towns and on top of mountains. Is my reasoning correct? Should I just leave it at home?

I could also just use my iPhone. Its unlocked, so I can use it on any carrier as long as I have a sim card. However I'm not really sure how I would go about doing that; as I'm not living in the states and so I don't have an address., or credit and you usually need those in order to get a plan. Or at least you do in Canada. I also don't particularly want a plan as I plan on going back to Canada when I'm done.

What do you recommend? And if you recommend just the phone - which carrier?

Also, are there any special considerations that I should think about since I'm not a US resident?

Thanks!

[Feral Bill]

Service for US cell phones in Canada (or through Canadian towns when near the border) is crazy expensive. I expect the reverse is true. Maybe a pre-paid phone acquired here would work.

[Ronbo17]

Check w walmart. Smart talk. Prepaid (just purchase SIM card) an it will work with your iPhone on the AT&T network.

[Cuacoatchoo]

Whats your budget?

For weekend camping I use a regular smartphone. but For longer distance I'd probably want something with more battery life. Supposedly Nextel came out with one a year ago that last 37 days. But their normal 10-20 dollar ones used to last me 5-7 days on a charge (haven't used a "dumb" phone in a while). The major drawback though is that a smartphone would be nice for getting directions to town if/when you need to hitchike/resupply.

If you go smartphone you might want to consider the extra weight of one of those booster batteries.

Disclaimer: I haven't done georgia to maine yet. : )

[Mick3y]

I transitioned away from smartphones, even in my daily life. I use a prepaid phone from h2o wireless, it runs on the AT&T network and costs $0.05 per minute or text. As for the phone I have a Blu Tank T190i which I charge once a month. The SIM card for h20 cost $10 and the phone cost $15. You can add time cards in $10, $20, and $30 which provide 90 days service OR you can add $100 which provides a full year of service. The phone with battery weighs 90g.

I also have a Nokia 1112 which I have just started using. It claims 15 days battery life on a standard battery. I just purchased a battery with a little over double the capacity and am going to test it to confirm battery life. The phone with battery is 80g and a spare battery is 20g. So if the battery lasts as I expect you can have 2 months of battery life for 100g.

The battery life numbers are with assuming the phone is left on 24/7 with decent coverage. I would suggest keeping the phone off and only turning it on when you plan to make a call or while you are in town. That would drastically improve the battery life, possibly allowing you to complete the thru without needing to charge at all.

[Starchild]

How often do you wish to communicate and how long is too long to communicate?

If it's daily (nightly) mandatory then you would need something like 'spot'.

If it's pretty much every day but OK to skip a day or 2 now and again, Verizon cell service. It won't give you constant service but usually you can get areas of coverage now and again and can predict where they are, such as hill/mountain tops and line of sights to towns. Note Verizon cell service is incompatible with sim cards

If it's OK to communicate from town to town with the possibility of a unexpected message from the trail then ATT cellular, though ATT improves up north.

If OK just town to town then you could get away with WiFi.

[marshmallow muncher]

Thank guys, I have more research to do I guess. Are ATT and Verizon the only cell phone carriers in the states? I thought you guys had more options than we did.

Also, thanks Mick3y for using metric!


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[gravityman]

I will 2nd the walmart STRAIGHTtalk for data/iphone. They have a website. $45/month, sign up with a credit card pay by the month. Sister to tracfone. Tracfone is an option if you don't want data, just voice and text. Buy a prepaid phone, add minutes as you need to in town. About $0.12/minute or so.

[gravityman]

PS straight talk can be either verizon or att depending on what you sign up for. It's pretty hard to figure out which one you are signing up for.

[Starchild]

Are ATT and Verizon the only cell phone carriers in the states? I thought you guys had more options than we did.

There are more options but those are the main 2 and the only 2 that really matter on the AT, but there are resellers of such services, so...

Verizon and Verizon resellers - pretty good coverage of the AT considering it is in the woods and all

ATT and ATT resellers , second place, now where near Verizon, but yes it does work along the trail in some places as well

All others, might work in towns, should work if you happen to take the train into NYC, bu really not much more valuable to a thru hiker then in town wifi.

[Mick3y]

The two best deals I've found on prepaid service are re-named/resellers of AT&T and Verizon. A phone can be had for either service for as little as $20.

H2O wireless is AT&T at $0.05 per minute or text.

Page Plus Cellular is Verizon and it ranges from $0.04 to $0.10 per minute or text depending on the amount prepaid.

[jimmyjam]

You will need service thru Verizon on the AT. With Verizon you will have service 95% of the time with AT and T maybe 10%. Get the track phone from walmart . 45 a month unlimited everything . I am using one now. Just be sure it is a Verizon service phone as walmart track phones are also available as att and others .



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