How many towns have no cell service?

[Michele]

I was at Hot Springs, NC earlier this year for Ed Speer's hammock hangout. I discovered you pretty much have zero cell reception in the town because it's in between mountains. Is this more common than not, meaning, do most trail towns not have cell service due to their location between mountains? I'll admit, the only reason I'm thinking of taking my phone is so when I'm in a town, I can talk as much as I want w/out taking up a payphone, and seeing my partner works really odd hours, I didn't want to be having to stand outside at a payphone at 1:00 a.m. to talk.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Cell service is essentially line of sight, though there is some signal reflection. For the most part the eastern US has fairly wide coverage, but as you might expect rural areas are not serviced nearly as well(economics), and line of sight issues are common. It is often quite difficult politically to erect towers and antennaes in rural areas, especially in areas that have powerful ecological political movements - Vermont is a noted example. Many times moving jjust a few feet(especially up or going outside a structure) can result in finding a signal. Further, just because an antennae is nearby does not mean you can communicate with it. Your service depends upon your choice of carrier, their co-op agreements with other carriers, your service agreement, roaming settings, updating your phones antennae list, etc. There are many sections of, and towns near, the AT where you simply won't get service, especially here in New England. These areas of no service get fewer every year, but the line of sight nature of cell technology pretty much ensures that you'll have communications problems whenever you are in mountain/valley geographies.

[the_iceman]

Michelle -

You may want to check the coverage maps for your provider. I use T-mobile and I have been painfully following the trail on their maps trying to decide if I should bring mine. Coverage is far better than I expected so far. I have found them to be spot on and actually more conservative than some. I get coverage where they say there is none. They also roam on Cingular which they show.

Mountain tops will probably be your best coverage. Just find a spot off the trail and away form people so you do not wreck anyone’s pure trail experience.

[Michele]

Mountain tops will probably be your best coverage. Just find a spot off the trail and away form people so you do not wreck anyone’s pure trail experience.


Man I hear that. I'm not sure I'm even going to turn the thing on while I'm on the trail. I don't want to wreck MY pure trail experience! :D

Thanks for the info. I've got Cingular and I'll take a look at their covreage maps.

[RiverWarriorPJ]

..I have Cingular also & I've had minimal coverage s & w of SNP....

[Blissful]

Altell is good for the south, Verizon for the north. We had gotten a phone to use on Altell but found out it's no good north of VA (even though the guy convinced my hubby it would be a good cell for the trail). Now they won't let us return it.

[Brushy Sage]

A cell tower is being constructed on Rich Mountain to provide service in Hot Springs.

[the_iceman]

Michelle -

Is it a GSM phone? If so I can share my research with you as a do it..

So far I have gotten as far as just north of Fontana

There is nothing near Springer.

The first time you will get coverage is Franklin.

The NOC looks like it has coverage

Fontana has none.

There is spotty cpverage for the first 20 to 30 miles past Fontana

That is as far aas I got.

[skyhiker2]

Michelle-

Partner???? That's hot.. but anyway,,, yeah I live in that area and we barely get radio reception. Seriously ,,, a station will come in untill you turn around the mountain then it becomes static. (It's kind of creepy if you think about it.. it is 2007 ya know)

[saimyoji]

I have Sprint PCS and get good coverage all the way from Hamburg PA to Boston following the mountain route.

On the trail I'm covered from Windsor, PA (just north of Hamburg, well east really) up to Water Gap, NJ.

Hope this helps.

BTW: If you are calling from a cell phone at 1:00 am, I don't think the shelter rats will mind if you duck out of earshot. Why wait till town?

[MedicineMan]

I recently switched from Cingular to Verizon.....been with Cingular for years, so why? At home the other day noticed a neighbor was using a cell and I asked which service-Verizon.
OK, so the next day I switched and learned that Verizon is deep in the mountains around me BUT with analog service. I chose an all digital cell phone but it still gets within a 1/2 mile of my house.......and now the tie-in to the AT...which is less than 1.5 mile from Hughes Gap as the crow flies. So for those who want to carry a cell there is hope.

[ed bell]

I've got Verizon down here and my phone has kicked over to analog quite a few times when I have checked a signal in Western NC/Tenn mountain areas. Analog helps you to get a signal in rather remote spots, but it will eat your battery power right before your eyes. Anyone else had this happen?

[Pokey2006]

I have Cingular, and couldn't get service in most towns down south. I had service in Franklin, and in downtown Erwin. That was about it. It was very frustrating, because I was only allowing myself to use it to call home from the towns, forbidding myself from using the phone on the trail. But the trail, on the ridgetops, was the only place to get service!

There are payphones and phones you can use at motels, etc. Some let you make calls for free.

But the good news is I pretty much had service in every town AFTER Damascus, right up into southern Vermont. As you go past the major cities of the east coast -- DC, NY, Boston, etc. -- you'll find you have a better signal.

[Michele]

Michelle -

Is it a GSM phone?

The Cingular website states my phone uses quad-band GSM....so I guess it is. I found out today that my phone works w/my pocket mail..so that's pretty cool.

[the_iceman]

The Cingular website states my phone uses quad-band GSM....so I guess it is. I found out today that my phone works w/my pocket mail..so that's pretty cool.


That is good to know. I think I am going to get Pocketmail as well. Do you have a Razr?

[Ridge Rat]

I have found in my sections that I have done that I usually get better service using cingular on top of ridgelines than in the towns. Maybe you would rather a lunchtime phone call then waiting until your in a hostel or motel room. Just duck off the trail for a few minutes and usually people dont bother you that much.

[Rain Man]

My last section was a day hike from Sam's Gap to Spivey Gap, NC on Thanksgiving Day. Although my Sprint PCS phone showed I had service now and again, here and there, along that 13 mile stretch, I couldn't get a call to connect right.

When I could get it to connect, it was very very garbled and staticky and I might understand every second or third word. Or, it'd go straight to voice mail, but with the same problem. Neither I nor my wife on the other end (in the car waiting on me) could make heads or tails of things.

Here's my question... would text messaging have worked, where the voice method failed??? We didn't think of trying text.

Rain:sunMan

.

[Lilred]

I think it would Rain Man. You only need a signal long enough to connect, then it sends, and it keeps trying to send till it gets that signal.

[Kerosene]

Text messaging is attractive when reception is shaky because your message will eventually get through, correctly, once you get a signal for a short amount of time. Much less frustrating that trying to hold a voice conversation.

That said, your phone will use a lot of its battery trying to periodically establish a signal.

[Old Grouse]

The northwestern part of Connecticut through which the AT passes has notoriously bad cell service for all providers.

[rafe]

Generally good coverage from eastern PA (Lehigh Gap) through MA, with Verizon. Phone went on "roaming" several times, but that doesn't bother me. Beyond this stretch of trail, I can't say. There was something odd about Great Barrington, MA. My phone didn't work there, but there must have been some other cell service that did work. PS: agree about the poor coverage in parts of CT.

[handlebar]

The Cingular website states my phone uses quad-band GSM....so I guess it is. I found out today that my phone works w/my pocket mail..so that's pretty cool.

Michelle, I had a lot of difficulty using my pocketmail with my cell in 06 for any more than a few lines---and then only with a 4-5 bar signal. (I have Cingular). As others report I only got that kind of signal from Mountaintops. Interestingly, I got signal at Whitehouse Landing in the 100-mile wilderness.

Recommend using land lines for the pocketmail when you're in town. Many hostels and a few bars and restaurants will let you hook up to the 800 number for a few minutes.

Happy hiking!

[The Weasel]

Just watch out for "network slamming" where a different network takes over your signal and you pay massive roaming charges without realizing it's happening.

The Weasel

[the_iceman]

I know t-mobile works in Barrington, MA (full bars) and near the shelter just south of Dalton, MA

[Lone Wolf]

I was at Hot Springs, NC earlier this year for Ed Speer's hammock hangout. I discovered you pretty much have zero cell reception in the town because it's in between mountains. Is this more common than not, meaning, do most trail towns not have cell service due to their location between mountains? I'll admit, the only reason I'm thinking of taking my phone is so when I'm in a town, I can talk as much as I want w/out taking up a payphone, and seeing my partner works really odd hours, I didn't want to be having to stand outside at a payphone at 1:00 a.m. to talk.

The NOC has excellent cell phone service.

[Skidsteer]

The NOC has excellent cell phone service.

It ought to.

I've built enough towers around there.

[Lone Wolf]

It ought to.

I've built enough towers around there.

you can see a tower from the community dining hall.

[Skidsteer]

you can see a tower from the community dining hall.

Likely not one of mine then. Closest I came was about two miles. Probably couldn't see it from NOC.

[Yeti2006]

phone cards are lighter, and don't annoy other hikers. Nothing angers me more than hearing a phone ring while backpacking, or anywhere in the woods for that matter. If your thru hiking, there will be plenty of people around with cell phones in case of emergency, and towns are only a few days apart what could you possibly need that couldnt wait? Just my opinion.

[rafe]

phone cards are lighter, and don't annoy other hikers. Nothing angers me more than hearing a phone ring while backpacking, or anywhere in the woods for that matter. If your thru hiking, there will be plenty of people around with cell phones in case of emergency, and towns are only a few days apart what could you possibly need that couldnt wait? Just my opinion.

Calling for a reservation or arranging for a trailhead pickup to a hostel/ hotel/ whatever... Chatting with the wife for a few minutes each day. It's hardly a necessity, but can be convenient. I don't receive calls on it.

[Sly]

phone cards are lighter, and don't annoy other hikers. Nothing angers me more than hearing a phone ring while backpacking, or anywhere in the woods for that matter. If your thru hiking, there will be plenty of people around with cell phones in case of emergency, and towns are only a few days apart what could you possibly need that couldnt wait? Just my opinion.


Calling for a reservation or arranging for a trailhead pickup to a hostel/ hotel/ whatever... Chatting with the wife for a few minutes each day. It's hardly a necessity, but can be convenient. I don't receive calls on it.

The original question was about cell service, or lack of it, in towns. Try not to turn the thread into something it isn't.

While calling cards are light and convenient, finding a phone that isn't tied up in a town, on a trail as busy as the AT, isn't always easy.

[Undershaft]

I don't spend much time in trail towns, and rarely "check in" from town. I find it's a lot easier to make a call or send a text msg from the trail. However, I spent two days in Damascus at Trail Days this past May and the cell reception there was pretty spotty. I had to walk around a little to find a "sweet spot" where I got solid reception. This spot was just behind the hostel where I had a clear line of sight to a tower. This was the only place in Damascus that I had enough of a signal that I could make a clear phone call. The other places in town only had enough signal to send a text msg. I use Verizon as my service provider.

A question: why carry a cell phone and a pocketmail? Most cell phones that have come out in the past few years are able to send and receive e-mail. The service plan might cost an extra ten dollars or so, but won't be much more expensive than paying for both a cell phone service plan and a pocketmail service plan. You would only have to carry one electronic device, have to pay only one bill, and shave half a pound of weight from your pack. Just my thoughts on the subject, YMMV.

[the_iceman]

Undershaft -

Pocket mail works with any phone including the land line at a hostel where you can call an 800 number.

As you just attested even the great verizon is spotty at best.