PDA

View Full Version : tracfone coverage



gillbilly
02-10-2011, 18:58
Anyone know about tracfone coverage on the trail.....work may have to call me.....not that i'll pick up:cool:

couscous
02-10-2011, 20:38
Going to be the same as AT&T .. very spotty. Nothing in Damascus.

hikerboy57
02-10-2011, 20:39
Just tell work to leave messages for you at Katahdin

Hikerhead
02-10-2011, 20:46
I've had pretty good luck. As long as I was high on a ridge top I could almost always get a signal. But I've only hiked about 1/2 the trail. Mostly from Northern Va to Springer and almost all of NH. As far as highways, Damascus was a problem and Asheville NC, could not get a signal there.

wvgrinder
02-10-2011, 20:51
It was pretty darn good in VT last August.

swamp dawg
02-10-2011, 21:09
I used a Tracphone last year on a Spring section hike from Springer to Newfound Gap. The phone worked on most of the trail. Many times, I had to position myself by wakling in different compass points to find a good signal at the campsite. Later I went to Trail Day but no luck getting a signal also most folks using different carriers were not getting anything. Damascus must be a one carrier town. I got a good signal a few miles out of town.

seabrookhiker
02-13-2011, 10:23
I'm looking at Tracfones as well. I want it to work in southern VA and in Maine. The Tracfone site says something about calling in to have your area changed. Has anybody done this on a thruhike?

PeterB
02-13-2011, 21:35
I believe Tracphone has GSM and CDMA phones. I think anything that ends in C is a CDMA phone. According to google and wikipedia, tracphone will use verizon for CDMA. You should also look at straight talk which is a walmart/tracphone option. It is more of an unlimited option, especially if you are sending texts, scanning the web for weather reports, etc.

http://www.straighttalk.com/

Pony
02-14-2011, 13:09
I'm looking at Tracfones as well. I want it to work in southern VA and in Maine. The Tracfone site says something about calling in to have your area changed. Has anybody done this on a thruhike?


I hiked from Damascus to Katahdin last year and had very few problems with my tracfone. Had no problem with service anywhere that comes to mind other than Damascus. I would consider the straight talk as well. I am currently using one and get 1,000 minutes and 1,000 texts per month for $30, or unlimited talk, text, and web for $45. I would check into coverage on the straight though, because I believe it uses AT&T towers. I talked to several people last year that had difficulty with AT&T in SW Virginia.