cell phone? yes? no? decent plan/phone?

[stonedflea]

so i'm currently with verizon. i have a droid and my monthly plan is right at $105 for the smallest talk plan they have available and for the data plan.

i think it's slightly ridiculous to pay $105 a month to have a rock in my pack. i talked to them and they said that they can suspend my service for up to six months as per my contract. as of right now, i'm thinking about just shutting my service off for six months and not hiking with any phone whatsoever. i've done a 5 day hike before with no phone and survived. o.O

financially, i'm trying to cut corners any way i can on this hike. has anybody thru'd without a phone? i can see where it might not be the smartest decision, but is a phone really worth $105 each month while you're out there?

what did y'all do on y'all's thrus? is there a decent, very cheap, pay as you go plan/phone? how much do you have to pay for the phone? i'm not much of a talker on the phone, anyways... i would need a very minimal plan. :) is there a company that offers unlimited text but small talk? what companies offer such services?

[Blissful]

You can certainly hike without a phone; many did it only a few years ago. I liked it to stay in contact with my hubby, to make calls for rides and reservations, to meet up with others, etc. It really depends whether you feel okay going without one or not. You can also look into the tracphone or other pay as you use plans, etc but not sure on the coverage of those trailwise (hopefully those who used ne can chime in). Verizon is really excellent for coverage.

[Snowleopard]

As Blissful says, a tracphone or other prepaid plan might work best for you. Verizon seems to plans that charge you only for the days you use the phone, for up to $1.99/day. That might work well for a thru hike where you won't use it a lot.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=prepayItem&action=viewPrepayOverview
Read the fine print and be sure you understand it!!!! For example, if you prepay less than $30 it looks like the money expires after 30 days.
I'm considering something like this because Verizon is much better than my ATT in the White Mountains but is lousy at my house.

[double d]

so i'm currently with verizon. i have a droid and my monthly plan is right at $105 for the smallest talk plan they have available and for the data plan.

i think it's slightly ridiculous to pay $105 a month to have a rock in my pack. i talked to them and they said that they can suspend my service for up to six months as per my contract. as of right now, i'm thinking about just shutting my service off for six months and not hiking with any phone whatsoever. i've done a 5 day hike before with no phone and survived. o.O

financially, i'm trying to cut corners any way i can on this hike. has anybody thru'd without a phone? i can see where it might not be the smartest decision, but is a phone really worth $105 each month while you're out there?

what did y'all do on y'all's thrus? is there a decent, very cheap, pay as you go plan/phone? how much do you have to pay for the phone? i'm not much of a talker on the phone, anyways... i would need a very minimal plan. :) is there a company that offers unlimited text but small talk? what companies offer such services?

Buy a TracPhone and pay as you go, that is what I've done and it works well while on the AT at elsewhere. Those payment plans for cells phones are a joke compared to TracPhone.

[Fats]

Buy a TracPhone and pay as you go, that is what I've done and it works well while on the AT at elsewhere. Those payment plans for cells phones are a joke compared to TracPhone.

So you have actually used a trackphone thru the AT?

I know it won't work everywhere, it is the mountains. My main concern is from a pre-paid AT&T phone I have that will not work anywhere in Kansas or in Montana. I have not had it east of the Mississippi, and I am not wanting to pick up a contract simply to have a cell phone on the trip. I'm also not wanting to get another pre paid just to find out that it won't work just when I need it.

Brad

[BrianLe]

The catch with Verizon's pre-paid daily plan is that they don't offer it on higher end phones, which frosts my shorts given that I bought a Droid X explicitly to use this way on the trail --- only after I went in to one of their stores to try to activate it did I find this out.

W.r.t. the original poster, it's odd in that we're mirror images on this --- I don't much need a cell phone in normal life, but I'm used to having a smart phone on the trail, that's what I got the thing for. So I'll reluctantly activate their pre-paid monthly plan just before I start on the CDT this year, and deactivate it when I'm done. And yes, pay them a lot more than I would have if I could get the pre-paid daily plan that I had anticipated using the phone with ... (grr....).

[Wolf - 23000]

I found the best plan is "Leave the phone at home". It doesn’t require charging, doesn’t weigh anything and best of all comes with peace and quiet. All for the low price of $0 down and no monthly payments. It is a great deal!!! I encourage everyone to take it.

Wolf

[double d]

So you have actually used a trackphone thru the AT?

I know it won't work everywhere, it is the mountains. My main concern is from a pre-paid AT&T phone I have that will not work anywhere in Kansas or in Montana. I have not had it east of the Mississippi, and I am not wanting to pick up a contract simply to have a cell phone on the trip. I'm also not wanting to get another pre paid just to find out that it won't work just when I need it.

Brad

No, good question, I'm have not thru-hiked, but...I have hiked alot of the AT in Ga, W.Vir., Vermont and N.H. with success in most areas. TracPhone is fine, no need for a contract, pay as you go, can't beat it.

[double d]

I found the best plan is "Leave the phone at home". It doesn’t require charging, doesn’t weigh anything and best of all comes with peace and quiet. All for the low price of $0 down and no monthly payments. It is a great deal!!! I encourage everyone to take it.

Wolf

The under 25 tech generation may not agree with you, they have to call home or text someone all the time no matter what!!!

[wcgornto]

I started my thru hike in 2009 without a phone. When I got to Shaws (going SOBO), I ordered a TracFone for $99 including 400 minutes (doubled to 800 with the double minutes for life feature). I got the phone for two reasons: Many hostels will pick you up at the trail crossing if you call them and let them know you will be there - beats hitching. The second reason is it was more convenient to keep up with my family and to give them a way to get in touch with me if needed (knowing it would usually be a few days between times when I checked messages).

I had service as good as those with AT&T or Verizon phones, since TracFone uses their networks and others. The 800 minutes were plenty to get me to Georgia. It was a worthy and valued $99 investment.

[Roland]

I had service as good as those with AT&T or Verizon phones, since TracFone uses their networks and others. The 800 minutes were plenty to get me to Georgia. It was a worthy and valued $99 investment.

You got a phone, service for a year, good coverage along the Trail, and enough talk-time for your thru-hike, for less than stonedflea is paying for one month of service.

I think this is the kind of alternative the OP is looking for.

[harrisonholly]

Look into the "straight talk" pay as you go from Walmart. They work off the Verizon network so coverage is the best out there. They have basically 2 plans. The least expensive gives you 1000 min voice, 1000 min text, and 400m data for web. It's only $30 per month. The second is unlimited voice, text, and web data for $45 per month. They also have a variety of phones from free to smart phone. I got mine a couple months ago specifically for use on the trail. Did a lot of research. I picked thier Nokia E71 smartphone and the unlimited plan. It's WIFI ready, it's my phone ,camera, gps, internet, diary, google maps, etc. And i am presently uploading the entire 2011 AT Data Book into the "notes" application. I also picked this one for it's very long battery life. The phone plus the charger weight 6 ozs. It's not a rock anymore. It's more like a gem. Check it out!

[garlic08]

...has anybody thru'd without a phone?...

Sorry, but I just had to laugh at this. I usually don't consider myself old, but I'm not so sure any more. This also made me realize that I'm old enough to remember when cell phones were used for making phone calls--back in the early dark days of the millennium, nearly a decade ago.

$105 a month? I'm also glad I'm old enough to not "need" that kind of bill. I'd probably have to get a job to afford that.

Chuckles aside, the Tracphone sounds like the best bet for a budget. Last year I found a Tracphone, with it's charger, in a plastic bag at a trailhead. It had never been used so there was no way to call someone to return it and it was only $15 new anyway. I can keep it "charged" with minutes for as low as $20 every three months (for only 60 minutes so you don't want to chat)--that's $7/month for convenience and emergency use in civilization, with no contract. I don't carry it on hikes. Where I hike there aren't cell towers anyway so it would be dead weight. I'm so glad there are a few places like that left.

[Grinder]

look into virgin mobile. they have a plan with 300 talk minutes a month and unlimited web and text. You have to buy the phone, but plain phones are cheap .

Virgin mobile uses Sprint towers, so coverage is okay.

That said, verizon reportedly has the best coverage along the trail.

[shelterbuilder]

I would second the Trac-fone idea. Wal-Mart sells several cheap versions of the phone (between $10 and $25), and if you buy the double-minutes card, every time you add minutes, they double the amount. Trac-fones run off of whatever cell towers they can "ping", so you should always have some sort of signal. When you add airtime, it keeps the phone active for another 90 days. No contract, just add airtime when you need it.

I use mine exclusively for texting (.3 minutes charged for each text, to read or send), so my airtime lasts even longer....

[TnSlowPoke]

You can also get a Virgin Mobile for free if you get medicaid, food stamps,supplemental security income or income base eligibility. You get 250 mi evert mo and a free phone with tex,internet etc. You can also add as little as $20 to your acount.google assurance or call them for more info 1-888-898-4888

[Yamagame]

It's pretty clear from the posts above, but I wouldn't recommend using AT&T or getting AT&T pay-as-you-go phones for the AT. When I thru-hiked in 2008, I started with an AT&T phone, and sent it home in mid-VA because I wasn't getting reception anywhere (not even in Damascus--I really hope that things have improved in three years).

Also, this is pretty obvious, but the most important part of bringing any phone on the AT is making sure to keep it dry. A phone does you no good and becomes an expensive rock if it gets wet and doesn't work anymore. :rolleyes:

[couscous]

Trac-fones run off of whatever cell towers they can "ping", so you should always have some sort of signal.

I wish this was true as I've had a TracFone for four years, but sadly it's a GSM based system so it only works where AT&T and T-Mobile phones work. The Verizon, Sprint, Virgin, Boost, Alltel phones use the CDMA system.
~
The CDMA system needs (IMHO) an option that allows you to make a 2 minute phone calls every day for 365 days and send hundreds of text messages for a total annual price of $100 like TracFone.

[StubbleJumper]

I used a CDMA Tracfone last year on the LT. Good coverage in all but the most remote valleys. I think I paid $20 for the phone, and I only ever used it for sending e-mail and a couple of voice calls.

If you buy a cheap prepaid like that, you don't even worry about keeping it dry or protecting it from falls. If it breaks, it breaks. For another $20, you just buy a new one. And if you forget it in a bar or something, whatever....

[tirebiter]

The under 25 tech generation may not agree with you, they have to call home or text someone all the time no matter what!!!

Like this proud techie hiker here. :D I'd sooner go no-cook than no-Droid.

[malowitz]

Stonedflea - I thrud w/a Droid last year. I liked using the phone on a daily basis for checking weather. I also did almost all my journal entries from it, sometimes used it as an MP3 player, logged GPS locations, listened to some baseball games in my tent, etc. Essentially for me it was worth it, however, I was not paying $105/month. More like $75-$80. Maybe they've jacked up rates since I signed up, but your payment seems out of line. Isn't it $30/mo for unlimted data and $45 for the cheapest phone service package?

BTW - I also had 2 extra batteries. I only tapped the 3rd battery twice. I would usually only burn up the battery when I knew I was heading into town. Most of the time, the phone stayed off or on airplane mode.

[couscous]

I used a CDMA Tracfone last year on the LT.
I'm happy to admit that my previous post was incorrect. I put in the zipcode 24236 (Damascus, VA) knowing there is no GSM coverage - and four LG models popped up 100C, 220C, 231C, 290C with the C suggesting CDMA based. So if you get a TracFone for hiking the AT, make sure the model ends in C instead of G which are the GSM-based phones.