Cell phone coverage at shelters
Some shelters get a signal some don't. Is there a list somewhere that tells the availability of cell service for each shelter? I'm suprised that it's not in the guide.
I'm not surprised at all. SO many variables. So many services providers. Constant changes. Weather affects reception. Time of day affects reception. Sun spots and solar flares can affect reception. Type of phone affects service. Sometimes I can do text, but not voice. It's hit-or-miss. One side of shelter may have reception, another side may not.
I can't even tell you if my wife will always have reception at her place of work, and often service at my home is spotty. Much less publish about some shelter on some mountainside.
Rain Man
.
Last edited by Rain Man; 09-23-2012 at 15:04.
[I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35
[url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]
.
Rainman nails it.... the Sprint phone doesn't work at my desk but will ring - I have to go to the kitchen...... Anyway direct strike on a tower sometimes shuts off temporarly or destroys the tower. It took two months to repair the tower in Wilmington Delaware last year along Winterthur route 52. The tower on route three Willistown serving Paoli was hit this year......
There is little need for such a list that you are asking...
Google "your carrier" + coverage+map click on images or add a state, and view the images for this information....
besides making a call from a shelter is social taboo in this culture....unless you are very alone....alone....alone.....echo.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
If you are on the side of the mountain that you can see a town you may have service. If you can't see anything you may not have service. But, on the other hand it some times works the other way you see nothing and you have service, you see town and have nothing. If you get out and hike enough you will figure it out, or not. Then again what Rain Man said is spot on.
If it do'nt eat you or kill you it makes you stronger
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton
rule of thumb is if you need cell service, it wont work, and if you dont need it signal will be clear and strong
My experience so far in the South is that cell service is often available at some point during the day, though it's spotty, and that it's often not available at shelters because shelters are often tucked into hollows or ravines near a water source. If I have promised to keep in touch with home, I'll usually end up checking for service along the top of the ridge during the day, and not worrying about it at night.
that is unimportant info not needed in any trail guideOriginally Posted by moldy
Like BigCranky says, shelters usually suck for reception because they're in semi-protected areas (usually).
Cell phone service is easy to get on the trail - at least with Verizon.
I'm always glad when I'm somewhere WITHOUT cell reception - usually a much wilder and more remote place. I don't have to listen to your conversation and I can giggle at your frustration that you can't use your beloved device.
In May I was in the 100 mile wilderness and forgot to turn off my phone and received a text at the Cloud Pond lean-to. Like others have said it's variable and Verizon seems to have the greatest coverage across the trail.
Pain is a by-product of a good time.
my opinion is that as much as were paying for cell phones(my bill is 180 mth) there should be no where without service
I think three is something freeing about being anywhere that doesn't have cell service.
Don't get me wrong, it's good to get back to it too.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
it is nice to not have service(when hiking) but i think we have all cursed at our phone for dropping an important call or not having service when we NEED to make a call.
Of course you don't get service everywhere. The cell phone companies are too busy laughing all the way to the bank to deposit all the money they get because they have convinced everyone that they can't live without a cell phone regardless of service. Don't you love free market economies. Pretty soon, people will actually stop hiking because they can't get phone service at shelters.
It's something that is a non-issue. If I don't have service I will live!
The question is wi-fi because playing words with friends is a real issue!
If you're going to use your phone to communicate while on the trail, at least text. It won't annoy others, and it works better with a weak signals.
It also depends on the phone....
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
