What Phone

[Desertthorn]

I am coming back to the US next month and will need to get a cell phone. We plan to part-time RV but can't afford a dish just yet.
What do we need to know before we look for a cellphone? What questions do I need to ask? Would anyone recommend Radio Shack? Will they give me a fair deal or at least information?
Japan has wonderful phone systems. I can call anywhere in the US for 4 cents a minute, but I don't expect to find that kind of efficiency in the US.
We plan to boondock in the woods a lot.
Thanks in advance

[elh3946]

[Desertthorn]

Probably, so are there phones for that kind of situation?

[elh3946]

Not unless you go with a satellite phone...very expensive to buy, very expensive per-minute fee.

You could, of course, get either a Direcway or Datastorm satellite Internet system and use VoIP, but lag time on satellite Internet systems can be a problem, although probably not insurmountable.

[Motor31]

The only reliable means of communications out in the "boonies" away from cell towers is through a sat. internet connection. You could always try a CB radio but that will have its problems as well. Another alternative is a HAM radio license but that will cost you in time and equipment too.

As far as a cell phone is concerned, we use Verizon. We picked them as they had decent coverage, decent plans with minutes and you can find a Verizon store / dealer just about everywhere. You can boost the effective range of your cell phone by getting an external antenna to mount on your rig. It may be just enough for you to be able to connect when out of range with the regualr phone. That would be the cheapest and easiest alternative for you right now.
_________________
Mike, Nancy and the Fuzzies
2005 MS 38 RL3
2001 Volvo MH (HDT)
2004 R1150RT (piggyback)
1996 Jeep Cherokee (toad)

[lloydinGA]

We were able to increase our cell coverage with the use of an amplifier and external antenna. Although the amp only puts out the 3 watt max, it does help in fringe areas. Do a search on the internet under "cell amplifiers."

[anneem123]

I've been with Verizon since about 4 months after beginning to full-time. I changed to them because they were the only ones with serious national coverage. They aren't the best in Alaska, though.
_________________
God bless you
Annie

[Medicine_Man]

Does anyone still use CBs while on the road? What channel?
_________________
Look out world, here we come

[sundevil6]

I've got one with the weather alerts. I don't talk very much on it, but listen a lot. Oh yeah, Ch. 19.

[Mark Annon]

We also have Verizon; they are pretty good here in Colorado. There have been places in the mountains we don't get reception, but sometimes you can move around enough to get signal.
But we try not to even turn them on if we are camping except if we are expecting someone to call.
We do have a CB also. We use it mainly when we travel in a group of two or more. It passes the time talking back and forth and it did come in handy last year when we were on a mountain pass traveling with another couple and their truck broke down behind us and cell phone signal was none but the CB worked.
Mark
_________________
Happy Camper
2004 Starcraft 24RKS Homestead
2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel Truck

[whitofok]

I carry a Blackberry and get my phone messages pretty good in most areas. I like the Blackberry services because I still work and I can send and get information from different people.

I have used Cingular and have had good reception in most cases. I travel mostly on Interstate 40 and south in the United States. You might get a company to allow you to use one for a week etc and see how it performs where you are traveling.
_________________
Have a GREAT time and play safe
WhitofOK

[DoctorDiesel]

I would use a Verizon trimode phone with a Wilson antenna and a Wilson amplifier. That combination is as good as it is going to get.

[jwarren]

The long-term year and multi-year contracts demanded by the major members of the U.S. cellphone cartel have long-outraged me. But, if you want regular voice-cell service (without the messaging, etc, fru-fru add-ons that so-quickly run-up minutes), there's a super-duper way around the cartel's excesses:

www.consumercellular.com
service@consumercellular.com

The piggy-back on Cingular's national cell system (presumably buying wholesale and discount-retailing it), DO NOT REQUIRE ANY contracts(!!), had BETTER PRICES than the contract-demanding systems (last time I checked) ... and ... include a 10% DISCOUNT for RVers (Good Sam members).

Even "more-better", if you (or your cellphone) keep track of your minutes used per month, and you see you aren't using nearly as much minutes as you contracted for, anytime near the end of the month, you can reduce your plan for that month, and thus save even more $$$.

And finally, even though they have NO contracts, they offer both free and inexpensive-primo cellphones!

[And, no, I have NOTHING to do with 'em. Jus' been a very happy user for almost a year now, and am happy to offer this earned applause. :-) ]

--jim, Jim Warren
sometime RVer since 1994; full-timer last year & soon-again
cellphone has been our only phone since spring, 2005

[jwarren]

Oh, and -- other stuff I forgot to mention:

ALL Consumer Cellular plans are NATIONAL plans. That is, the plan-minutes cost the same whether yer callin' next door, or across the nation. NO extra gouging for "long distance" calls (uh, that is, withIN the continental USA).

They also offer a "Family Plan" option for all of their plans, that gives an extra phone (freebie or low-cost; your choice) for $10/month. All of the cellphones in a "Family Plan" use the same plan-minutes.

At $10/month, it was well-worth getting a second phone for my wife, just for callin' from the store to ask if we need more this'r'that, and for possible emergencies.

--jim

[jwarren]

Someone asked if anyone still used CB.

I routinely have it turned-on when I'm on the road in the RV -- tuned to the truckers' primary channel.

It has OFTEN provided invaluable input:
* A "smokey" or "bear" or "county mountie" with radar, lurking behind yon billboard
* An accident or blockage just ahead
* A truck-tire's thrown tread in a lane ("alligator in the hammer lane westbound!"), etc etc etc.

On no less than three occasions, such warnings allowed me to go AROUND a blockage that was bottling up then-unseen traffic ahead, by being able to quickly use the next freeway exit -- joining the "strange" line of big-rigs that had obviously heard the same warning.

In one one case, in the middle of a moonless night in rural Tennessee, the word came over the CB that a flatbed had just splattered its load across all westbound lanes; I followed a line of about 8-10 big-rigs down the next off-ramp ... and THEN ...

The entire "train" of trux+me, went winding along one tiny rural road after another -- far, far away from the freeway and all recognizable civilization ... entirely guided by a continuous stream of CB instructions, first from one driver who knew one part, then from another who knew the next part ... and finally back onto the freeway, miles west of the flatbed spill.

Even included one hyper-local caveat: "At the next corner, be sure to make a complete stop. The county mountie likes to sit in the dark of the filling-station across the street, and nail anyone he can."

Yes, truckers are using CBs less these days, "thanks" to cellphones. But I still find their chatter worth listening to -- just for the rare but then-invaluable sudden words of warning and guidance to alternatives.

--jim