Cell Phones – What do I need to know?

I have put off buying one of these buggers for as long as possible. Wife says she wants one for the car in case it breaks down, and I can see having one in the boat for emergencies. Would also be nice to have one along for all those road trips!

I know nothing about different service plans. I have info in front of me for Verizon, ATT, Sprint, AWC and more. Is there any one provider that stands out? Any one that I should stay away from? Any other words of wisdom?

One thing this phone must do is work when I’m on the river!

Thanks,
Jon J.

I’ve had really good luck with my AT&T service on the river, and in Minnesota in general. Wisconsin can be hit or miss unless you use a Wisconsin regional service. Using an external antenna increases signal strength and can be picked up for less than $20.

My wife has problems w/ Verizon when she travels. They want her to call and tell them that she is leaving her normal area or else it doesnt work.

Jon

Check to see where there area is. If you go outside that area they stick it to you with a roaming charge of about a $1.00 a minute. I think Verizon’s stops a about Cambridge. So if your on Mille Lacs quite a bit it will cost you. I found that out the hard way!

Jon, we debated for several years whether we needed a cell. The wife finally got us a deal for Christmas. She went with Verizon. Got it at Radio Shack. Save yourself some headaches and read what these guys are posting and then have your wife get the phones. I’m not completly sold on Verizon but they all have some drawbacks I’m sure. I’m just glad my wife did the deal and I never had to mess with it. Seriously!!

Jon,

I have had several companies and plans, and what Herb said is true, not all plans have everything. I currently have Verizon, and find it to be what I needed. I have the midwest coverage plan, where there are no long distance charges to anywhere, no roaming charges when calling anywhere, voice mail, caller ID, 350 anytime minutes, 2500 weekend minutes, and a free phone for $45. per month. I have been happy with Verizon, they have given me everything I need. I had Sprint before this one, and they were the worst that I had. I have had AT&T, pretty good, but really weak coverage area for me. I had USWest when they were around, really bad service.

I would really take some time and figure out what you really want, then put your wants to each company and see what they will do for you. They all seem to work to fit a plan for most situations.

Good Luck

My wife and I have had cell phones for about 5 years now and would not live without them (according to my wife). All kidding aside they do come in handy when I am out on the water or whatever. THey have even bought me several more hours on the water when I was suppose to be home normally. That I like.

We have AT&T and have had pretty good luck with them. Verizon was very troublesome for our plan. Most of the companies now offer free long distance and so many usable minutes. Honestly, I could not tell you what plan we have. Roaming does really add up though. Most of the plans though are pretty competitive and they make you sign a year contract with the provider.

Overall, I really like having them handy for when I am on the road or in the boat if you ever need the help, nice to know you have the chance to get ahold of someone.

We have the same plan as TBO-Joe. Same cost, minutes and calling area. Will search for the nearest towers whether digital or analog. I’m not so sure if I like the 2 year contract she signed, but it was her money.
Am I lucky or what?

Are you guys saying that I could have a plan with free long distance and still pay a roaming charge? Also, what should I expect for coverage in my home area. In other words, I live in St Paul, how far can I go without roaming?

J.

This all depends on what company you go with and what plan you chose. I know I won’t go back to Verizon. It will drive you crazy, but if you do your homework and ask people you know about there service you should come out OK.

Yes, free long distance on many plans is only from your home calling area. If you leave that area, you are charged large roaming fees-up to $2 per minute I think.

Jon,

I’ve got Sprint for the wife and I. We pay about $85.00 a month, but we get a ton of minutes, 4500?? It’s spendy, but i need it for work and require that kind of allotment. I have “home” signal all through the metro, down to Lake City and all over Pepin. I also don’t roam all the way to Mille Lacs, the signal lacks on the east side when in the truck, but out on the lake no problem with service. I have coverage most of the way to Montevideo also, but from there, I start roaming. Since you are a new customer, work the deal so you have to sign a year contract, but make sure they give you two free phones. I have the Samsung A460, really like the size. Good luck!!

A bit of a digression, but just so you know; If you are ever in an area with no signal, and need to call 911, don’t hesitate. I was in a “bad way,” up in Crooked Slough (Pool 13) one day. I couldn’t get a signal and thought I could just wait until someone came along to help. Well, six hours later when my situation wasn’t getting any better, and no one came along, I wondered what would happen if I dialed 911. The signal was the strongest it could be. After everything calmed down, I inquired about the signal strength for 911. I was told that it will work anywhere any time. Apparently, the cellular companies are required to provide that.

I have had AT&T for several years, service was good in Minnesota, sometimes a little “iffy” on parts of the river but overall pretty good. My phone was about shot so I had a choice recently and switched to Sprint PCS service. I am noticing very good service , so far, with Sprint, and for what I need, it is cheaper than AT&T. My kids have both had AT&T, Verizon and Sprint in the past and at present one has AT&T, the other Sprint. My Sprint plan offers unlimited calling to another Sprint phone across the USA for $5 per month so it is cheap for me to keep in touch with the kids. There is still, however, a base plan charge above that. I purchased the vision plan from SPrint which allows me to take pictures with the phone, press a button and upload them to the Sprint server and then, later, edit them and send to whoever I want. Very easy..and I had fishing on the river in mind when I bought that plan. My current phone is a Sanyo5300, seems to be very good so far, excellent reception and ease of use. My wife has a Nokia, also seems very good and kids have a Motorola and Samsung. I don’t know if any of the phones are bad these days, some just cheaper than others when you sign up for a plan. Sprint was willing to give me a loaner phone to take out and see if it would perform on the river, you might want to ask about a loaner before signing up. The penalty for cancelling a plan is generally in the $150 to $200 range if less than a year has gone by.

Hi, Jon

I HATE Cell Phones, but they can be a necessary evil. That said – You may want to look at the AT&T Regional Advantage. It’s $40/month, which is kinda spendy but you won’t incur any roaming charges in MN and WI. I believe the region covers all the way to Ohio. AT&T, while it sure has it’s share of problems, seems to have the best coverage. I can usually get some kind of service in anyplace I’ve been in MN and WI that I’ve tried, except for a few pockets in the bluff valleys south of Lake City.

Something else for outdoorsmen to take note of – the phone it’s self. Most of the freebie phones that come with a service plan have a built-in antenna. It’s better to spend a few more bucks and get one with an external antenna. Then spend a couple more bucks to upgrade to a half-wave antenna, you’ll see significantly better reception.

I really hate cell phones, but sometimes you need one. Unless I’m expecting a call from someone like my boss or GOD, I keep the cell phone turned off. Then I can check messages or make a phone call when I feel like it. Fishing’s supposed to be a time to relax, not be tethered to the office! Just MHO.

Hey, Jeff

Just a bit of clarification… If you don’t have any SERVICE, you can still call 911. That’s absolutely the case. I keep my super-old cell phone in the glove box of our oldest car, just in case. It hasn’t been on a cell service plan for years. And it worked last summer when my wife had a flat tire on the highway.

However, if you don’t have any SIGNAL, then you can’t call anyone, even 911. Signal is the cell phone’s ability to talk to a cell tower. If it can’t “see” to the tower, then it can’t talk to anyone.

Sorry it that’s too “know-it-all”-y

what ever you do stay away from sprint!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It really depends on where you are going to be using the phone most of the time. Ask the people from your area what they think of their phone. What works for me down here in SE IA probably won’t be the same for you.. I use US Cellular here because of the location of their towers. I picked a package that has alot of daytime minutes because I use mine at work. That might not be important to you to have a plan of this type. Also servive if you have a problem with the phone is something to think about. With US Cellular, there are Company stores and there are Agents. I have dealt with both and I have had the best service from the Company stores by far. Better trained and loaned me a phone while mine was being worked on. Anyway, there are alot of variables that will need to be considered by you for your area.

Jon, I have to agree with Thumper on this one. I have had the Regional Advantage Plan for over 2 years and love it. My coverage consists of N and S Dakota, Mn, Wisconsin and Iowa. No roaming or long distance charges when calling from one of these states, 350 anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekend. My phone works great if I am fishing on Red, deer hunting in Madison, or at the cabin on Big Birch. I have the Motorola V60i, great little phone, lots of features and doesn’t hurt the pocket book with all the rebates you get. I even fell in the river at Prescott with it in my pocket after a night at the no name. Took it home, dried it with a hair drier and 8 months later is still works. I bought everything from Audio King, great service and the people know their stuff. Just my 2 cents.

Jon,
My wife and I have used the ATT prepaid local plan for 2.5 years now and are pleased with it. We spend $10 for 20 minutes every 1.5 months. If more time is purchased (over the phone with a credit card) ) within 45 days the unused minutes carry over.

The phone is of good quality and performs better than many of the expensive tiny ones. ATT has specials on it every now and then.

http://www.attws.com/personal/prepaid/

Dave Gulczinski

I used to sell them (even though I still don’t have one) Do your research. Some have a small window to return them (only paying for the calls you made)- So check with your company, order it, and then make a road trip to your most frequent locations. One myth is, if there is a tower near bye, that you can use it (not always the truth- it depends on the contracts between companies)
Everybody has ups and downs. And most bills have charges that shouldn’t be there, so understand your contract might also be committing you to place a call to them to figure things out once per month.

Here is my pitch:

look at the ratio of minutes during the week vs. weekend and break it down per day – they’ll give you a million minutes on the weekend, but only 100 during the week – If you use $20-30 amonth in long distance from your house its a no brainer

Pick the lesser of 2 evils!!

Good Luck

Jon, I have multiple phones that I pay for (daughter) Sprint, (wife) sprint, (me) AT&T. I use different companies because they each fit a particular need best.

I travel extensively and AT&T has very good nationwide coverage, even in remote areas, and I can pay for a nationwide pkg and eliminate roaming charges.

Sprint has a very good plan for local (twin cities) use. Free LD, and as long as you are in a sprint calling area, no roaming charges. For my travel they just don’t cover as well in remote areas.

Free LD and roaming charges: Many companies will give you free LD. The limitation is that you must be in your home calling area.

Look at the coverage maps:
ATT: http://www.shopattwireless.com/webcode/main/coveragemaps.asp?SessionID=&RepID=&PromoCode=stones&PromoType=&Promo=stones&Ref=&PreAppCode=&MeToo=&ZipCode=55124&showMap=LOCAL
Sprint: <a href="http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/CoverageOverview.jsp?FOLDERfolder_id=1175743&CURRENT_USERATR_SCID=SPRINTECOM&CURRENT_USERATR_PCode=none&CURRENT_USERATR_ExtraOne=SPRINTPERSONAL&CURRENT_USERATR_cartState=group&bmUID=1047054155798&#8243; target=”_blank”>http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/CoverageOverview.jsp?FOLDERfolder_id=1175743&CURRENT_USERATR_SCID=SPRINTECOM&CURRENT_USERATR_PCode=none&CURRENT_USERATR_ExtraOne=SPRINTPERSONAL&CURRENT_USERATR_cartState=group&bmUID=1047054155798

Oh the sweet ironys of life! Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the level of free advertising these cell companies are
getting on this thread?

Jon, you should call a few of these companies up and see what they’d pay you to start this discussion all over the web! Word
of mouth is extremely influential and more people than Jon will come to some conclusions from this thread.

Send me a pm Jon, we should talk.

HI JON I HAVE VERIZON I TRAVEL UP TO LEECH ,WINNY AND HAVE MADE CALLS FROM IOWA. WIFE HAS A PHONE TOO ,WHEN YOU GET ONE MAKE SURE IT’S A TRI MODE.I HAVE NO LONG DIS, AND NO ROME, IT WAS LESS MONY TO GET A CELL THAN LONG DIS.ON REG PHONE. LOTS OF PLANS OUT THERE,VERIZON BEEN GOOD TO US. AL SO GOT A NEXTEL FOR WORK,GOT 500 MIN TO USE UP SO I TAKE IT WITH ALOT WORKS VERY WELL AT RED WING, THE WALKY TALKY THING IS GRATE TALKED AS FAR UP AS BRAINERD. YES MY PHONE[VERIZON] DID FINE ON WINNY,IT FINDS OUTHER TOWERS TO USE WHEN NOT IN HOME RANGE.