I work for a Cellular Service Provider and wonder which service you guys think works best when fishing out in the open water or up in the hills at a favorite hole?
How is the service usually?
Note: due to the nature of cellular service, ALL providers will have holes in thier coverage.

But who do you use, and on average, how is the service?

any way to set this up so we can see how which service rates?? I have verizon that is piggy backed on my work service. The roaming can be expensive but I have yet to find an area where I couldn't get service (including 8 miles out in the Pacific out of Tofino on Vancouver Island)

None of the cell companies work in remote areas where I usually fish. Especially in valleys and up in the mountains.

Im seriously thinking of getting a satellite phone because I usually fish alone and would like to have the 911 backup.

Has anyone else purchased a sat-phone and how does it work, how much did it cost?

BD-
Thought about that but could not figure out how to do it without asking each question specifically..
i.e
1.Do you use AT&T and like it?
2 Do you AT&T and it is ok?

etc for each provider, would have made for too big of a poll.

If each person voting can post a reply with thoughts that would help us ascertain those variables.

John,

Sattelite phones are extremely expensive! I have used one once, and the call sounded pretty good, but the costs are incredibly high. A decent sat phone will run you $850.00 to $1200.00. The rates are hard to find info about unless you buy the service.

Sat phones are great, but they are EXPENSIVE!! the old saying holds true," if you have to ask, you can't afford it."

I've got Verizon,and there has yet to be a place I didn't have coverage. When we go hunting all my friends use my phone,because there phones don't have coverage.

I have AT & T and generaly have good service. But if I am drifting a River I.E. The Sandy or Kalama It is rare that I get service. On the Kalama once I get to Modrow bridge going up service is gone. Same on the Sandy Drift from Oxbow to Dabney, will finally pick service back up about 3/4 of the way down.

Up hunting I can get service once in awhile if I am on a ridge top or something. Generally it is something that surprises me while driving to a new spot, the phone will ring.

I am happy with AT&t Overall though. The places I don't get service are the places I don't need service

I have AT&T and have been very happy with the service and service area. The only places I have noticed where I don't get service is around the Kennedy Creek area and at Zoo Creek.

Im with HBP

I think the poll might be slanted in that it may just reflect the percentages of providers...in other words the percentage of voters with Verizon, ATT Sprint etc may not reflect performance but just which company has the most subscribers. I have had Sprint since the day they introduced here in Seattle a long time ago. Since the coverage has expanded I find it ok but East of the mountains it sucks. I hear Verizon is better. I do get service now all the way to Neah Bay and out in the ocean. AT&T is good if you travel state to state. What did we ever do for solitude on the river in the woods without a cell phone? Who wants to answer that damn thing out in the woods anyway?

I'm a Sprint PCS customer and really like their coverage. The only place I have serious problems with service while fishing is Flaming Geyser Park.

My question is: What the **** are you doing making phone calls while on the river??? It is suppose to be a place of peace and serenity...

Sparkey-
Wise Business man once say- One can fish more often if one can occasionally conduct business while fishing!

When out in the salt or a lake I am ALWAYS carrying my cell and VHF. While on the river I would not have it on me while fishing but it would certainly be in the truck or maybe gearbag.

Sparkey, it's an insurance policy. But, it is nice if you're fishing while a friend is working, and call and say "Guess what just happened buddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy". But, for most part mine is shut off in a waterproof bag.

John B, I go to some remote places too. Verizon has been pretty close to always having some sort of signal (even in the areas they claim they have NO signal on their maps).

I had friends who had satelite phones. They were big with some of the whitewater crowd, and we even were offered discount contracts through our NWRA magazine. But, you DON'T wanna know what it costs. You have a multi mode phone, but you're talking DOLLARS per minute if it switches to satellite. Which, if it's life or death I can see where it's handy. I know the plan they sold there were only TWO places on earth you wouldn't get coverage, guaranteed. But at a high price. If I remember right, it was $60 a month for the use of phone (had to pay $1800 for the phone first back then, dropped to about $800 last time I checked), with ZERO air time included. If you wanted some general service, ran up to over $100 a month for so many minutes (like 60) then again like $5 a minute for satellite service on top of that. But, I haven't priced them since my last NWRA newsletter, that was like 5 years ago or so. Hopefully they came down. But I doubt that much. If it where you'd see them more then you do now.

Thx for the sat phone updates. My research also confirms your experience. There are a couple of tech things on the horizen that may make it less expensive.

I use Sprint PCS which I bought several years ago because they rolled out their national grid a bit quicker than the others. I travel a lot and it's great in all metro areas across the country. Another feature which I like is that I can use it as a slow speed connection to the Interent to pick up email on the laptop while in airports etc without needing extra gear or other email accts Lets you be completely wirelesslyand power connected-- that benefit is diminishing as wi-fi rolls out however

However, coverage falls off rapidly elsewhere.

My reason for wanting a phone with me is primarily for emergency use. A couple of years ago I fell while wading a stream and broke both bones in my lower right leg in two. I was lucky in several ways to make it to a hospital on my own. With that experience I know the importance of being connected.

I agree with others that filling the airways with drivel or conducting business detracts from the overall fishing experience.

So it sounds, (pun intended), like Verizon has better coverage in remote areas. Maybe Ill switch.
Thx for all the good input

I have AT&T and it doesn't work very well in the upper parts of the Sky,Skagit, or Sauk.

I have Verizon which pretty much sucks anywhere on the water, south sound especially. Can you hear me now? NO!

I too work for a wireless company, though they do not have coverage in this area. I just wanted to point out that the type of phone you have is just as, if not more, important than what service you have. The signal strength varies. An analog phone will have like 2 watts, whereas a digital phone may have .3 watts. The higher the wattage, the further the signal travels An analog phone has a much beefier signal than a digital phone, and a bag phone has the beefiest signal of all. The company I work for services the rural midwest, and we sell a lot of bag phones to people who are out on farms waaaaay out in the sticks.

Arklier, you are exactly right, except for the wattage part. All handhelds run within 1/10 of .6 watts, while most bag phones are 3 watt phones. yep, Analog bag phones are 5 times more powerful.

I just made the same comments on this thread this morning:
iFish

I knew my estimate of the wattage was off for the analog phones. I work in billing (soon to be IT, I'm hoping) not sales. But I wanted to point out that digital phones do have lesser wattages when they are on digital signals. Most of them can 'step up' to analog wattage when using an analog signal, but it drains the batteries much faster.