I am seaching for a good cell phone service that will give coverage out of the Neah Bay area. My old one didn't so there was no need for a phone. Anyone had good coverage out of Sekiu, or Neah with their service?

I've had countless people on the boat with just about every provider imaginable ...

Without a doubt, Verizon provides the best coverage in our area ... sucks when I have an AT&T phone and really have to keep it since I get no Verizon coverage where I'm at in Alaska ... which is where I usually use the phone in most instances.

What Bob said. Make sure your phone is digital and analog.

Verizon

Last September at Sekiu my Verizon coverage was the only cell that worked and it was very clear. Dad had AT&T and my Son had Sprint. Verizon seems to work well here on the west side.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

dito

i currently have cingular and its by far the worst i have had, i did have verizon too, but the phone i had (startac) was a crappy phone and didnt receive alot of incoming calls, and cingular is more hype than anything....dropped calls, bad reception, if you can get reception..sprint may be a option??

Yeah, that subject is not NFR at all. It seems like whenever I need the good coverage, I'm on a fishing trip.

Verizon is definately the ticket. Works great 5 miles out from Umatilla Bank, Neah Bay, Barkley Sound, Westport, up and down the CR...

Nextel is the worst.... "nex" time you see him, "tel" him I've been trying to call, but his phone dont work.

Thats exactly what I was looking for... my favorite haunts. Now I can call from umatilla reef and tell the wife that my car broke down and I'll be in a little after the kitchen pass expires! - Thanks

Verizon.

Not the cheapest, but great range (7 miles off tofino BC and no problems until the bill came YIKES!!)

Verizon

Can you hear me Now?

Yes!!!

Slab, I don't know what you mean about Nextel. I get the best coverage with my phone over any AT& T or Verizon. I have a buddy with Verizon and he's always borrowing my Nextel. I've used it on the Oregon Coast, Columbia, Washington coast, Neah Bay, Tofino, Campbell River, Port Renfrew and all over from here to Idaho and back. I've had cell's for years and it's the best I ever had.

Nextel, it's worked everywhere I've been with mine. Hunting in the mountain's to fishing out of sekiu.

Verizon will let you try it for 15 days before you are committed. A good excuse to go fishing. I tried it last week at the bratfest and it worked good. Also picked up a brat that morning too. I just need to try it on the Oregon coast but have no plans to go soon.

At Swiftsure Bank my buddy had 4 bars (verizon) and I had "no coverge" (att).
I live in Seattle and don't even have a signal with ATT at my house! I too am switching to Verizon.

Slab and I fish together alot and so does fishnut...Slab has Verizon I have Sprint and Fishnut has Nextel. The Verizon phone has worked everywhere...the Nextel sucks most of the time..my Sprint service was started the first week Sprint came to town and has improved by miles since then. This summer it worked fine 40 miles off Westport and all the way to Neah Bay and offshore 30 miles there too...also worked all the way to Astoria...the coverage area has dramatically improved making it unlikely I will switch to Verizon but if I was going to start from scratch Verizon would be my choice too.

Verizon. A big improvement over ATT along the entire upper Pen.

I noticed that way out in the straits my phone goes to roam. I wondered if it was switching off a Canadian cell tower, which might explain the high bill. So far all my calls have been billed under my regular plan.

i have tried them all,verizon is second to none.you will be very disapointed with any thing elese

Mooch....... I have a lot at Diamond Pt. (Tip of Discovery Bay) and if I use my cell down near the water the call 'roams' to Victoria. 1 minute = $9!!!! If I drive up the hill to Sunshine Acres airport my signal is picked up at Port Townsend and no roaming fees..

Grandpa tends to exaggerate.....

With Sprint, if you have service in those areas such as neah bay or 40 miles off Westport, you are roaming on another carriers network, garunteed.

Mooch, thats called "accidental roaming" and happens quite frequently in situations where you are bordering a partner carriers service area. Most all carriers will re-rate your bill if you call into customer sevrice and wait on hold for 1 1/2 hours


I work for AT&T wireless, and will admit Verizon has better coverage all over the Olympic Pen. Verizon and it's affiliates have a larger customer base in these areas, so it makes sense for them to invest in coverage. There are alot of other factors to weigh in, I wont get into all of them. The largest is this. Installing new towers to cover areas like that all comes down to return on investment. AT&T has not yet installed towers that will cover those areas because the amount of customers the towers will potentially cover are not cost beneficial. Thats just the way carriers see it.

One thing I have done in the past when fishing in obscure areas is switch my mobile service on to my 3 watt bag phone. That way I have 5x the transmitting and receiving power over a handheld. For anyone who wants to rely on cell service in obscure areas for periods of time, this is the way to go.

You can pick up a portable bag phone at most pawn shops for cheap, noone wants them. Once you have your mobile # programmed into it, you can easily switch your service back and forth between your handheld and bag phone by calling into your carrier and switching ESN's. Alot of commercial fishing boats in the Gulf of Alaska still use these phones and can place calls up to 100 miles offshore from a cell site.

Nextel is great in the city but suck's once I hit
the Hoqium area.Nextel suck's for fishin.I do get out @ Van Ripers in Sekiu in certain area's.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I have a friend who has a 3W built-in cellphone on his boat with a 8' cellular antenna on his fly bridge. He seems to have coverage way off shore.

As a Verizon (not Verizon Wireless) employee, I was kind of amazed this year to find that my company cell got coverage on the Sol Duc. I'm pretty proud to see our coverage get some good press here. Bob, can I copy this thread to
the Vz Wireless Management team as a success story?

I would think that the guy who started the thread should get some type of kick back

Actually, I was thinking what a great commercial it might make.

Guy fishing, cell phone rings, boss connects and gives him a project. Guy hangs up, "Boy, I remember when they couldn't reach me out here!"

Verizon is the only way to go. Stay away from at&t. they suck

Grandpa. I had the same experience with Sprint also.

I would love to try the walkie talkie feature, and now Verizon has it...Will probably shoose Verizon for my next phone

The bag phone is also an excellant idea....

CAn someone describe what an ESN is and how to switch it?

Good Thread!!!

Paul

We fish at the Lyre River a lot and get picked up by the towers in Victoria --Verizon,, I just call Verizon and they remove the roaming charges as I'm still in the state...

my company got 20 or so of the verizon "push to talk" phones about the first of Oct. For a free trial". We got robbed(did I mention we got the phones and service for two weeks for FREE???)... Theoreticaly they will work anywhere you have home digital service. Didn't work that way for us. Don't get me wrong Verizon has the absolute best coverage I have found yet in WA, ID, OR, N.CA. So much so that it is worth putting up with the worst customer service and billing service anyone who works for our company has ever seen. ( mostly related to our account reps---). We will probably be switching to nextel for company phones soon, mainly because so many of our customers have them and management is sick and tired of fighting with Verizon, Not because of coverage. If we change I will keep my Verizon...there have been too many places I absolutley had to have it work...and it did

Talljeeper

Stands for Electronic Serial Number, found on the back on any cellular phone. you are identified as a subscriber by your esn and phone number combination.
To switch it you would just need to call customer service for your provider. Takes <5 mintes, once you get ahold of someone.

verizon, I always have coverage up there. my brother also has coverage with nextel.