Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 03:56:07 PDT
Reply-To: Mark Dorm <mark_hb@hotmail.com>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mark Dorm <mark_hb@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: wireless communication SOME-VANAGON
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
So some of you guys like Verizon. This is one area where the Vanagon is an
advantage, esp if you have a table in it - if you have pcs - and you decide
you want to make a phone call - if you step inside a fast food restaurant to
make a call - its not uncommon to find out that you can't make it from that
particular location - the signal may not be there at all, or it may fade in
and out - then you have to go outside in the wind and rain to pick up the
signal - and this is even in a coverage area that is urban not rurual (like
South Orange County) - then if you get lucky enough to find a restaurant
with good coverage you have no control over the loud and stupid sound system
that might be blarring away, or the screaming kids - but if you have the
vanagon and coverage is a problem, you can drive it across the parking lot,
or wherever necessary to pick up the signal, and then you can sit down
without a blarring sound system, or the wind and the rain, and make your
call. And if you have a table you can sit down at it and make notes while
you're on the phone (and if you don't have a table, or even if you do, you
can remove your middle seat and sit on the floor.... japanese style)
One thing to keep your eye on is www.ricochet.com, if you have a laptop and
they have service set up in your area (its going to be 128kbps, and
nationwide, already in service in some areas), then you may be able to make
free phone calls from inside your van over www.dialpad.com (I head
plantronics are decent headsets), or even cheap international calls over
net2phone.com (I'm using their yap card right now as a phone card on
payphones - its over a computer so its a little choppy through a payphone -
but its nice in that unlike Target phone cards you don't have to hear a lot
of stupid advertisements - nice when you're on the road and you don't want
any stress - but they're a better deal over the computer - connection fee
over a payphone is 45 cents [FCC thing] and then its 7.9 cents a minute -
you can make three phone calls per FCC charge - over the net its a different
rate and no FCC charge).
>
>I ended up with Verizon/Bell Atlantic. Since they are an older, well
>established cellular carrier (since long before the digital days), they
>have
>strong analog coverage up and down the east coast, so when I'm out of
>digital range my phone just switches to analog and I can still use it.
>Their coverage is slightly, but not much, more expensive than some of the
>others' , but I found the coverage to be far superior when "off the beaten
>path." A few bucks saved is not worth it if you're stuck somewhere and
>your
>phone won't work. I have not yet run accross a situation where I could
>not
>use my phone over an extended range of miles, and I travel a lot. I would
>suspect that other regional carriers would probably have better rural
>coverage in their particular home regions than the nationals, who are just
>now starting to add cell sites to compete with the regionals who have
>already been strong in their regions.
>
>- Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> www.busdepot.com
> (215) 234-VWVW
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