Date:         Fri, 7 May 2004 22:48:42 -0400
Reply-To:     Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject:      cellphones on the road (was RE: Road Haus Two (LONG . NVC!)
In-Reply-To:  <Pine.BSF.4.58.0405060901590.56941@gull.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Sorry if I'm way late in replying to this - and possibly I missed the
original post!  So if this is irrelevant, please delete it with my
apologies.

When I decided to go on the road I went with Verizon for my cellphone.  I
picked them because they have the best nationwide coverage, and (as far as I
know) the only plan that has no roaming charges no matter where in the US
you are.  So basically, if you're in a place with ANY cell phone coverage,
any company, you can use it with your Verizon phone for no extra cost.   I
pay $40/month (plus a zillion taxes, of course) for 400 min/mo plus
unlimited nights and weekends (9:00 pm to 5:00 am).  I access the internet
via my cellphone with something they call a "mobile office kit" - a USB
cable that plugs into the phone and a software package that lets your laptop
treat the cellphone like a modem.  It isn't fast, but it works.  So far I
have not been anyplace with no mobile access at all, but then I haven't been
out west.

If you just need to check your email every few days (i.e. if you're not on
the Vanagon list, so you don't drown in email!  :-) it might be easier and
would certainly be cheaper to go to a library or an internet cafe.  I need
to log in every day and do a lot of work on my laptop, so it makes sense for
me.  I sort of looked into satellite connections, but they would have been
WAY more expensive so I didn't bother pursuing it.

I have not been able to find a way to upload stuff to the web from computers
other than my own.  That might be my own ignorance about uploading, but I've
gotten stuck because publicly accessible computers didn't have software on
them to upload to the web.  Or maybe I didn't know where on their hard disks
such software was, I don't know.



Joy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Joy Hecht
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
and Henrietta, sad-eyed orangutan who waltzes with Matilda and me
and Bicycle and Kayak, who ride on Matilda

For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://users.rcn.com/jhecht/gypsy
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
> Of David Brodbeck
> Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 9:07 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Road Haus Two (LONG . NVC!)
>
>
> On Wed, 5 May 2004, Tim Schneider wrote:
>
> > For cellular, the only 'affordable' plan for data (IMHO) is
> > with TMobile.  I cannot comment on their nationwide
> > coverage.. in AZ they work along the freeway corridors
> > and that is about it.  I've had no problems in major metro
> > areas (San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix, Dallas)
>
> I have T-Mobile, and like it, but their coverage isn't very good.  You can
> count on it working in metro areas and along most freeway corridors, but
> when you start to really get into rural areas it doesn't work.  It doesn't
> seem to work anywhere in Nebraska, for example, and there are only a few
> isolated islands of coverage in Montana and eastern Washington.  In
> Michigan it works great in the whole southern part of the state, but not
> when you get up north.
>
> My advice is to carefully study the national coverage maps for various
> cell phone providers and think hard about where you're likely to be.
> Decide when it's acceptable to you to not have service.  If you want
> service as much as possible, some companies (but not T-Mobile) still offer
> dual-mode phones that work on the old analog network.  Those plans tend to
> be more expensive, but they give you maximum coverage.  (Note that a
> dual-mode phone and a dual-band phone are not the same thing.  A
> "dual-band" phone may be a digital-only phone that also works on the
> European cell phone network.)
>
>
> David Brodbeck, N8SRE
> '86 Volvo 240DL wagon
> '82 VW Vanagon Westfalia Diesel
>