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Phone for Rural Areas
- Thread starter bobbysmom
- Start date
Time to S**T a BRICK!
New member
Where are you located? Rural areas require 850 MHz digital and 850 MHz Analog(AMPS) so you are probably lookinga CDMA carrier which precludes an unlocked phone.
Only GSM phones has SIM cards- Cingular and T-Mobile. In terns of car kits-the3 watt cell phone- unless it's an analog phone-does not exist anymore.
The national CDMA providers with 850 MHz coverage are Verizon and Alltel. Sprint is CDMA but 1900 MHz only.
Only GSM phones has SIM cards- Cingular and T-Mobile. In terns of car kits-the3 watt cell phone- unless it's an analog phone-does not exist anymore.
The national CDMA providers with 850 MHz coverage are Verizon and Alltel. Sprint is CDMA but 1900 MHz only.
There actually is a Motorola 3-watt GSM phone - I didn't know this until a few days ago. Still, whether this is a good choice for you depends on precisely where you are.
Give us your zip code. I'm in Canada so I won't have any meaningful commentary about the providers in your area, but whatever provider has the most coverage where you are is probably the one you want to be with. It sounds like you'd pay more to have a wider coverage area (not that that is absolutely necessary).
Regardless of the provider, if you get a handheld phone, you might want to get one that has a car kit, and get that car kit. I have a car kit for my Nokia 6590i (a GSM phone) and even though I now use a RAZR V3 most of the time, I still put my SIM into the 6590i when I go on the highway any distance. The coverage in borderline areas is noticeably better. By "car kit" I mean the kind of kit that has an external antenna that's connected to the phone. A Bluetooth or some such kit is useful while driving and talking on the phone, but it doesn't help with the reception.
Give us your zip code. I'm in Canada so I won't have any meaningful commentary about the providers in your area, but whatever provider has the most coverage where you are is probably the one you want to be with. It sounds like you'd pay more to have a wider coverage area (not that that is absolutely necessary).
Regardless of the provider, if you get a handheld phone, you might want to get one that has a car kit, and get that car kit. I have a car kit for my Nokia 6590i (a GSM phone) and even though I now use a RAZR V3 most of the time, I still put my SIM into the 6590i when I go on the highway any distance. The coverage in borderline areas is noticeably better. By "car kit" I mean the kind of kit that has an external antenna that's connected to the phone. A Bluetooth or some such kit is useful while driving and talking on the phone, but it doesn't help with the reception.
Not necessarily so on analog and CDMA. My Mom lives in rural SC and Cingular works great there. Same in parts of Maine, NH, MA, and VT. Just depends on coverage.
Usually Cingular and Verizon have the best coverage. Sprint and T-Mo tend to stick to the major metro areas. Alltell piggybacks on the major carriers' networks for its "nationwide" coverage.
Usually Cingular and Verizon have the best coverage. Sprint and T-Mo tend to stick to the major metro areas. Alltell piggybacks on the major carriers' networks for its "nationwide" coverage.
DrangonFly
New member
Just wondering- I've noticed that Alltel has a GSM network. Are they doing anything with that?
Motorola makes a CMDA bag phone -the M800 and a GSM bag phone the M900 and fixed install versions of both. None of them are 3 watt phones. The only carrier in the US of the M800 is Alltel.
Alltel has GSM spectrum that they allow GSM providers to use for roaming. They do not have Alltel GSM service.
Alltel has GSM spectrum that they allow GSM providers to use for roaming. They do not have Alltel GSM service.
imtoodrunktorideahorse
New member
Alltel piggybacks on Sprint and Verizon no more than Sprint and Verizon must piggyback on Alltel for their 'nationwide coverage.' There would be vast areas around the country where Sprint and Verizon would have no signal if it weren't for Alltel whose network is geographically the largest. No single carrier can cover the entire country but while Cingular and Verizon have been focusing their efforts on metro-America Alltel has been focusing their efforts on rural America primarily.
Since the Alltel/Western Wireless merger, the two primary rural carriers have been combined. It's really hard to make a suggestion without at least a clue as to the OPs location, but very generally for the best rural coverage, Alltel is hard to beat. However, as mentioned before, Cingular does provide very good rural coverage in some areas, especially South Florida jumps to mind. The inherent problems with GSM is there are a ton more markets across the United States where GSM (Cingular, T-Mobile) is restricted solely to the 1900 MHz band which isn't near as bad of a problem with CDMA (Alltel, Sprint, VZW). VZW also does decent in some rural areas but you should expect to pay a premium for the same coverage you could get with Alltel. But for the list of licenses to find out who the 850 MHz band carriers are in your area just enter your zip code into www.wirelessadvisor.com and it will show who holds the licenses for that zip.
As far as the phone goes, it's really hard to say unless you specify a particular carrier. Generally, Nokias perform very well if not the best on GSM networks while Motorolas tend to do the best on CDMA networks.
Since the Alltel/Western Wireless merger, the two primary rural carriers have been combined. It's really hard to make a suggestion without at least a clue as to the OPs location, but very generally for the best rural coverage, Alltel is hard to beat. However, as mentioned before, Cingular does provide very good rural coverage in some areas, especially South Florida jumps to mind. The inherent problems with GSM is there are a ton more markets across the United States where GSM (Cingular, T-Mobile) is restricted solely to the 1900 MHz band which isn't near as bad of a problem with CDMA (Alltel, Sprint, VZW). VZW also does decent in some rural areas but you should expect to pay a premium for the same coverage you could get with Alltel. But for the list of licenses to find out who the 850 MHz band carriers are in your area just enter your zip code into www.wirelessadvisor.com and it will show who holds the licenses for that zip.
As far as the phone goes, it's really hard to say unless you specify a particular carrier. Generally, Nokias perform very well if not the best on GSM networks while Motorolas tend to do the best on CDMA networks.
Actually there is a M900 car phone, and it is available in a hardshell case also. It comes with an amplifier. USB, external antenna.
I have taken this phone out into the middle of Southern Georgia, and had great reception. Whereas, my Nokia had no signal.
You can see it here: http://barometerbobmart.nexteffect.com/
I have taken this phone out into the middle of Southern Georgia, and had great reception. Whereas, my Nokia had no signal.
You can see it here: http://barometerbobmart.nexteffect.com/