Does this give you a feeling of safety? I am thinking of trying Sprint PCS. Includes long distance. but, don't know if they have many towers yet. What brand of phone do you use? How reliable are they?

I got a cell phone for emergencies. It helped us to get into New Orleans after they had 15 inches of rain and some Interstates were closed. And after getting lost in New Bedford Mass., our friend "talked" us right to his driveway. Our daughter just drove from Key West to home (1400 mi.) alone and called us nightly from her cell--she has free long distance and roaming, so it was cheaper than the hotel charged for LD. I have called my husband and/or son from the road when I was coming home a couple of days early (yes, they DID get the house cleaned). Check with the dealer to see just where you will have trouble using a cell (out west for one). They may have a map showing the 'dead' areas.

If you want a cell phone for safety then the largest coverage area is what you need. Best to go with a cellular carrier that has been around for years. Don't do Sprint, AT&T or Nextel. Go with a company that is the "A" or "B" carrier cellular carrier in your area. They have been putting up towers and signing roaming agreements with other cellular carriers since the early to mid '80s. Most likely you can get a digital cell phone from them that switches to analog (non-digital) in areas where digital is not available yet. This will give you broader coverage than any other scenario. All other things considered (Price of phone, rates, length of contract) go with a carrier that offers CDMA instead of TMDA digital service. Fewer dropped calls, echo effects, etc. Don't consider free long distance or voicemail or calling features in your decision to purchase a phone unless you plan on utilizing them alot. Coverage and reliability matters most. Price is secondary. Tell me what city your in and I'll tell you what two carriers to consider. I've owned a chain of wireless stores for 11 years and I've sold it all. Lastly, a digital phone won't give you better coverage than an analog phone but it doesn't have static. Most of the time the rates are better with digital with more free airtime. A great free analog phone would be the Nokia 252. Small, reliable with a very long battery life. Also shop at the agents (independently owned) of all carriers (including Sprint, AT&T, etc) instead of just the carrier owned stores. You probably will bet a better price on equipment with some free accessories. And make sure you get a cig. plug adapter for your car.

We have a cell phone and we love it. We travel all over the USA and have not had any major problems using it, even in the less traveled areas. We just returned from Northern Minnesota and were able to use it there and have no problem using at home here in Calif. We have a Motorola Startac Phone and use Airtouch Cellular Service and have been very happy with both. It definitely gives us a feeling of saftey. Do not sign up with some of the very small cell companies as it is very difficult to use their services in other areas of the country - we tried it before we swtiched to Airtouch.

Just purchased a dual band Sprint PCS phone last month and have traveled with it quite a bit....it covers the 40+largest airports in the US and a broad range of metro areas. Since it's dual band, if you go outside the PCS system, it still works on analog format.
IF you travel to a lot of small towns outside your area it may be a problem, (but so will most other providers).

Jeannie - My husband and I have a cell phone and yes, it gives us a tremendous feeling of safety. We recently moved from the west coast to the east coast and while we took the I-80 route most of the way, there were some areas in Nevada, Wyoming and Utah where we went 50, 60, 70 miles in between cities. Plenty of open road and had the car broken down, we would have been up the creek without a paddle. I think that you can't put a price on peace of mind. Roaming charges, long distance charges, etc. - all that doesn't matter if the car conks out at 10 PM in an area you're infamiliar with or you get lost in a city and can't make heads or tails of a map. You've already been given good advice about the brands, etc. Just thought I would give my 2 cents worth on the peace of mind a cell phone offers.

Mostly good advice thus far... however, AT&T Wireless is one of the BEST cell providers, and they DO have nationwide coverage. How do I know this? Because I work for Ericsson, the company that supplies most of their equipment. I have used my Ericsson phone with AT&TW all over the country with never a problem. (AT&T has roaming agreements in the areas that they don't cover.) Yes, I agree to get a CDMA phone, which really is a much better technology. If you have the option of GSM, get it! I know there are still a few cities without GSM coverage, but they will have it very soon, so it's really a non-issue. Andyes, I have also survived two roadside problems, thanks to my cel phone!

Good Luck!!

To Charlie: Can you help me with research as I have not yet found a carrier that fills my needs. I live in the Wash DC area and travel I-95 as far south as the Florida/GA line. I need something for local coverage as well as affordable calling while on that road. My current carrier has exhorbitant roaming charges in North and South Carolina.

How about suggestions for where to rent a cell phone for international travel? US phones generally don't work outside our country.

Thanks

Jim

To Christie: Ok. Ok. AT&T is pretty good (better than Sprint) but still has its coverage problems in my area. AT&T concentrates on the core markets. Who wouldn't? They need more intercarrier agreements. How do I know? I sell it. Thousands of activations a year in all 11 stores. We are a retail agent so we sell AT&T, Nextel and Bell Atlantic. Sorry to say but Ericsson has not kept up with the standards that Motorola and Audiovox have with cellular phones. I get more repair problems with Ericsson (keypad and antenna mostly) than any other. Also when an AT+T or Sprint customer has to switch to analog to continue using their phone they are handed off to an analog tower operated by the local cellular carrier. That means you have customers of two or three different companies all vying for use of the same (nearest) tower. This creates busy signals and dropped calls. (especially with TDMA digital phones). Qualcomm developed CDMA technology. That is why there stock is through the roof. (1700% gain in '99. 80% of future phones are expected to be CDMA and they will get the licensing fees).
To Polly: It would be tough pinpointing a specific remedy without benefit of your usage, calling areas and how often you drive outside the DC/Balt area. Consider Bell Atlantic Mobile's Single Rate plans. A great deal if you use the phone more at least 200 minutes a month. AT&T also has comparable plans but check out both. For Bell Atlantic in DC/Balt/Annapolis call 800-488-3933. ask for Dan. He is tough to beat.

To Jim: Call Dan too. He can't sell international phones to you but will be back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas on 1/11/00 so he will be up to date on the latest cellular stuff and who is offering it. Maybe the new tri-band phones. You could call 800-USA-ROAM. They rent cell phones.

I hope no one thinks I'm writing for monetary gain. Actually Dan used to be my direct competitor before I opened stores in a different market. Now he's the guy I call when all else fails.

Charlie

FYI, Charlie: Qualcomm's CDMA development organization now belongs to Ericsson, thanks to an FCC ruling. WE developed CDMA, the court ruled, and they infringed upon our patents, so we were allowed to buy them out. If you'd like to see some excellent stock prices, look at ours! We're not exactly dogpaddling...

Regardless, for people who are wanting a cell phone for travel, I can honestly say that most phones are basically similar. Sure, you'll have problems with some technologies (you couldn't GIVE me a PSC PrimeCo phone!) but for themost part, they are all the same. There will be pockets of bad coverage, but these are mostly in sparsely populated areas that arenot cost-effective for a carrier to invest large amounts of $ in the equipment when there is very little traffic. Get a phone that has features you like, and get the best service plan you can find that fits your needs.

There's an interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal (page B1) comparing AT&T to Bell Atlantic. AT&T didn't do too well.

You can see it at http://ptech.wsj.com/ptech.html

I'm bringing this old thread to the top because I'm considering renting or buying a cell phone, primarily for use while travelling, and was wondering if anyone has any more recent advice or suggestions. I live in Washington DC and over the upcoming five months I'll be travelling to North Carolina, Arizona (Grand Canyon and Sedona), Hawaii (Maui and Kauai), and Mexico (Isla Mujeres, Merida, Lago Bacalar, Puerto Aventuras). Are there any cell phones out there that will work in all of these places? By the way, I do not plan on using the phone very much; it would be primarily for safety or emergencies, not frequent use at all. I have read discouraging reviews of so-called "world phones" (e.g. Stellarosa's experience while he was in the U.S.). I'm just starting my research so all suggestions/comments are welcome.

hey lisa:

I just got a cell phone for reasons similar to those you mentioned. I travel frequently to northern Alabama, Nashville, and Fort Worth. I got AT&T, not because of any detailed research, but because the store is between my work and home. The store had a map that outlines the coverage areas (which are extensive). I don't necessarily recommend AT&T--I simply do not know enough about the competition--but I can report that I have had no problems receiving calls from anyone in these areas nor have I had any problems contactiong people within these areas. The cell phone store should be able to tell you exactly what areas are covered. One problem might be finding a suitable rate plan--it seems that the ability to use the phone in other areas adds some cost to the monthly service. Still, despite the cost, I'm glad I did it. The little device has already proved to be worthwhile.

To Lisa: I recently got a cell phone for exactly the same reasons as you. I'm about to leave on a coast to coast road trip over 8 weeks and will be in some pretty remote areas.

After alot of research, I signed up the the 150 minute/month, $35 plan with Verizon which has no long distance or roaming charges. The only "problem" is that you need a fairly expensive tri-mode phone. I bought the Audiovox CMD-9000 which works with both digital and analog services. I've had very good luck with it so far.

With the mess at various airports these days, particularly at O'Hare, those people with cell phones are able to get flights rescheduled while still standing in the service counter line. recently in Atlanta, after a flight had to turn back because of a bad oil light, the delta people were telling everyone they had to spend the night in Atlanta or Cinncinnati, until someone in line called her travel agent and learned there were available seats on Midwest and TWA flights to the destination, so we had information that we used to refut Delta's claims and to get rebooked on those flights.

Christie,

I had Ericsson phone and had quite a bit of failure results. As you are an employee of that company,I am sure your other carriers would not be real happy that you were promoting one of their competitors. By the way I now have Nokia's 6100 series phone that outperforms both the Ericcson and Motorola phones I used to have. Getting stuck with poor performers, I read up in Consumers Reports and other places and learned about the quality and performance of Nokia before buying. I was not familiar with them until then. Certain Audiovox phones were also rated good. In the process I also learned that Nokia provides 49% of the phones to AT&T, with several other manufacturers providing the remainder. Jeannie, there are a lot of good phones and carriers out there, just look into both before buying. If you are travelling to foreign destinations, know that you will need to get a phone/service in that country that supports the technology there. By determining where, how often, and under what circumstances you will use it will help you make the best selection of both phone and carrier.

Mike: We provide equipment for many, many operators. I'm at HQ in Dallas, and AT&T is the only Ericsson-equipped operator in my area. If I lived in Georgia, I'd be promoting Powertel, or PacBell in California. You get the picture.

I think you'll see a dramatic improvement in the new Ericsson handsets. Try the new Ericsson T28 World Phone, which features tri-mode operation and can be used ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Wow! We've started purchasing these for our top-level managers. I personally love my new Ericsson R280 Wireless Internet phone. It is just great to be able to get movie show times, restaurant reviews, and bid on Ebay auctions from my mobile phone.

Is the Ericsson World Phone on the market yet? A friend was trying to get info on one here in N.O. and had no luck. Any info appreciated. Thanks.

Nextel has a phone and service they say will work in most countries--haven't tried it, so I can't say if it works.

DO NOT USE SPRINT! My wife is an engineer for Spring PCS, and SHE refuses to use Sprint. Customer service is awful, and coverage is worse. I'm in Washington, D.C., almost every week for business, and I'll have calls dropped while I'm walking through the middle of the city. I've have trouble making calls from inside buildings. And when you try to check your account on Sprint's "automated" line, the minutes are always wrong. I've been told they're "working on it" but nothing ever changes. I'm still using Sprint because it's cheap for us, and I'm too busy to change it, but I really have to do it. It's simply awful.

Also, cell phones don't make you safer. They're just a tool. Were we all taking unnecessary risks 20 years ago just because we traveled without cell phones? I don't think so.