GPS, Satellite or Cell Phones

[canetracker]

IN 2005 depotoo posted this in the basic preps for every season topic: "just a thought for those in prone areas- if you are staying and you live here year round - and your cell phone did not work after the storms last year - look into getting a gps phone - it will work when others won't. mine was the only one of all our neighbors that did for about 4 days after - turns out it's because it is gps. it is more expensive - i had to have one to get good coverage with my carrier where we live so was very lucky - everyone was using mine."

Like many others, after Katrina, my cell phone did not work. It didn't even work 75-100 miles away from the New Orleans area. I need advice on a phone that will work. I have been researching on the net about GPS phones as the above poster suggested, however, I do not understand why a GPS phone will work when a cell phone will not. Does anyone know about this?
Also have looked into a satellite phone, but the cost per minute is way too expensive.

I am really dumb on this subject and need advice.

Thanks in advance!!

[Aquawind]

The GPS phones link directly to the sattelite. The typical cell phone connects through a network of dishes/antenne on the ground and then rediredcted through sattelites. The dish network was dammaged thus no connection. GPS phones are used by mountain climbers and people in very remote locations.

[Dionne]

Nokia is about to debut the next generation GPS enabled satphone....cost for the phone is $967. It works off a series of 27 satellites in orbit. Connect time is supposed to be less than one minute. It will work worldwide. Calls from landlines to the satphone can vary from $3-$14 per minute. Satphone to satphone is $15 per minute. Satphone to a landline varies from $.80 to $1.50 per minute.

[Hurritrax]

Don't confuse GPS cellular phones with Satellite phones....All wireless phones sold in the US by every carrier (Sprint, AT&T, Nextel, Verizon, T-Mobile, ALLTEL, etc.) must have GPS capability for 911 service. This means if you call 911 from your cell phone, 911 can track the phone and pinpoint it's location within 50 to 100 yards.

Depending on your carrier, each has phone that have better TX/RX than others. Check http://www.howardforums.com for info on each carrier, and what phones are recommended. You'll find some great info there that will help you decide which phone to purchase.

Many think that because they have a "GPS" cell phone, it's using satellites to communicate. This is not the case. They still use normal cell towers and phone lines to communicate.

Now real satellite phones acutally use satellites to relay calls and are expensive. Upfront cost of the phones are usually in the $1000 range for a decent one, and then service cost is extremely high per minute also, even when you purchase a monthly plan.

Many carriers that use CDMA technology still offer analog service, but analog is scheduled to be turned off sometime in 2008 by all carriers. Analog was the first cellular service introduced in the US back in the 80's (remember the big "brick" phones and the "bag" phones???These were analog.) Some carriers still offer Tri-mode phones that handle Digital, PCS, and analog signals.

Remember that if a cell phone doesn't work after a storm, it may not be the cell tower that's down......towers connect to the underground phone lines and these lines could have been damaged or severed miles away and prevent the call from being routed to the next tower.

Text messaging (SMS) may be more reliable after a storm hits, because the messaging technology does not use the phone lines. It's broadcast to the tower and then to a Short Message Center and then the message center relays it through air transmission to the receiving phone. No phone lines are ever used.

Everyone in hurricane prone areas may want to add a text messaging feature to all there phones incase a voice call will not work after a storm. PM me if you need more info.

[Aquawind]

Thanks for the details Hurritrax..

[Jagno]

Text messaging was our last reliable way to communicate. Cell phone service went first. We were able to use the "ready Link" service for hours after the cells wouldn't connect. Lastly we resorted to text messaging. All of this took place before, during and after Rita. Other than a ham radio or the willingness to spend near 1k I think I will stick with my cell with radio transmission "ready link" for now.

[brunota2003]

Is there any way you can get like a storm plan for text messaging? My family and I would never use text messaging otherwise, so there would be no point in paying for something you dont use...so I think it would be cool that if you are placed under a hurricane warning, your messaging plan automatically kicked in for during and after the storm hit...

[canetracker]

Great post Hurritrax. I think you cleared up any confusion that I had. The cost of satellite is way too expensive when I can just text message. Text messaging was not always reliable but most of the time, it did work.

[Hurritrax]

Is there any way you can get like a storm plan for text messaging? My family and I would never use text messaging otherwise, so there would be no point in paying for something you dont use...so I think it would be cool that if you are placed under a hurricane warning, your messaging plan automatically kicked in for during and after the storm hit...

I'm not aware of any carrier that will automatically do this. My suggestion would be to add the task of adding a text messaging package to all your phone numbers to your hurricane preparedness "to do" list. Check with your wireless carrier beforehand to see what packages are available and their costs. Most carriers allow you to add this feature whenever and then take it back off when you don't need it anymore.

[FormerFlatlander]

I suggest you look into obtaining an Amateur Radio Technician level license. No morse code test is required. Ham radio resource site on line, including practice exams: http://www.eham.net/exams/

All about emergency amateur radio: http://www.emergency-radio.org/

Good ham radio handhelds can be purchased for less than $200 and a multi-band mobile for around $400. Many amateur radio clubs have fixed and portable repeaters that can be brought in to a disaster area. Reaching another radio amateur in an area remote from the disaster with phone service is a way of getting a message passed on to your loved ones at no cost-especially in these days of unlimited long distance on cell phones.

[digitaldahling]

Is there any way you can get like a storm plan for text messaging? My family and I would never use text messaging otherwise, so there would be no point in paying for something you dont use...so I think it would be cool that if you are placed under a hurricane warning, your messaging plan automatically kicked in for during and after the storm hit...

AT&T has a package of 200 text messages for $5 per month. You can add/remove as you like if you register your phone online. Otherwise, if you have a data plan, you pay $.20 per message. Either way, it's good to have. As others have said, text messaging was all that worked for several days after Katrina. And it was a blessing to have.