Cell phone coverage

[rs38bj]

For those of you who live in Grafton, are there any wireless carriers that work there at all?  And also for those of you that make trips to Keene which have you found to be the best to have for the trip  and that then also works in the Keene area (and hopefully back in Gtown too)

Thanks
Bill

[Kat Kanning]

Zero cell phone coverage in most of Grafton.

[Free libertarian]

 Verizon works in some areas.  I would not say it's good service everywhere, but there are several spots where I get reception.  In a few areas the reception is good.

Most of the locations that work tend to be at an elevation or seem to have a  line of sight on the "good" side of certain hills.   Kinsman Highway, the west facing slope of Height of land road and Jerry's near RTE 4A  seem to best.  Once in awhile the top of Bullocks crossing at the mancave I can get reception too.  I think at Bear Hollow Road I've gotten signal too, not sure about Hoyt Farm though.

[thinkliberty]

Zero cell phone coverage in most of Grafton.

MagicJack is coming out with a femtocell which will convert your internet connection in to a cell phone tower. It's GSM only as far as I can tell, so it will only work on Verizon with 1 or 2 phones that support GSM as well as their regular CDMA network.

As long as the government does not stop them:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/magicjack-femtocell-sure-to-face-legal-battle-royale/

[K. Darien Freeheart]

For those of you who live in Grafton, are there any wireless carriers that work there at all?

So... you look at the MASSIVE map of New Hampshire and see grey, green and orange blobs that describe "good", "moderate" and "off-carrier" coverage.

Grafton is even worse than that.

There's not a "half of Grafton gets..." option. The problem here isn't coverage, it's topography.

Hoyt Farm, where the Kannings and Co. live has ZERO cell service. None. Period. They live in a valley. To service them, the cell carriers would need to put a tower ON the Hoyt Farm on the high ridge.

I'm sitting at my kitchen table, also in Grafton, posting this through a Verizon MiFi card. Verizon's service here is not only useful for cell coverage, but high-speed data. I live on a hill towards the south side of Grafton, and at certain places in the yard, I can SEE the cell towers on a clear day.

If you're looking at living in Grafton and using cell service, I'd suggest switching to a pre-paid service in the mean time. I've used all of the major pre-paid providers, and certain parts of Grafton work with them all. Once you get here, you can evaluate (or ask me) the networks that are in use on that provider.

Tracfone and Net10 use both GSM (ATT&T) and CDMA (Verizon and Sprint). Both work from here. Theoretically, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, Boost, Virgin, Straight Talk and all of the others work from THIS location.

I lost my Tracfone last week, and have decided to replace it with a CDMA Net10 phone. I have no fears it will work from my home. I know I can't buy one that will work at Hoyt.

Keene is a "major city" in NH. Everything works there. I travel the state frequently and my Tracfone has "always" worked. I think my CDMA Net10 phone might be slightly, but not much, better.

Feel free to ask me more specific questions if you want about more specific areas and services. I geek out over this stuff.

[George Donnelly]

So if I'm in Grafton looking at property, in which direction(s?) would I look to see the cell towers?

[K. Darien Freeheart]

From here, I think it's southwest.

But you don't have to see the tower to get coverage. And if you're checking out property, ideally the trees would obscure your view.

[George Donnelly]

LOL, good point.

[Free libertarian]

So if I'm in Grafton looking at property, in which direction(s?) would I look to see the cell towers?

...you cahn't get theyah from heah, ayup.   

[Russell Kanning]

i thought no cell coverage was a feature

[Russell Kanning]

Keene is a "major city" in NH. Everything works there. I travel the state frequently and my Tracfone has "always" worked. I think my CDMA Net10 phone might be slightly, but not much, better.

i was once riding with a bunch of fed thugs in keene
they were cursing their lack of cell coverage in this backwoods city
their gps was also getting them lost, so they were squealing tires in the neighborhood across from the hospital
then they were cursing their faulty suv's transmission (they were remembering the good old days right after 9/11 when they had more funding)
the rest of the trip was spent complaining about the usual ..... pay, pension, medical coverage .... being assigned to NH, so far away from Rome

[Lloyd Danforth]

 

[George Donnelly]

You've got a great point there Russell!

[Lloyd Danforth]

One of the guys who visit us up on Bullocks Crossing has a phone that rings here in the trailer and he can conduct calls out by the electric pole.