help a newbie

I'm considering making the plunge to wireless, I'm not even sure if the providers, other than Sagebrush Cellular, are accurate for my location. What's the distance limitations of say 1900 MHz, as most of them seem be 1900 MHz, including Sagebrush. The reason I ask this is, I live out in the country, 6 miles from the nearest cell tower, down in a valley. I don't want to have to make the investment, only to find out I can't access the tower unless I'm standing next to it.

[larry]

I've never heard of a Sagebrush Cellular. Where exactly are you? Sounds to me like you will be too far to get a signal. Most 1900 MHZ towers only have a range of about 1 to 5 miles unless they are mounted extremely high.

[BillRadio]

If you live near a Sagebrush site, you must be in NE Montana. And if you are "out in the country", there should be no 1900 MHz systems around you. Cellular One is by far the superior carrier in that area. They are large and specialize in rural coverage, so they might serve your home just fine. But since you may be too far out, you need to check it out.

The usable distance for an 800 MHz carrier like Cellular One or Mid Rivers/Sagebrush could be 20 miles. Here is a link to a Montana cellular info page:

Mountain Wireless-Montana

You can check out the carriers in your area and check links to their sites showing coverage maps. Also, at the bottom of that page, fill in the name of your town in the QwestDex directory, and they will return you a list of the nearest cellular stores. You can go there, and walk away with a phone, as long as you get the expressed guarantee that you can return it for a full refund if it doesn't work. This 'try-out' is now normal for cellular companies.

The systems in that area are not designed to be used in your home, so you may have to restrict use to your car, and add an extenal car antenna. That is normal in that area.

-Bill Radio