Coverage Report: Van Nuys, CA to Mammoth Lakes, CA

[ZaphodB]

Coverage Report: Van Nuys, CA to Mammoth Lakes, CA

Verizon's claims of coverage on US-395 from China Lake NAWS to Lee Vining are exaggerated.

From Van Nuys to Mojave (on CA-170, I-5 and CA-14) there is coverage -- though as you go through the Acton Grade the coverage suffers. North of Mojave to Inyokern on CA-14 there is generally good coverage, though there is one dead spot about ten miles past the Mojave turn. There are some very obvious dead spots on US-395 from China Lake NAWS to Bishop. One was about ten miles south of Lone Pine, one was between Lone Pine and Independence, one was on the shores of Owens Dry Lake about 15 miles south of Bishop, and then there was no coverage at all headed up the Crowley Lake Grade, between about 4,500 and 6,000 ft elevations. There was also no coverage at Tom's Place, no indoor coverage at Schat's Bakery in Bishop, and no coverage of any kind in Pearsonville (on the Inyo/Kern county line).

Coverage in Mammoth Lakes was quite good, especially given that there was still 5 metres (16 feet) of snow on the ground. Our condo had full coverage for Verizon indoors and about 2/6 for T-Mobile/Cingular Orange. Sprint had no coverage and was roaming. The mountain itself had some coverage issues -- there was little coverage at Eagle Lodge and no indoor coverage in Canyon Lodge or the Village at Mammoth. T-Mobile/Cingular Orange had coverage in Mammoth Lakes but on the mountain the only coverage for T-Mobile/Cingular Orange was at the Main Lodge. There was surprisingly strong Verizon coverage at the summit (11,053 feet), but there was a direct line-of-sight to a tower in the town.

[azcellphonejunkie]

Originally Posted by ZaphodB

Coverage Report: Van Nuys, CA to Mammoth Lakes, CA

Verizon's claims of coverage on US-395 from China Lake NAWS to Lee Vining are exaggerated.

From Van Nuys to Mojave (on CA-170, I-5 and CA-14) there is coverage -- though as you go through the Acton Grade the coverage suffers. North of Mojave to Inyokern on CA-14 there is generally good coverage, though there is one dead spot about ten miles past the Mojave turn. There are some very obvious dead spots on US-395 from China Lake NAWS to Bishop. One was about ten miles south of Lone Pine, one was between Lone Pine and Independence, one was on the shores of Owens Dry Lake about 15 miles south of Bishop, and then there was no coverage at all headed up the Crowley Lake Grade, between about 4,500 and 6,000 ft elevations. There was also no coverage at Tom's Place, no indoor coverage at Schat's Bakery in Bishop, and no coverage of any kind in Pearsonville (on the Inyo/Kern county line).

Coverage in Mammoth Lakes was quite good, especially given that there was still 5 metres (16 feet) of snow on the ground. Our condo had full coverage for Verizon indoors and about 2/6 for T-Mobile/Cingular Orange. Sprint had no coverage and was roaming. The mountain itself had some coverage issues -- there was little coverage at Eagle Lodge and no indoor coverage in Canyon Lodge or the Village at Mammoth. T-Mobile/Cingular Orange had coverage in Mammoth Lakes but on the mountain the only coverage for T-Mobile/Cingular Orange was at the Main Lodge. There was surprisingly strong Verizon coverage at the summit (11,053 feet), but there was a direct line-of-sight to a tower in the town.

Were you able to make a call from the summit of the mountain? I have heard horror stories about pilot polution when you are on mountains or in high buildings and your phone can see 10 or so towers. My guess is that since it is a remote location, you only had 1 or 2 towers that were accessible from that location.

[Andy]

Exactly, AZ, I think your statement about 1 to 2 towers would be correct in such a remote area.
Zap, thanks for that coverage report; always interesting to read those. How do other carrier's coverage compare on the drive?

[ZaphodB]

I did make a call from the top of the mountain ("HEY! Look up here, see me waving?!") and the quality was spotty but the message got across.

T-Mobile (Cingular Orange): No coverage north of Lancaster, except for city coverage of Rosamond, Mojave, Inyokern, Independence, Fish Springs, Bishop (intermittent -- no coverage for 1/2 mile north of the Big K), and Mammoth Lakes. The western edge of Owens Dry Lake (Lone Pine, Bartlett, Whitney Portal) is actually very well-covered. That is the launch point for Mt Whitney expeditions, so this isn't totally surprising. Also, they are well-known for dropped calls on the Acton Grade between Santa Clarita and the Angeles Crest. I know from prior experience that there is no coverage at all north from Mammoth Lakes until you get to Carson City, and then it's great up to Reno, and then nothing until you get toward Susanville and pick up WW signal.

Their coverage map, which shows an unbroken line of coverage from Olancha to Lee Vining, is bull.

I didn't have any Sprint, Nextel or Cingular clients in the car.

[azcellphonejunkie]

Originally Posted by ZaphodB

I did make a call from the top of the mountain ("HEY! Look up here, see me waving?!") and the quality was spotty but the message got across.

T-Mobile (Cingular Orange): No coverage north of Lancaster, except for city coverage of Rosamond, Mojave, Inyokern, Independence, Fish Springs, Bishop (intermittent -- no coverage for 1/2 mile north of the Big K), and Mammoth Lakes. The western edge of Owens Dry Lake (Lone Pine, Bartlett, Whitney Portal) is actually very well-covered. That is the launch point for Mt Whitney expeditions, so this isn't totally surprising. Also, they are well-known for dropped calls on the Acton Grade between Santa Clarita and the Angeles Crest. I know from prior experience that there is no coverage at all north from Mammoth Lakes until you get to Carson City, and then it's great up to Reno, and then nothing until you get toward Susanville and pick up WW signal.

Their coverage map, which shows an unbroken line of coverage from Olancha to Lee Vining, is bull.

I didn't have any Sprint, Nextel or Cingular clients in the car.

I still think that is pretty cool. I have talked to my dad on the top of mountains when he was vacationing in Colorado, and it is funny to hear how excited he got. I guess when you are in the middle of nowhere, you think being able to talk to people is a novelty...

[bobd]

Did you say that Cingular had coverage at the Whitney Portal camp site or just in Lone Pine?

395 seems to have enough traffic on it to justify decent coverage from any of the carriers.

I wonder if any of the companies have plans to cover 395, especially past mammoth.
I know that they would argue that there is not enough demand to justify a very expensive deployment of sites but it would certainly be nice for those of us that make that drive.

[Andy]

I think I remember Larry saying that Sprint has no plans covering it-but I'm not absolutely sure...Larry, where are you?

[Rasputin]

Thanks for the info, I was wondering how the coverage is to Mammoth. I have had the best luck with Verizon in making calls from the top of mountains, much better luck than I have had with Nextel, or Cingular. The mountains I have made calls on with Verizon, Mt. Lemmon and South Mountain Arizona, San Gorgonio, Banning CA, Mt. Diablo Walnut Creek, Bruno Mountain ( more like a big hill ), South San Francisco, San Miguel , Palomar, Otay in San Diego, Black Mountain Las Vegas.Top of the old Wells Fargo high rise in LA, on the tower of the Sears Tower, on the tower of the prudential building in Boston. And many many mountains, and high rises all over.

Most of the time if I am luck with Cingular I would get choppy audio I could hear but not talk. Nextel was a little better. With Verizon the audio would be a little choppy at times, but I could talk. Almost all of these areas were digital also not analog.

[azcellphonejunkie]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Thanks for the info, I was wondering how the coverage is to Mammoth. I have had the best luck with Verizon in making calls from the top of mountains, much better luck than I have had with Nextel, or Cingular. The mountains I have made calls on with Verizon, Mt. Lemmon and South Mountain Arizona, San Gorgonio, Banning CA, Mt. Diablo Walnut Creek, Bruno Mountain ( more like a big hill ), South San Francisco, San Miguel , Palomar, Otay in San Diego, Black Mountain Las Vegas.Top of the old Wells Fargo high rise in LA, on the tower of the Sears Tower, on the tower of the prudential building in Boston. And many many mountains, and high rises all over.

Most of the time if I am luck with Cingular I would get choppy audio I could hear but not talk. Nextel was a little better. With Verizon the audio would be a little choppy at times, but I could talk. Almost all of these areas were digital also not analog.

I was able to use Sprint on these 3 mountains in Phoenix:
-South Mountain
-"A" mountain in Tempe
-Camelback mountain in Scottsdale

Now granted they aren't very high, but at least 1500-3000 feet above the city in some spots...

[Andy]

We have something called South Mountain here as well I've successfully used my phone there too

[azcellphonejunkie]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

We have something called South Mountain here as well I've successfully used my phone there too

But does your South Mountain have such a beautiful array of towers on the top:[IMG]South Mountain Antennas[/IMG]

[Andy]

Nope, Ensign Peak, Lake Mountain, and Farnsworth Peak look like that or worse

[azcellphonejunkie]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

Nope, Ensign Peak, Lake Mountain, and Farnsworth Peak look like that or worse

It is where most of our TV stations broadcast from. The Mountain looks down over the entire Phoenix valley. By putting them there, they cover most of the population just fine.

[Andy]

Sorry to be getting off topic here, this will be my last off topic post in this threat, but Farnsworth Peak is to the mountain range west of the Salt Lake Valley and overviews our whole valley here, Ensign is to the north, much lower, but also overlooks the whole valley. Lake Mountain overlooks Utah County, south of Salt Lake. This is where our TV/Radio broadcast from. VZW and Nextel(those I know for sure) actually have transmitters on top of Farnsworth Peak.

[ZaphodB]

Originally Posted by bobd

Did you say that Cingular had coverage at the Whitney Portal camp site or just in Lone Pine?

395 seems to have enough traffic on it to justify decent coverage from any of the carriers.

I wonder if any of the companies have plans to cover 395, especially past mammoth.
I know that they would argue that there is not enough demand to justify a very expensive deployment of sites but it would certainly be nice for those of us that make that drive.

There was coverage at Whitney Portal. You can actually get a pretty good idea of the coverage by going to http://compass.t-mobile.com/Compass2/MapPage.asp and looking at the coverage. Since T-Mobile = Cingular Orange in California and Nevada, if you have coverage on T-Mobile you have coverage on Cingular, at least in the near term.

[azcellphonejunkie]

Originally Posted by ZaphodB

There was coverage at Whitney Portal. You can actually get a pretty good idea of the coverage by going to http://compass.t-mobile.com/Compass2/MapPage.asp and looking at the coverage. Since T-Mobile = Cingular Orange in California and Nevada, if you have coverage on T-Mobile you have coverage on Cingular, at least in the near term.

You know, it is interesting with the Cingular/AT&T buyout because I was up in Santa Rosa in December and my dad has a V551 from Cingular. When we were out and about, his phone read AT&T Wireless most of the time and he had different (better) coverage than I did. There were however some areas north of Santa Rosa that we both had no coverage. I think I heard that Cingular will be selling it's share of the network in California to T-Mobile and Cingular users will be soley on the old AT&T GSM network when all is said and done. Is this true?

[ZaphodB]

True. The network is actually T-Mobile's now, but Cingular customers can use it for the next few years.

Cingular customers (both Blue and Orange) can use the Blue (AT&T) and Orange (Cingular native/T-Mobile) networks. T-Mobile customers can not use the Blue network.

[azcellphonejunkie]

Originally Posted by ZaphodB

True. The network is actually T-Mobile's now, but Cingular customers can use it for the next few years.

Cingular customers (both Blue and Orange) can use the Blue (AT&T) and Orange (Cingular native/T-Mobile) networks. T-Mobile customers can not use the Blue network.

That's what I thought. A nice advantage to being a Cingular customer in CA! At least for the next few years...

[Andy]

But didn't Cingular and T-Mo have their own equipment on every site in CA/NV? So After a few years Cingular will do away with their equipment on all those sites.??

[larry]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

But didn't Cingular and T-Mo have their own equipment on every site in CA/NV? So After a few years Cingular will do away with their equipment on all those sites.??

I observed them changing out and adding new panels on all of their towers and adding some new equipment stuff at the base. So I'm not sure if Cingular simply doubled their capacity at each site or if T-Mobile added their own equipment. I'm pretty sure that Cingular just beefed up the equipment at each cell site to accomodate the new T-Mobile traffic.

[Andy]

Ah-well I have to say that I was quite satisfied with the Cingular/T-mobile network in Southern California, across areas of L.A. down to San Diego and San Diego State University; no problems.
So every Cingular site had more availble space for the new equipment and panels to be added...that's interesting since towers in southern california sometimes get crowded