Road Trip to Yellowstone
I see road trips are popular here. Our travels took us through parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The ultimate destination ...
- 07-14-2005, 2:56 AM #1Wireless Consultant
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Road Trip to Yellowstone I see road trips are popular here. Our travels took us through parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The ultimate destination was Yellowstone National Park.
The Verizon
phone with America's Choice II was disappointing. The only time the phone would work off-network was roaming on Western Wireless (Cellular One) and only in northern Utah. In the good old days with our Single Rate West plan we could roam on all sorts of carriers, usually analog. No longer. In Yellowstone Park itself, there is only one active Verizon
site, near the Canyon area, but they do have good coverage at each entrance to the park. They do not allow AC II roaming on any other carrier there, and oddly, they no longer support their own licensed cell site at the south entrance to the park. In the cities around the park service is very good. Verizon
otherwise has relatively poor coverage in Wyoming, but being number 3 overall isn't too bad.
Old Faithful, our AT&T TDMA phone, not the geyser, had much better coverage. Most of the time it was roaming on TDMA with a couple stretches of analog, some from Verizon. Our plan is similar to Free2Go and spent most of its time on Western Wireless, and when that failed, UBET Cellular. The bad news, since it's always roaming, the rate quadruples. That's not too bad if you have a Beyond Wireless phone.
The big, and I do mean BIG surprise was our Cingular GSM phone. Since it's a prepaid phone, the Cingular prepaid map shows no coverage in areas where there is no native Cingular coverage..the phone just doesn't roam. Ah, but it does! Service is supplied by many different roaming carriers who must be using the Cingular network code because the phone would always display "Cingular". Off the beaten path in Utah and Colorado, Cingular just wasn't there. But then we discovered Cingular service where we didn't expect it.
First, in the wonderfully typical small town of Vernal, UT, there was what appeared to be a single site of Cingular service. But when we crossed the Green River dam in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, the only signal was from UBET Cellular...and Cingular! Crossing the line into Wyoming, the Cingular signal centered on Rock Springs and a handful of islands of coverage north of that, including Jackson Hole. But in Yellowstone Park, there was excellent Cingular coverage in twice as many areas as Verizon. That's two sites: Old Faithful and Grant Village.
A sidelight in Vernal was the comparison of cellular stores. Cellular One is housed in a converted gas station. UBET is in a huge building that could easily be mistaken for a substantial bank, and possibly was one in a previous life. The Nextel "store" was one of those chain saw sharpening shop-looking buildings, and it probably is one.
Then there's the rock solid Cingular coverage across Wyoming on I-80. Once again the phone always said "Cingular", and there weren't those big annoying holes like Verizon's. None of this shows on Cingular's prepaid map, and some of it is not even shown as current coverage on their regular map. It was touch and go for some time since we didn't expect to use the Cingular phone at all, so we didn't pack the Nokia charger.
The coverage king in that region of WY is Union Cellular who just recently converted to GSM, and I suspect supplies some of that new Cingular coverage. Otherwise, we rarely roamed on them. The old Verizon plans would roam on Union's analog signal, alas, no longer. The Verizon phone also roamed on Commnet Wireless, digital and analog, along I-80, through a long gap in Verizon coverage.
Sprint PCS and T-Mobile only appeared in Jackson and Cheyenne, WY, and all along I-70 from Denver to Grand Junction. I thought I heard the Sprint phone beep in Yellowstone, but didn't look to check. We just didn't expect coverage there, but if it indeed is there, it could be supplied by Western Wireless. Otherwise there was no other useable signal in WY. Laramie showed some Sprint signal, but it constantly dropped out.
Western Wireless also has a few areas of coverage in Yellowstone which we accessed with our AT&T phone...some digital and some analog. Western Wireless also owns that infamous Old Faithful cell tower. You wouldn't see it at all except for the fact that it is clearly visible as you drive up the entrance to the Old Faithful parking area.
Nextel did a good job with sites in all the towns and along major corridors, but we couldn't check them in Yellowstone Park. Don't laugh, I forgot to turn on the Nextel phone there...oops.
With the dozen or so cell sites in Yellowstone, you'd think coverage would be great. But since no one phone can access all sites, it's not. For a time, Verizon phones would, although with the old America's Choice plans some roaming charges may have been seen. Although I am being a bit critical, coverage in these areas has improved significantly over the past year.
BTW, Western Wireless in NE UT transmits SID 1741 on CDMA and 1739 on TDMA and analog. This gives a clue as to what should be happening in the Moab area.
- 07-14-2005, 8:57 AM #2Resident Headbanger
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone Thanks for the report Bill!

I hope to get to Yellowstone someday, I really want to see it.
- 07-14-2005, 9:50 AM #3
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone Thanks for the great report Bill! Someday I'll get out that way. Good to know GSM is still getting better everyday even in rural areas where CDMA should rule. Verizon
really needs to improve some areas of their rural networks, apparently in these areas, PA, and nothern Arizona...they are falling behind.
- 07-14-2005, 9:54 AM #4The Cell Phone Junkie
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone Thanks Bill!~
Of course I like to read reports about coverage, even if I don't know if I will be up there anytime soon
Good to hear that Cingular worked well for you. It's nice to read something positive about Cingular after all the criticism recently...
- 07-14-2005, 1:10 PM #5
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone Bill,
Thanks for the report!
I was there about a year ago with an AC1 Plan. GSM must have improved tremendously within the past year in the area.
You said that Verizon
is not servicing their site at the southern entrance of the park anymore..what exactly do you mean? Did they just kill it or what?
WW only transmits SID 1741 digitally in two counties in NE Utah, that's it, everywhere else, even the digital signal is on 1739.
You are saying that Verizon
only has one site in the park? Where exactly is that? I got Verizon
coverage in spots all across the park, where, at least a year ago, GSM phones were SOL.
Great report!
- 07-14-2005, 5:24 PM #6Wireless Consultant
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone Rumor is Western Wireless supplies Cingular GSM service, but I also got it in areas where WW has no coverage on TDMA or CDMA.
Originally Posted by Andy84094
FCC shows they have a licensed site within a mile of the Snake River Ranger station. I was at that Lat/Long and there was NO VerizonYou said that Verizon
is not servicing their site at the southern entrance of the park anymore..what exactly do you mean?
signal, either this year or the last time we were there in 2000.
When I was told they were transmitting 1741 at all those other sites, they did not specify whether it was CDMA or TDMA. It turns out it is TDMA and analog.WW only transmits SID 1741 digitally in two counties in NE Utah, that's it, everywhere else, even the digital signal is on 1739.
FCC says it's "23 miles SE of Gardner", which is a silly way to describe that site. It's on a hill north of the "Canyon" area of the park, near the Falls.You are saying that Verizon
only has one site in the park? Where exactly is that?
Yes, with a Non-AC II PRL you'll 'see' ALL the sites in the park, some roaming & digital, some not. Also, there is service coming from outside the park from Mammoth Springs, W. Yellowstone, Cody and Grand Teton. With the AC II PRL, you only get that ONE site within the park. It's a place where I really miss my old SRW plan. After watching Old Faithful, I gave my Cingular GSM phone to my son who wanted to descibe it all to his uncle, since it was the next least expensive service available. That call has yet to be charged.I got Verizon coverage in spots all across the park
I hope much will change in these areas when Alltel takes over Western Wireless.
- 07-14-2005, 6:29 PM #7Iowa Cellular Guru
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone I would hope one day Verizon
would spend $200 million and fix Wyoming up. Get PCS towers in Yellowstone and get rid of all these holes they have in RSA #4 where they show solid coverage and there is nothing there.
- 07-15-2005, 7:46 AM #8Fresh Member
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone I was in the Idaho Falls, ID & Jackson, WY area about three months ago. I had car trouble on the Idaho side of the Teton Pass and was fortunately able to call out for help with my Verizon
Originally Posted by BillRadio
AC1 plan. I was roaming, and I paid a few dollars in roaming fees for the calls I had to make, but I got the help I needed when I needed it. (I remember that being my original reason for getting a cell phone several years ago!) My intention right now is to stick with AC1 for as long as they'll let me.
- 07-15-2005, 12:41 PM #9
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone When I was there with my AC1 plan, my all digital phone only worked on the Verizon
Originally Posted by BillRadio
network, because there was no other digital service available. My Nokia tri-mode phone sometimes picked up a roam AMPS signal from Union Telephone in some parts of the park, but AMPS doesn't even cover all roadways inside the park, or at least didn't when I was there.
I got Verizon service around the Falls, but it wasn't strong enough to make me believe the site was right there.
Here's my report from a year ago:
So..where's the site that covers that stretch of road, including the falls?
Originally Posted by Andy84094
- 07-16-2005, 1:59 PM #10Junior Member
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone Bill,
Great report! I am going to post my trip results shortly from Phoenix to Durango to Pikes peak, Santa Fe then back to Phoenix. I was very impressed with Cingular and Verizon
has lost some of its luster. I just go back last night nothing like 2500 miles of driving with a 21 month old
(actually she was very good)
RH
- 07-17-2005, 9:50 PM #11Junior Member
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone
Originally Posted by RH
Correction 2,000 miles.
- 07-23-2005, 10:32 PM #12Fresh Member
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone Great reality check for the new VZW AC2 PRL.
I guess the moral of the story is to keep at least one backup alternative network phone handy in cross country travels.
Beyond the fun of mapping VZW and other carriers coverage, it could be just as likely a situation to have to call the autautoclubr a tow or to report an accident.
I'm seriuseriouslyking about getting a GSM prepaid phone, but expect out here in Northern California/Sierras, the best bet is still an old ATT multinetwork phone along with VZW. Even with the Callplus/Locus 4X roaming rate, the ability to make any call in an emergency/breakdown is cheap insurance.
I keep a backup VZW phone and discovered a 611 call from an unactivated VZW phone would only go through when the phone got a digital connection, while roaming on US Cellular. The message from Darth Vader, aka James Earl Jones, told me to dial #7626 to make a call on American Roaming Network. So much for an easy ESN change from VZW CS, if my primary phone failed while on the road.
That's another good reason to keep a backup phone and charger. Lots of unexpected calamities can befall a handset while camping/road tripping.
I'm recommending all my Cingular GSM using friends keep an old analog or preferably an A/D handset while traveling in remote regions. It seems plain silly to give up the potential ability to make an emergency call! Isn't that the bottom line of getting a cell phone in the first place?
I wonder if say, VZW CS can even activate a non GPS capable handset remotley, if remotelyy phone should fail on the road? Probably should keep a fairly current VZW GPS capable model as backup, to avoid an unpleasant surprise when trying to activate, given what appears to be new rules.
I suspect a 911 call would go through on analog, but since I found an unactivated VZW phone won't even connect to the network, that may mean an unactivated VZW phone in an analog only area, may not be the best for connecting to the ARN, for those urgent, but not emergency type calls.
-
Sid
- 07-25-2005, 2:55 AM #13Junior Member
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone thanks for report! wow it was also suprising to me that Cingular was the good! I agree Verizon
's new AC 2 is not as good as the first one was.. Present Providers: Cingular GSM (Nokia 6620), Virgin Mobile...
PAST: Verizon wireless (5+ years), AT&T TDMA (2 months quit) Motorola i90 ( Nextel sucks where i live)
Soon to return Sprint PCS!!!
- 07-25-2005, 7:56 AM #14Signal Go Down De Hole...
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone T-Mobile
have coverage in Laramie... good downtown, OK at the university, non-existent as soon as you head out of town.
And nobody -- nobody nobody nobody -- has coverage in Centennial.
- 07-25-2005, 10:32 AM #15Iowa Cellular Guru
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone When you head out of town T-Mobile
does have a roaming agreement with Commnet??
- 07-25-2005, 4:28 PM #16Wireless Consultant
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Re: Road Trip to Yellowstone I think Commnet supplies all T-Mobile
Originally Posted by agentHibby
coverage in Laramie. The Commnet GSM map shows Laramie coverage. T-M has asked Commnet to supply coverage in several places and this looks like one of them. Commnet also supplies analog, TDMA and IIRC CDMA service there. Last edited by BillRadio; 07-25-2005 at 5:07 PM.
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