Cellular Service

[1RACEBABE]

I need some  feedback about cellular service at the track.  

I live in Milwaukee and have Sprint service.  Even though Blackhawk and RA are part of their calling area I cannot get a signal.  I have currently switched to Cingular because of the large coverage area but I would like to know if it is a problem with no service at the track.  If anyone out there with Cingular can clue me in that would be wicked cool.  I cant very well call everyone with the racing 411 if I cant get a signal, right?

[cornercamping]

I don't work for Cingular, but I work with the networks, actually, Cingular, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon.  
You made a good choice by choosing Cingular.  Cingular just recently aquired AT&T also so you now have a larger network, but not too much larger because alot of the carriers "share" tower space.  Regardless, Cingular is going to be the largest carrier in the U.S.   I'm assuming you bought a GSM phone.  As far as coverage is concerned, you shouldn't have a problem at most race tracks.   Especially since they keep expanding the networks larger and larger.  If you really wanna know exactly the amount of coverage you will have, give me the lat/long of the race track, and I'll pull up a spectrum map of that area and be able to tell you approximately how much signal gain you will have.

Sorry, can't really keep it to a yes or no, because your phone can show having a signal, but it isn't good enough to send or recieve calls.  It really isn't a it works or it doesn't scenerio.

Another thing to keep in mind, when using ALL cellular, is that regardless of how much signal you have, you can pretty much always recieve and send an SMS.   You may have "no bars" on your phone, and you can't make a phone call, but, as long as you see CINGULAR on the screen of your phone, you will be able to send and recieve SMS.  So, short messages are a good way to go at the race track.  That's what I do.  If it's important enough, it shouldn't be an issue of sending an email back and forth, and it's really quick.  You phone already has an email address.  It's usually your phone number @mycingular.mobile.com  I believe, but you should check.

If you really need dependable service at the racetrack, or anywhere you will ever go, buy a combo GSM/Sat Phone.  You can slide your Cingular SIM card in it, and make regular calls, just like you do  now, but when you need it, you can put up the Satellite antenna and make a satellite call for $1.00 a minute.  Works well.  I have one. Plus, no such thing as no service with Satellite if your outside.  Satellite does not work inside buildings, you have to have a clear view of the sky.  Try: www.globalstar.com or www.iridium.com   Both work well.  I can get you a combo GSM/Sat phone at cost if you want it.  Don't pay $500 for it online.  I can get it to you all day for $200.00 and you don't have to sign any contracts or anything.  Just take your SIM card out of your Cingluar phone and put it in the sat phone.  

 ;D

[StumpysWife]

We use CellularOne and get a signal at Blackhawk.

Heather

[Dawn]

I didn't read corner's full message (my eyes started to glaze over).  But I think I may know what the problem may be.

If you have a phone that works off of a digital signal, your calls are clearer, but the range from the tower is not as great.  Digital phones need more repeaters to carry their signal.  

An analog phone, while the reception is not always clear, actually has a larger area of coverage due to the type of signal it uses.  It does not need as many towers (antenna's) to carry its signal.

We have service through Cellcom and an analog phone.  Service has worked for us at BFR.

I hope this helps,

Dawn   :)

[1RACEBABE]

You have all been so helpful!  Iam just so tired of call fading or not getting a signal.  I got a GSM phone so by your input it should work no problem.  Please, keep the info coming though, the more the better.

 I thought CellularOne was out of business?

[StumpysWife]

I thought CellularOne was out of business?

Not here in Michigan.  My stepfather works for CellOne.  Our CellOne is owned by Dobson Communications.


Heather

[MadXX]

CellularOne was turned into us cellular in wisconsin.  I have sprint and have to be in the right spot in the pits but can always make calls from the track.  The key to that one is the location.  However, when I had my old phone from us cellular/cell one I had the same problem.  

The little phones are made for city people with towers everywhere so they save battery by lowering signal strength.  If you have one of the neat little phones, you will probably have a problem. if you have one of the bigger phones your phone will have a stronger signal.  For example when I go hunting I can barely get signal from a tower 20 miles away from the top of a hill but my friend's bag phone works like a land line.

BTW SMS and the cool new phone features work great when you have a tower that supports that stuff.  BHF however is in the sticks and the analog/older digital towers around there generally will not allow any of the newer features.

[Nate R]

With my Nokia 3595 GSM Phone on Cingular Service, things have been good enough to make calls at BHF, RA, and Summit No problem.

Blackhawk can be spotty. (my experience on 2 diff phones. GSM and non.)

So, walk/ride around a bit wherever you are.

I've been very happy with the Cingular coverage. Just went onto a nationwide plan, too.

[cornercamping]

 Well, since you want to get into details.. ::)

Analog Cellular will only be around for a couple more years, at the most.  Last summer, the FCC approved the decommissioning of the analog networks.  Analog uses two different available technologies, both with are very old, and they  are CDPD and Mobitex.  In all reality, all cellular signals are Analog, even GSM, CDMA, TDMA, and iDEN.  There is no such thing as a true digital phone, unless your talking L1 Band satellite.  This is how digital works.   First, the signal to and from the tower to the phone, is analog.  On both ends, you have digital chipsets.  You phone has a digital chip in it, and the network switch is digital, also called an HLR and the SMSC. So, you have an analog singal converted to digital by the network and the phone.   This is how the company Qualcomm started.  They made CDMA digital decoders, where the tower would broadcast a encoded analog signal, and the phone would decode the signal and provide "more" information and higher levels of security.  Now, there are seperate channels on a cell network, both the new generation of "digital" and the old analog.  They are the control channels, and the voice channels, which connect to a PBX (land line phone switch.)   The control channels are the ones that send and recieve data, along with authorization for use, and the voice channels connect you to the land line systems. For instance, here is what actually happens when you hit the send button your phone:

Send Button Pressed: Phone shows "Connecting."  What's actually happening is that your phone is using the control channel, to acquire authorization from the network to make a phone call.  Data is being sent back and forth thru the network for billing authorization, ect. You SIM ID or ESN is being sent to the network, and once they verify you have permission to make the call, they switch you to the voice channel.

Connected:  Now you are on the voice channel.  You are connected in the following structure:

1. Phone to Tower
2. Tower to HLR via T1 or satellite (depending on the location of tower)
3. HLR to NOC (National Operations Center)
4. NOC to Main PBX (landline phone switch)
5. PBX to the party you are talking to.

Now, in order for all this to work, you have to be registered on the network.  Registration happens when you power up the phone, and you see "Connecting" on the screen.  What's happening is your phone is accessing the network.  

The reverse path is the same but different.  Your cell phone always sends out a "heartbeat" to tell the network which tower you are at, so when someone calls your phone, the network knows which tower to send the call to.  When your phone rings, you are recieving data.  The minute you answer the phone, you are switched to the voice channel.

Now, if you've ever noticed, your phone may have a signal, but shows no bars.  This is because the coverage of the data/control channel is greater than the voice channel.  Thus, you can send and recieve SMS, but not be able to send and recieve phone calls.  This is because SMS or text messages, use the data channel.  Have you ever noticed that sometimes, your phone will show you have a new voicemail, but the phone never rang?  This is because you weren't able to access the voice channel due to signal loss, but since voicemail notification is a SMS over the Data Channel, you were notified of the message.

As far as coverage is concerned, damn near all carriers have the same or very close to the same coverage.  Most carriers share towers.  So chances are, if you have a Cingular signal, you'll have everyone elses too.  There aren't that many dedicated owned towers left out there.  Maybe here and there, but not usually.  You'll have one tower, with antennas on it for T-Mobile, Cingular, AT&T, Nextel, Sprint, and Verizon on it.  The funny part, is none of them own the tower.  They lease space on it, usually from the company that owns most of them, American Tower Corp.  

Now, what every carrier is doing is replacing their old Analog antennas with new GSM, CDMA, and TDMA antennas.  As they are decommisioning the old stuff, the new stuff is buiding out.  They aren't adding towers, they are just changing antennas.  It's more of an upgrade than anything.  They may add a couple towers here and there, but overall it's just a swap. In the next few years, "Digital" phones will have the same if not more covearge that analog has.   They're all crap if you ask me.  Wireless has too many variables to be reliable.

[cornercamping]

Want more?  I can get technical  ;D

[Dawn]

Want more?  I can get technical  ;D

YAWN......

Dawn   ;)

[cornercamping]

YAWN......

Dawn Ê ;)

 :(  They asked, I just gave the answer  ;D  A informative consumer is a smart shopper  ;D