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Given my understanding of this subject is more than a little opaque, are you saying first/second generation I-phones are being obsoleted...for lack of a better term?

Will this affect only i-phones exclusively or old style flip cell phones too?
 
Given my understanding of this subject is more than a little opaque, are you saying first/second generation I-phones are being obsoleted...for lack of a better term?

Will this affect only i-phones exclusively or old style flip cell phones too?

This will affect pre Iphone/Smart Phones. I am pretty the first iphones were 3g then 3gs. The flip phones run on 1g and 2g
 
Given my understanding of this subject is more than a little opaque, are you saying first/second generation I-phones are being obsoleted...for lack of a better term?

Will this affect only i-phones exclusively or old style flip cell phones too?
Flip phones too. Any phones that are not 4g will be affected. My slider phone is many years old and will work on 3g and earlier networks. According to US Cellular who operates the nearest tower in my area they will be eliminating 2g by end of 2020 and 3g will follow but he couldn't give me a date. I can only get the 2g at my cabin but there is 3g and 4g signals about a half mile away up on the hills. I am looking in to trying an antenna like this feeding in to a cell phone booster:
 
I am sure some of you guys appreciated my absence when I was down at my cabin;) (no internet access). Those days are over. I sent in a request for a test drive hotspot from T-mobile and amazingly it works. I am typing this comment from out front of my cabin. Sweet!!!

It's only getting one bar of LTE but slow internet is better than no internet. The cheapest hotspot plan is $10 and only includes 2GB of high speed data but includes unlimited 3G data.

Hoping to see some meteors tonight and I am pounding down at least 8 beers to take my mind off Biden 3 month+ mask mandate.

Enjoy your weekend, it's going to be a warm one.
 
1597374340410.png :rolleyes:
 
The only cell service available at my cabin in paradise is 1X. I believe that is also referred to as 2g. I currently have an older 3g tracfone slider which allows me to roam on to the 1X US Cellular network at the cabin. It barely works but serves as a way to call 911, make necessary phone calls and send and receive some text messages. I have tried some different 4g lte phones down there and they won't work at all. I half to drive about a half mile east or west to get a good 3g or maybe 4g signal. My place sits in a bowl surrounded by elevation.

I guess all carriers are going to be shutting down 2g this year and 3g soon after. That will leave my place in a dead zone. Any ideas on what options I should pursue to have access to 911, etc?
I agree with Reno. I'm a HAM and have used it in some very remote places. Besides that Ham community is a fun group to work with. All my mobile rigs have phone patches which allow me to tap into a repeater's landline and make calls. You can also spring for a SAT phone.
 
hey now you can put your t-mobile hotspot on a tall pole with a solar charger at the pit , if the signal can reach the cabin from the pit
 
@arakboss it might be worthwhle to investigate which carrier operates on the tower(s) closest to you, and if there are upgrades still pending for the radios/frequencies on those towers.

For example, I've read that T-Mobile is planning to use 24GHz and 28GHz spectrum in dense urban areas, but this requires more 'micro' towers since the frequency is only good for short distances (e.g. 1,000 feet). In other areas they will shift to 600MHz and 800MHz spectrum since those frequencies will travel further and be less subject to disruption. All frequencies are approximate in my comments.

It still might not resolve your coverage gap, but if you can determine current and future on those towers then you might be able to anticipate.
 
I think 4G utilizes a higher frequency, which unfortunately means it doesn't penetrate as well.

Doesn't "penetrate" foliage or buildings yes. The higher the freq the less it works with obstructions and the more line of sight it needs to be.

An antenna on the roof will pickup a weak signal better, then an amp inline with digital signal enhancement can help - this is what most "boosters" are. My coverage where I live is kind of marginal, but tolerable most of the time. Also, I have long distance WiFi that I can use, but it often drops out and the bandwidth is minimal (6 mbps when working right, more like 3-4 mbps most of the time). I was hoping that 5G would help with that, but I doubt that I will have 5G here anytime soon.

What can help, eventually, I hope, is Starlink. I have had other satellite internet (Starband) but it sucked and dropped out when the sun was behind the satellite (geosynchronous). Starlink is LEO (Low Earth Orbit) and they are starting beta testing for northern latitudes this fall/winter. You need a clear view of the northern sky. The nice thing - I think, I am given to understand - is that it can be somewhat portable; the satellite antenna is self-adjusting so you just mount it and it finds the satellites and you have internet.

So, if you don't want to leave it behind at a cabin when you are not there day to day (I am assuming this is the case) or you have an RV/etc., then this should work for that.

Once you have an internet connection you can use a VOIP phone on a computer or a VOIP app on a phone. I use TextNow as my phone provider - it buys data from Spring and provides a VOIP app and a phone number which redirects to my number - so I can make calls on a computer or my phone. I can tell it to use my WiFi instead of cell and it can usually switch to WiFi automatically. At a remote location you can put up a WiFi omni antenna at a high point (on a roof, or on the top of a tree) to give you coverage outside the cabin for maybe a couple hundred yards to a mile or so depending on what you setup.
 
I agree with Reno. I'm a HAM and have used it in some very remote places. Besides that Ham community is a fun group to work with. All my mobile rigs have phone patches which allow me to tap into a repeater's landline and make calls. You can also spring for a SAT phone.

For HAM, one thing a person can do is setup a base station at the cabin - say a 50 watt mobile with crossband repeating and an omni antenna up high - and carry around a handset. If there are other repeaters up high that the base can see/use, then you have something that can call for help when outside - assuming the handset can't reach the repeaters.
 
@arakboss
For example, I've read that T-Mobile is planning to use 24GHz and 28GHz spectrum in dense urban areas, but this requires more 'micro' towers since the frequency is only good for short distances (e.g. 1,000 feet). In other areas they will shift to 600MHz and 800MHz spectrum since those frequencies will travel further and be less subject to disruption. All frequencies are approximate in my comments.

That is basically what 5G is and why people like me won't have 5G; it requires a lot more "towers" for decent coverage, so they will only be doing it in denser areas where more people use it.
 

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