View Full Version : Cellular coverage on Erie
I am about to see how well my cell phone doubles as a Dipsy on Lake Erie. Has anyone who spends any amount of time on the Lake recommend
a carrier/phone that is reliable? "Can you hear me?"
Gilligan
09-03-2002, 02:40 PM
Vis.. I'm in the same boat here.. I don't own a cell phone but when I went to purchase Verizon told me that US points their towers inland on the Great Lakes so any connection will come thru Canada. Hope someone has a good provider cause I'm looking also.
Sprint works from west sister to lorain. FYI Bob
eyefish's wife
09-03-2002, 03:27 PM
Although we have not had AT&T for long it does work better than centennial or century tel, but still not great reception. The place we purchased our phones through said that it is hard to get reception out on the water regardless of the carrier, because of the tower situation. Maybe someday.
Angel
Take A Kid Fishing
i use AT&T while on erie and have never had it fail me, sometimes in the parking lot but never on the water, you can forget about verizon they bite, AT&T is the only one that works up at my camp also, i started with nextel and they bite so i went to verizon and they didn,t work so now for the time being even though i don,t like AT&T there customer service leaves a lot to be desired i,ll stay with them cause at least when i hit the connect button the phone works.
Tom}>
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Gilligan
09-03-2002, 04:13 PM
Tom..what area of Erie do you fish that the ATT works? thanks!
kinda catchy
09-03-2002, 04:52 PM
I have Nextel and Verizon Cell phones. Nextel on Lake Erie is Nextel having nothing at all. The Verizon phone on the other hand works fine until I get about 15 miles from land, and then depending on the weather I may still have service. Good luck, Kelly.
Finaddict
09-03-2002, 05:37 PM
Sounds like tom is up at the islands I've got ATT and its terrible on the lake out of Cleveland. I also heard don't know if its true but Att will drop the extra charge for canada if you let them know you were just a couple of miles out on the lake.
EYESCHOOL
09-03-2002, 05:57 PM
I don't know about Erie but, AT&T has saved my behind a couple of times on other bodies of water!
Boatnut
09-03-2002, 06:01 PM
my nextel works fine around huron.......but i'm from central ohio and my coverage is for ohio and the kentucky etc. when i get towards the islands or west of there it's not so good and cant use the two way. their coverage map shows a differnt area of service starting around pt. clinton and including michigan if i recall.
water_wolf
09-03-2002, 06:39 PM
Fred,
I have Verizon wireless and I was out on Erie (Eastern Basin for those that dont know me) and I was 12 miles out from Catt Creek and my phone worked perfectly. Also I didnt notice any difference in my last bill as far as bouncing off a Canadian tower. I figured that at the time I was probably a mile or so from Canadian water. Can you hear me know? :)
Rich Ferguson
Airwave(OH)
09-04-2002, 04:28 AM
I have Alltel and it works 98% of the time about anywhere out there. From Mich to Lorain. I have had extra cost from time to time due to picking up Canadian towers though. Pretty pricey too!. I have been told by someone who used to work for AllTel that if you take it in it can be programed Not to pick up Canadian towers. Haven't tried it and don't know if that would force it to find one in USA or if you would just not have a signal.
tahoej
09-04-2002, 05:22 AM
I would say talk to the Can you hear me now guy!!!!
Gilligan
i fish out of Erie P.A. 99% of the time i go out to the trenches from there and have not had any problems yet.
Tom}>
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Tim FRick
09-04-2002, 10:41 AM
I have verizion and it works from huron to east of cleveland. Probablly works further but never fish the islands or east of eastlake. It starts to get bad reception around 10-15miles out. It also depends on your phone. I believe the towers are on shore and I don't believe than can be pointed in one direction or another, kinda like a radio antenna just emits out from all directions. Maybe someone can give more detail on this. My buddies phone doesn't get as good of a reception as mine. He has a smaller phone with a smaller antenna.
Good Luck!!
Tim FRick
This is interesting. I just finished talking to a Sprint rep that looked at the coverage area for Ohio's shoreline. He said there was a tower that was recently placed "on an island northwest of Lakeside, Ohio." My guess is that it is on Put-in-Bay. He also said that signal projections are not omnidirectional and that they are pointed toward the most anticipated usage. He also said whatever phone carrier you choose, buy the phone with an option that it can be returned 14days from date of purchase and do not commit a plan yet. Ideally, if you pick up the digital signal on the phone rather than the analog, the signal will be reliable and then purchase the plan for your needs. This must be recent because I gave up the Sprint over a year ago because of the lack of a reliable signal.
With more of us traveling Erie after these fish from the western basin to the east, it would be good to shake this down.
bigfish1965
09-04-2002, 04:15 PM
For the best coverage, make sure to get a phone that operates on both digital and analog frequencies. The better ones switch to analog automatically when the digital signal is lost.