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#259325 - 04/18/13 04:18 PM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: ]
ireckon Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/01/10
Posts: 1629
Loc: Northern California
Originally Posted By: IzzyJG99
Originally Posted By: ireckon
Anyway, I actually do NOT want a carrier that advertises unlimited data. It's a crock. Nobody can offer their entire customer base unlimited data at a reasonably fast speed for everybody. Any carrier who advertises unlimited data is absolutely throttling that data. It's better for the carrier to be honest upfront.


I actually have totally fully unlimited data on my AT&T plan. And it's never throttled. But I am the exception. I've had an account with them going back to 1992 through my parents. Long before they were Cingular and long before Lucent. I spun off onto my own plan years ago and managed to keep all the incentives long time customers get. Basically if you're a long time customer with X amount of years and X amount of rollover minutes from back in the day, you can cash all that in. A dirty little secret the guys at the AT&T store don't know about or bother to tell you about. Thankfully I have a friend who works in their main Orlando offices.

I pay 84.94 a month. Unlimited everything. And that's with an iPhone 5 that's pulling 40 megabits a second over the LTE. Only thing they want me to pay extra for is the hot spot option where I can use the phone's connection for my internet connection on my iMac. Which is absurd since...I am already using that data and quite a lot out of it on the phone itself.


Yes, you are an exception. The vast majority of people will get frustrated and waste a lot of their life thinking they can get that.

Also, like I said, throttled data depends on factors I said above. If their networks get congested where you operate, they will have no choice but to set priorities on data. It's just math. They can't have everybody going fast. If push comes to shove, then they must put your "unlimited data" at a lower priority than the folks who are paying for a guaranteed speed. In fact, your priority is already lower. It's just that your network is currently not congested where you are.
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#259329 - 04/18/13 05:54 PM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: Dagny]
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2995
I'm on a grandfathered unlimited as well. The big issue with my parents is signing them up for a new account they would get limited. So then they have to watch their usage to stay under the limit or go over the limit and pay the extra $.
That itsself is a hassle, espically when web sites think they need flash and videos and are designed for uncapped networks. Its hard enough to stay under a limit on a phone let alone on a computer. My wife has went over her 4G limit a couple times.

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#259359 - 04/19/13 01:27 AM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: Dagny]
Snake_Doctor
Unregistered


An old smart phone could be loaded up with a lot of info, records pics and other data which could be taken instead of the bulkier papers,disks, etc or a laptop in a bug out. And it's a lot easier to conceal. Not good for calls, but might save the day after the crises.

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#259372 - 04/19/13 02:37 AM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: ]
James_Van_Artsdalen Offline
Addict

Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 449
Loc: Texas
Originally Posted By: Snake_Doctor
Not good for calls, but might save the day after the crises.

Doesn't the FCC require that carriers always connect 911 calls, even from cell phones with no service agreement in place? I still have a couple of now-replaced cell phones I could use for 911 if this is true.

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#259406 - 04/19/13 01:06 PM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: Dagny]
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2995
Thats not somehting required on cell phones, the gps location is what required on phones after 2006. Any phone is required to be able to call 911. However the carriers also received permission to discontinue analog so that old startac from 1998 won't be able to get a signal to make the call.

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#259424 - 04/19/13 04:17 PM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: Dagny]
Lono Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 10/19/06
Posts: 1013
Loc: Pacific NW, USA
This is a very interesting first hand account from one of the ham radio operators who volunteer to man communications along the Boston Marathon route (this is also replicated across almost every US marathon as well). It shows the level of professionalism common in comm teams. Its especially interesting because aside from the tragedy of the bombs and those victims, the rest of the race had a dilemma, which was thousands of runners who hadn't finished the race but who had to stop and inevitably begin to cool down in their runners clothing. Where do they go?

http://w3atb.com/66-boston-marathon-2013-bombs-carnage-and-amateur-radio-operators

Another vote for getting your ham license and helping out.

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#260007 - 04/28/13 12:43 PM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: Lono]
celler Offline
Addict

Registered: 12/25/03
Posts: 410
Loc: Jupiter, FL
Originally Posted By: Lono
<snip> Another vote for getting your ham license and helping out.


And with the Baofung handhelds out there, it has never been cheaper to jump in.

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#260017 - 04/28/13 03:25 PM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: Dagny]
ireckon Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/01/10
Posts: 1629
Loc: Northern California
What's a good website for getting into ham?
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#260023 - 04/28/13 05:30 PM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: Dagny]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA

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#260035 - 04/29/13 02:51 AM Re: Don't count on cell phones in a crisis [Re: ]
bacpacjac Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted By: Snake_Doctor
An old smart phone could be loaded up with a lot of info, records pics and other data which could be taken instead of the bulkier papers,disks, etc or a laptop in a bug out. And it's a lot easier to conceal. Not good for calls, but might save the day after the crises.


I really like this idea. I'm stealing it! I've got a couple of old crackberries that should do the trick.
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