vB Easy Archive - Best Cell Phone/Service in an NYC Blackout?

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Best Cell Phone/Service in an NYC Blackout?
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Posted by: Scrypt

Having lived through both 9/11 and last summer's blackout, I watched everyone's cell phone go dead at key moments. What I didn't get the chance to see was which phones' service and functions returned fastest and most reliably. (Imagine having your cell phone go dead *and* finding yourself unable to take a picture during a cataclysmic event. I'd like to do my best to minimize that experience.)

BTW: I don't currently own a cell phone, nor have I ever, so forgive my naivete. I tried searching this forum for blackout but found no previous threads. I tried searching for midi as well (because I'd like to create/transcribe my own music for whatever phone I use).

Posted by: GarageBoy

Nothing worked. T-Mobile worked for the 1st 5 minutes.

Posted by: ultracricket

I did see a few people with functioning cell phones during the blackout, and the one person out of those I talked to was using a Verizon phone. Not that I'm a huge fan of Verizon in general, but I remember reporters talking on the radio that night were saying that the only building lighting up the NYC skyline that night was the Verizon building, because of their diesel generators.

On 9/11, I think cell phones weren't having as bad a time as the internet, local television broadcasts and so on. I couldn't find a single functioning pay phone that day, it was a major reason for me getting a cell phone soon afterwards.

Posted by: f_ing_nutz

The Blackout occurred at 4:11PM ,if I remember correctly. My nextel was working in my building till about 6:30PM. Then I was using my wifes' Verizon till that stopped working. It's a good thing I had a hardline phone at home not a cordless phone.

Posted by: kai thompson

i dont personally live in new york, but where i live in mississauga/ontario i think my cell was working throughout the black out, most of the towers around me seem to have generator backup and there were only a few black holes. i would have thought that in new york all of the towers would have backup generators?

Posted by: Schmohey

I think Nextel was the best during the blackout. I was on 42nd street, waiting for the 7 train to Queens. The blackout occured, and I gotta get out of the station, and decided to take the bus M103 downtown. On the bus, I was able to get my i95 working, and called relatives to pick me up across the bridge. People were surprised when they saw me using my cell, and the one they had was not working.

So I think Nextel is the best!

Posted by: b3ll m0b1l1ty

In Canada, the best performance went as follows:

Fido
Telus/Bell
Rogers

Bell's analog network may have been down for a few minutes, but ten minutes after the outage I was using my phone. Fido apparently worked quite well, and Rogers AT&T was out for the majority of the weekend.

Posted by: HowEver

I'd hate for "b3ll m0b1l1ty" to have the last word here. I can't speak for anyone else's coverage (unlike b3ll m0b1l1ty) but I had *full* signal strength on Rogers throughout the entire blackout, here in Toronto. In my area the blackout lasted about 16 hours.

That was on my ancient dual-mode TDMA/analogue Nokia phone.

HowEver

. . . . .

Posted by: coreynyc

Two tin cans and a very long string probably would work best.

Posted by: iversonyin

nextel direct connect worked, and some CDMA phoen worked.

my sprint was working for a bit(i was able to make call).

verizon phone also work a little

GSM phone completely dead for both occassions

i would get nextel if you concern another terrorist attack or sh*t even that hit NY

**doot DOOT**

Posted by: tomlouie

My Cingular TDMA phone worked fine during the NYC blackout, although the cell service was very busy ("System Busy" errors a lot when I tried to ring out). And the battery was fading fast, probably because of so much cell traffic during that time.

Tom

Posted by: QueensBoy88

During the black out at that time, Me and my mom shared the LG TM510 on Verizon at that time. Service went down only for about 3 Hours since the cell phone started to work again around 8 PM that night of the blackout. Service was good after 8 PM. There was some service before 8 PM but not so great since the calls would drop right away(10 Secs or less). There was 2 incomming calls that had No ID and did not ring(It was in ringer mode) and the display would light up and the red light flashing.

I know somebody told me that they had no T-Mobile Service for 2 DAYS!

This person lives in Pelham,NY(Just outside of NYC).

Kudos to Verizon for staying alive during the blackout

Posted by: yrless11

A sat. phone would be best....during extreme conditions like that, any carrier will have issues. Their sites will run on batteries for a couple hours and/or generators if they have them at the sites. The generators should last a couple days and then they can re-fuel them. The bigger problem will be capacity on the cell sites, switch and pstn. If you absolutely need service, a sat. phone would be the way to go and of course that is for use outside, etc. Carriers do their best to provide redundancy and back-up power, etc, but it all costs money. One can only do so much.

Posted by: muchdrama

From all the articles I've read about cell phone service during these two unfortunate events, Verizon's service was both up and running fine. I wonder why? The money they put into their network? The back up systems they have in place?

Posted by: dmitrov

Hi,

I have a Verizon phone and my brother has a Verizon phone too. During the blackout, both phones worked perfectly, I did not have any problems getting calls and calling to somebody. I even got international calls.
So, I believe Verizon has the best service in New York, but the price is...

Mikhail

Posted by: ToadX

My T-Mobile phone got signal for about 5 hours in NYC right after the blackout.

Posted by: NYCDru

The system was ubber busy but my parents were able to call me from Jamaica so...VZW definately. Also say Nextels working.

Posted by: Soul814

shyt black out sucks 8/14, walked from time sq to lower brooklyn... my tmobile phone didnt work, however I did hear alot of DOOT DOOTs

Posted by: ThorBlaze Dragon

only verizon survived...
from 34th St Manhattan
Chinatown to Manhattan Bridge
Flatbush Ave to Union St
Ocean Parkway to Bay Parkway

the ONLY service provider working was Verizon
however, their DSL was down couple more days after the power was back up, use Tmo for sole internet access

Posted by: Tazradio

One word.

Iridium...

Posted by: Scrypt

Amazing, that (i) this thread is still going muscular and (ii) I *still* don't have a cell phone or provider. The reason is this: I'm uncertain as to whether I'm going to continue to live in the States. I might have a recording spot in London, in which case, an unlocked phone with text messaging would be key (people there seem to like T-Mobile). My girlfriend and I have been talking about Canada, but that depends on whether I get a bit of the commercial work I've been promised in NYC. Composing music for a single high-profile commercial can cover a year's expenses.

So, to repeat: I'm now looking for (i) the best cell phone/text messaging/battery life for catastrophes and (ii) temporarily or permanently, the best service for a blackout. It sounds as if I should (i) get an unlocked phone that accepts cards for Euro use and (ii) sign with an NYC service that will allow me to use such a phone (will Verizon or Nextel, since most people seemed to feel they had the most reliable reception in emergencies)?