New guy here needs advice / input

[cbay]

Hey guys! searched around and this looks like the right forum for knowledge on phones and plans.
Haven't had a cell phone in years.
We got a piece of property where we have been spending quite a bit of time. It's 40 miles from the house and we are out there at least a couple times a week. Wiith my occupation of being a stock trader, i need to be able to access my scottrade account from time to time while out at the property. Not a lot, but maybe a couple times a week. Besides that, in case there is an emergency or we break down on the road, it would be good for us to have a phone.
Unfortunately, the property is in the bottom of a valley, from what the neighbors say and what iv'e seen while they are there, there is no way to keep a conversation without going a few hundred feet up the hill. thats ok though. I can jump on the four wheeler and get to reception. Maybe i can find a booster of some sort in the future as well.
My question is about the tracphone and the lg800 deal i have seen.
Is the phone good enough to access a website where i have to log in and make an important transaction??
Since we hardly ever use a cell phone except for emergencies or my needing to check a watchlist and make a trade maybe a couple times a week on my stock account, is this an economical choice?
Man it sure seems weird posting simple questions like this; going from high tech back in my day of car business with bag phones and expensive cellphone contracts all those years; to not even really needing a mobile phone in the last five or so years. Times sure have changed in terms of technology though.
I'm convinced that pay as you go will work for us, but not totally sure if i'm looking at the right option.
I'll bet there are some folks on here who can shed a little light on the subject for me.
Thanks in advance, Chris

[Lisme]

As you may remember, there are two main cellphone technologies. One is GSM (AT&T and T-Mobile for example) and the other is CDMA (Verizon for example). Those three companies are the main ones for Tracfone. The difference between GSM and CDMA is that they handle traffic using different principles. You get a handset which is already programmed for one or the other because, among other things, they use different radio frequencies. The phone has to have the correct radio built in. The GSM phones have additional programming in the form of a SIM card. The CDMA phones do not use a SIM card and have the programming loaded by the tower instead.

Generally speaking, Verizon has invested more heavily in rural coverage than the GSM carriers have. The CDMA radio frequencies lend themselves to handling distance and obstructions better than the GSM radio frequencies. For this reason, you are almost certainly going to need a CDMA phone. With Tracfone, the model numbers will end with a C if CDMA and G if GSM. You will be assigned to whichever CDMA network that Tracfone has a contract with in your area. But if another network works better for you, you can roam on it. Tracfone does not charge extra for roaming, except on some older phones that were coded for extra charges and not updated to the latest policy.

Some of the Tracfones have better reception than others, so someone will have to chime in with experience.

The LG800G is GSM and almost certainly will be useless at your property if it is rural at all.

[cbay]

thanks Lisme, i will look into this.

[whacker]

In case it wasn't clear, TracFone (and the other two sister companies Net10 & Straight Talk) doesn't run its own physical phone network. It buys time from most of the big boys and resells it in various ways, and you as the end-user need to know how to get service on the carrier that will perform the best in the area you need it, as coverage is not universal.

The largest part of the puzzle to solve will be simply finding out which one that is, so you'd do best to start looking at coverage maps from the big four companies (better to do this than rely on TracFone's own recommendations. They have various things on their agenda). Once you determine who serves your intended area of usage the best, then on to other issues.

Frankly, and in my own opinion, there is generally not a good amount of choice in finding data service from a by-the-minute (PAYGO) type prepaid service setup, for doing things at any extended length of time with any smoothness. And the LG800g is not really fluid enough as a device to be hopping around with any expected speed between WAP (mobile web) pages (it's 2.5G Edge), even if the underlying carrier gave good coverage. There are two newer phones from Trac that offer 3G, but neither is a touchscreen type. What I'm saying is that your user experience is bound to be somewhat clunky. This is more of a hardware limitation.

The alternatives are to find other affordable prepaid by-the-minute solutions from different companies, or to go with less affordable flat-rate fixed-amount monthly prepaid type deals, perhaps offered by Trac's sister companies.

For instance, AT&T GoPhone's cheapest attempt at this (since their big change) would be to have you on a $25/mo. prepaid plan, with data additional at varying rates. If Sprint coverage is doable, there are plans from Virgin Mobile (a Sprint company) that include data of a reasonable amount for not too much (starting at $35). One company that runs on Verizon Wireless (Page Plus Cellular) has monthly plans with generally small amounts of data allowed (100 MB or less), then a plan for $55 that offer 2 GB of it. And on and on. There's a mess of 'em!

So finding out who's got a usable network out in that area is important. There are also booster devices that could make the deal work as well (Wilson Electronics, among others, U.S. made, and starting to be seen at Wal Mart). If the neighbors have a recommendation for something they commonly use, that could be a good starting point, but better to do some digging on your own. There will be lots more advice from members here.

Sorry for the long post!

[cbay]

Appreciate all the input i can get whacker. Looking at the coverage maps, both have 3g within a couple hundred yards (up the hill). I know the neighbor has ATT and his is fine (aside of being in our valley). I really don't need to spend much time on a phone while i'm out there. But when i do it will be important.
If i didn't get a good enough signal and it was considered roaming, which one would not allow data?? thought i read something about one of them that would not allow web while in roaming.
Eventually i will have satellite internet out there and will allow me to spend more time there.

[cbay]

thought i would also add that scottrade has a mobile web site. Wouldn't that help in getting short tasks done from time to time with one of the better tracphones?
Not worried about fancy charts/bells and whistles. Got all that crap at work. Just want to be able to check a thing or two, make a transaction and get out.

[Lisme]

Since you're going to be doing important stuff, I can see why you would want a phone with a large screen. Tracfones generally have smallish screens. You don't want to accidentally hit something while you are trying to maneuver to the rest of the webpage. The LG800G has a touchscreen that is a pain because you have to really press on it and also it isn't that good at aligning the press points with the link underneath. So you get the wrong letter.

Maybe you could find a nice used Verizon contract phone and put it on PagePlus (Verizon reseller). It would probably have wifi, so you could use it that way when possible.

[IsLand_BoY]

thought i would also add that scottrade has a mobile web site. Wouldn't that help in getting short tasks done from time to time with one of the better tracphones?
Not worried about fancy charts/bells and whistles. Got all that crap at work. Just want to be able to check a thing or two, make a transaction and get out.

I'm not sure I would recommend a TracFone if you'll be using mobile web for more than a quick Google search or email. As Lisme pointed out, you really don't want to hit the wrong menu when doing stuff like that. Are you concerned about cost? I'd recommend something more along the lines $45-50/mo on Straight Talk or NET10 with a CDMA smartphone running on Verizon. Half the price of the major carriers but with the coverage and features you'll need.

I use Sharebuilder/ING but haven't ever used their mobile site. I'd use my T-Mobile smartphone without hesitation but personally, I don't think I'd use my TracFone. Maybe to check where my account is at but not to do a trade.

[kevdogg329]

How much a month are you looking to spend on service?

[cbay]

How much a month are you looking to spend on service?

As little as possible. anything close to 50/month wouldn't really be appropriate - since i can and eventually will get satellite internet out there.
I was just hoping it would be something it is not going to be. But, we still need a cell for emergencies, so will pick one up this week. I will try it on the mobile trading and report back as to how or if it works.
Appreciate everyone's feedback!