Communication in Extremely Rural Areas With NO Cell Phone Signal

[eschmid2]

I am planning a trip through the state of Washington through the mountains where there is no cell phone coverage for many many miles and on several state forest roads that are well paved but not traveled much at all. My question is has anyone taken the steps to get a satellite phone, just taking your chances, or other? Thanks for your ideas and advise!

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Get a Spot tracker. You can send emergency help requests via satellite w/o the expense of satellite phone.

[KX5062]

Agreed. This is the most common way of doing it in the adventure riding community. There are several brands with differing features that can be purchased for minimal cost compared to a sat phone.

[Rednaxs60]

Lots of options.

I use a Garmin inReach Explorer, an older model. Works well for tracking, contacting people and emergencies. It depends on your pocket book, and what features you want.

[crossbowme]

You can rent a satphone from most satellite phone dealers. I have done it a number of times.

[canamjhb]

I lived in Washington State for more than 60 years. There are very few places I have not been in the state. Cell phone reception was never an issue or even a consideration for me. The one or two times when I needed assistance, I just dealt with it. Remember, there really was life before cell phones..... Jim

[UtahPete]

Lots of options. I use a Garmin inReach Explorer, an older model. Works well for tracking, contacting people and emergencies. It depends on your pocket book, and what features you want.

Interesting product https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/personal/

Requires service plan https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/in...#subscriptions

[UtahPete]

Get a Spot tracker. You can send emergency help requests via satellite w/o the expense of satellite phone.

Another interesting and more affordable piece of 'kit' https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/spot-50off-promo?
(requires a service plan)

[eschmid2]

All, thanks very much for all of your advice and experience sharing different options. I really like the satellite text messaging options and with Fathers Day around the corner maybe some special deals coming like UtahPete posted

[Peter Aawen]

I am planning a trip through the state of Washington through the mountains where there is no cell phone coverage for many many miles and on several state forest roads that are well paved but not traveled much at all. My question is has anyone taken the steps to get a satellite phone, just taking your chances, or other? Thanks for your ideas and advise!

If you are travelling in 'mountainous terrain', be aware that satellite phones may not always work too well either! Unless you have a clear & unimpeded view of enough sky that has a satellite in view or passing over so that you can actually receive/send a satellite signal, your Sat phone can be nothing more than an expensive paper weight! And in those deep valleys between high mountains, that might not always be the case - even a dedicated GPS might not work too well in spits & furts for the same reason!

Here in Oz, where about 95% of our population lives in about 10% of the landmass (which is pretty close in size to the lower 48) along the coastal fringe, there's little reason to expand the cell-phone network beyond the populated areas & along some major highways, so the bulk of the country has little or no cell-phone coverage. That means a dedicated GPS unit is far more useful to us Ozzies who travel outside the cities than a phone, be it cell or satellite; and even tho most of our 'Outback' or 'Bush' is of the 'wide open' variety, sat-phones really don't help all that much due to their inherent need to 'see' enough sky/communication satellites to establish that 2-way link, which is not always the case. Even out on the plains there's enough in the way of hills & gullies & dunes, sometimes trees etc too, that we don't always get that 'clear view of the sky'; and especially along the Great Divide &/or in our High Country, unless you are near the top of one of the hills (we don't really have too many 'mountains' here on Oz! ) that's just not always possible! However, due to their 'lesser need' for a continuous 2-way signal connection, GPS units usually work fine, albeit with occasional short drop-outs; and those Spot Trackers & Messengers & their ilk can (usually ) provide a regular enough update to keep those at home informed of your whereabouts & safety. I know of a fella who recently had a dirt-bike prang & badly broke his leg while he was riding alone out in the bush amongst some deep gorges, well beyond cell-phone reception but not really too far from 'civilisation' - his Spot Device alerted home & ultimately triggered a successful helicopter evac!

So while I often travel in areas well beyond cell-phone coverage, and I do carry & occasionally use a sat-phone, it's really not the 'always reliable' communication device that many erroneously think they are, often leaving me with no signal for a few hours or so; but my GPS & Spot Messenger rarely drop-out for more than some seconds - occurrences of a minute or more of 'no satellites' or not enough satellite signals to let them work are pretty rare, even in the deep gorges of the Great Divide & just as deep valleys of the High Country. And I've had pretty much the same experience everywhere I've travelled in the World, too - altho Denmark was great for both GPS and sat-phone use, but then, it is rather flat...

Food for thought maybe?! Over to you!

[Adventurer]

Another interesting and more affordable piece of 'kit' https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/spot-50off-promo?
(requires a service plan)

I have owned a Spot and currently own An Inreach Mini. Research Spot before you jump into that pool! I’m satisfied with my Inreach. Garmin bought Inreach and over time Garmin seems to be tweaking their service plans and removing benefits which ultimately seem to serve to increase cost, IMHO. But overall it works well especially if you download the Earthmate app to use in conjunction with the Inreach. I don’t carry it often using the Spyder, but always had it with me when adventurer and/or dual sport trips since I was in areas without cellphone reception fairly often which has not been the case on the Spyder.

[Steve W.]

Where are these areas with no cell service?

Maybe I can finally get away from all these scam calls.

.

[eschmid2]

Peter, very excellent info and very appreciated! Thank-You. All is now leaning for no sat phone but a gps type messenger - will be looking to compare and contrast SPOT and Garmin now, thanks everyone for sharing !

[Adventurer]

Where are these areas with no cell service?

Maybe I can finally get away from all these scam calls.

.

Go west young man, go west! They’re out there but fewer and further between. But seriously if you press the SOS button it will automatically supply your lat and long to the monitoring company and therefore be provided to nearest first responders. It can also be set to auto notify your emergency contacts. Other than emergencies it can be used to communicate with family and friends by text when not in cell reception areas and can allow family and friends to track you in near real time.