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What is your solution for riding in a spot with low reception?

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What is your solution for riding in a spot with low reception?

Old 08-05-20, 05:08 AM
  #126  
livedarklions
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I wear a 5G tower on my head. It serves 2 purposes -great reception and running from crazed conspiracy theorists is great motivation for intense intervals.
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Old 08-06-20, 12:10 PM
  #127  
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
The only good reason to carry a phone while cycling is for emergencies, I really don't see any other good reasons why a cyclists would carry a phone. If they carry a phone for entertainment then it means that their ride is very dull and boring or they have a serious addiction to social media.
- take pictures to remember sights.
- take pictures to show others.
- receive phone calls for life outside of cycling. Calls for work or home life for example.
- update someone on location for setting plans after cycling.
- Google maps for location and directions at unonown intersections.
- and of course your favorite...music!


All are completely reasonable and there is no need to snidely comment that someone who chooses to carry a phone is addicted to social media or is on a boring ride.
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Old 08-06-20, 12:49 PM
  #128  
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Originally Posted by canklecat
Google Fi offers more flexibility for coverage so you're less likely to be without phone use for long. Phone selection is a bit limited but worth considering if you travel a lot or ride through areas with spotty coverage.
It uses networks that have better coverage in metro areas. It probably doesn't beat Verizon and ATT for overall coverage (outside of metro areas).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google...S.%20Cellular.

Google Fi uses networks operated by Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular.
Originally Posted by canklecat
An old trick that used to work with some phones and networks would be to go to the phone settings and switch between LTE, 3G and 2G until you got a connection. I've had to do that in some dead spots while traveling. Sometimes it worked just well enough to get a call or text through even when data was inaccessible or sluggish.
The phones do this automatically. Voice (generally) and SMS text don't use a data connection. Old phones can do these things without a data plan.

Text is more reliable than voice. That is, text might work when voice doesn't.

Last edited by njkayaker; 08-06-20 at 06:51 PM.
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Old 08-06-20, 01:12 PM
  #129  
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
All are completely reasonable and there is no need to snidely comment that someone who chooses to carry a phone is addicted to social media or is on a boring ride.
Yep, it's the equivalent of yelling "the music is too loud" or "get off my grass". My response from now on is going to be: .
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Old 08-06-20, 02:47 PM
  #130  
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Originally Posted by Doug64
I believe that technology has taken a lot of the adventure out of cycle touring. During the last 10 years my wife and I spent a total of 2 years riding our bikes self supported through 11 countries, including riding across the U.S. and across most of Canada. This amounts to about 25,000 miles. Using the internet took many of the unknowns out of these rides; and many times the unknown enhanced the sense of adventure, and increased serendipity. We had a lot of adventures on our bikes prior to cell phones, but as we got older we have redefined our definition of adventure.

We use our cell phones a lot but sometimes I still feel that I don't need to know: every turn of a route, the elevation profile, exactly where I'm going to sleep that night, the exact route more that 2 days ahead of time, and what the direction and strength of the wind is going to be in the afternoon. The list could go on.

Also, as folks gain confidence the reliance on electronics will become less important. I would not want to go back to to the mode of touring we did 30 years ago. But then again, camping behind a cemetery because we could not any other place to camp provides a little sense of adventure.
Awesome. You are out there doing things and do what works for you. I too am torn between the satisfaction of the undiscovered and the security of following a plan. Many posters on this thread got up my nose as they preach from their Lazyboy Recliners how real men ride without a safety rope because that's what the did back in the 70's.
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Old 08-06-20, 04:09 PM
  #131  
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Originally Posted by njkayaker
The phones do this automatically. Voice (generally) and SMS text don't use a data connection. Old phones can do these things without a data plan...
Depends on the phone and MVNO. I use Mint Mobile, an MVNO of T-Mobile. My Moto E4 that was originally on a Verizon plan, which they unlocked after a few months of use to satisfy their minimum payment. While the phone was technically compatible with GSM and CDMA, I had to manually switch network types to get either optimal voice or data, but couldn't get both simultaneously. To get fastest data I had to switch to 3G, but that hindered some voice calls and too often my phone wouldn't ring, calls would go to voicemail but I wouldn't get a notification for hours. If I switched to LTE calls came through okay but data was slower. Just a weird glitch with some phones on some MVNOs.

Common complaint from many Mint Mobile customers, although it's a good value service otherwise. I just switched to an unlocked Motorola G Power and it's full featured with Mint Mobile, no need to manually fiddle with network settings.

FreedomPop is even weirder, because it's VOIP. It was an MVNO for AT&T, Sprint and others, but has recently changed ownership. It's very glitchy and awkward, but costs only $50 a year for unlimited talk and text and 1 GB data a month (part of which is used by the VOIP). Not great, but not a bad backup phone. I had my old iPhone 4s on it for years, then recently switched my old Moto E4 to it. Sometimes the data speed is faster than Mint Mobile, but voice is very glitchy.
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Old 08-06-20, 04:44 PM
  #132  
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Originally Posted by canklecat
Depends on the phone and MVNO.
It might depend more on the MVNO (which might be weirder than a standard network). If it's the phone, I'd say that the phone isn't very good.

It's supposed to fall back gracefully with no fiddling. And voice/text is separate from data.

Originally Posted by canklecat
FreedomPop is even weirder, because it's VOIP....Sometimes the data speed is faster than Mint Mobile, but voice is very glitchy.
VOIP is pure data. It's not appropriate to depend on it for "low reception" or "remote areas".

Here's a park (the green blob oriented NE) where the reception is poor. Data barely works (if it works at all). It's rather hilly. The park is about 28 miles from the heart of NYC. So, "remote" might not be very remote at all.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/41.1961/-74.0818

Last edited by njkayaker; 08-06-20 at 04:59 PM.
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Old 08-06-20, 05:53 PM
  #133  
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Originally Posted by velopig
Awesome. You are out there doing things and do what works for you. I too am torn between the satisfaction of the undiscovered and the security of following a plan. Many posters on this thread got up my nose as they preach from their Lazyboy Recliners how real men ride without a safety rope because that's what the did back in the 70's.
This is an interesting interpretation.
I viewed it differently. Your comment about it being almost negligent to not use sat tracking was over the top and you were called out for it. But to each their own when it comes to reality.
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Old 08-06-20, 06:22 PM
  #134  
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Oh. I stand by my statement when in remote areas either hiking or bikepacking imposing on others to determine if something is wrong when you are overdue and then have to go out and find you is irresponsible and selfish. Especially if a reasonable cost alternative is available. Now if you and your family is good with going off the grid solo for a few days or a week then more power to you.
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Old 08-06-20, 06:57 PM
  #135  
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Originally Posted by Doug64
We use our cell phones a lot but sometimes I still feel that I don't need to know: every turn of a route, the elevation profile, exactly where I'm going to sleep that night, the exact route more that 2 days ahead of time, and what the direction and strength of the wind is going to be in the afternoon. The list could go on.
This is a false dilemma: It's not a choice between "nothing" and "everything".

I suspect most people (me being one of them) using GPS aren't using this level of information and having the GPS doesn't keep you from not using it.

The other problem is that, when people ask questions about a technology, they get unhelpful responses telling them that what they want to do is bad.

The other, other problem is people talking about things isn't what the OP is asking about (the OP was talking about cell phone use in an emergency; So it's odd that anybody is talking about GPS).

Last edited by njkayaker; 08-06-20 at 07:03 PM.
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Old 08-06-20, 08:04 PM
  #136  
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Originally Posted by HD3andMe
You're going on about phones.

Piglet is going on about sat devices like a Spot.

Big difference.

p.s. the other part of the discussion was also about riding where you don't have service, so whether your phone is discharged is moot.
Riding without a phone means everywhere has no service.
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Old 08-06-20, 08:11 PM
  #137  
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Originally Posted by HD3andMe
Ok. Thanks for confirming that you weren't, and still aren't, understanding what is being discussed.
Clearly this matters a lot to you. You have fun with that.
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Old 08-06-20, 08:53 PM
  #138  
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I’m amazed this thread has survived this long.
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Old 08-06-20, 11:07 PM
  #139  
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Maybe some posts in this thread were sent by phone while on a ride.
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Old 08-07-20, 02:42 AM
  #140  
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
- take pictures to remember sights.
- take pictures to show others.
- receive phone calls for life outside of cycling. Calls for work or home life for example.
- update someone on location for setting plans after cycling.
- Google maps for location and directions at unonown intersections.
- and of course your favorite...music!


All are completely reasonable and there is no need to snidely comment that someone who chooses to carry a phone is addicted to social media or is on a boring ride.
Add Strava to that - I am curious to know if I am getting faster on certain segments, viewing their inclination, and sharing that data with my Strava friends.
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Old 08-07-20, 03:43 AM
  #141  
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Originally Posted by DreamRider85
A lot of lot rides are in country rodes and often times there’s no cell phone service. What is your plan?

Just ride!
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Old 08-07-20, 04:10 AM
  #142  
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BF sure does come up with counter-proof to "there's no such thing as a stupid question."

To the extent there's an actual question worth talking about, if I know or even suspect that my ride is going through a cell phone desert, I make sure I've made myself very familiar with a mapped out route through it. I have been surprised by dropped service while using gps in the past, and it is a problem when the pre-loaded route is not working for some reason. I just switched to main roads in that circumstance, works so far.

I can't imagine caring about whether or not someone else approves of my cell phone use while I'm riding nor do I care whether they see fit to use it themselves. I'm interested in ideas people have used to make their cell phones more useful because I might be able to use those myself.

As usual, people have decided to turn this into an opportunity to moralize. I'm an old fart who got his first cell phone in his forties. It's a tool you either find useful or not. It's not a statement about who you are and how you feel about other people.
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Old 08-07-20, 04:26 AM
  #143  
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Originally Posted by DreamRider85
What do you do if you get injured and can’t ride? There’s no app?
Walk.

I've ridden thousands of kilometres without a phone ... 10s of thousands ... probably close to 100,000.
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Old 08-07-20, 05:28 AM
  #144  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
As usual, people have decided to turn this into an opportunity to moralize. I'm an old fart who got his first cell phone in his forties. It's a tool you either find useful or not. It's not a statement about who you are and how you feel about other people.
And all in response to an "insincere" thread.
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Old 08-07-20, 06:01 AM
  #145  
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Six pages, OP has scored again....
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Old 08-07-20, 06:38 AM
  #146  
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I don't understand the issue here. I have the tin cans.... I stop riding when I am out of string.
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Old 08-07-20, 07:21 AM
  #147  
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Originally Posted by Reflector Guy
I don't understand the issue here. I have the tin cans.... I stop riding when I am out of string.

Following the string to get back home also negates the need for GPS. Of course, now we've got to debate which strings and cans have better aero characteristics.
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Old 08-07-20, 08:14 AM
  #148  
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Originally Posted by DreamRider85
A lot of lot rides are in country rodes and often times there’s no cell phone service. What is your plan?
You are gonna love the ride from Half Moon Bay to Santa Crud.

For me, the solution was to move to the region boasting "no cell phone service." I don't have to worry about distracted drivers running me down while they add LOL to a cat video. I don't have people phoning me in the middle of a bike ride to sell me viagra.
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Old 08-07-20, 08:15 AM
  #149  
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Originally Posted by DreamRider85
What do you do if you get injured and can’t ride? There’s no app?
Bleed.
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Old 08-07-20, 08:39 AM
  #150  
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Originally Posted by wgscott
You are gonna love the ride from Half Moon Bay to Santa Crud.

For me, the solution was to move to the region boasting "no cell phone service." I don't have to worry about distracted drivers running me down while they add LOL to a cat video.
You may be overestimating the attentiveness of drivers when they AREN'T on their phones....

I don't have people phoning me in the middle of a bike ride to sell me viagra.
They probably read one of those articles that say cycling's bad for ... you know.
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