On Aug 21, 8:26*am, chris wrote:
Currently I have a Verizon trimode phone [motorola v325]. *It did have
the capability to use the analog network in remote areas before that
system was turned off last year. *So it had been pretty good at
picking up a signal outside of urban areas/ Soaring=boondocks. *Now
that analog is gone are all digital phones about the same?

I wanted to upgrade to a smart phone, probably the iPhone 3s. *Does
the iPhone and or AT&T tower network work good for retrieves? *Or
would I be better off with a Blackberry or some other smart phone on
the Verizon network?

I suppose having a Spot Messenger make it a bit less critical to get a
phone call trough but after the first spot message a voice call sure
it useful.

Chris
Atlanta

Hi Chris,

To some extent, I think it depends on which boondocks (Western or
Eastern) you're talking about. FWIW, my Blackberry on the Verizon
network was more-or-less an expensive paperweight from the time I left
Fallon, NV to head south to Yerrington back in June. I had no
signal of any usable quality until we got back to within a relatively
few miles of Reno. This was actually a bit worse than the result
predicted by the Verizon Coverage Map, but it was not unexpected.
Verizon still shows a lot of white space (no coverage) in the
mountains of the western states. Google "mobile coverage" or "cell
phone" on the R.A.S. archives for a thread on this topic recently.

P3