rob
Senior Nomad
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Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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Telcel phasing out "digital" phones
We received a call from Telcel last week telling us they are phasing out the old "digital" (pre-GSM) phones - I should add we live on a ranch an hour
west of La Paz, and the GSM signal is very weak (GSM was never designed as a rural phone solution, so I am told).
We have a reasonably high-speed satellite internet, but it doesn't work very well with VOIP - too bursty.
We are conducting further tests with external antennas/Wilson 800mhz amplifier but so far, the results are less than exciting.
Does anyone have any ideas on alternative remote phone solutions?
rob
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El Jefe
Super Nomad
Posts: 1027
Registered: 10-27-2003
Location: South East Cape
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I feel your pain. We live on the east cape in an area not covered by cell service. Tried magic jack, skype etc and none work very well with the sat
internet hookup. Some neighbors spent about 3K USD on a really high speed sat setup and claim it works pretty well for them, but geeze, that's a lot
of dough.
We've pretty much given up after five years of experimenting and just go to town to make our important calls. Toughest thing is being out of phone
touch to our kids in San Diego. Google chat and such is just not the same as hearing a voice.
We keep thinking, well maybe someday they will put up a tower....probably around the same time they pave the road!
But hey, these are the good old days right now.
No b-tchin\' in the Baja.
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Phil S
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Mood: After 34 years. Still in love w/ my wife
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El Jefe. Would the Hughes Network work for you down there? Modern technology is advancing so rapidly, you probably won't have to wait around for
something that 'would' work for you much longer.
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BajaGringo
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Location: La Chorera
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Would one of these work??? Just mount it up on a high pole...
3G Antenna and Amplifier
Edit - I was told that Telcel uses the same system as AT&T
[Edited on 11-26-2010 by BajaGringo]
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rob
Senior Nomad
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Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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Phil S - we have Starband - classified as a low/med speed system, the equivalent of Hughes. They work the same way, and the signal latency from us to
the satellite to Atlanta to the destination and all the way back again kills VOIP - too bursty.
The serious satellite stuff that is actually designed to support voice, as El Jefe says, is pricey - and that doesn't include the monthly data costs .
. . it's for the wealthier among us!
Bajagringo - thanks for the link. Actually bought a Wilson Dual-band GSM amplifier and it doesn't help at all - our YAGI antenna pole needs to be
higher I think. The good news is that my ranch guy who lives at the front gate gets a very good GSM signal, so there is hope.
We get two bars at the beach and can actually receive calls, but when we try and speak we lose the connection.
aaarrgghh
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durrelllrobert
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| Quote: | Originally posted by rob
Does anyone have any ideas on alternative remote phone solutions?
rob |
just buy a shortwave radio for you and everyone that you want to call 
Bob Durrell
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bajamedic
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Maybe the old “Bag Phone” work, they were analog and some rated at 3 watts if I recall. I and probably others still have some in a box somewhere. JH
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BajaGringo
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajamedic
Maybe the old “Bag Phone” work, they were analog and some rated at 3 watts if I recall. I and probably others still have some in a box somewhere. JH
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The problem is that those only work if there is still analog service available.
If there is service available nearby it might be worth playing with the location / height of the Wilson unit as I have heard of others having luck
with this method...
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mtgoat666
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 20371
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by rob
We received a call from Telcel last week telling us they are phasing out the old "digital" (pre-GSM) phones - I should add we live on a ranch an hour
west of La Paz, and the GSM signal is very weak (GSM was never designed as a rural phone solution, so I am told).
We have a reasonably high-speed satellite internet, but it doesn't work very well with VOIP - too bursty.
We are conducting further tests with external antennas/Wilson 800mhz amplifier but so far, the results are less than exciting.
Does anyone have any ideas on alternative remote phone solutions?
rob |
get a directional antenna, probably a Yagi type. then point it at nearest tower. depending on atmospheric conditions, you may choose between various
towers
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BigWooo
Senior Nomad
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Rob,
We also live outside cell service. We have Starband Nova 1500 and it works reasonably well with Skype. We've found that the first 30-45 seconds are
poor and choppy, then it clears up. Try to set up calls so the other end knows you're calling and have them wait about a minute. It usually clears
up quite a bit after that.
My wife read about this somewhere and I don't remember the reason why, but it works good most of the time if the other side can hang on until it
clears up.
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El Jefe
Super Nomad
Posts: 1027
Registered: 10-27-2003
Location: South East Cape
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Great point Wooo. We have found the same thing to be true. Seems to be the worst when people talk over one another. But if you don't throw in an "uh
huh" once in a while, they think you are not there anymore. Not perfect, but we did get a nice conversation in with our daughter yesterday.
No b-tchin\' in the Baja.
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rob
Senior Nomad
Posts: 509
Registered: 10-19-2004
Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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Big Woo - I think we will try Skype, if only as backup if Telcel pulls the plug while we are still trying to get GSM up.
I have only seen/used Skype once - it was at Shari and Juan's cliffedge house in Asuncion. There was a young Australian castaway there (her yacht had
been wrecked off the coast) and she was talking a friend in Cape Town over Skype on Shari's laptop. They let me join in.
I was totally blown away to be talking/seeing someone living just over the mountain from my boyhood home - yeah, even after 20 years in high-tech, I
am still blown away by what we can do!
If we have any luck with GSM, will share.
rob
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bajatravelergeorge
Nomad
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Registered: 9-21-2010
Location: Baja Norte
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Mood: Happy
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Maybe I got lucky! I live where I could get AT&T service up on the hill, but not at my house. I had a Wilson dual band amp that I was using in my
truck, but it really wasn't helping that much. I decided to adapt it to home use by buying the home AC adapter, a Wilson yagi 1900mz directional
antenna, 20' of ultra low loss cable, 15' pole, and assorted connectors. I now get 5 bars while sitting in my house. Only downside is I'm tied to the
attached internal antenna which needs to be no more than 20" from the phone.
I use the AT&T Viva Mexico phone plan. I think its $55.00 for 450 minutes. So that comes out to about .12 per minute and I have a USA phone #. I
keep a cheap Telcel pay as you go phone loaded with 100 pesos for local calls as I can't figure out how to make local calls with the AT&T plan.
Maybe someone can clue me in on how to dial the local #'s.
I had thought I was going to be stuck with the satellite option and paying big bucks to get good phone service. But like I said, I got lucky.
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David K
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Is the cost of satellite telephones and service still too high?
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rob
Senior Nomad
Posts: 509
Registered: 10-19-2004
Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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Alan Thompson (BCStech) discusses higher-speed satellite service at
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=42340#pid4653...
High speed sat prices at
http://www.bajasatellite.com/VSAT-satellite-internet-systems...
(sorry despite 20 years in computers, never did figure out Nomad control characters to turn these into URLs).
The VSAT service is FAST (and expensive!). Between $4K and $6K initial equipment, and the plans have truly horrible throughput allowances - I would be
looking at about $500/month for my current throughput equivalent (and that's WITHOUT phone usage).
I keep buying those lottery tickets . . .
rob
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willardguy
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Registered: 9-19-2009
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travelergeorge, how many miles do you think you are from the closest cell tower?
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