It's Enough To Make A Grown Man Cry...

[Brad Adrian]

I was SO excited recently when T-Mobile decided to let their customers get <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13400">all the wireless data communication we want</a> for 20 bucks a month. I knew I was going on a trip and was looking forward to really playing with my Pocket PC Phone Edition and gobbling up the megabytes.<br /><br />My destination, however, was a small corner of Indiana (yep, that place with the corn and soybeans) that is apparently about 87 miles from the nearest T-Mobile/Cingular tower. No data connection. No voice connection. Nothing.<br /><br />For reasons I won't go into, I had three wireless phones with me with three different carriers: T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint. Not ONE of them could pick up a signal while I was in Indiana. Oh, well, I thought I could at least play with my Pocket PC games and try out my new hp2215.<br /><br />Except...I had let a couple of relatives use my Pocket PCs and their batteries were completely depleted. Hard resets on four Pocket PCs. Oh, well, I thought I could at least have some fun rebuilding the devices.<br /><br />Except...ActiveSync decided at that precise point in my life to stop working. No partnerships, no connections, and worse yet, no ActiveSync CD to attempt a reinstall. And the best dial-up speed I could get was a scorching 14.4 kbps, so downloading the needed files was out of the question.<br /><br />Talk about torture! All my wonderful, beautiful toys and precious few ways to use them. I think next year we'll just visit our Hoosier relatives via conference call!<br /><br />What sob stories about being "disconnected" can YOU share?

[Falinn]

What can you say other than.... meh! :microwave:

[ChristopherTD]

Dare I ask if you had a backup? A Pocket Backup Plus backup will have you re-instated after a hard-reset in a matter of minutes.

Or was it that you were able to restore but were then unable to connect to anything that caused the most pain.

[Gerard]

With every PPC I've used there is a reliable, and annoying, reminder which pops up at some point well before hard reset time advising that the unit be powered off to avoid data loss. When my Casio gets below about 5%, it just won't start up for more than half a second until I get it on AC. So what, are your relatives blind? !!! Good grief. Disown them. You'll be better off... unless you take after them and do the same sort of thing? In that case, never mind, it won't make a bit of difference. ;)

[cmlpreston]

How big is Activesync - 3, 4Mb?

How do you think we lived when 14400 bps modems were the fastest out there?

Hmph, kids!

cmlp

[Eitel]

I hope you learned your lesson. Get Pocket Backup for your PPC's and that won't happen again :D

[Ed Hansberry]

Me: "Honey, I need to run to a big city real quick for, uhm... a car part. Yeah, that's it. When we were driving I heard a clicking sound {backing out of the room} and I know exactly what I need. It is only a few dollars {opening door} but they only sell them in big cities. It won't take long {feet in the garage and door closing} to fix but it will take a few hours to drive and get there {now only head poking out} so don't wait up for me. Love you. Bye. {click - and mad dash to the car with all of my devices looking for a live cell.}

[egads]

What part of Indiana ?

I grew up in Evansville (S. Indiana) and now live in the Chicago area. I pretty much drive down the whole west side of Indiana and have never had a problem.

This month we drove from Evansville to Destin Fl. There were hours of dead time in Alabama.

[kwerner]

That's why I don't have a GSM (TMobile/ATT) or a Sprint phone. Sure they are cool and everything, but look at the coverage map. Coverage disappears for 90%? of the country. They only work in populated areas or major high traffic roads. First time your car breaks down on a roadtrip to the country and you are screwed.

I wouldn't buy a phone unless it has AMPS (analog) backup, it still has the best coverage nationwide. This will change eventually since most carriers are trying to get rid of it, but then we are stuck with two or three networks CDMA, GSM, and TDMA for a while. It would be nice if they all converted to the same, CDMA2000. I'm pretty sure at least AT&T is committed to GSM and eventually EDGE for high speed data.

[lurch]

Brad-

I'm a full-time Indiana guy (although NOT a hoosier), but I've never had a problem... course I only stick to the big cities... It's dangerous to venture into the country!!! Not only is there no phone service, but you never know what kinda crazies you'll meet... this IS Indiana afterall... ;)

[cam87513]

Hehe, welcome to Indiana. The cable company here in Noblesville just recently (within the past five months) added high speed internet to its services. Before that it was 26k max on telephone lines that go out every time the river goes up. Speaking of that, Brad, how'd you like the storms and floods this weekend?

[gorkon280]

Verizon has the best coverage hands down. My v120e may not look or be as cool as a t68, but at least I can make a voice call in timbuktu (even if it's on AMPS). Only a few complaints....first, the whole world does use GSM and why oh why does it not work better in the US then CDMA? Also, when will Verizon customers get a Bluetooth equipped device? Only way to do this is to get the SPH-i700 but then you would not need it for your PocketPC because it is a PPCPE! :)

Backup. Whatever utility you use, use it. Keep a card on hand just for backup. When on road out of range of highspeed and you don't have a laptop, backup. Everynight if you have to.

I feel for you though bud. When the rains were hitting my camp site in Aurora, OH (Six Flags Camp Silverhorn) I was practically begging for a laptop and high speed access so I can check the radar (or a t68).

Slightly Off Topic:

Is there a program, free or otherwise that will backup contacts and calendar onto a SD or CF card? If my Compusa had the 5555 when I was leaving town, I was going to pick it up but then realized I would only be able to play with what is on rom, which would have been ok, except if I wanted to look at my calendar, I would not have it. If I had a way to back these up on to a SD, if I had gotten the new device, I could have just ported the data over from the card as long as the card also had the cab file on it for the program. Am I asking too much to make it easier to move one profile or even just contacts and calendar from one PPC to another? (Keep in mind, the other device would not be available as I am getting rid of it at the same time as acquiring the new one so beaming may not be an option..even then, can you beam a whole contact list and calendar?).

[ChristopherTD]

Is there a program, free or otherwise that will backup contacts and calendar onto a SD or CF card?

Pocket Backup should be able to do this. By default it backs all the contacts/calendar stuff up. You could just choose to restore only that data, ignoring all the rest. The latest version creates files with an EXE header so you don't even have to install the software to restore the data.

You could also create a custom backup that only backs up the Contact/Calender if space is a concern, or you want to to be sure you don't indadvertantly overwrite something!

[Brad Adrian]

Dare I ask if you had a backup? A Pocket Backup Plus backup will have you re-instated after a hard-reset in a matter of minutes.
Yes, I had used Pocket Backup...and had backed up to my PC for safe storage. So, without ActiveSync, I couldn't restore.

Smart, huh?

[Excalliber]

When picking a cell phone service in Indiana, the coverage maps are always little dots connected by lines (cities connected by major highways) with baren wastelands in between. And this was with analog... it's much worse with digital networks :roll:

[Brad Adrian]

Hmph, kids!
While I AM flattered, the only dial-up I could get would periodically drop. It would have been quicker to jog to Redmond and get Bill to come fix my system.

[Brad Adrian]

What part of Indiana ?
I grew up in Muncie, but we were visiting the booming metropolis of Warren. It's only about five miles from I-69, but those helpless radio waves drop dead about two miles from where we were staying.

[Talldog]

I've been hammering on it for a few years now, but someday I hope the carriers will figure out IT'S THE COVERAGE, STUPID!!
:evil:

[Janak Parekh]

I've been hammering on it for a few years now, but someday I hope the carriers will figure out IT'S THE COVERAGE, STUPID!!
:evil:
It's really, really, really not that easy. Do you think Sprint or T-Mobile doesn't want to have better coverage? Two problems: it's expensive, and, more importantly, the NIMBY problem. You'd be amazed how insanely difficult it is to get even one tower put up, especially in small towns, nowadays. Verizon and AT&T (at least, AT&T's old network) have the big advantage because they put up lots and lots of towers before people started freaking out about these things.

In addition, the presence of the AMPS network is a big impediment to deployment of digital, especially in areas where AMPS isn't overloaded. "What do you mean we need new towers? My 5 year old cell phone works very well, thank you!" Part of the reason European digital coverage is so amazingly good is because they started off the ground as a digital network.

--janak

[Ed Hansberry]

I've been hammering on it for a few years now, but someday I hope the carriers will figure out IT'S THE COVERAGE, STUPID!!
:evil:
It's really, really, really not that easy. Do you think Sprint or T-Mobile doesn't want to have better coverage? Two problems: it's expensive, and, more importantly, the NIMBY problem.
I'd wager there are more than enough towers to cover 90% of the populated areas in the US. The problem is you have every carrier duplicating, triplicating and more in large cities. Take those things down and move them.

But noooooo...... We have competing standards, digital, analog, and holes. Big BIG holes. :(

[Janak Parekh]

I'd wager there are more than enough towers to cover 90% of the populated areas in the US. The problem is you have every carrier duplicating, triplicating and more in large cities. Take those things down and move them.
Try moving them into any town's backyard and see the hue and cry that the town will raise. I've seen it here in the NY metro area, even. It's pathetic.

It's not that the companies don't want to set up more towers, or that they're lacking money to do so. There's nothing wrong with redundant towers -- and in fact we need it -- no one provider has enough capacity to meet everyone's needs. Also, carriers do lease the physical towers, when they can. But competition sometimes prevents them.

But noooooo...... We have competing standards, digital, analog, and holes. Big BIG holes. :(
Well, it's getting better. But slowly. :(

--janak

[disconnected]

Obviously being "disconnected" is the story of my life. Just trying to read through connection instructions on each new PPC OS version makes me want to cry. I'm in the early stages of trying to get connected with my new iPAQ 5550. They've obviously tried to automatate this somewhat with PPC2003, and some of that works well, but anything that needs to be configured manually is as confusing as ever --

Sprint -- relatively painless to set up this time, but I STILL have to use a Supplynet cable -- a bluetooth phone seemed almost close enough to touch, and now ??? :evil:

WiFi at home -- also relatively painless, but as far as I can see, it takes seven taps to get to the screen where you have to switch back and forth between 'internet' (for internet and PC file shares) and 'work' (to sync), unless I'm missing something.......very likely.

WiFi elsewhere -- tried to connect at Borders, but failed. Need to read those instructions again. Hadn't read them at all beforehand :oops: . Don't know if it was a setting problem or a weak signal. On the way home I was playing with the iPAQ in the car (I was a passenger, not the driver) and had forgotten to turn off WiFi and kept getting popup messages all the way home about all the networks I passed -- kind of interesting, and a reminder that I really should have at least a password on my own network. :oops:

Haven't tried wired ethernet or CF modem connections yet. I did install AOL (PPC2K2 version), and can get my email using TCP/IP connection, but have not tried dialup yet; I'm almost ready to leave for a two week vacation (Seattle and BC :D :D :D ), so don't want to accidentally cause a hard reset right now.

After I finally get all my connections working, then it will be time to be aggravated by the lack of coverage everywhere. Actually, I guess I won't even have phone service in BC with my Sprint phone. Oh, well.........

[Crystal Eitle]

Actually, I guess I won't even have phone service in BC with my Sprint phone. Oh, well.........
While working as a flight attendant last year I made an unexpected stop in Vancouver, BC. My Sprint phone worked great! (Though I did have to pay roaming charges).

[Wuss912]

the day they shut down my ricochet

[easylife]

I live outside the coverage area of Sprint, Verizon, Cingulair, or AT&T Wireless, as well as outside the range for any Broadband Internet services.... talk about being disconnected... :roll:

[Janak Parekh]

I live outside the coverage area of Sprint, Verizon, Cingulair, or AT&T Wireless, as well as outside the range for any Broadband Internet services.... talk about being disconnected... :roll:
Time to move. :mrgreen: Seriously, nowadays if you're planning on living somewhere, checking on access to things like cable modems and cell service is probably a smart thing to do.

--janak

[Ed Hansberry]

Time to move. :mrgreen: Seriously, nowadays if you're planning on living somewhere, checking on access to things like cable modems and cell service is probably a smart thing to do.
You can always go ISDN. Expensive, but better than 28.8.

[cht]

I just took a 2 week trip across the country in a small plane, landing in obscure towns with pops under 1000. I had Verizon service almost everywhere, even in fields with no houses in sight for miles. Hooked up my laptop to cell phone and had 14K net access!
I was in PA, OH, IN, IL, KS, CO, AZ, UT, MT, and SD.

[ctmagnus]

Really sad? The vet here is out of town. On the highway where you turn off to get to the vet you have a perfect digital signal. The vet is ~100m off the highway. NO SIGNAL period, not even an analog signal there.

[Kati Compton]

Argh. Our power was out. Blessed blessed electricity....

"Well, I can't use my computer... Maybe I'll watch TV? Doh! What about reading a book? I'll just turn on a light... Doh! Hmmm... Well, I could use the laptop, it has a charge. I'll just connect to our wireless network... Doh! Well, I can use my PPC at least. Maybe I'll install the new Pocket Informant and play with it.... Doh!"

;)

[karen]

What part of Indiana ?
I grew up in Muncie,

Me, too!

I thought for sure you were talking about Muncie. You want to know how backwards this part of IN is? My parents moved to Selma and they couldn't get a phone (that's a real land line phone) because the phone company wasn't interested in installing a new line at the switch! They had to wait for months for a dang phone.

The one redeeming thing was that when they switched the phone company wouldn't let them have anything but tone dialing (they have been pulse only since 1965). At least now I can check my voicemail from there (they only had rotary phones at the old place).

They gave up high speed for a land line that gets 14.4 on its best days.

Everyone now: GEEEENNNN AYCRRRRES IS THUH PLAYCE TUH BEEEEEEE.

Good gawd, I hate going back there.

[Brad Adrian]

Everyone now: GEEEENNNN AYCRRRRES IS THUH PLAYCE TUH BEEEEEEE.
LOL!!

Top Five Ways You Know You're In Indiana:

5. Corn. Lots of it.
4. Seriously, there's billions of tons of corn.
3. "Kissing cousins" is more than a phrase.
2. You don't need to climb a tall building to see your entire county.
1. There aren't any tall buildings, anyway.

[Janak Parekh]

"Well, I can't use my computer... Maybe I'll watch TV? Doh! What about reading a book? I'll just turn on a light... Doh! Hmmm... Well, I could use the laptop, it has a charge. I'll just connect to our wireless network... Doh! Well, I can use my PPC at least. Maybe I'll install the new Pocket Informant and play with it.... Doh!"
This is why you're supposed have ebooks preloaded on the Pocket PC. That might be the one advantage for you over regular books. :D

--janak

[ctmagnus]

Argh. Our power was out. Blessed blessed electricity....

Went out here today here too. Only real problems for me were the Internet connection was down for a while after the power came back on, and the Linux box in the basement rebooted. And it had been up for 70 days, too! Gonna try NT 4.0 for distributed.net on it next.

Thank god my main machine is UPSed and it only blinked so I didn't lose any real downtime except for the lack of connectivity.

[cam87513]

Top Five Ways You Know You're In Indiana:

5. Corn. Lots of it.
4. Seriously, there's billions of tons of corn.
3. "Kissing cousins" is more than a phrase.
2. You don't need to climb a tall building to see your entire county.
1. There aren't any tall buildings, anyway.

Hey man, we've got the Bank One Tower. I'm pretty sure it's a skyscraper... :lol:

[adamz]

I recently got a Bluetooth modem for those times when the cell phone has no reception and you desperately crave a fixing of internet access.

http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=265

You just gotta borrow some one's landline and plug it in.

[maximus]

5. Corn. Lots of it.


And I thought that only applies to iowa. :mrgreen:

[karen]

Everyone now: GEEEENNNN AYCRRRRES IS THUH PLAYCE TUH BEEEEEEE.
LOL!!

Top Five Ways You Know You're In Indiana:

5. Corn. Lots of it.
4. Seriously, there's billions of tons of corn.
3. "Kissing cousins" is more than a phrase.
2. You don't need to climb a tall building to see your entire county.
1. There aren't any tall buildings, anyway.

Muncie, Indiana: Took two 50's, skipped the 60's, and has be stuck in the 70's ever since...

or

(what used to work) Yes, M'am, I know you know it's the 90's, I'm just not sure you realize that it is the _19_ 90's.

Seriously, I don't really hate Muncie...it's just that after living in the real world where there is less racism, less cooter-ville stuff, etc., it's so painful to go back there.