VZW Canadian Loop - CDMA/WiFi/More
Trip up the coast of the ever wonderful USA was uneventful. Carrying several wireless-capable devices and found no real problems.
There were dark areas of Northern California & Oregon where even the vaunted VZW failed us. AT&T phone performed well, too - but lost signal more frequently.
Spent the night outside of Vancouver, BC, far away from the 110+ degrees of my Sonoran Desert home. Was up early for a drive to Kelowna, where we have again put down stakes. Lost signal for both carrier devices for a total of about 30% of the trip - VZW won big here as some of the GSM coverage areas, while showing a bar or two had too much noise to be usable. Overall, though, each carrier left us without signal for no more than 10 or 15 clicks at a time, while on the main highway.
And please remember that where we are is no indication of VZW or AT&T service - rather it is an indication of technologies, as neither VZW, nor AT&T, offers Canadian service.
An interesting note - our BlackBerrys lost signal first, while the non-smartphones, Samsung & Nokia devices held on longer - in some cases, as much as a click or more farther, with the Wilson amp off. With it on, results were more closely matched, as when the rooftop lost signal, the service inside drops like a rock.
For those of you not versed in the Canadian lexicon, a click is a click of the odometer - up here, they use kilometers.
Another note is that we found almost nothing in the way of a WiFi signal. In the CG here, as in many like it, they offer password access WiFi Internet, but the cell signal is present, too.
Anyway, it is time to head for dinner. The lake is gorgeous and the air is crisp. If it didn't get so cold up here & if they would kill off socialized medicine & Canada's recent penchant for speech control, I could see myself living here. Until the first sign of snow.
Be back later.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com