Several of my group in Fairbanks have owned a total of five Motorola 2950 Mobile/Carry Phones or long range "bag phones" for ten years or more. Even without a directional or roof mounted antenna we have gotten ranges of over 40 miles and not necessarily direct line-of-sight. This is important in rural Alaska with it's "islands" of cell service. We can bridge or extend many of those islands with the analog 2950.
We are now faced with the discontinuation of analog service in mid-February 2008 apparently by order of the FCC !!?? This will likely isolate many of our rural homes, hunting camps and cabins on the fringes of or just beyond normal cell phone coverage (see picture below).
One local provider, ACS Alaska, has offered the Motorola M800 as the digital replacement for the old 2950. Technical specifications on your web page and at ACS do not address comparisons with the analog 2950.
1. What is the wattage output of the M800, the 2950 is 3 watts.
3. What line-of-sight range might we expect to get with the M800, with or without booster, the 2950 has reached out at least 44 miles with its attached fold-up antenna. A local service provider originally told me it had been found to be reliable out to 40 miles with a rooftop antenna on your car or truck, don't know if that was a performance spec or only a characteristic found from experience. The real question is, can we expect more or less range with the digital M800 than we experienced with the analog 2950 ?
It is depended on the network, However the sensitivity of the M800 CDMA up to -108 dBm, in analog up to -116 dBm.
4. What area coverage can we expect, the analog 2950 seemed to work in cell phone areas throughout Alaska, so long as you were within 30 to 50 miles of a cell tower of course ? I have been told a given M800 will only operate in a particular frequency band, not across the spectrum and therefore may operate in one area but not the next. It would be unacceptable to have it work in Fairbanks but not 100 miles SE in Delta or to have it work in Fairbanks and 350 miles away in Anchorage but not the highway in between.
5. I have been told the M800 is dual mode, both analog and digital, is that true ? If so, what is the effective range with each mode ? M800 is dual mode: CDMA and ANALOG
M800 - CDMA, M900 - GSM. MSRP per the dealer in our landing page http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/vehiclephones/us.html
M800BP/M900BP can be connected to computer for mails. You'll need the Mini USB cable and MPT (Motorola Phone Tool - CD ROM)
Q-i just spent some time looking at the different cell phone set-ups that you have displayed online. i was hoping that i could ask you for some advice.
first i am curious if you know anything about reception in northern california or have any experience with connections here.
regardless, i am currently receiving reception from an antenna hooked up to an analog bag phone (motorola), which is then hooked up to a black box (possibly a repeater?) and then a 1500 foot cable runs to a land-line phone at my cabin. this set-up is at least 5+ years old and the person who set it up is no longer available. do you think it would be possible to replace the analog phone with a digital one and still use the same cables and black box set-up? if not, what would you recommend to get phone service?
thank you for taking the time to consider this situation. if this is beyond your scope of knowledge, please let me know if there is any reliable and knowledgeable resource to contact (or if you know any specialists in northern california).
take care out there,
A-
Who is your carrier? Some smaller Carriers are not going to decommission analog for awhile.You may not need to panic.
The first thing you need to do is make sure you have a USABLE digital signal where the bag phone is. If you or a friend has a digital phone with that carrier see if it works.
Digital signals almost always have a hard distance limit. In most rural areas this is usually around 20 miles. If you are outside this the phone may show a signal but will not complete a call.
If you have a digital signal, what you are going to need is a Telular box. Its a direct replacement for the analog setup you have. That little black box you speak of is called the Cellular Connection. It simply acts as an interface between the bag phone and your standard land phone. The black box generates the dial tone and converts the touch tones from you phone to numbers the bag phone can understand.
The Telular unit does all this with a digital signal.
The other option is the dock and talk. It does the same thing with a regular digital hand held phone as the black box does with the bag phone. The dock n talk does not work with fax/data.
The first things you need to do are, First find out if there is a good digital signal, see what kind of antenna the current phone is using and see if your carrier offers Telular units.
As I always tell people. DO NOT deactivate your current phone until its either shut off or a replacement can be found. Add a second line to you plan to test a new phone if there is no other way.
Q-Hi - Just writing to say thanks for the great info on your site. Its very helpful. I am Park Ranger in a remote State park that has spotty cell service. We currently use the old analog moto bag phone with the cellular box. Its all hooked to a yagi antenna on the roof of the office with 9913 low loss cable. I am able to use a regular fax machine and panasonic walk around phones with the set-up. We have internet access on a WildBlue satellite dish - and some of us use Starband satellite at home.
Anyways, I was wondering if the newer M800 digital bag phone would still allow me to use that cellular box that gives the dial tone (and allows the use of my fax machine). I am thinking of upgrading the phone before they totally phase us out for analog. We are starting to get intermittent service and Alltell won't offer support. Their pat answer is "You are in a marginal service area, we can't help you because we don't provide service there." Ya, that's why we have been paying the cellular bill for the last ten years - because there is no service. Its frustrating!
Our other issue is if I make any changes to our state phone service, I have to go with Verizon - its a State contract issue. We are stationed out here at the park and I have Verizon for my personal phone service and it works really well. (LG 4650 phone with antenna adapter to the 9913 to the yagi on a pole mount outside the house.) Maybe better than Alltel. Just wondering your feelings on carriers in these remote areas. It seems that no one at the carriers is willing to talk about who actually has the tower and how much of the time they broadcast in 800mHz vs. 1900mHz etc.
I have been using alternativewireless.com for advice and products. They have been really helpful also. >Anyhow - Just wanted to say thanks. Its hard to find reliable info out there on these issues and your site was helpful. Thanks in advance for any info or thoughts you are willing to share.
A-Good to hear from you.
The first thing you need to find out is, and this is
the big one....Is there a USABLE digital signal. They
apply hard limits to the digital signals radius.
Usually somewhere around 30 miles in the rural areas with Alltel.
If your outside this radius setting your phone may
show the signal but you cant call out on it. Best
thing to do is try a digital phone and see if you can
call out, send a text or get on the web. Something
that requires digital.
If you do have a digital signal the solution you are
looking for is a Telular unit. Alltel sells the
Telular units. Its basically a box with an antenna
port and a rj11 phone jack that you plug your fax,
cordless phones exc. The Telular unit is digital only
though. telular.com
The M800 does not support what you need. Its basically
just a regular handset in a huge box. It would be ok
if you needed a voice only desk phone that ran on a
plug in power source. For 99% of users the m800 is a
joke, a regular handset with a direct connect amp
blows it away.
I don't know if Verizon offers the Telular unit, that could be a problem.
If Verizon does have digital there you will need to
see if you can get a Telular box through them.
One other option is the dock n talk, it connects to a regular handset and allows your regular phone to connect to the handset. The dock n talk does basically the same thing as the box you have now on you bag phone. They say it does not work well with fax though. (this is a last resort)
1900 is not really used in rural areas, Its to line of sight. Your coverage is going to be cellular 800mhz band. Most all of Alltel and Verizons coverage is cellular 800.
I prefer Alltel, they are much more flexible with their policys and generally have much better coverage.
One thing I can stress enough right now is don't give up or turn off your analog phone yet. Until you have a fully functioning replacement. If your staff had old bags in their service vehicles tell them to keep them until they don't work. Once you turn it off that's it. Even if you need to add another line to try a new phone out do it. Do not deactivate the old phone!
Q-
Your help is appreciated.
A-
First the most important thing, DO NOT deactivate your
3 watt phone till analog is turned off. The turn of
date for NM is 9/08. It could stay on longer than that
and once you turn off your old phone you cant
reactivate it.
Most digital has hard distance
limits, usually
not more than 30 miles from the tower.
The limits are usually set with the use of a stock
handset in mind.
Your best choice is a standard handset with a port
for external antenna. About the only one they are
selling right now is the w315.
The antenna you want to get is the one cell gear usa
sells. link
http://stores.ebay.com/CellGear-USA
nothing beats the performance this antenna will give
you for the money.
Keep in mind that nothing will get around the hard
distance limit of a digital tower. If its 30 miles.
thats it. No amount of power, antenna or phone will place a call
outside that 30 mile limit.
In general, a standard Alltel handset is good for 50
miles in digital mode IF the tower is set up for it.
The M800 is ok if the phone never leaves the car.BUT,
it IS NOT going to work magic or get service where a
smaller phone wont.
Performance wise, the m800 and a ''pocket phone'' are
the same. The only thing the m800 has going for it is
the external antenna. which you can add to your
''pocket'' phone.
I dont know if you saw this page,
http://boxcarcabin.com/ruralcell.htm
but the first example is what you should go with, when the time comes
Questions..nuggettzz2000@yahoo.com
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