Cell Phone for Emergency Use in Bay Area/Sacramento?

May 19, 2008 3:47 AM

What cell service should I get for my in-laws in the Sacramento/Bay Area, for use in emergencies?

I got a call from my in-laws the other day. They had a flat tire near Davis, and were fortunately near a gas station so this was an inconvenience, not a disaster. They don't have a cell phone, and started to think it was a good idea to get one.

This phone will only be used for emergencies, so per-minute charges won't be that much of an issue. My in-laws are also not technically inclined, so complicated phones may be counterproductive.

I'm looking at pre-paid plans from the major carriers. T-Mobile is the least expensive, with $10 refills every 90 days to keep existing minutes from expiring. Verizon is the most expensive, with $30 refills every 60 days. AT&T is in the middle with $25/90 days.

The problem is that I'm not sure about coverage. Verizon appears to have the most extensive coverage, T-Mobile the least, AT&T in the middle, as expected. My in-laws will typically be traveling by highway from Sacramento to, say, the Bay Area and the coast near Santa Cruz.

How is T-Mobile coverage on the highways in those areas? Also, even if the coverage maps are relatively minimal in those areas, will the phone still be able to reach emergency services?

Note that I'm on a T-Mobile standard plan, so I suppose I can always add a line for them, but that'll be more expensive than the prepaid plan and it won't solve the coverage issue.

Thanks.

posted by chengjih to travel & transportation (17 comments total)

I've read that you don't even need active service on a cell phone to call 911, but perhaps someone else here can clarify that.
posted by bertrandom at 3:55 AM on May 19

Jitterbug offers service for as low as $10.00 / month and a 'senior friendly' phone. I'm not sure about coverage. They probably rent space on other systems' towers.
posted by Gungho at 4:08 AM on May 19

If you put $100 on your T-Mobile prepaid at once, refills will then only expire after a year (and you don't have to keep putting on $100 each year). Of course if you're really never going to use it, $10 every 90 days is cheaper for several years.

You should be able to call 911 without having paid service. But that won't help you call AAA or a relative.
posted by grouse at 4:11 AM on May 19

My 88 year old uncle has a prepaid cellphone (UK tarifs so they don't apply here) but he makes one call a week (e.g. to the doctor's surgery or to order a cab) just to ensure that it's still working and to keep him familiar with the process of making calls.
posted by ceri richard at 4:22 AM on May 19

Thanks, all. What about coverage on those highway routes near Sacramento, the Bay Area and Santa Cruz? I suppose it's still too early for the PST folks to chime in.
posted by chengjih at 5:20 AM on May 19

I live in San Francisco and work on the 280 side of Menlo Park, and have Verizon, and coverage is generally no problem.

One caveat: there are dead spots along 280 between San Francisco and points south (like, I reckon, to 17, where they'd turn off to get to Santa Cruz). The Coastal Range does funny things to cell reception, and Verizon may not be the only one to have this problem. Many of my co-workers have company BlackBerries, and some live south of Menlo Park. I can't remember who the work carrier is, but I'll ask around today and post back with any anecdotes.
posted by rtha at 6:24 AM on May 19

Oh - and I've never had any trouble between SF and Sacto, on the rare occasion when I've needed to use the phone in that area.
posted by rtha at 6:26 AM on May 19

If all you want is 911, then you can just buy a $5 working cell phone from ebay and, if you're in range, you can call 911 without being a customer of any network. (But ensuring they know how to use the phone might be tricky, then)

I have also seen (a few years ago now) someone selling a phone for a one-time fee that would allow you to call 911 or AAA forever. I don't remember any more details about it.
posted by winston at 6:28 AM on May 19

Pretty much any of the majors will have continuous, non-problematic coverage along Interstate 80. It only looks like a desolate wasteland. You have to get farther out into the boonies before you care about coverage issues.
posted by majick at 6:42 AM on May 19

Oh, Santa Cruz? Yeah, coverage for everybody is pretty crappy along 17. The 80-580-880 stretch is fine, but as soon as you're up into the mountains it's all very iffy. I doubt you'll find any one vendor better than another for coverage in the SCM area.
posted by majick at 6:44 AM on May 19

I don't know about coverage in the Bay Area, but I set up an AT&T GoPhone for my parents to use for emergencies last year. It took a little bit of phone work with AT&T, but the result is a prepaid phone that costs $25 every 3 months, unused minutes roll over, and renews itself automatically via credit card.

At the time I did my research, the TMobile prepaid could not be set up to renew itself automatically.

Jitterbug is very expen$ive. Their phone is based on a Samsung model... extremely large numbers on the display; this is true of the Samsung that AT&T was selling. If you have a chance to program the phone for your folks, set it up for voice dialing -- that way they only need to remember one keypress.
posted by omnidrew at 7:39 AM on May 19

I tried to get a jitterbug phone for my mom via their online order system but it was impossible after 2 tries.

I gave up and just got a Go phone from AT&T -- $100 per year.

Unfortunately, the reception isn't the greatest out by her house (we haven't tested it closer to town to see if it's the phone or the coverage tho).
posted by tachikaze at 9:30 AM on May 19

Go with a Tracfone. Coverage is generally on AT&T's network I believe. They pretty much always have some deal or another on their website that will get a phone, delivery, a year of service and 400-1000 minutes for $100-150. Whenever I have done the math, they are the cheapest way to get low usage service.
posted by fief at 9:50 AM on May 19

T-mobile gets fine coverage on and off the 80 from the bay area to the central valley. Even on the capitol corridor amtrak, which follows a more westerly route down to the bay, you'll have t-mob service almost 99% of the way. As others have said, however, pretty much all the carriers are going to have service for the i80 corridor. It's been awhile since I've driven south of the bay, so I can't speak to signal quality on the coastal areas.

Regardless, I'm sure the situation where one company (verizon) has coverage that another does not (t-mobile) is going to be exceptional. Although I've certainly had experiences where, say, Verizon got enough coverage to make a call where my Tmobile phone did not, this could almost always be remedied by walking 20-30 feet in any direction. My guess is that it's either going to be a total dead zone for all carriers, or you'll be able to get a signal by moving around a little.
posted by fishfucker at 11:32 AM on May 19

So, the work BlackBerries down here in Menlo Park (west side) are all on T-Mobile, and no one seems to have any complaints about big areas of deadness - unless they're driving over the hills to the coast. But this seems to hold true for all the carriers - it's the geography of the place.
posted by rtha at 12:17 PM on May 19

We all have T-Mobile, with a member in UC Davis area, a member in UC Santa Cruz area, and two members midway between (Santa Clara/Alameda county). We've had no issues on either route between the three points in terms of coverage.

You don't mention the age of your in-laws. If your in-laws are older and cost isn't an object I'd add them on your plan. We bought a six month pay as you go plan phone instead for an older relative (mid eighties). She never used it, never really learned how to use the phone, let the plan run out and never carried her phone (which totally defeats the purpose). I think being on the same plan as your family with the same type of phone as you have will encourage learning how to use the phone.
posted by aninom at 1:08 PM on May 19

I'm in Davis. Never had a problem with AT&T in the Bay Area, except for very remote locations along the coast (Pt. Reyes, specifically).
posted by mudpuppie at 1:19 PM on May 19