Panic (911) buttons with no subscription
January 18, 2024 4:32 PM   Subscribe

I’m looking at these little devices, which appear to be very small cellphones with speakerphones that dial 911. Since carriers are required to support 911 regardless of subscription it seems like they would work anywhere with cell coverage. Too good to be true?
posted by Tell Me No Lies to Technology (4 answers total)
 
Best answer: I'd be concerned that this device might rely on older 3G technology (I don't see any technical specs), for which the networks in the US are being shut off. If you look at the Amazon reviews, you can see that especially some of the most recent ones say the device doesn't work.
posted by kickingtheground at 4:59 PM on January 18, 2024 [4 favorites]


Best answer: Yes the one you linked apparently doesn't work at all anymore. The Verizon support for these 3G calls has been shut off now, and Verizon was the last one. If you want to search for a working device you should find one that says it supports "Voice over LTE" which is sometimes abbreviated VoLTE.
posted by fritley at 5:29 PM on January 18, 2024 [2 favorites]


My understanding is that any operable cell phone must be able to call 911, regardless of activation or data plan. For less than the price of that device, you could get a Tracfone or similar and never activate it.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:31 AM on January 19, 2024 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: The primary draw of the original device was battery life. I have yet to find another solution with anything close. Something that has to be charged constantly is a non-starter.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:34 PM on January 19, 2024


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