iPhone on the road

[Charles Dyer]

On 02 Jul 2007, at 08:10:47, David P. Henderson wrote:

>
> On 01 Jul 2007, at 08:33, Charles Dyer wrote:
>
>> Gez, man, do the cell phone companies _hate_ Vermont or what? I  
>> can get one or two bar reception in the middle of the God-damn  
>> Everglades! The official T-Mobile (and the official Cingular) map  
>> shows only thin lines of coverage centered on roads such as I-75  
>> (Alligator Alley) and US 41 (Tamaimi Trail) but you can get a  
>> signal at places where the official map says there's no coverage  
>> at all, in areas where the only way in is by airboat or swamp  
>> buggy. I can get a signal where the only local inhabitants are  
>> fish, 'gators, panthers, raccoons, and mosquitos (especially  
>> mosquitos) but you can't get a signal at work?! Someone needs to  
>> have a little chat with the local cell phone people... Maybe we  
>> could loan you a few 'gators to give 'em an incentive.
>
> Of course, you are overlooking a major geographical difference  
> between the Everglades and Vermont. Namely, that the Everglades are  
> _flat_ while Vermont (from the french for green mountains) is quite  
> mountainous. :)
>

Quite true. But before I was in Florida (maximum altitude, other than  
fake mountains at Disney World, 328 feet above sea level) I lived in  
Jamaica, which has a few hills here and there. Digicel gave pretty  
good cell reception there. (Cable & Wireless didn't, but then there  
were many reasons why they were called 'Completely Worthless'.)

And precisely because Florida is flat, there have to be a lot of cell  
towers to maintain a line of sight.