Can a cell phone get a signal if it's way out in the ocean?

[raccoon]

No, I don’t mean in the water. I mean, like if a Newfoundland fisherman has the phone with him on his boat.

[MANative]

1. There are versions of cell connections they use on planes, etc. so...

I'd think it's possible, but satellite phones are more likely used on some vessels. (From my pals at the New Bedford seaport.)

[lagomorph777]

2. The plane or the ship can use a satellite connection and a micro-cell.

Companies such as Inmarsat and Panasonic provide services to ships (even small ships) and planes.

[magicarpet]

3. In a rural area maybe not so much. In a metropolitan area like Boston or New York,...

... much more likely because the amount of cell towers is much higher to pick up the signal.

There is very little to block the signal over water so the interference that you get on land is pretty much nonexistent.

[RainCaster]

4. There will be about a 16 mile limit

[mitch96]

5. Sure, if there is a cell tower out there.... ;)

Preemptive if someone believes me...
m

[Cirque du So-What]

8. You could look for a cell phone buoy

Usually conveniently located near the mail buoy.

Also

[mitch96]

9. Ahhh creative telephony... I like it..

ba ba buoy...........
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[Sneederbunk]

11. Or you could watch the pool buoy.

[abqtommy]

12. I nominate that for Pun Of The Day!

[mitch96]

14. I think Falwell and his wife are up for that!!! nt

[getagrip_already]

6. I fish offshore frequently...

The most blissful part is no cell phones or people staring at their screens......

We start to pick up signals about 5 miles from shore. Beyond that, nuttin.

But as someone mentioned, sat service is available no matter how far out you go. But, you pay a very dear price to use it.

Service is very expensive per minute.

[Quemado]

7. If the phone is in range of a tower, yes.

It will get a signal if the phone is in range of a tower.

[BBG]

10. Most cruise ships have satellite fed microcells

And provide a cell service on board once outside terrestrial service.
Smaller boats would be able to do similar solutions but not very cheaply. Heck the cruise ships charge an arm and a leg for their wireless connectivity while at sea too.

[Tanuki]

13. My cell phone rang with a call from a friend in Boston when I was on a boat in the Sulu Sea

between Sandakan (Borneo) and Pulau Selangan.

[mitch96]

15. That's neat. My father was a merchant seaman and did a phone patch to my house when

he was in the mid atlantic This was in the 50's. The Radio operator was a HAM and contacted a HAM on land who "patched" his radio transmission to my Mom's phone. Ship HAM radio to land HAM radio to phone to my house. What a treat and the neatest Birthday gift ever!!!
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[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. That is really cool.

You had a great dad.

[mitch96]

18. Yup, for a 6 yo kid it was pretty neat. Great Dad? not so much but he was a Way cool guy...

He was the cliché of the typical sailor. Short tempered foul mouthed Hard drinking bar fighting woman in every port kinda guy. Ex US Navy on a heavy cruiser in WW2. Loved the sea and that life. Went around the world more than a few times. Later on Me and my Aunt kept on bugging him to write a book or have one ghost written. His stories were amazing even if you throw in the embellishments and bullshit factor.
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[Tanuki]

19. That phone call must have seemed absolutely magical! Your dad sounds like a

wonderful character!

[Generic Brad]

17. Yet you can't get a signal in parts of southern Kentucky or northern Wisconsin

Go figure.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

20. I couldn't get a signal while driving through Frankfort KY!

Kentucky's state capital!

Probably just a problem for my phone service, while others would work, but it still surprised me.

Figured Google Maps would work for me during the entire trip, but I had to stop and ask for directions the old-fashioned way! So weird that I had a cell signal until I reached their capital!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. If your provider doesn't have a nearby cell tower,

you don't get service.

I learned a few months ago that there is one and only one provider in Los Alamos, NM, and when I was there and trying to phone a friend, I couldn't. It was beyond frustrating.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

22. In Los Alamos too?!

I figured most bigger cities had coverage from all the major providers.

Makes me miss my old Tracfone which used whatever signal that was strongest in the area. Lol.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

23. Los Alamos is tiny.

Just over 12,000 people live there. My cell provider is AT&T. I forget which provider has the exclusive rights to Los Alamos but apparently they have some kind of a contract the keeps any other provider out and still has years left to run.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

24. Lol, shows what I know!

A physics professor said he could probably get me an entry-level job there as a mathematical modeler, working under one of his old friends, but I declined (wanted to stay near my elderly parents who had health issues) and obviously I never even investigated the area!

Assumed it was bigger after the nuclear bomb was developed there.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. It was also a secret city while the bomb was being developed.

The official address for everyone there was a P.O. Box in Santa Fe. Kids who were born there had that address on their birth certificates.

A lot of the people who work there live in Santa Fe, which isn't all that big itself. 84,000 people or so here.

[csziggy]

26. Or on the east two thirds of my farm

Or in Northern Scotland. Oddly enough the signals were pretty good on the Mainland of the Orkneys.

There is a north south-ridge towards the west end of my farm. South-south-east about two miles away there is a cell tower, but when you get over this ridge, the signal is blocked. The closest cell tower to the east is seven or eight miles away - too far for a signal.

People driving out the rural highway just north of my place lose their cell signal when they pass the road in front of the farm. The subdivision to our east gets no decent cell signal.