Last month, using an Android phone on ATT, a Gophone,, I tried to call
my nephew on his home phone (FWIW, he has no cell phone.) But it
appears his father changed the phone number when I wasn't looking, so I
had the wrong number. I called and it changed to the screen it uses
during dialing, but a moment after that it changed to some other screen
and clearly wasn't dialing. The possible dialing period was only a
second or two. But I got no message, no cell phone equivalent of "The
number you have reached is not available." I was using a headset but I
got nothing aural either.

I did this 3 times and after the third time, a message displayed on the
top line (the notification line) that said "Emergency service only" or
almost that. Isn't that the message they give when someone hasn't
paid his bill, or he's switched his contract to a newer phone and the
older phone is only useful to call the police, fire, ambulance?

I assumed what had happened is that I buy 100 dollar gophone cards that
last for 365 days, and that the time period had expired (I hadn't made
other calls that day, none since the previous day.)

If the message doesn't mean that I'm no longer eligible to make phone
calls, what does it mean?

I was in the basement of a new, 10-story building, so there was some
iron above me, but if I had no bars and no signal, there would have been
no cryptic "Emergency service only" message either, right??

Later in the day the phone worked fine.

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

micky wrote:
Last month, using an Android phone on ATT, a Gophone,, I tried to call
my nephew on his home phone (FWIW, he has no cell phone.) But it
appears his father changed the phone number when I wasn't looking, so
I had the wrong number. I called and it changed to the screen it
uses during dialing, but a moment after that it changed to some other
screen and clearly wasn't dialing. The possible dialing period was
only a second or two. But I got no message, no cell phone
equivalent of "The number you have reached is not available." I was
using a headset but I got nothing aural either.

I did this 3 times and after the third time, a message displayed on
the top line (the notification line) that said "Emergency service
only" or almost that. Isn't that the message they give when
someone hasn't paid his bill, or he's switched his contract to a
newer phone and the older phone is only useful to call the police,
fire, ambulance?

I assumed what had happened is that I buy 100 dollar gophone cards
that last for 365 days, and that the time period had expired (I
hadn't made other calls that day, none since the previous day.)

If the message doesn't mean that I'm no longer eligible to make phone
calls, what does it mean?

I was in the basement of a new, 10-story building, so there was some
iron above me, but if I had no bars and no signal, there would have
been no cryptic "Emergency service only" message either, right??

Later in the day the phone worked fine.

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

That's the message I get when there's not a cell tower in range . We get it
a lot out here in the woods ... no coverage at all down here in The Holler .
It's spotty on the road into town .

--
Snag

On Tue, 16 Jun 2015 19:28:27 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

micky wrote:
Last month, using an Android phone on ATT, a Gophone,, I tried to call
my nephew on his home phone (FWIW, he has no cell phone.) But it
appears his father changed the phone number when I wasn't looking, so
I had the wrong number. I called and it changed to the screen it
uses during dialing, but a moment after that it changed to some other
screen and clearly wasn't dialing. The possible dialing period was
only a second or two. But I got no message, no cell phone
equivalent of "The number you have reached is not available." I was
using a headset but I got nothing aural either.

I did this 3 times and after the third time, a message displayed on
the top line (the notification line) that said "Emergency service
only" or almost that. Isn't that the message they give when
someone hasn't paid his bill, or he's switched his contract to a
newer phone and the older phone is only useful to call the police,
fire, ambulance?

I assumed what had happened is that I buy 100 dollar gophone cards
that last for 365 days, and that the time period had expired (I
hadn't made other calls that day, none since the previous day.)

If the message doesn't mean that I'm no longer eligible to make phone
calls, what does it mean?

I was in the basement of a new, 10-story building, so there was some
iron above me, but if I had no bars and no signal, there would have
been no cryptic "Emergency service only" message either, right??

Later in the day the phone worked fine.

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

That's the message I get when there's not a cell tower in range .

Thanks.

But if there's no cell tower in range, then there's no emergency service
either, right? Or maybe, is there some data signal that takes less
signal strength than a voice signal does, but represents an emergency?
Maybe ...---... ...---...?

We get it
a lot out here in the woods ... no coverage at all down here in The Holler .
It's spotty on the road into town .

On 06/16/2015 09:21 PM, micky wrote:

Last month, using an Android phone on ATT, a Gophone,, I tried to call
my nephew on his home phone (FWIW, he has no cell phone.) But it
appears his father changed the phone number when I wasn't looking, so
I had the wrong number. I called and it changed to the screen it
uses during dialing, but a moment after that it changed to some other
screen and clearly wasn't dialing. The possible dialing period was
only a second or two. But I got no message, no cell phone
equivalent of "The number you have reached is not available." I was
using a headset but I got nothing aural either.

I did this 3 times and after the third time, a message displayed on
the top line (the notification line) that said "Emergency service
only" or almost that. Isn't that the message they give when
someone hasn't paid his bill, or he's switched his contract to a
newer phone and the older phone is only useful to call the police,
fire, ambulance?

I assumed what had happened is that I buy 100 dollar gophone cards
that last for 365 days, and that the time period had expired (I
hadn't made other calls that day, none since the previous day.)

If the message doesn't mean that I'm no longer eligible to make phone
calls, what does it mean?

I was in the basement of a new, 10-story building, so there was some
iron above me, but if I had no bars and no signal, there would have
been no cryptic "Emergency service only" message either, right??

Later in the day the phone worked fine.

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

That's the message I get when there's not a cell tower in range .

Thanks.

But if there's no cell tower in range, then there's no emergency service
either, right? Or maybe, is there some data signal that takes less
signal strength than a voice signal does, but represents an emergency?
Maybe ...---... ...---...?

We get it
a lot out here in the woods ... no coverage at all down here in The Holler .
It's spotty on the road into town .

Maybe the OP was out of range of an AT&T tower at that moment
(propagation is not constant even if he was standing in the same spot)
but within range of some other phone company's tower -- Verizon? (which
I understand has the best coverage, although it's not what I use,
because of the cost).

Perce

On 6/16/2015 5:55 PM, micky wrote:

I did this 3 times and after the third time, a message displayed on the
top line (the notification line) that said "Emergency service only" or
almost that. Isn't that the message they give when someone hasn't
paid his bill, or he's switched his contract to a newer phone and the
older phone is only useful to call the police, fire, ambulance?

I assumed what had happened is that I buy 100 dollar gophone cards that
last for 365 days, and that the time period had expired (I hadn't made
other calls that day, none since the previous day.)

If the message doesn't mean that I'm no longer eligible to make phone
calls, what does it mean?

I was in the basement of a new, 10-story building, so there was some
iron above me, but if I had no bars and no signal, there would have been
no cryptic "Emergency service only" message either, right??

It is because you can connect to a tower, but not the one from your
service provider. Happens once in a while depending on where you are.
You can reach 91, but not other numbers.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/16/2015 5:55 PM, micky wrote:

I did this 3 times and after the third time, a message displayed on
the top line (the notification line) that said "Emergency service
only" or almost that. Isn't that the message they give when
someone hasn't paid his bill, or he's switched his contract to a
newer phone and the older phone is only useful to call the police,
fire, ambulance? I assumed what had happened is that I buy 100 dollar
gophone cards
that last for 365 days, and that the time period had expired (I
hadn't made other calls that day, none since the previous day.)

If the message doesn't mean that I'm no longer eligible to make phone
calls, what does it mean?

I was in the basement of a new, 10-story building, so there was some
iron above me, but if I had no bars and no signal, there would have
been no cryptic "Emergency service only" message either, right??

It is because you can connect to a tower, but not the one from your
service provider. Happens once in a while depending on where you are.
You can reach 91, but not other numbers.

Thanks Ed , I was wondering how I could have emergency service when I
couldn't make or receive a call .

--
Snag

On Tue, 16 Jun 2015 21:50:10 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 6/16/2015 5:55 PM, micky wrote:

I did this 3 times and after the third time, a message displayed on the
top line (the notification line) that said "Emergency service only" or
almost that. Isn't that the message they give when someone hasn't
paid his bill, or he's switched his contract to a newer phone and the
older phone is only useful to call the police, fire, ambulance?

I assumed what had happened is that I buy 100 dollar gophone cards that
last for 365 days, and that the time period had expired (I hadn't made
other calls that day, none since the previous day.)

If the message doesn't mean that I'm no longer eligible to make phone
calls, what does it mean?

I was in the basement of a new, 10-story building, so there was some
iron above me, but if I had no bars and no signal, there would have been
no cryptic "Emergency service only" message either, right??

It is because you can connect to a tower, but not the one from your
service provider. Happens once in a while depending on where you are.
You can reach 91, but not other numbers.

Aha. That accounts for everything. Thanks for your wise advice.

It is because you can connect to a tower, but not the one from your
service provider. Happens once in a while depending on where you are.
You can reach 91, but not other numbers.

Aha. That accounts for everything. Thanks for your wise advice.

Just to expand on this a bit. Per FCC regs, if your phone
can physically connect to a cellular system (right frequencies,
strength, ptotocols), then even if you don't have an account
with that company (or in the case of a SIM card phone, even
if the card is missing...) then the cellco will let you
make a 911 call.

So if you've got an account with company A and you're
broken down on the highway in the middle of nowhere,
and the only signal is from comapny D, then you won't
be able to call AAA or your brother-in-law, but you
will be able to reach 911.


--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key

[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

On 06/16/2015 08:39 PM, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

[snip]

Maybe the OP was out of range of an AT&T tower at that moment
(propagation is not constant even if he was standing in the same spot)
but within range of some other phone company's tower -- Verizon? (which
I understand has the best coverage, although it's not what I use,
because of the cost).

Perce


AT&T works on the highway in front of Kroger (about a mile away), butis
almost unusable at my house. Getting a signal at all requires being on
the south side of the yard (closest to the highway), and calls are
likely to be dropped (even if I do stand on one foot and hold the phone
over the fence).

I use Verizon, which works decently here.

I have gotten the "Emergency Service Only" message once. Possibly
because the cell tower here was overloaded.

That (cell towers overloaded) happened after the tornado that came
through here May 25.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"People who feel themselves to be exiles in this world are mightily
inclined to believe themselves citizens of another." [George Santayana]

On Wed, 17 Jun 2015 12:09:57 -0500, Mark Lloyd wrote:

On 06/16/2015 08:39 PM, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

[snip]

Maybe the OP was out of range of an AT&T tower at that moment
(propagation is not constant even if he was standing in the same spot)
but within range of some other phone company's tower -- Verizon? (which
I understand has the best coverage, although it's not what I use,
because of the cost).

Perce


AT&T works on the highway in front of Kroger (about a mile away), butis
almost unusable at my house. Getting a signal at all requires being on
the south side of the yard (closest to the highway), and calls are
likely to be dropped (even if I do stand on one foot and hold the phone
over the fence).

I use Verizon, which works decently here.

I have gotten the "Emergency Service Only" message once. Possibly
because the cell tower here was overloaded.

Yes, during overloads, they probably give priority to 911 calls. I
would hope so. Even dropping calls in progress if they need the famous
"bandwidth".

I don't know if I mentioned it on either of these ngs, but I was just
outside Madison Square Garden about a month ago, and her mother and I
could call my niece, and my niece could call the two of us, but neither
her mother nor I could call each other.

My niece told me she had ATT until the storm surge that hit NYC about 3
years, and neither she nor her girlfriends could make a cellphone call
after that, except one who had Verizon. (This is probably a large part
of where Verizon in NY got its good reputation.) So she and her mother
signed up with Verizon, and they have phone numbers 10 or 20 apart.

So at MSG I think maybe both Verizon and ATT were letting us call, but
not relaying the call and just sending it to voice mail. This would cut
the number of circuits needed by half, and people wouldn't talk as long
either.


That (cell towers overloaded) happened after the tornado that came
through here May 25.

Well that seems fair. You have to give them a pass after each tornado.

micky posted for all of us...



Last month, using an Android phone on ATT, a Gophone,, I tried to call
my nephew on his home phone (FWIW, he has no cell phone.) But it
appears his father changed the phone number when I wasn't looking, so I
had the wrong number. I called and it changed to the screen it uses
during dialing, but a moment after that it changed to some other screen
and clearly wasn't dialing. The possible dialing period was only a
second or two. But I got no message, no cell phone equivalent of "The
number you have reached is not available." I was using a headset but I
got nothing aural either.

I did this 3 times and after the third time, a message displayed on the
top line (the notification line) that said "Emergency service only" or
almost that. Isn't that the message they give when someone hasn't
paid his bill, or he's switched his contract to a newer phone and the
older phone is only useful to call the police, fire, ambulance?

I assumed what had happened is that I buy 100 dollar gophone cards that
last for 365 days, and that the time period had expired (I hadn't made
other calls that day, none since the previous day.)

If the message doesn't mean that I'm no longer eligible to make phone
calls, what does it mean?

I was in the basement of a new, 10-story building, so there was some
iron above me, but if I had no bars and no signal, there would have been
no cryptic "Emergency service only" message either, right??

Later in the day the phone worked fine.

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

Why don't you call nogophone? Geez (again)

--
Tekkie *Please post a follow-up*

On Wed, 17 Jun 2015 02:59:23 +0000 (UTC), danny burstein
wrote:

It is because you can connect to a tower, but not the one from your
service provider. Happens once in a while depending on where you are.
You can reach 91, but not other numbers.

Aha. That accounts for everything. Thanks for your wise advice.

Just to expand on this a bit. Per FCC regs, if your phone
can physically connect to a cellular system (right frequencies,
strength, ptotocols), then even if you don't have an account
with that company (or in the case of a SIM card phone, even
if the card is missing...) then the cellco will let you
make a 911 call.

So if you've got an account with company A and you're
broken down on the highway in the middle of nowhere,
and the only signal is from comapny D, then you won't
be able to call AAA or your brother-in-law, but you
will be able to reach 911.

That's good to know. I used to keep an old cell phone and its charger
in the trunk of the car, for emergencies, but I think I took it out. If
I haven't had an emergency in 50 years I probably won't. I've only been
towed 4 times and each time I was in the middle of civilization. (Of
course I should replace the timing belt.....)

On 6/18/2015 3:01 AM, micky wrote:
That's good to know. I used to keep an old cell phone and its charger
in the trunk of the car, for emergencies, but I think I took it out. If
I haven't had an emergency in 50 years I probably won't. I've only been
towed 4 times and each time I was in the middle of civilization. (Of
course I should replace the timing belt.....)


Much same, here. I do cary old cell phone, and
a car charger. It's not perfect, but it's a
chance at calling help.

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On 6/16/2015 2:55 PM, micky wrote:

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

When your phone connects to a tower that your carrier doesn't roam on
you will get that message.

When you have an unactivated phone, or your service has been cut off for
whatever reason, but you are within range of a tower that your phone is
compatible with you will get that message.

It usually occurs on T-Mobile phones that can't roam onto an AT&T tower
though in rare cases there will be no AT&T coverage but a T-Mobile tower
will be in range.

Most prepaid services can't roam much, if at all, i.e. GoPhone, Cricket,
Boost, Virgin. Some can roam, at least for voice, i.e. Page Plus and
many of the other América Móvil services (but not all of them). The best
MVNO in terms of roaming is Consumer Cellular whose primary carrier is
AT&T but that roams for both voice and data onto other GSM carriers.

On 6/16/2015 5:28 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

snip

That's the message I get when there's not a cell tower in range . We get it
a lot out here in the woods ... no coverage at all down here in The Holler .
It's spotty on the road into town .

You should be getting "No Service" not "Emergency Service Only." The
phone is connecting to a tower that you are not allowed to roam onto but
they have to allow emergency service. In most cases it's T-Mobile being
unable to roam onto AT&T, or a Sprint phone on one of Sprint's prepaid
services or on a Sprint MVNO.

On 6/16/2015 7:59 PM, danny burstein wrote:
It is because you can connect to a tower, but not the one from your
service provider. Happens once in a while depending on where you are.
You can reach 91, but not other numbers.

Aha. That accounts for everything. Thanks for your wise advice.

Just to expand on this a bit. Per FCC regs, if your phone
can physically connect to a cellular system (right frequencies,
strength, ptotocols), then even if you don't have an account
with that company (or in the case of a SIM card phone, even
if the card is missing...) then the cellco will let you
make a 911 call.

So if you've got an account with company A and you're
broken down on the highway in the middle of nowhere,
and the only signal is from comapny D, then you won't
be able to call AAA or your brother-in-law, but you
will be able to reach 911.

On inactive CDMA phones the phone will connect you to ARN where you can
place a call with a credit card. No incoming calls. This doesn't work
with GSM phones. If the CDMA phone is active on a carrier that can't
roam onto the tower to which it is connected this doesn't work and you
can only make emergency calls. Also, a CDMA phone that you stop using
does not instantly go into the inactive phone database.

You can purchase a block of minutes to use with an inactive phone on
ARN. The minutes are good for a year.
http://www.americanroaming.com/BuyVirtualPin.html. Remember, no one
can call you, it's outgoing only.

Per micky:
If I haven't had an emergency in 50 years I probably won't.

I would think that the probability experiencing an emergency situation
rises with age.

--
Pete Cresswell

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 10:00:53 AM UTC-4, sms wrote:
On 6/16/2015 5:28 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

snip

That's the message I get when there's not a cell tower in range . We get it
a lot out here in the woods ... no coverage at all down here in The Holler .
It's spotty on the road into town .

You should be getting "No Service" not "Emergency Service Only." The
phone is connecting to a tower that you are not allowed to roam onto but
they have to allow emergency service. In most cases it's T-Mobile being
unable to roam onto AT&T, or a Sprint phone on one of Sprint's prepaid
services or on a Sprint MVNO.

And this must vary from one cell phone company to another.
I had Verizon for 20+ years and never saw "emerg service only",
despite traveling in various areas. And have had Virgin Mobile
now, which rides on Sprint for 1+ years and never saw it on
this phone either.

There are other things that vary too. One annoying thing with
this VM system is that they send of emergency warning system texts
that set off an urgent warning buzzer kind of sound. I've had maybe
two that were legitimate severe storm or flash flood warnings.
All the rest have been tests. And some times, like yesterday
they did 4 test texts during the day. It can go for weeks without a
test, then a day like yesterday, the phone is going nuts. Very annoying.

For that matter, those tests of the TV emergency warning system
are annoying too. I watch TV sometimes when I can't sleep and
they must test that damn thing every week. Yet, in decades, I
have yet to see it display a real warning. And in this day and
age, you would think they could test it without actually having
to send a full actual message for 30 secs.

In sms writes:

On inactive CDMA phones the phone will connect you to ARN where you can
place a call with a credit card.

Grandpa, what's CDMA? Isn't that like iDen?

Is Sprint still using it? Thanks


--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key

[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

On 06/17/2015 01:28 PM, micky wrote:

[sip]

Well that seems fair. You have to give them a pass after each tornado.


I did. Wires were down all over town, so most people could not use their
wired phones. I suppose most of the calls then (just a few minutes after
the tornado) were people checking on friends and relatives.

BTW, I gave up on reporting the power outage, when it became obvious
that too many people were doing so.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it." [Oscar
Wilde]

On 06/18/2015 09:56 AM, trader_4 wrote:

[anip]

There are other things that vary too. One annoying thing with
this VM system is that they send of emergency warning system texts
that set off an urgent warning buzzer kind of sound. I've had maybe
two that were legitimate severe storm or flash flood warnings.
All the rest have been tests. And some times, like yesterday
they did 4 test texts during the day. It can go for weeks without a
test, then a day like yesterday, the phone is going nuts. Very annoying.

I get warnings on my Verizon phone. Some are desirable (there was a
warning for last month's tornado, although I wish it was more than about
45 seconds in advance). Most are annoying.

For that matter, those tests of the TV emergency warning system
are annoying too. I watch TV sometimes when I can't sleep and
they must test that damn thing every week. Yet, in decades, I
have yet to see it display a real warning. And in this day and
age, you would think they could test it without actually having
to send a full actual message for 30 secs.


So, when you hear that tone, the first thing you think of is that it's a
test, not that it's a possible emergency.

Same thing with the fire drills at school. The first think I think of
when that alarm sounds is NOT that the building's on fire.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it." [Oscar
Wilde]

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 11:50:37 AM UTC-4, Mark Lloyd wrote:
On 06/18/2015 09:56 AM, trader_4 wrote:

[anip]

There are other things that vary too. One annoying thing with
this VM system is that they send of emergency warning system texts
that set off an urgent warning buzzer kind of sound. I've had maybe
two that were legitimate severe storm or flash flood warnings.
All the rest have been tests. And some times, like yesterday
they did 4 test texts during the day. It can go for weeks without a
test, then a day like yesterday, the phone is going nuts. Very annoying.

I get warnings on my Verizon phone. Some are desirable (there was a
warning for last month's tornado, although I wish it was more than about
45 seconds in advance). Most are annoying.


A friend has ATT, says he never gets those warning texts. I think
it's a good idea, I just don't see why they have to keep testing the
damn thing. It's a broadcast text message that goes through the regular,
obviously working text system. Why you would have to test that 4x
in a single day, IDK.

On 06/18/2015 10:29 AM, danny burstein wrote:
In sms writes:

On inactive CDMA phones the phone will connect you to ARN where you can
place a call with a credit card.

Grandpa, what's CDMA? Isn't that like iDen?

Is Sprint still using it? Thanks



Sprint and Verizon use CDMA. AT&T and T-mobile use GSM.

IIRC, 4G is the same for all systems.

For some reason the CDMA networks are the only ones I can use here. BTW,
I have 2 cell phones, one on Verizon and the other on Ting (Sprint MVNO).

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it." [Oscar
Wilde]

On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 07:00:50 -0700, sms
wrote:

On 6/16/2015 5:28 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

snip

That's the message I get when there's not a cell tower in range . We get it
a lot out here in the woods ... no coverage at all down here in The Holler .
It's spotty on the road into town .

You should be getting "No Service" not "Emergency Service Only." The
phone is connecting to a tower that you are not allowed to roam onto but
they have to allow emergency service.

Then doesn't that mean I was getting the right message? "They have to
allow emergency service" and the message says Emergency Service Only.

In most cases it's T-Mobile being
unable to roam onto AT&T, or a Sprint phone on one of Sprint's prepaid
services or on a Sprint MVNO.

On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 06:58:13 -0700, sms
wrote:

On 6/16/2015 2:55 PM, micky wrote:

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

When your phone connects to a tower that your carrier doesn't roam on
you will get that message.

When you have an unactivated phone, or your service has been cut off for
whatever reason, but you are within range of a tower that your phone is
compatible with you will get that message.

It usually occurs on T-Mobile phones that can't roam onto an AT&T tower
though in rare cases there will be no AT&T coverage but a T-Mobile tower
will be in range.

Most prepaid services can't roam much, if at all, i.e. GoPhone, Cricket,

So a Gophone, which is ATT, and which is what I have, can't use all the
ATT towers? Or it can but gets lower priority? Or it can use ATT
towers but can't use other companies' towers like non-Go ATT phones can?


Boost, Virgin. Some can roam, at least for voice, i.e. Page Plus and

That's all I have is voice. It's a telephone. Anything other than
voice is from Satan, so I have an anti-satanic app that keeps out data.
(except if there is wi-fi. Wi-fi has it's own anti-satanic filters, so
it's okay.)

many of the other América Móvil services (but not all of them). The best
MVNO in terms of roaming is Consumer Cellular whose primary carrier is
AT&T but that roams for both voice and data onto other GSM carriers.

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 6:28:09 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 06:58:13 -0700, sms
wrote:

On 6/16/2015 2:55 PM, micky wrote:

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

When your phone connects to a tower that your carrier doesn't roam on
you will get that message.

When you have an unactivated phone, or your service has been cut off for
whatever reason, but you are within range of a tower that your phone is
compatible with you will get that message.

It usually occurs on T-Mobile phones that can't roam onto an AT&T tower
though in rare cases there will be no AT&T coverage but a T-Mobile tower
will be in range.

Most prepaid services can't roam much, if at all, i.e. GoPhone, Cricket,

So a Gophone, which is ATT, and which is what I have, can't use all the
ATT towers? Or it can but gets lower priority? Or it can use ATT
towers but can't use other companies' towers like non-Go ATT phones can?



He said it can't roam, not that it can't use all the ATT towers.
If it's an ATT phone it should work within the ATT network. Roaming
would be to take a phone to an area where ATT isn't and expect it
to work on someone else's network.

On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 16:19:03 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 6:28:09 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 06:58:13 -0700, sms
wrote:

On 6/16/2015 2:55 PM, micky wrote:

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

When your phone connects to a tower that your carrier doesn't roam on
you will get that message.

When you have an unactivated phone, or your service has been cut off for
whatever reason, but you are within range of a tower that your phone is
compatible with you will get that message.

It usually occurs on T-Mobile phones that can't roam onto an AT&T tower
though in rare cases there will be no AT&T coverage but a T-Mobile tower
will be in range.

Most prepaid services can't roam much, if at all, i.e. GoPhone, Cricket,

So a Gophone, which is ATT, and which is what I have, can't use all the
ATT towers? Or it can but gets lower priority? Or it can use ATT
towers but can't use other companies' towers like non-Go ATT phones can?



He said it can't roam, not that it can't use all the ATT towers.
If it's an ATT phone it should work within the ATT network. Roaming
would be to take a phone to an area where ATT isn't and expect it
to work on someone else's network.

OK. Good to know. That was my third choice.

So if I were in that basement where it said Emergency Service Only,
(because I could get to a non-ATT tower,) and I didn't have a prepaid
phone, had a regular phone instead, would it consider me to be roaming
and let the call go through?

On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 10:35:01 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Per micky:
If I haven't had an emergency in 50 years I probably won't.

I would think that the probability experiencing an emergency situation
rises with age.

Yeah in one way, but I drive less, live in a warmer climate, cars are
more reliable, and I have fewer years left than I've already spent.
so I think the odds are increasing that I won't have an emergency
regarding the car, integrated over the time from now until the end of my
life. .

On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 09:05:49 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

A friend has ATT, says he never gets those warning texts. I think
it's a good idea, I just don't see why they have to keep testing the
damn thing. It's a broadcast text message that goes through the regular,
obviously working text system. Why you would have to test that 4x
in a single day, IDK.

My last phone (HTC) had the warnings but allowed me to turn them off.
Likewise the wife's iPhone. My current phone (Kyocera) has no warning
capability.

Like you the damn phones would often go off at all hours for tests and
for stuff that didn't affect my area. I was glad to be rid of the
service.

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 9:18:34 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 16:19:03 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 6:28:09 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 06:58:13 -0700, sms
wrote:

On 6/16/2015 2:55 PM, micky wrote:

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

When your phone connects to a tower that your carrier doesn't roam on
you will get that message.

When you have an unactivated phone, or your service has been cut off for
whatever reason, but you are within range of a tower that your phone is
compatible with you will get that message.

It usually occurs on T-Mobile phones that can't roam onto an AT&T tower
though in rare cases there will be no AT&T coverage but a T-Mobile tower
will be in range.

Most prepaid services can't roam much, if at all, i.e. GoPhone, Cricket,

So a Gophone, which is ATT, and which is what I have, can't use all the
ATT towers? Or it can but gets lower priority? Or it can use ATT
towers but can't use other companies' towers like non-Go ATT phones can?



He said it can't roam, not that it can't use all the ATT towers.
If it's an ATT phone it should work within the ATT network. Roaming
would be to take a phone to an area where ATT isn't and expect it
to work on someone else's network.

OK. Good to know. That was my third choice.

So if I were in that basement where it said Emergency Service Only,
(because I could get to a non-ATT tower,) and I didn't have a prepaid
phone, had a regular phone instead, would it consider me to be roaming
and let the call go through?

That would depend on what other service networks it could
get in contact with at that location and if AT&T had roaming
agreements with them. I'm not sure just because you can
contact cell service XYZ it means that with your service provider
you can use it. And often they have arrangements where if
you have service provider ABC you can roam for no additional
charges on XYZs network. But if you make a roaming call on
GHK's network, you get charged.

On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 07:56:40 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:


For that matter, those tests of the TV emergency warning system
are annoying too. I watch TV sometimes when I can't sleep and
they must test that damn thing every week. Yet, in decades, I
have yet to see it display a real warning. And in this day and

That's a good point. I've been seeing those warnings for maybe 50
years, and they used to take a whole minute. Now they take about 10
seconds, but despite their saying "If this were a real emergency, you
would be instructed where in your area to tune" for emegency
information, that has never happened. Ever.

Admittedly, Baltimore, Brooklyn, and other places I've lived don't have
that many emergencies, and I don't watch tv all the time, but it still
seems like I've been conned.


age, you would think they could test it without actually having
to send a full actual message for 30 secs.

On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 10:50:31 -0500, Mark Lloyd wrote:

On 06/18/2015 09:56 AM, trader_4 wrote:

[anip]

There are other things that vary too. One annoying thing with
this VM system is that they send of emergency warning system texts
that set off an urgent warning buzzer kind of sound. I've had maybe
two that were legitimate severe storm or flash flood warnings.
All the rest have been tests. And some times, like yesterday
they did 4 test texts during the day. It can go for weeks without a
test, then a day like yesterday, the phone is going nuts. Very annoying.

I get warnings on my Verizon phone. Some are desirable (there was a
warning for last month's tornado, although I wish it was more than about
45 seconds in advance). Most are annoying.

What did you do with those 45 seconds?

On Fri, 19 Jun 2015 05:45:56 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 9:18:34 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 16:19:03 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 6:28:09 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2015 06:58:13 -0700, sms
wrote:

On 6/16/2015 2:55 PM, micky wrote:

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

When your phone connects to a tower that your carrier doesn't roam on
you will get that message.

When you have an unactivated phone, or your service has been cut off for
whatever reason, but you are within range of a tower that your phone is
compatible with you will get that message.

It usually occurs on T-Mobile phones that can't roam onto an AT&T tower
though in rare cases there will be no AT&T coverage but a T-Mobile tower
will be in range.

Most prepaid services can't roam much, if at all, i.e. GoPhone, Cricket,

So a Gophone, which is ATT, and which is what I have, can't use all the
ATT towers? Or it can but gets lower priority? Or it can use ATT
towers but can't use other companies' towers like non-Go ATT phones can?



He said it can't roam, not that it can't use all the ATT towers.
If it's an ATT phone it should work within the ATT network. Roaming
would be to take a phone to an area where ATT isn't and expect it
to work on someone else's network.

OK. Good to know. That was my third choice.

So if I were in that basement where it said Emergency Service Only,
(because I could get to a non-ATT tower,) and I didn't have a prepaid
phone, had a regular phone instead, would it consider me to be roaming
and let the call go through?

That would depend on what other service networks it could
get in contact with at that location and if AT&T had roaming
agreements with them. I'm not sure just because you can
contact cell service XYZ it means that with your service provider
you can use it. And often they have arrangements where if
you have service provider ABC you can roam for no additional
charges on XYZs network. But if you make a roaming call on
GHK's network, you get charged.

I see. Thanks.

This basement thing was the first time it wouldn't let me make a call.
I could have just gone upstairs, or even outside. Next time I'll know
better.


My plan is that I pay in advance. I buy $100 cards that are good for
365 days or until the money is used up.

Every day I used the phone to contact the network for anything, even as
little as one text, it costs $2. . Other than that, there are no
charges. So I guess, once I've spend the $2, I can stay on the phone,
I guess for 23+ hours. Not that I've ever gone over 2 hours in a day.

This works for someone like me because most days I don't use the phone.
When I do use the phone, I often need it a lot, especially when I'm out
of town. (It was an even better deal in earlier years when it was $1 a
day.)

Right now I'm 11 months into the 365 days and I still have $40, so if I
put in more money (in my case, $100) before the days are up, the old
balance rolls over, up to a maximum of $250 iirc..

On 06/19/2015 08:18 PM, micky wrote:

[snip]

I get warnings on my Verizon phone. Some are desirable (there was a
warning for last month's tornado, although I wish it was more than about
45 seconds in advance). Most are annoying.

What did you do with those 45 seconds?


Since I was in a brick house, there wasn't much I needed to do. There
was just enough time to bring Nibbles
(http://notstupid.us/include/picviewe...anything/cat.5) in.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"I think I'll believe in Gosh instead of God. If you don't believe in
Gosh too, you'll be darned to heck." - - anonymous

On Friday, June 19, 2015 at 9:32:17 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:


My plan is that I pay in advance. I buy $100 cards that are good for
365 days or until the money is used up.

Every day I used the phone to contact the network for anything, even as
little as one text, it costs $2. . Other than that, there are no
charges. So I guess, once I've spend the $2, I can stay on the phone,
I guess for 23+ hours. Not that I've ever gone over 2 hours in a day.

This works for someone like me because most days I don't use the phone.
When I do use the phone, I often need it a lot, especially when I'm out
of town. (It was an even better deal in earlier years when it was $1 a
day.)

Right now I'm 11 months into the 365 days and I still have $40, so if I
put in more money (in my case, $100) before the days are up, the old
balance rolls over, up to a maximum of $250 iirc..

Interesting and unusual plan, but it does work for those that just use
it infrequently, for a limited number of days.

My plan is that I pay in advance. I buy $100 cards that are good for
365 days or until the money is used up.

Every day I used the phone to contact the network for anything, even as
little as one text, it costs $2. . Other than that, there are no
charges. So I guess, once I've spend the $2, I can stay on the phone,
I guess for 23+ hours. Not that I've ever gone over 2 hours in a day.

This works for someone like me because most days I don't use the phone.
When I do use the phone, I often need it a lot, especially when I'm out
of town. (It was an even better deal in earlier years when it was $1 a
day.)

Right now I'm 11 months into the 365 days and I still have $40, so if I
put in more money (in my case, $100) before the days are up, the old
balance rolls over, up to a maximum of $250 iirc..


You might take a look at PagePlus. It runs off the Verizon
network. I
think it's $80/year for voice and text.
This http://tinyurl.com/av2t2 will take you to a site called Cellguru.
It compares
various prepaid plans.



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