Honest Estimate of Cellphone Connectivity, Internet

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Hi guys,

 

I have a friend who is booked on the PG, but reluctant to leave his business behind for what will be more than two weeks.

 

Email is nice to have, but what he really needs is cellphone connectivity. He's American, not sure who his cell carrier is, but I'm sure he could buy a plan so that he could be reachable in French Polynesia. But if he did this, what kind of connectivity could he reasonably expect to have? It's the type of thing where he wants to be able to get phone calls and/or text messages from Stateside from clients as required, and make calls if he needs to.

 

This isn't the type of thing where he needs to be connected constantly, but needs to be reachable when the need arises. Are there cell towers in the Tuamotus, for instance? Or just the Societies? Comments?

[Emdee]

While Internet has always been spotty Colin has never had a problem with connectivity with his BB.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

While Internet has always been spotty Colin has never had a problem with connectivity with his BB.

 

Thanks, that's one data point. I'd like some more. And BB may be a special case I think since they (at least back in the good old days) had their own network. Didn't they? (Not sure about this.)

 

I'll try and find out who this guy's cell carrier is.

[Nova Cruisers]

AT&T was adequate in 2011 and 2012. The ship has wifi that was adequate if slow. I believe it was better in 2012.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

AT&T was adequate in 2011 and 2012. The ship has wifi that was adequate if slow. I believe it was better in 2012.

 

Yeah, I've experienced the wifi, both in 2008 and 2014, and it had improved somewhat. My friend is more concerned about cellphone connectivity.

[FlightMedic555]

Verizon connected fine for me, near land including Moorea, Bora Bora and Rangiroa.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Oh well, I think they are determined to cancel. Guess we'll have to enjoy the two days at Motu Mahana all by ourselves!

[Nova Cruisers]

Our 2011 itinerary included the Tuamotus. I don't remember specific calls but DH confirmed that he was fine running his business through AT&T roaming and wifi for email. Not cheap if you don't get the right plans set up in advance but doable. We usually also use a service that translates voicemail into email.