cell phone and cable tv

what does everyone do for a cell phone carrier while traveling? I have US Cellular here in Wisconsin and I know that is not a carrier in California which is where I am going. What about cable? Do cable tv providers do month to month? Just wondering. Thanks

I also had US Cellular when I lived in WI, and switched to AT&T/Cingular when I started traveling, because they have nationwide coverage and no roaming. Most cable companies (Cox, Time Warner, Comcast) will not make you sign a service contract, so you can go month-to-month.

I do not travel, but I am a former senior technology systems analyst, and I would recommend DirecTv or Dish, depending on how long you stay in any given area. These providers offer what is known as the "Movers Connection", what this does is allows you to pick up your box and take it with you to your new residence, without loss in service. They will leave the old satellite on your previous house, and put a new one on your new place. As for Cell Phone Service, AT&T, having bought dark fiber T3's and OC3 Network communications fibers from Sprint, they now have the largest footprint in the United States. Verizon is also a pretty stable provider, lest you are in Kentucky. Hope that helps.

RNmedicTN wrote:I would recommend DirecTv or Dish, depending on how long you stay in any given area. These providers offer what is known as the "Movers Connection", what this does is allows you to pick up your box and take it with you to your new residence, without loss in service. They will leave the old satellite on your previous house, and put a new one on your new place.

But will they do this for you every 3 months??? Also, be careful about satellite- many apartment complexes will not allow you to install a satellite dish, especially with a short-term lease.

Yes, they will actually move it as many times as needed. It is part of their initiative to get one of their satellites on every household in the US. This way if someone moves into a home with a DirecTv sat already on it, they are more likely to sign up for DirecTv.

As for placement of the satellite, you can get one of the portable models from DirecTV that you can just sit out on the porch on it's stand.

If you have a porch or balcony, and if the complex allows it.... some complexes are funny about having things like satellite dishes or bicycles on balconies. As a traveler for the past 2 years, cable is just way easier (and more reliable)...

Thanks, RNMEDIC, it sounds like a good alternative. It is always good to be open to other solutions than to be stubbornly dogmatic about your own. Happy Holiday!

as AmandaWIRN pointed out, some places are weird. For instance, one time I rented a town house and had to pay an extra "insurance" fee just to put a satellite on the building, just in case it fell on someone's head.

I know what you mean- it's always a good idea to check if you can have a dish on the balcony- some places don't want you having any of that stuff in sight because it takes away from the "asthetics" of the community.... :rolleyes:

We have verizon and it's fine. They have awesome internet also. It's the usb internet and we can take it anywhere. Even when we're driving. We have direct TV and like it more that cable and dish network. Just my opinion. Check my blog
TRAVEL NURSE BLOG Traveling Carruth's

I have Verizon and I also have Vonage, which is great. Most of the apartments I have lived in have their own rep. for the cable company and they will work with you on getting your cable set up on a month to month basis. I haven't had any problems with this.:banana: