Cell phone coverage in Bancroft- problems

Hopeful2013

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5-Year Member
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Oct 6, 2008
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Aloha! My mid (that is so cool saying that :shake:) is really having a hard time with cell phone coverage. We often get disconnected and she is hearing a lot of static. On our end she sounds muffled most of the time. She said that she only has at the most 1 bar in Bancroft. We have t-mobile. Her room mates have AT&T and Verizon without any problems. I was wondering, is anyone else having problems with cell phone coverage? We have had this contract since 2005 and T-Mobile is looking in to the problem. Any advice (other than switching plans)? Thanks in advance. Tera
 
Cell phone coverage in Bancroft is spotty at best no matter which carrier you are with. For my Mid, in a wing on the Severn side of Bancroft, he got no coverage with Verison, Plebe year. We switched to AT&T and it was better. One of his roommates found the one spot in the room near the window where he got coverage, put his phone there and used a blue toopth earpice so that he could talk in other parts of the room - they do get resourceful! This year my Mid is in a different wing on a different deck and it is back to very spotty (still with AT&T.)

Your Plebe will find that is why many are outside on the red beach making telephone calls. Gets really interesting in the winter! My mid just started to make it a point to make phone calls, just before study time and going into the library. Seemed to get very good coverage there.
 
Cell phones

At what point are Plebe's allowed to have/use cell phones? Are they allowed to text message?
 
Most will have gotten their cell phones back at change over last week, or by the weekend. I do not know of any companies that don't let the plebes have their phones or text message BUT as with everything USNA it can be company dependent. Plebes are not supposed to make or receive phone calls after 7:30pm (8:00pm ?) when mandatory study time begins.

We would get phone calls just before 7:30 and then text messages just before going to bed. With poor reception in the Hall, text messages seemed to go through alright. And no we did not hear from our Plebe every day - usually once during the week and maybe on the weekend. They are busy! Also, we let him call us and only called him when very necessary. Even as a Firstie, I will send a text message with "Call me when you have a chance" Another word to the wise: they should not carry said phone to class - bad things happen if it were to go off in class...
 
Hi,

My daughter also has t-mobile and is having a problem in Bancroft with coverage in her room but does have service from certain other Plebe rooms Her roommates have Verizon which seem to generally work.

GoNavyMom
 
As stated above all carriers are spotty. At&t tends to work in 2nd wing and verizon sucks, however in 7th wing it's just the opposite. Just tell your plebe to be creative and find a place near her room that works or just do what a lot of people do and stand just outside bancroft and you'll get great reception. Red Beach was always littered with people talking on their phones.
 
My sons have also said that making/receiving calls is nearly impossible in Bancroft Hall. They refer to it as a Nuclear Bunker. Those are some thick walls! I would imagine the reception depends a lot on the specific room location. If you have an exterior room, facing outside, obviously, that is going to be better than if your room is facing, what we used to call, Goat Court.

More disappointing than phone reception is that the internet seems to be very slow, especially when all the mids are on their computers at the same time. Apparently there is not enough bandwidth when they are ALL on their computers - which is quite often.
 
Cell phone coverage

It has to do with the construction of a STONE building Heavily reinforced with Concrete and Steel.
No one gets good service.
 
Would Skype work

A friend with a cadet presently in the middle east is using Skype to communicate with her cadet. Does USNA allow Skype or other VIOP connections through their network. If they do, and you have a computer at home, you may both want to download and install Skype. It works and BEST OF ALL, it's free. I have used it in the past and can't tell much difference between that and cell phone quality.
 
Skype was not allowed on the USNA network last year - would not imagine that has changed.
 
being resourceful is the best option - can't believe that with all the advances in technology that Mother B hasn't fixed been able to fix the cell phone issue. Back in the day my roommate and I would affix our phone on the ledge outside our window and use an ear piece.

As many people have said cell phone policy is dependent on company...best of luck to your and your Mid. Hope your able to get something figured out to get better reception :)
 
Skype was not allowed on the USNA network last year - would not imagine that has changed.

I have to say that the USNA is somewhat in the Dark Ages with regards to the internet.

1. No wireless - anywhere!

2. The Class of 2013 has been issued netbooks that are not permitted to ever leave the Yard. Further, they are not permitted to access any "outside" network with the netbooks. Then again there is no "inside" network, either - unless they want to disconnect the ethernet cable from their desktop and connect to their netbook. Why you would want or need to do that, I don't know. The joke is that the netbooks make excellent door jams or coasters for your beverage.

3. No Skype.

4. USB flash drives are not permitted to be connected to any USNA computer.

5. And the trend in the military, in general, is to ban popular social networking sites such as Facebook. Although it has not yet occurred at USNA, you can feel it in the air.

I'm wondering how these internet "incompetents" were ever appointed in the first place. :smile:
 
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We have been told that certain parts of the Academy should be up and running with wireless by next semester.
 
Yeah, right after they get rid of the mice in Mother B. :thumb:

We used to catch the mice, make parachutes for them, and toss them out the window. They all survived. We made some very good parachutes. Of course, they then had to scramble around with a parachute "harness" attached to them.

OK - let me hear it from all you PETA members, now.
 
We had competitions over the summer on who could kill the most mice- even put counters on some doors :)...
 
Apparently no one in the DOD is allowed to use usb or flash drives. As for the mice, it was a nuisance to hear them running around in the ceiling. On the flip side, if you caught more you could come up with more adventurous ways to do them in.
Cell phone service in Bancroft is a crap shoot. It is good for the plebes who don't want to talk to mom or girlfriend every night. Now they don't need to think of any excuse, they can just blame the groundbreaking construction technology used in that building.
 
Mo' Mice Threadlet

I had mice in my Bancroft office, but once they found I didn't keep food in the desk, they moved on to better pickings in mid rooms. I looked at them as training aids. After all, even in this technically advanced world, ships and subs still have to put rat guards on mooring lines. And gasp, even between ships moored in a nest.

Back on topic, I do know there is a lot of discussion on way ahead as well as funding for improved IT capability and accessibility at USNA. One of the challenges is being adjacent on most sides to water, and people on boats being able get in close enough for wireless piracy. No doubt all of these issues are surmountable, but in the big picture, USNA is a shore command and not an operational staff, so the Supe has to go to bat for $$$ to accelerate or expand improvements, especially in a DOD/DON budget that's been on a war footing for 9 years or so. Just speculating...
 
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