Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Cell Phone Coverage on Whitney Trail and Whitney Portal

Is there any cell phone coverage on Whitney Trail and Whitney Portal area?

I have looked at AT&T and Verizon coverage map and they both say that they have 3G and 4G coverage in the Whitney area. We all know that these coverage map can sometime be unreliable.

Anyone has recent experiences they can share?

I have been on the summit 3 times, most recently this past Monday June 16th '14. I have had exceptional service all three times. Text with or with out pictures and phones calls with no interruption. On my first summit, my friend had att had crap service. Couldn't send a text or connect a call. He ended up using mine.

It is unreliable. I have had phone service on summit on some climbs, but not on the last two (both in 2014). Texting works better but I've had to wait for a text to go through. I have never been able to get service below Trail Camp -- not even when I had line of sight to Owens Valley. I have AT&T.

My first two times on the summit, I was able to text with my Android phone with Sprint service.

The first week of June I was not able to text from Outpost, Trail Crest or the summit. I was however able to text from below Lone Pine Lake and was able to call/text from Whitney Portal. This was with a Sprint iPhone 5.

What is your carrier?

I have Verizon and use an iPhone 4s, and my coverage has been different each time I've been on the trail. It's worked in areas one time and not the next. I haven't been able to pinpoint a surefire connect point that has worked every time yet, other than below Lone Pine Lake.

In the past, I have been able to connect with an old Sprint phone on the summit, at only one spot: From the west end of the hut, head north to the edge. At that point, I have been able to connect and talk with family.

AT&T coverage is notoriously bad in this entire area. I've used 3 different phones with AT&T service over the past few years on/around Whitney, and don't think I ever had more than a single bar. Same for my wife and daughter. Other carriers seem to have better success.

AT&T...fughedaboutit...doesn't work anywhere including the summit.

Verizon is great but not in the portal area.

You will have to drive out to the hairpin turn in the Portal Road before service is acquired.

At the summit we were able to connect with family and friends.

If you are in a position to be looking directly at one of the Lone Pine area cell towers, you might get a cell hit, but don't count on it.

http://www.city-data.com/towers/cell-Lone-Pine-California.html

I was at the Portal a couple of weeks ago, and got service there. I have Verizon and an S4 phone. If you ask Earline the best place to stand for service, she will point you to the best rock!

Also - I've found service on the summit to be a bit spotty with Verizon. I suspect it depends somewhat on the model phone itself, how many people are attempting to connect, and a bit of luck.

I've had reasonably good luck when I'm in one of the windows between the summit and the jct to Guitar Lake. Something about the signal getting concentrated between the rock slabs? Dunno, but it has worked in the past for me.

I have Verizon, and I was able to get two bars on my regular cell ph (not Smart ph) at Upper Boy Scout and at the summit. Texting was no problem. I haven't tried a voice call.

I was dumbfounded that I didn't have coverage at the summit with ATT. Just a couple days before I summited whitney I had coverage above Horton Lakes @ 12k; great cell reception and able to text my wife. At whitney I had no reception at the summit or anywhere along the trail. I guess their cell network isn't too great when you get too far from 395.

People with verizon were getting reception but only at one specific spot.

So true. However, AT&T's coverage in Death Valley is excellent. Really makes you scratch your head.

When I was on the summit earlier this month, I tried my iPhone 4s (with Sprint). It wouldn't connect, until I went to the same tried and true spot where I have had success before. So I took pictures.

The spot is on the north edge of the summit. From the west wall of the hut, walk in a line extending north from the plane of that wall. Here's where I sit:



Sitting on the rock, facing the east, you can see Lone Pine. Here is the view:


Sitting on the rock and looking back to the hut, here is the view:


Just remember to turn off the phone after you use it here. Mine drained the battery in a couple of hours trying to connect as I walked around.

Also, on the way up, I passed a hiker talking on her cell phone at one of the windows -- the first one north of the JMT junction, I think. I overheard her say her phone wouldn't connect on the summit, but it was working there.