Emergency phone

[Step]

Emergency phone that runs on a AA battery that can hold it's charge for 15 years...
It can send position data where it is and has a built-in flashlight...
I might pick one up to put in the car just in case.
http://spareonephone.com/

[Burgerman]

http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/burgerman

If you order a sim card from giffgaff (actually O2 network but run by users, for users, and CHEAP!) then I win £5!
And you can keep your number.

Buy a card, activate it and it never dies either if you dont use it. Ideal for an emergency phone.

£10 a month. Unlimited messages, some free calls, real unlimited DATA which is what you need for a smart phone/laptop and NO CONTRACT! One day all phone cards will be like this.

And since I changed 3 months ago, I have gone from 10 uk pounds to 45, just on referals from freinds! So its paying me rather than the other way around! Take a look.

Burgerman. This is the best deal out there, and the only one with worry free unlimited data and pay as you go!

[Step]

That'd be a no-brainer if I lived in the UK

Unfortunately, in Belgium we're a very small market with only 2 real big players on it that set the prices.
And they screw us thoroughly. We have the highest rates in Europe I think.

if I want a 2nd sim card on my number for the emergency phone, it costs me 5€ a month extra.

It's not just chair manufacturers that need a reality check

[Ashley G]

I've been with giffgaff since it started. I'm glad that BM is happy with them, but I wouldn't recommend them to anybody - and that's despite the fact that I have earned a lot more from them in what they call "payback" than I have paid for service.

They are so unreliable and they have no customer facing support. We all grumble about help desks in Mumbai etc. gifgaff doesn't even have that ! It relies on existing customers to answer enquiries on its forum Read THAT and weep It's full of kiddies and the "I want everything for free" brigade, who know everything, of course.

So there's no backup when you need it, no way to get any kind of real world or tech information from them and - although they hide this - the "agents" you need to refer account-rated queries to are actually employed by a third party in Ireland.

And the unlimited data ? People are having their data access barred left, right and centre. They get no warning and can't get an explanation for weeks. I would guess they are mostly kids, streaming videos and torrents 24/7, so it serves them right, but the truth is - the company doesn't even provide what it offers.

Just to confirm - I haven't had any major problems with them and I have made a pile of cash from helping to troubleshoot people's problems on the forum. That's why I am still there, but I need a reliable phone service when I'm out and I wouldn't trust giffgaff to fill that bill.

[Added]: Your card will die, John, if you don't use it (to send OR receive) at least once in every six month period. It's not a big requirement but you need to know that if you are tucking it away as an emergency backup

Regards

Ashley

[Burgerman]

No I use it full time as both phone, and as data (laptop via phone, smart phone, transfering camera images with a wireless card etc).

The only time they go dead is if you are downloading torrents or dozens of movies as far as I can tell as its against their rules. (Automated downloading...) Seems very efficient to me. So far absolutely as it said on the tin.

Everything the call centre could have done you can do yourself faster on line at the website. I hate call centres. And never had a problem yet. And its paying me more than I use... As for dead in 6 months if unused, it shouldnt. Should be the same as O2 that they actually use. Never used the forum. Never needed it.

Of course everyones mileage may vary!

[Burgerman]

http://mobilenetworkcomparison.co.uk/reviews/giffgaff/

review comparison site...

[ex-Gooserider]

At least in the US, you don't need ANY kind of service to make emergency calls - ANY charged phone is supposed to be able to call 911 (US Emergency number) regardless of whether it is paid up, or contracted to any actual company or not... Of course this won't get you a connection to your auto-service club, or a helpful friend / relative, and the police get a little annoyed about things like out of gas or flat tire calls that aren't "real" emergencies...

Also there are "lifeline" services that I suspect most chair users are eligible for - I get a very basic phone and 125 minutes each month for "free" because I am on the gov't subsidised insurance plan... This is a gov't mandated subsidy that is paid for by a "service access fee" (that only looks, feels, and smells like a "tax") that gets tacked onto regular phone bills.

The other option that I used before I got hurt was "Tracphone" which is a pre-paid service that (at the time I checked) is the cheapest cell phone service I could find - they don't actually own their own towers, instead they contract with the big guys for their "surplus" capacity. You can get starter packages with a phone, accessories, and a small number of minutes for about $20 at Walmart and other such stores, and a 400 minute card, which is also good for a year, for around $100. So as long as you don't talk to much, it works out to $8-9 / month, which isn't much for an emergency / occasional use phone...

ex-Gooserider

[Ashley G]

They say it so much more eloquently than I ....

http://tiny.cc/bfu9aw

Regards

Ashley

[Burgerman]

Interestingly, I just changed some settings, and set up a top up by 10 when it gets down to 3 uk pounds automatically about an hour ago and all is working perfectly?

As is the network. O2 of course. So phone still good. The web site might be broke, but outages happen even to me!

[440roadrunner]

And of course always remember to have your emergency in a cell coverage area..........................

[Burgerman]

I live in the UK - its overpopulated. But it means its all well and truly covered by many networks!

[Martin O Refurbisher]

I travel a lot and get frequent rural drop outs. I also use two different networks, and its swings and roundabouts!

Best,
Martin

[Burgerman]

999 calls dont require any specific network, all phones use any network for thos. And most of the UK is well covered by one or another of the many systems. I think if you can get there in a powerchair you are pretty well covered.

[TwoTeasChris]

I bought Emma an Alcatel flip-phone January. £5 per month (by refund), 300 texts, 250mins calls, 500MB data. Free phone.
Offer finished the next day!
Two year contract.

[Burgerman]

500 mb data is enough gor most. But I have a mem card for my nerw camera (arrives Saturday! Woohoo) with built in server...

It sends every photo I take (and each RAW file will be 70Mb! To my phone, which sends it home to a folder on my PC desktop...

So when I get home they are already there. And the card is always empty...

[Burgerman]

Anyone interested it a 8Gb one of these Eye-Fi X2 cards...

http://www.eye.fi/

Its a kind of magic!
And the otrher slot has a 32Gb fast CF card for the movies or overspill...

[Ashley G]

Looks canny

Does that card know to keep the picture safe, locally, if the internet connection fails though ?

Only you do realise that giffgaff arbitrarily chops your data off, dead, without warning as soon as whatever rule of thumb it uses decides that your useage of its service is impacting other customers ?

No point arguing about it - giffgaff just does it. And I'm not joking. You can peruse the so-called "Help" forum at giffgaff dot com and see if you can count how many people are already wailing and gnashing their teeth about it having happened to them.

Not saying I agree with it. Just asking - will your piccies be safe if they don't actually make it home via the 'phone ? I can see them getting as far as your 'phone and then no further after a while. Sod's Law, you know

Regards

Ashley
(l-o-n-g time giffgaff)

[Burgerman]

Yes. Completely safe. It does the usual CRC checks, handshakes, etc. It doesent delete the one on the camera until the PC tells it that its all complete and checked out! Anyway I have 2 cards in the camera. The bigger 32gb one is a copy / backup and or movies...

[Ashley G]

Excellent ! Sounds like a helluva nice piece of kit then, overall.

Obviously, as a friend, you'll be wanting me to pop over and double-check it all for you one night. Late at night. Actually, very late at night.

No need to disturb you though. If you could just leave it all boxed on a kitchen work surface, and a door-key under the mat ?

Oh - and make sure Arnie sleeps in your bedroom that night, ty

Regards

Ashley

[Burgerman]

Thats the thing. Arni roams free on gaurd. Thats his job, and rather good at it too. Too good in fact at times, as freinds have discovered. He also smashed the glass in the front door trying to get at the postman. Postman had an unfortunate underpants incident he told me...