Texting on Lake Erie

On two recent walleye fishing trips I ran a test to see how well my cell phone worked. The first trip was on the Canadian border just west of Middle Island. The talk function was hit and miss but the texting function worked well. The second trip was also on the Canadian border but east at the weather buoy. Here the talk and text function worked very well. One problem I had in both locations was faster than normal battery usage probably because the phone was searching for a connection. This could be easily corrected with a car charger adapted to the boat. My phone is an Iphone 4S with Verizon service. I know many of you aren't into texting but I believe it could be a reliable, private way to communicate while on the lake. Feedback would be appreciated

I agree with you. I'm willing to text with any one who wants to share info while on the lake. I have an iPhone with AT&T. I don't think my service is as good as Verizon.

Watch using your phone close to the Canadian line, if your phone goes into roam, you will be billed international rates, believe me it happens, I have verizon unlimited service , just not international and 5 minutes on the phone, 17.25. Lesson learned. Mike

Just being CLOSE to the Canadian line my Verizon phone sometimes will switch over to international. It happens often on Middle Bass Island and each time we have to dispute the charges. They googled our house address (evidently they didn't believe people live on islands) and admitted problems on their end with the Canadian tower being more powerful and picking us up on the island.

Thanks for the response. I haven't incurred any charges but it is something to consider.

You are correct in regards to the internation charges. I never cross the border but have had my Verizon Droid tell me several times that it was about to switch to international roaming while fishing north of C-can.

I fished east of the bouy last weekend and had service off and on with Verizon but my wife had no service with a different carrier (Cincinnati Bell).

I am from the eastern basin and have had the same thing happen when I wasn't even close to the canadian line. I get a text saying welcome to canada roaming charges will apply. Make sure your data roaming is turned off in your settings. I have an iphone and verizon.

I agree with turning off there roaming function. That eliminates any roaming charges that you might get otherwise. Some people aren't aware that you don't need this function unless you are traveling out of the country.