On Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:08:51 -0700, "Roger Traviss"
wrote:

If you have an out of country phone in either Canada or the United
States, the roaming costs to go to the other country are noticeable.
I'm going to pay 40 dollars of 100 minutes of air time in the US for
one month so that I don't get hit with really bad roaming charges.
Within either the US or Canada, most carriers are nationwide so far as
roaming is concerned.

Here in Victoria, if you are down by the waterfront, you may get hit by
roaming changes for even a local call.

Why? Because your call gets picked up by a cell tower in Blaine, Washington
State. :-)

In Blaine? I'd suspect more Port Angeles, or even somewhere in the
San Juans.

"Peter Masson" writes:

Certainly has happened at St Margarets Bay (on the coast between Dover
and Deal - Ian Fleming used to live there).

Eurotunnel are equipping the tunnel for mobile phone reception, The
South running tunnel will be connected to French networks, and the
North running tunnel to British networks. So passengers will
(normally) be connected to their home network on the outward journey,
but face roaming charges on the return, with complications in case of
Single Line Working.
http://www.eurotunnelgroup.com/uploa...nnelTunnel.pdf

I think they have got it the wrong way around.

Am unlikely to make a call in the tunnel on the outward journey going to France,
but on the return being able to call to family whilst on the train would be
nice. Especially as you are driving more straight away.

On the outward journey there is always plenty of time to make a call.

Phil

"Roger Traviss" writes:

Other than a few toonies and loonies (Google if you don't know what they
are) in the glove compartment for parking meters and they are not really
required as most meters take credit cards, I never carry cash.
Ironially the machines which take cards are the ones where you pay when
you leave, and have had the opertunity to get some change.

Pay and display, where you pay in advance tend to require coins. There
are schemes to pay by phone, but these tend to require some sort of
registration so are only applicable to regulars.


My newest debit card, arrived yesterday, lets me use it like a credit card
for on-line purchases and like a credit card when travelling outside Canada,
although it still debits my bank account.
How does using a debit card differ to using a credit card, surely the
difference is how much the retailer pays and how you settle the bill?

In my experience using a debit card online is exactly the same as using
a credit card.

Phil

On 13-Mar-12 03:50, Peter Masson wrote:
Eurotunnel are equipping the tunnel for mobile phone reception, The
South running tunnel will be connected to French networks, and the North
running tunnel to British networks. So passengers will (normally) be
connected to their home network on the outward journey,

For confused readers: the "South running tunnel" normally goes from
France to the UK, i.e. North, and the "North running tunnel" normally
goes from the UK to France, i.e. South.

It would seem more logical to have both countries serve both tunnels or,
failing that, change from one to the other at the midpoint.

Also, while the French will cover their tunnel _before_ the Olympic
Games, the Brits won't cover theirs until _after_ the Games--missing out
on huge potential revenues and frustrating customers.

http://www.eurotunnelgroup.com/uploa...nnelTunnel.pdf

I have trouble accepting the accuracy of a press release that describes
mobile phone service as "wi-fi", a trademark for the IEEE 802.11 family
that has _nothing_ to do with GSM.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

On 13/03/2012 04:55, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:08:51 -0700, "Roger Traviss"
wrote:

If you have an out of country phone in either Canada or the United
States, the roaming costs to go to the other country are noticeable.
I'm going to pay 40 dollars of 100 minutes of air time in the US for
one month so that I don't get hit with really bad roaming charges.
Within either the US or Canada, most carriers are nationwide so far as
roaming is concerned.

Here in Victoria, if you are down by the waterfront, you may get hit by
roaming changes for even a local call.

Why? Because your call gets picked up by a cell tower in Blaine, Washington
State. :-)

That has been alleged to have happened on English south coast
shores/beaches which are screened from the local transmitter by high
cliffs but within range of French base stations.

Yes, that happened to me when I was down by the cliffs of Dover a few
years back. But I found that, while my phone was picking up French
signals, it would not lock onto them.

On 13/03/2012 09:32, wrote:
On Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:55:58 +0000, Charles Ellson
wrote:

On Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:08:51 -0700, "Roger Traviss"
wrote:

If you have an out of country phone in either Canada or the United
States, the roaming costs to go to the other country are noticeable.


Here in Victoria, if you are down by the waterfront, you may get hit by
roaming changes for even a local call.

Why? Because your call gets picked up by a cell tower in Blaine, Washington
State. :-)

That has been alleged to have happened on English south coast
shores/beaches which are screened from the local transmitter by high
cliffs but within range of French base stations.

A feature which was most useful when working on the South/West side of
the Isle of Wight where the French networks held the connection with
less dropouts than the UK ones.

G.Harman

Inetersting, I have never picked up a French signal on the Isle of
Wight's south side. Strangely enough, however, my iPhone once locked
onto a signal from the Republic of Ireland when I was in northern Wales.

I remember that mobile phone providers on Ireland were not charging
people from either side of the border to roam on their network, partly
due to the fact that the mobile phones for residents in the border area
where constantly switching to the cross-border providers. Do other
countries in Europe have such a feature in place?

On 13/03/2012 21:35, Phil wrote:
"Roger writes:

Other than a few toonies and loonies (Google if you don't know what they
are) in the glove compartment for parking meters and they are not really
required as most meters take credit cards, I never carry cash.
Ironially the machines which take cards are the ones where you pay when
you leave, and have had the opertunity to get some change.

Pay and display, where you pay in advance tend to require coins. There
are schemes to pay by phone, but these tend to require some sort of
registration so are only applicable to regulars.


My newest debit card, arrived yesterday, lets me use it like a credit card
for on-line purchases and like a credit card when travelling outside Canada,
although it still debits my bank account.
How does using a debit card differ to using a credit card, surely the
difference is how much the retailer pays and how you settle the bill?

In my experience using a debit card online is exactly the same as using
a credit card.

Phil


Except that the money on a debit-card transaction is automatically taken
from whatever account it is attached to and there are no interest
charges of any sort. Credit cards, on the other hand, allow you to pay
later and will charge you interest on whatever sum you have racked up in
the month.

"Charles Ellson" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:08:51 -0700, "Roger Traviss"
wrote:

If you have an out of country phone in either Canada or the
United
States, the roaming costs to go to the other country are
noticeable....

Here in Victoria, if you are down by the waterfront, you may
get hit by
roaming changes for even a local call.

Why? Because your call gets picked up by a cell tower in
Blaine, Washington
State. :-)

That has been alleged to have happened on English south coast
shores/beaches which are screened from the local transmitter by
high
cliffs but within range of French base stations.

Sometimes, exceptional atmospheric conditions can cause this from
elevated inland points as well.

I was at the Great Dorset Steam Fair http://www.gdsf.co.uk at
Tarrant Hinton, and made some calls to friends who were elsewhere
on the very large fair site. When I got the bill, I discovered I
had apparently made calls in France *and* the UK within a few
seconds of each other.

The mobile phone systems utilise a transmission protocol known as
TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access). In theory, this should
block connections where the propogation delay is more than 28
milliseconds (equating to a distance of about 90km). In my case,
the nearest point of the French coast was at least 130km away -
so it shouldn't have been possible, but it definitely happened. I
seem to remember I got the roaming charge refunded.

--
MatSav

In message , at 15:01:49 on Fri, 16 Mar
2012, MatSav remarked:
That has been alleged to have happened on English south coast
shores/beaches which are screened from the local transmitter by
high
cliffs but within range of French base stations.

Sometimes, exceptional atmospheric conditions can cause this from
elevated inland points as well.

I was at the Great Dorset Steam Fair http://www.gdsf.co.uk at
Tarrant Hinton, and made some calls to friends who were elsewhere
on the very large fair site. When I got the bill, I discovered I
had apparently made calls in France *and* the UK within a few
seconds of each other.

The mobile phone systems utilise a transmission protocol known as
TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access). In theory, this should
block connections where the propogation delay is more than 28
milliseconds (equating to a distance of about 90km). In my case,
the nearest point of the French coast was at least 130km away -
so it shouldn't have been possible, but it definitely happened.

Coastal base stations (such as the one which you contacted in northern
France) can be adjusted to allow twice the normal propagation delay, so
that large areas of sea are covered.
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 15:01:49 on Fri, 16
Mar 2012, MatSav remarked:
That has been alleged to have happened on English south coast
shores/beaches which are screened from the local transmitter
by
high
cliffs but within range of French base stations.

Sometimes, exceptional atmospheric conditions can cause this
from
elevated inland points as well.

I was at the Great Dorset Steam Fair http://www.gdsf.co.uk at
Tarrant Hinton, and made some calls to friends who were
elsewhere
on the very large fair site. When I got the bill, I discovered
I
had apparently made calls in France *and* the UK within a few
seconds of each other.

The mobile phone systems utilise a transmission protocol known
as
TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access). In theory, this should
block connections where the propogation delay is more than 28
milliseconds (equating to a distance of about 90km). In my
case,
the nearest point of the French coast was at least 130km away -
so it shouldn't have been possible, but it definitely happened.

Coastal base stations (such as the one which you contacted in
northern France) can be adjusted to allow twice the normal
propagation delay, so that large areas of sea are covered.

Thanks Roland - I didn't know that. It makes sense, I suppose,
given that there are numerous reports of ill-prepared "sailors"
calling for assistance at sea by using their mobile 'phones,
rather than using a marine-frequency VHF radio.

--
MatSav