So,
I know the story, "you're going into the wilderness, so leave it behind", on and on. BUT.....

This is the last fall that my son will be home with me, and I'm trying to squeeze in a short trip before he leaves. He has online, virtual, school on Monday. Is there an entry point that would be good for cell reception? Thinking that if we went in on Saturday, he could do virtual class for a couple hours on Monday, then come home Tuesday (he has that day off completely). For what it's worth, we have Verizon Wireless

Thoughts?

Without it, the trip would be just Sat - Monday. Too little for the drive.

Thanks!

There’s a big giant cell tower off the Fernberg Road near the Fall lake entry.
It can be seen for miles and miles as a red flashing light at night.

Death by a thousand cuts.

As reported on another thread recently, several people have been able to get decent coverage on Basswood at least up through Pipestone Bay. That area can be reached from the Fall Lake entry point.

I have had good cell service on Pipestone bay on Basswood. Didn’t have any service by Basswood Falls. The service I had there was better than what I have in town. I have AT&T. I would also expect the coverage to be good in the North Kawishiwi area.
Carl

I was thinking of doing something similar, but just doing daytrips in to the BWCA. I've heard from a neighbor that there is very strong Verizon service at the Fall lake USFS campground. Figured if that turned out to be false could always make the quick drive to Ely for wifi for school and work.

I also have Verizon. What I've found on the trips I've taken my phone along with me:

* On Lakes One and Two and part of Three (I haven't checked too far east on that) you can still get a bar or two of signal. I've been able to send messages and photos but haven't tried video streaming off that.

* On Snowbank and Disappointment I got a signal, but on the east shore of Ima it was incredibly spotty.

* On Ensign I got no signal at all, probably because of the lower elevation compared to the lakes south of Cattyman Falls. From Ensign northwards the only signal I got was at the very peak of the long portage from Ensign to Vera (or maybe it was Vera to Knife?). Either way, definitely not at campsite elevation.

The EPs already listed match my BWCA experience. I would add:

The Lake One-Three cell signal reaches to some of the southern parts of Insula.

On Knife at the peninsula site WSW of ThunderPoint I got a cell signal on the rise near the toilet.

On the west side of Alton on the site due west of the portage to Sawbill I also got a signal. The main part of the site is elevated about 15-20 feet off the lake.

But...these are all 1 bar of signal strength. I can get email if no big attachments and text messages. Texting a picture typically gets me a failure to send message. Downloading a web site with graphics takes forever. I would be surprised if those weak signals allowed virtual, distance learning if at all like what my kids are doing these days.

Every district is different so you’d need to check. At my sons school if the school is notified that day that the student is missing that day they can then watch the recorded lessons later and turn the work in without any loss of grade. That would be my suggestion since it’s go8 g to be challenging to get a good enough signal for logging in for school in the BWCA.

A late trip like this is great though and awesome for your son and you! Take advantage of this time and go on that trip.

Ryan

A few entry point outfitters have hotspots. You could give them a call and this year I'd bet they know whether it can support a virtual class.

One of those odd questions I bet outfitters never expected to ever have to answer before this year.

I just don’t think you can reliably get a good enough signal to count on doing distance learning in the BWCAW. I think it might be hard to do this in Ely :) I can just see your son trying to connect, getting kicked off, downloads not working...it may take twice as long or waste a ton of time and still not get anything done. Creating frustration, instead of having some fun.

I’d just contact the school and make it up. I have verizon and I have been on the lakes mentioned and although I get a bar or two of coverage...calls are variable and unreliable with 1-2 bars, streaming and email are almost impossible.

T

Glad you are trying to go with your son, but this thread makes me sad. If I can see a tower, I don't go to that lake. The connections not strong enough for safety anyway and would only give a false sense of security.

firecaptain2009: "So,
I know the story, "you're going into the wilderness, so leave it behind", on and on. BUT.....

This is the last fall that my son will be home with me, and I'm trying to squeeze in a short trip before he leaves. He has online, virtual, school on Monday. Is there an entry point that would be good for cell reception? Thinking that if we went in on Saturday, he could do virtual class for a couple hours on Monday, then come home Tuesday (he has that day off completely). For what it's worth, we have Verizon Wireless

Thoughts?

Without it, the trip would be just Sat - Monday. Too little for the drive.

Thanks!"

I wanted to follow up on this thread and see if you got anything figured out and how it worked. My PTO is very limited so was thinking about working via hotspot before or after my planned trip this summer and would be interested to see if/how it worked out for you.

You should be able to get cell reception (depending on provider) on Jackfish, Pipestone, Mudro, Fall Lake, Snowbank. However, in order to stream video, you would likely need more than just cell reception - I wouldn't expect any of those listed above to have enough service to stream video. You could always stay at Fall Lake Campground and do day trips into different areas of the BWCA

Keep in mind cell service and data service are two different things. Gabbro has cell service for calls but video sucks

Verizon's coverage map might be the place to start.

It seems to be a ATT/T-Mobile area......