Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by yfoogsittam on Mar 10, 2011 13:50:46 GMT -5
i would use my cell phone to try to meet up with different groups of friends on the farm last year, but had a few issues:
1. reception for call could get spotty, and people who were at shows couldnt answer, or couldnt hear what you were saying 2. texts would get there hours later sometimes (sometimes it would work perfectly) 3. every time i pulled out my cell phone, i just felt that something wasn't right. like i was not supposed to use it at bonnaroo.
that being said, I'll still probably take it and try to use it to meet up with people at roo.
In all honesty I dont think I could possibly survive on the farm without some tech... I run webservers so uptime is my main responsibility and if they go down I loose money every second that they do so its just not an option not to have at least spotty coverage. Im a web developer on contract with clients and they pay me on retainer to keep things operational 24/7/365 and able to be contacted when shit hits the fan. On top of that I am in the works of lining up a press pass to live blog for elephantjournal.com and huffingtonpost.com during the event and interview interesting people, vendors, staffers and artists (music and art). So I dont have much of a choice with the iPad unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it. On top of it running a tour group from NYC to Bonnaroo so it would be a bit irresponsible not to have a phone w/ coverage. BTW, if youre coming from NYC or nearby check us out: nycbonnaroobus.eventbrite.com
BTW, this is my first Roo and Im stoked! Thanks for all the feedback....
More people more problems. A lot of the times I am sure the city before roo reaches out to said provider and they use something called a COW ( cell on wheels ) to help with the massive crowds. Plus a celltower would be crippled if they didn't do anything like this, so its 100% LIKELY you'll always have coverage. I had Verizon in the past it worked well and At&t will be no exception.
But when you say no issues with Verizon, is that for calls/text only or data too?
That was just calls and texts. I didn't have a smart phone until just after the Roo last year, so this will be my first year with that capability. But as far as texts and voice go, this will be my 5th year and I've not once had an issue with Verizon.
The only time there was ever any problem was when I was calling someone else on the farm they either couldn't hear their phone or they were getting reception issues. Any call I made would at least hit their voice mail, so I knew it wasn't a problem on my end. Unfortunately, you can't ensure that who you're calling has good reception too.
But when you say no issues with Verizon, is that for calls/text only or data too?
That was just calls and texts. I didn't have a smart phone until just after the Roo last year, so this will be my first year with that capability. But as far as texts and voice go, this will be my 5th year and I've not once had an issue with Verizon.
The only time there was ever any problem was when I was calling someone else on the farm they either couldn't hear their phone or they were getting reception issues. Any call I made would at least hit their voice mail, so I knew it wasn't a problem on my end. Unfortunately, you can't ensure that who you're calling has good reception too.
Thanks! When we went on our cruise, the girl in our room had her phone on the entire time and was shocked when she had a $500 phone bill the next cycle...I'm not that bad, just want to have peace of mind that if I need it to get ahold of friends, it will probably work!
Post by nothingtoofancy on Mar 13, 2011 4:27:09 GMT -5
I would turn mine off a couple days before i leave if i could. That being said, they are still a great way to communicate in the sea of tents, tunes and sweat that is roo. I have att and it was a little slow last year from the flood of use i guess. I also ran out of battery after 2 days, and never bothered to re-up on battery. For those who want to have their phone alive for the whole weekend i would suggest looking into those solar charger things. Seems like a pretty good idea for a festival. I dont think they are that expensive either. Hope i helped someone
In all honesty I dont think I could possibly survive on the farm without some tech... I run webservers so uptime is my main responsibility and if they go down I loose money every second that they do so its just not an option not to have at least spotty coverage. Im a web developer on contract with clients and they pay me on retainer to keep things operational 24/7/365 and able to be contacted when Leno hits the fan. On top of that I am in the works of lining up a press pass to live blog for elephantjournal.com and huffingtonpost.com during the event and interview interesting people, vendors, staffers and artists (music and art). So I dont have much of a choice with the iPad unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it. On top of it running a tour group from NYC to Bonnaroo so it would be a bit irresponsible not to have a phone w/ coverage. BTW, if youre coming from NYC or nearby check us out: nycbonnaroobus.eventbrite.com
BTW, this is my first Roo and Im stoked! Thanks for all the feedback....
I wouldn't rely on spotty data with those responsibilities. I found Verizon's data to be more reliable last year than AT&Ts, I have data plans with both, I would suggest the Verizon MiFi, the connection basically never dropped all weekend and I could share bandwidth with the people around me when I didn't need it.
In all honesty I dont think I could possibly survive on the farm without some tech... I run webservers so uptime is my main responsibility and if they go down I loose money every second that they do so its just not an option not to have at least spotty coverage. Im a web developer on contract with clients and they pay me on retainer to keep things operational 24/7/365 and able to be contacted when Leno hits the fan. On top of that I am in the works of lining up a press pass to live blog for elephantjournal.com and huffingtonpost.com during the event and interview interesting people, vendors, staffers and artists (music and art). So I dont have much of a choice with the iPad unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it. On top of it running a tour group from NYC to Bonnaroo so it would be a bit irresponsible not to have a phone w/ coverage. BTW, if youre coming from NYC or nearby check us out: nycbonnaroobus.eventbrite.com
BTW, this is my first Roo and Im stoked! Thanks for all the feedback....
I wouldn't rely on spotty data with those responsibilities. I found Verizon's data to be more reliable last year than AT&Ts, I have data plans with both, I would suggest the Verizon MiFi, the connection basically never dropped all weekend and I could share bandwidth with the people around me when I didn't need it.
HAHA, yeah its not an easy feeling to go into a getaway without knowing what kind of connection you will/wont have... I travel fairly often and am experienced with using spotty coverage for what I need to do... Usually if I can get a call out to the right team member I should be fine. My worry this time around is my job of live blogging - I really hope I can get it done properly and do the posts I need to do.
Last year the texting with my iPhone was a nightmare, but it was also a nightmare for the people who were texting to me.
For any iPhone users out there - and I think they have it for Droid too - there is an app called "BuzzMe". It's free, and it's essentially texting, but using a 3G or wifi connection. No need to go through the phone network. So you can "text" without using your texts in your plan, OR fighting with the other people on the farm who are texting after a big set. This is what I plan on using this year.
A note on walkies - I went to Ultra Music fest a long time ago, and we brought walkies. They were the cheap kind that only have like, 18 frequencies. We got on and immediately heard back, "THIS IS THE EMERGENCY FREQUENCY. GET OFF THIS FREQUENCY IMMEDIATELY." .... and then that left us to share 17 channels with the other thousands of people in the park. So while walkies may be hard to hear, I think the bigger issue is all the OTHER people you'd be sharing channels with. Just something to consider!
Music Midtown'01'02'04'05'11-'13::Ultra'02'03::Roo'07-'16::ACL'10::AF/TheNational'11::Sasquatch'11::Voodoo'11'16::Counterpoint'12'14::Moogfest'12::TommorowWorld'13'14::MOEMS'13::Coachella'14'15::ShakyKnees'13-'17::MFGLASTONBURY2017
Post by theshining on Mar 18, 2011 20:57:51 GMT -5
Is this buzzme a free app? I had no problems in the past sending texts home and making evening calls but this will be my first year with an iPhone. It would be nice to avoid extra charges
Yup - Free as free can be. Or at least I remember it to be free.... if it costs anything, it's a dollar. I dont generally get apps that are over a buck.
Music Midtown'01'02'04'05'11-'13::Ultra'02'03::Roo'07-'16::ACL'10::AF/TheNational'11::Sasquatch'11::Voodoo'11'16::Counterpoint'12'14::Moogfest'12::TommorowWorld'13'14::MOEMS'13::Coachella'14'15::ShakyKnees'13-'17::MFGLASTONBURY2017
Say hey johnny boy, the battle call United we stand, divided we fall Together we are what we can't be alone We came to this country you made it our home
Is this buzzme a free app? I had no problems in the past sending texts home and making evening calls but this will be my first year with an iPhone. It would be nice to avoid extra charges
Roaming data costs a fortune. I have my blackberry setup to turn data off as soon as I am roaming. But if this Buzzme app works through text then you will not have a problem.
