What is the difference between a Satellite Phone and a Cellular Phone?

[Tornado]

Are they interchangable terms? Or are they two seperate entities?

 

[Joey D]

To my understanding cell phones use repeater towers while satellite phones communicate directly to an orbiting satellite.

 

[land sea air]

Sattelite phones usually have the large antennas and communicate with a network of satellites, giving them true worldwide call from any place abilities, however they eat battery, are expensive, and are more sensitive to service changes from being inside a building or underground... the yellow phone in jurrasic park 2 would be a satellite phone. Cell phones use cell phone towers.

EDIT: TREEDED

 

[wfooshee]

What they said.

Satellite phones are big with the marine industry, and well-to-do yachtsmen, as they work anywhere on the planet. Construction guys use them, too, as they tend to go to sites way out east of nowhere. Some services are Western Hemisphere or Eastern Hemisphere only, but you can get service anywhere. I also installed a B-GAN satellite Internet service for a customer recently, which is pretty cool. Portable flat unit that sets up as an antenna, pointed at the geosync satellite, and has 802.11 for the PC to get to it. Acts as a wireless router. not blazing speed, but beats dialup all to heck. Expensive, but again, useful worldwide, or at least hemisphere-wide.

Cellular phones are line-of-sight to the provider's tower. Take one on a boat and about the time you see the land disappear ove the horizon, you'll find yourself without phone service.

There are other wireless phones out there. There have been radio telephones since the 60s (50s?) with rotary dials and everything, just like the old Western Electric in your grandma's hallway.