topic Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario) in Get Support

Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

ShacharWeis — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 13:21:31 GMT

We are moving to north Waterloo and I found that we have very poor reception in our new house, north Waterloo, On (N2V 2R9).

Is this a known dead spot?
Anything to do about it?

Thanks

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

GinYVR — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 23:57:54 GMT

@ShacharWeisYou can look up where the local cell phone towers are.

It depends on what kind of phones you have. Usually latests ones which are made for North America support most of the common bands in use here. The lower the frequency the better the signal penetrates buildings like condos. What you can do is see whether switching phones would improve your situation. That or switching network to the competitor ie Rogers are the only 2 course of action you can take.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

robertmay — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 23:41:58 GMT

i was in waterloo last month and it was good everywhere i was in the KW region.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

stonechucker — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 03:00:41 GMT

What is the age of the home? What materials were used to build? Is service any better outside?

I lived in a 1896 built nome with lathe and plaster walls that signals just would not pennatrate.

Outside was no problem at all.

@sheytoon

, can you provide any tower info for this area of Waterloo specified in the opening post?

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

ShacharWeis — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:04:23 GMT

It's a new house (12 years) and stepping outside didn't help reception.
Data dropped to zero every 1-2 minutes for 30 seconds and calls disconnected as well.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

ShacharWeis — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:04:49 GMT

Is this map accurate? It shows zero Telus towers in KW.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

stonechucker — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:10:49 GMT

@ShacharWeis, Telus partners with Bell for coverage across the country, so you will need to look for Bell towers.

I'd be surprised if Waterloo has issues with service regularly, having the U of W, WLU, and all the tech firms around.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

ShacharWeis — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:18:20 GMT

I looks like our new house is right in the middle between 3 Bell towers, all three are 3km away. It could be a very local dead zone.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

duffer900 — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:45:04 GMT

@ShacharWeis wrote:
I looks like our new house is right in the middle between 3 Bell towers, all three are 3km away. It could be a very local dead zone.

What type of device are you using? Does anyone else in the house have a Telus/Bell device?

If so, how are they working?

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

ShacharWeis — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:48:37 GMT

Samsung S8 and my wife has a Moto 5. We both had poor reception, but we're both on Public Mobile. I have not yet tester with other carriers.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

duffer900 — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 13:01:04 GMT

@ShacharWeis wrote:
Samsung S8 and my wife has a Moto 5. We both had poor reception, but we're both on Public Mobile. I have not yet tester with other carriers.

It's quite bizarre.. The maps I have checked show full coverage.

If you walk from your house, is it still weak signal, does it jump up really high rather quickly?

House under popwer lines... I know, grasping at straws.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

will13am — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 13:04:15 GMT

@ShacharWeis , take a look at this cell tower map. This will give you a good idea of cell tower proximity in your area and which carrier might offer the best local coverage.

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

stonechucker — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 13:04:41 GMT

@ShacharWeis, if you're going to test other carriers, you'll need to try Rogers (Fido, Chatr) or Freedom. As I mentioned before, Telus and Bell share the towers, so the service will be the same on all 6 of those carriers (Virgin, Koodo, Lucky).

Your devices work fine elsewhere?

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

ShacharWeis — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 13:12:51 GMT

Yes, I've been on this device and carrier for 2-3 years and it's worked fine everywhere. It's very weird honestly, I'm going to test again and hope that it might have been a temporary issue.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

sheytoon — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 02:24:09 GMT

@stonechucker @ShacharWeis unfortunately it's a very weak spot for Bell.

Your best bet is to use a Rogers brand for good coverage at that location.

Re: Very poor reception in North Waterloo (Ontario)

stonechucker — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 11:35:56 GMT

That's really sad to hear @sheytoon. Bell should develop that area more. Heck, the need to improve Brantford too. The home of the telephone.

However, my service is great for me in Brantford - much better than my experiences with either Rogers or Freedom previously.