topic Re: Weak signal strength in Get Support

Weak signal strength

spacecabbage — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 06:38:58 GMT

Noticed this about 2 weeks ago and it seems to persist to this day. I seem to be averaging about -110 to -120 dBm which is very weak signal. I've 'missed calls' where I dont even get a buzz but I see a notification that I have voice mail already.

Thought it might be my phone (oneplus 7t) but it is also happening to my roommate also on public mobile (using moto e5 play) and another roommate on Virgin mobile (galaxy s8)

My understanding is that bell/telus (which own virgin and public respectively) share towers right? so I thought it might be a tower issue but a quick google is telling me towers near me are fine (i live in GTA around etobicoke)

It wasn't always like this, While I dont recall what the previous dBm readings were, I was very easily able to have quality phone calls. SMS seems to be sending fine, as well as Data seems to be working as usual as well (emphasis on SEEMS. They could be suffering too, it's just more obvious with phone calls)

I have tried some of the common solutions like:

- restarting phone

- taking sim card in and out

- turning air plane mode on waiting a bit then turning it back on.

but am at a loss now. Would appreciate some more suggestions or explanation or anything ! thanks

Re: Weak signal strength

Triguy — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 18:45:53 GMT

PM uses Telus and Bell towers.

Check the coverage map.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/coverage

If you still need assistance then submit a ticket to a moderator by clicking on the bubble on the bottom right.

Re: Weak signal strength

will13am — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 18:46:38 GMT

@spacecabbage , Bell and Telus do share towers. There might be local network problems affecting signal strength.

Re: Weak signal strength

dude65 — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 18:49:28 GMT

If its happening on other phones then its most likely not your phone. So is that signal only bad inside your residence or is it bad if you step outside as well? Are you using a cell phone booster?

Re: Weak signal strength

Helpershelper — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 19:03:07 GMT

@spacecabbage

Hi there, I’m in a major city and I sometimes get 1 bar, but it doesn’t affect call quality or anything like that. Strong signal strength doesn’t equal that it’s necessarily better. There aren’t any active outages on Telus’s network only some home phone and internet issues in B.C. With your missed calls sometimes it’s a one-ring call where they call and hang up quickly such as certain spam calls. You can certainly note the date and time of these occurrences and wait until it’s happening more than just once before reporting it to a mod below so they can pass it on to the right team.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

With that in mind, I would make sure your Android OS is up to date as well.

Re: Weak signal strength

spacecabbage — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 19:09:46 GMT

It's bad at various parts, even near windows around my house. It's weird because it wasn't like this like 2-3 weeks ago - I even got reception a bit in my basement.

and immediately in the outside of my residence is also not much better (maybe 5 dBM improvement? hard to say but nothing significant to rule out the house )

and no we are not using any boosters

Re: Weak signal strength

spacecabbage — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 19:10:30 GMT

@Helpershelper

Agreed it's not always an indicator, but right now it's all im able to correlate (lower than -110 dBM and no calls)

in these cases i actually did get a voice mail from a non spammer so unfortunately these weren't 1 timers.

Going to see if it persists for a couple more days... 😞

Re: Weak signal strength

gpixel — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 19:44:25 GMT

@spacecabbage maybe Telus updated their towers.

follow these instructions

on 4G LTE devices, the PRL(preferred roaming list) is updated with your SIM card. To ensure you have the latest PRL, you can power your phone off and remove/reinsert the SIM card once a month or so.

then reset your network settings

open settings
scroll down to system
tap on reset options
tap reset wifi,mobile & Bluetooth
tap reset settings and restart

this is from my pixel, but you should find similar options

Re: Weak signal strength

spacecabbage — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 19:56:19 GMT

@gpixel

thanks for this suggestion. at first the strength was high, but dropped to about -100 dBm which is def an improvement.

one issue though is that my APN has changed from public to telus. any issue?

will update this post/make another post if the signal drops again in a few hours...

Re: Weak signal strength

computergeek541 — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 19:58:29 GMT

@spacecabbage wrote:
@gpixel

thanks for this suggestion. at first the strength was high, but dropped to about -100 dBm which is def an improvement.

one issue though is that my APN has changed from public to telus. any issue?

will update this post/make another post if the signal drops again in a few hours...

You're going to have to change the APN settings back, but while that prevents you from using mobile data, it doesn't affect signal strength.

Re: Weak signal strength

spacecabbage — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 21:55:26 GMT

@gpixel

update: thx for the suggestion but ultimately it didnt work! oh well

Re: Weak signal strength

sheytoon — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 03:58:34 GMT

@spacecabbage force your phone to 3G and see if it helps. Bell shouldn't be playing with the network this close to Christmas.

Re: Weak signal strength

gpixel — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 19:26:57 GMT

@spacecabbage from looking at ertyu. it looks like Telus has removed most of the towers with the 850mhz frequency in b.c. this could explain the worst reception everyone is experiencing. since 1900mhz is worst at penetrating walls than 850mhz

volte time?

Re: Weak signal strength

spacecabbage — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 23:31:30 GMT

@gpixel

interesting thanks for bringing this up!

taking a quick look at ertyu there is only Bell towers near me (i swear there was telus as well? although possible i mistook a rogers tower)

Anyway the absolute closest one to me is 1900/2100. and a few blocks away from that is (700MHz, 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz, 2600MHz)

I'm guessing mine just takes the high frequency tower, because well, it's closer, even by just a couple blocks. (or it does pick up the other tower, but since it is a tad bit further it is thus weaker. Would also explain why my Data is fine!)

Not sure how long it has always been this way though but this would certainly explain the weaker call signal. Do you know how to check history of towers on ertyu? would help my sanity in trying to explain why calls were perfect just 2 weeks ago

i guess it is unfortunate that PM doesn't offer volte! Might be worth researching into/investing into a Cell booster

Re: Weak signal strength

computergeek541 — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 23:40:21 GMT

@spacecabbage wrote:
@gpixel

interesting thanks for bringing this up!

taking a quick look at ertyu there is only Bell towers near me (i swear there was telus as well? although possible i mistook a rogers tower)

Anyway the absolute closest one to me is 1900/2100. and a few blocks away from that is (700MHz, 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz, 2600MHz)

I'm guessing mine just takes the high frequency tower, because well, it's closer, even by just a couple blocks. (or it does pick up the other tower, but since it is a tad bit further it is thus weaker. Would also explain why my Data is fine!)

Not sure how long it has always been this way though but this would certainly explain the weaker call signal. Do you know how to check history of towers on ertyu? would help my sanity in trying to explain why calls were perfect just 2 weeks ago

i guess it is unfortunate that PM doesn't offer volte! Might be worth researching into/investing into a Cell booster

I wouldn't be referring to anything as 2100MHz, although I know that website does. 2100MHz is most commonly considered to be Band 1, whcih is not used in Canada. What that website is calling 2100MHz is actually LTE on Band 4, more commonly referred to as 1700MHz or AWS-1, althoguh the downlink frequencies are in the 2100MHz ranges.

Re: Weak signal strength

sheytoon — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 00:30:28 GMT

@computergeek541 that may be true for the general public, but operators and equipment vendors in North America do in fact refer to band 4 as 2100.

Re: Weak signal strength

wacko604 — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 07:32:15 GMT

Hi I'm located in East Vancouver and signal has been weak the past few weeks.

WhatsApp has been having issues receiving and sending messages. Problem is gone when wifi is used.

Has anyone else experienced this in Vancouver?

Public mobile has been great up until now.

Re: Weak signal strength

gpixel — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 07:54:11 GMT

@wacko604 for a more consistent data experience, I suggest switching to 3g/wcdma/HSPA

browsing is slower, but the connection is more stable

Re: Weak signal strength

Asher2 — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:33:39 GMT

Bell/Telus has the best coverage in the country. ESPECIALLY in the GTA. There are so many cell towers here that you should get 4 or 3 bars around here. I know that as a fact because I live in the GTA and travel alot, I’ve never dropped bars bellow 3. (Keep in mind I use 3G and not LTE as signal is better and faster since public doesn’t throttle 3G like LTE)

Re: Weak signal strength

wacko604 — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 03:53:11 GMT

I'll give that a try. But disappointed if we need to switch to 3g when we are able to use LTE.

Thanks