topic Re: New home, poor coverage in Get Support

New home, poor coverage

Sunkmail1 — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 23:04:34 GMT

Hi everyone,

We’re in process of moving into our first house and discovered we’re having trouble with signal strength…

* Sometimes have trouble getting a call out.

* Not sure about receiving, we’ve only been there a short time.

* Text messages all seem to fail.
* Cannot use noble data at all.

I’m not worried about the lack of data, as we’ll have WiFi soon. (Too bad Public doesn’t have WiFi calling)

We moved to a relatively small town and the coverage here is definitely spotty compared to the big city, but as we don’t use a landline, good coverage is essential.

I'm assuming we’re probably in need of a repeater / amplifier. I’ve tried looking up existing posts, but all the the posts I’ve seen on the matter go into technical terms very quickly.
I’m hoping to find something in plain English. (I can sort out the technical details later.)

so my question is:

Whats the cheapest solution that will provide full cellular voice and text coverage in a two floor house, on a hill?

I dont’t care about making the mobile data fast. (I don’t even care if we can’t get it at all.)

Thanks!

Re: New home, poor coverage

Handy1 — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 22:58:54 GMT

@Sunkmail1 .try your network on 3G 5G or 4G/LTE in different areas see if one setting works better for voice and signal

Re: New home, poor coverage

abtest — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 22:59:38 GMT

@Sunkmail1- where is your new home located?

Re: New home, poor coverage

Sunkmail1 — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 23:00:34 GMT

Vancouver Island

Re: New home, poor coverage

softech — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 23:01:24 GMT

@Sunkmail1 check if you have any neighbour using Telus/Bell/Koodo/Virgin/Lucky and see what their experience is

and couple things to check and hope one of them help

change the Preferred network type or network mode to 3G only or WCDMA only and see if it works
Try to click Reset All Networks and see if it helps
and do you have another phone to test the PM sim ? just to make sure it is not a device problem. Also, that can force a sim card re-provision and it could resolve the problem
You can also try to see if VoLTE works. But first, what brand and model of phone you have?
You can check the VoLTE compatibility here:  https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte
If you have a compatible one try to turn on VoLTE
iPhone: Likely no extra work need to do as Telus will enable by default but hide the option.  Still you can check
Settings->Cellular->Cellular Data Options->Voice & Data, enable 4G or LTE there
Pixel:  Likely no extra work need to do as Telus will enable by default but hide the option.  Still you can check
Settings->Network and Internet->Internet, click on the settings icon besides SIM 1, turn on 4G calling there
Samsung/ Other Android: Settings->Connection->Mobile Data, enable VoLTE there
Now, turn off Wifi first. Check if the phone status bar showing it is connected to 4G or LTE
Then make some calls, see if the signal indicator shows LTE or drop back to H or 3G while you are on the calls. If it stays with LTE, then yes, you are using VoLTE, and you can see if calls are any better.

Re: New home, poor coverage

softech — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 23:02:27 GMT

@Sunkmail1 wrote:
Vancouver Island

@Sunkmail1

Any Telus or Bell towers close to your new home?

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

Re: New home, poor coverage

DennyCrane — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 23:09:32 GMT

Go through the troubleshooting of course, but if it were me I'd probably go with a carrier that offered wifi calling. It will probably cost a bit more, but a service that doesn't work isn't worth much to me.

Re: New home, poor coverage

softech — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 23:37:18 GMT

@Sunkmail1 , @DennyCrane suggestion is valid if you know it has poor coverage no matter which carrier . Check Koodo or Telus which provide Wifi calling

Re: New home, poor coverage

hairbag1 — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 00:15:09 GMT

@Sunkmail1

@Sunkmail1 wrote:
Vancouver Island

Can you narrow it down a bit ? Where on the Island are you located, generally ?

Re: New home, poor coverage

Chalupa_Batman — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 00:39:57 GMT

If you want to keep your PM account for whatever reason, you may consider a booster.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B077N6822R/?coliid=IYL0NA3OO88W9&colid=13DA7Z9QINSYX&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Honestly, when @abtest asked where you lived, I thought he was inviting himself over for a home cooked meal. LOL. Wait, is this what @funny was talking about? LOLOLOL

Re: New home, poor coverage

Sunkmail1 — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 05:12:51 GMT

To try to answer questions in one spot:

I'll try out changing to the various #G networks when I get a chance.

In Comox Valley. Haven't moved in yet, so no home cooked meals, sorry.

Several Telus towers fairly close. Closest is a 2100 MHz tower with 10M & 20M Hz bandwidths.

The land around here is undulates quite a bit, so lots of little pockets of poor reception.

Using iPhones - two different versions. Same issues with both.

Rather not leave Public - Would be paying at least double to get other carriers. Would only take a few months of savings to justify a booster, if it will work.

Re: New home, poor coverage

Sunkmail1 — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 16:40:00 GMT

I tried switching from LTE to 3G on my phone. Seems to have improved things.

wife’s phone is newer- switched it from 5G to 3G and it seems to have improved.

im by no means an expert on current cellular technology, but what exactly would this mean?

I thought the network would be programmed use the best signal available regardless of technology generation.
(No point in having a 5G connection if it doesn’t work, so it should try others automatically.)

what would be the implications of keeping our phones set to always 3G, even if in areas with better coverage? Will we be missing out on something?

thanks

Re: New home, poor coverage

Handy1 — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 16:48:11 GMT

@Sunkmail1 .you don’t want to leave it in 3G for ever . For one thing internet will be slower . It’s just to help with voice and signal temporarily. And then put back to automatic like you suggested after a day or 2 . But when in area with seemingly bad coverage you can play with the different network settings to see if it improves . Like in your case now and only do so temporarily and switch back

Re: New home, poor coverage

DennyCrane — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 16:47:54 GMT

Exactly. I know when I'm camping with low signal I often find that forcing it into 3G provides more consistent service, but it's certainly not a good long term solution.