topic Re: Pelee Island Coverage - Experiences? in Get Support

Pelee Island Coverage - Experiences?

SimonLewis — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 20:34:38 GMT

I will soon be moving to Pelee Island, Southern Ontario for work. Although the coverage map shows no coverage there, I wonder if this is to do with imprecise mapping rather than actually having no coverage. Does anyone have any experience using Public Mobile there?

I would like to keep using my call/SMS/data plan with Public Mobile, but if I cannot guarantee I will get coverage, I cannot continue with my subscription.

Would contacting Telus / Bell Mobility (I understand they share the network) get me a more accurate response?

Re: Pelee Island Coverage - Experiences?

NDesai — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 02:53:28 GMT

According to the tower map, there are actually 2 telus towers set up there. So you will have to test and see if the coverage is good enough for you.

Re: Pelee Island Coverage - Experiences?

Korth — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 03:18:35 GMT

Re: Pelee Island Coverage - Experiences?

nexusfan — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 14:49:34 GMT

I was there last year and the signal was not good. Depending on where you are on the island my phone would think I was in US as certain parts of the island are in range of US cell towers.

Other parts I would get 1-2 bars.

Re: Pelee Island Coverage - Experiences?

Korth — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 15:33:36 GMT

Most people naturally assume that tower coverage is omnidirectional, a big circular radius with the tower at the center. They wonder why towers aren't spaced out better on maps.

This is rarely the case. The tower is usually covered in directional antennae, some with narrow or confined arcs and some with wider arcs, some with lower power and some with higher power, some are physically higher or lower on the tower (or just unfortunately adjacent to loud neighbours) which affects their performance significantly. Often, the tower itself isn't owned by any carriers, they just rent antenna space on it, it's covered with all sorts of other radio and radar junk, the more densely populated the signal traffic the higher the electromagnetic noise floor, harmonics and parasitics and transients have a nasty tendency to multiply onto each other. Towers also come in a variety of heights and forms, lol.

And of course there's obstacles, buildings, artificial and natural terrain features, electrical and magnetic anomalies, they all influence where antenna coverage should (and should not) be directed. Electrical utilities are costly, perhaps even moreso on an island, so transmission power is kept near the minimum needed to provide "acceptable" quality of service at all times (perhaps fluctuating along with demand, perhaps not).