Cell Signal Changes to Very Low

[davidjmurdoch]

We still reside in the same location yet we now have poor cell signal reception. This means receiving calls go to voicemail and outgoing calls are limited.

What are the first steps to asking for this matter to be resolved?

David

[aphinity]

As mentioned by a few people, a cell phone repeater/booster may be your best bet.  I've had some customers install these with good success, but it does require you to know roughly where your local tower is for best placement.

Check here for that (Telus and bell):  https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

For the phones you mentioned, this booster would work well for you, and should be easy to install:  https://amzn.to/2UDNTeL

To install it, you point the directional antenna towards the closest tower to you (like an arrow), then put the internal antenna somewhere in your home that you most frequently use your cell phones. 

Your mileage may vary, but this is a solution that you can do yourself to solve the problem, rather than waiting on Public/Telus/Bell to solve it for you.

If you need more help, drop me a line.  I will do my best to help!

[gpixel]

@davidjmurdoch it seems Telus is starting to decommission HSPA towers. at&t is getting rid of HSPA in 2022. I am also experiencing lower signal quality

[LurganIeUk]

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@davidjmurdoch wrote:

This is a problem I've asked about here before and there is no doubt that the issue is with the poor cell signal we receive at our home. In the past we've not had this problem but in the last six months this has changed.

So where do we direct our concerns about what is changing with cell tower signals when other factors remain the same? To compound the problem my wife's phone - more recently using Public Mobile service - has also been missing calls and has also been unable to call out - emergency service only. Our phones are iPhone 6 and LG G7 ThinQ and they both work just fine when we travel from home.

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For cell towers check here. https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

The towers close to you need to be Telus or Bell...are they?

Are you amongst high buildings or on the bottom of a hill etc.?

Does your wife’s Phone work properly elsewhere?

[davidjmurdoch]

Thanks for your replies.

I've followed your advice and contacted the moderators.

Cheers,

David

[kselmak]

My relatives have the same problem.

For some reason they lost the signal at home right around the time when covid started and it's still not back. They all now forward to home phone and their TextNow numbers. They are all with either Publicmobile or bell and they all have the same problem

I told them to open the ticket as i can't do it for them, but i believe they never did.

I think you should contact them as well https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437 

Publicmobile should know that those small changes can be felt and should put some pressure on Telus & bell.

[gumbyng]

There are factors other than the cell tower that may have changed your signal strength over the past 6 months. These may include new buildings, new interference sources, more users, etc. What kind of area do you live in? Densely populated, typical suburb neighbourhood, sparsely populated?

I would contact the mods through chat (see chat bubble, lower right hand corner), let them know your issue and location, and go from there. Let them know you have issues only at your home location.

If there's nothing they can do, perhaps you may require a cell signal booster? That would suck but unfortunately coverage is not perfect everywhere.

[kb_mv]

@davidjmurdoch As you have asked before, I am assuming no one came up with a suitable answer or fix. Try contacting a moderator and see if they can help.

You can contact the mods one of 2 ways. Click the chat bubble bottom right of the browser as shown in the picture and open a ticket through the automated ticketing system;

 

or you can contact them through direct messaging at the following link (note this way may take longer for a response);

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

In either case you should receive a reply within 48 hours though typically they are much faster. Watch the envelope icon top right for a reply.

[davidjmurdoch]

This is a problem I've asked about here before and there is no doubt that the issue is with the poor cell signal we receive at our home. In the past we've not had this problem but in the last six months this has changed.

So where do we direct our concerns about what is changing with cell tower signals when other factors remain the same? To compound the problem my wife's phone - more recently using Public Mobile service - has also been missing calls and has also been unable to call out - emergency service only. Our phones are iPhone 6 and LG G7 ThinQ and they both work just fine when we travel from home.

[davidjmurdoch]

Thanks to all your suggestions and advice regarding the issue I presented; perhaps it was unintentionally misleading. For that I apologise.

Whilst the cell tower signal is often quite low (60% of the time) I have discovered that the main reason that calls have been abruptly ended and incoming calls go to voicemail is a bluetooth connection my cell phone creates with the (hands free device) Jabra Cruiser2 in my car and that intercepts the calls - either before I hear I have a call or during the call - depending on where I am located in the house.

Needless to say I have now disabled bluetooth on my cell phone whilst I'm at home.

Problem solved, I hope!

Cheers,

David

[dude65]

If you have a low signal, I would get a cell phone booster. Correctly installed, it will improve your reception. I have one and it works greats

[will13am]

@davidjmurdoch , I suggest troubleshooting by looking at the cell tower map to determine which sites you would likely connect to.

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

Use this app to determine which cell tower the phone is actually connecting to.  

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wilysis.cellinfolite&hl=en

Extreme distance would explain the low signal strength.  The phone may not be connecting to the closest tower due to load factors and outage.  

[computergeek541]

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@pharaohpeter wrote:

@davidjmurdochHere's a tip that might help: If your phone has settings to enable 3G, 4G, LTE, etc. make sure ALL are enabled. Like that your phone will use the best option by itself.

Also, as it has been suggested before, update your phone and reboot it.

Let us know if any of these tips work! Good luck.

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While 3g would definitely have to be enabled for phone calls, ensuring that LTE is enabled will not help one bit. LTE is not used for voice at Public Mobile, so the phone switching to the best possible connection type would not help with phone calls being missed. The member has already stated that outgoing phone calls are working, although sporadically, so the 3g/HSPA network must already be properly enabled in the settings. If anything, disabling the LTE network might actually help.

@davidjmurdoch  If this issue is something recent, this is likely a network issue as mentioned earlier. The only things you can really do are to try again later, try a different phone (as some might have a slight better antenna than another), or use it in a different location. These types of things are sometimes temporary.

[computergeek541]

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@Triguy wrote:

Try rebooting your phone. If you have another phone the try swapping the sim.

Check your coverage area 

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

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I would say that swapping the sim to improve cell phone signal is largely a myth. A sim card is either going to be making electrical contact or not. 

[pharaohpeter]

@davidjmurdochHere's a tip that might help: If your phone has settings to enable 3G, 4G, LTE, etc. make sure ALL are enabled. Like that your phone will use the best option by itself.

Also, as it has been suggested before, update your phone and reboot it.

Let us know if any of these tips work! Good luck.

[gblackma]

@davidjmurdoch could you check to see if there is an outage?  Maybe the local cell tower is down, amd you are getting service from one further away. https://www.telus.com/en/bc/outages

Stay safe. 

[kselmak]

@Triguy @gpixel 

The fact that op said we makes me think that it may involve all the devices at home. I hope I'm wrong though

[Triguy]

Try rebooting your phone. If you have another phone the try swapping the sim.

Check your coverage area 

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

[gpixel]

@davidjmurdoch  have you updated your devices recently? the first thing you can do is restart your phone. 

whats the make and model?

[kselmak]

Probably contacting moderators https://publicmobile.ca.ada.support/chat/ 

When did it start?

I have family living in the farm, since distancing started they completely lost signal, they had Rogers on one side and Bell tower on the other, the house would reach somewhat both signals, bell a bit stronger than Rogers. Since mid March both signals are completely gone at home and they have to rely on TextNow.