Cell Tower Coverage

[cprnicus]

I work occasionally out of town in Barrhead Ab area. From what I have found out the nearest cell tower is approx 6-7 km from my location. My signal out there is 2 bars at the best of times and goes out quite often - even if I'm stationary all day. Another individual at the same location is on a Bell plan ( trying to convert him as he's had enough with them ) but yet his signal is usually more consistant in strength. Why is that? I have a Moto e4 and he has a Samsung phone. Both are about 4 yrs old I'd say and are on par for quality of product ( price wise ). I'm trying to figure out if it's the service provider or the receiving capabilities of the different phones.

[srlawren]

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@Tippietoes wrote:

I am basing this on personal experience I live on the boundary line of the cell phone coverage area and my bars constantly on a number one or two bar signal strength and have a lot of issues with both pm and telus in our house. We miss calls drop calls and reception is an issue as well,  however if we are mobile and closer to a tower we have zero issues.... hope that helps answer your question

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@Tippietoes that doesn't explain the difference observed between the two users, given that they are on the same network.  (Telus and Bell share their networks.)

[sheytoon]

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@cprnicus wrote:

Ahhh, this may very well be the reason.TY!

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VoLTE might be the reason if signal strength is different during voice calls. Otherwise both phones should be on LTE with the same signal strength... the real difference is the phone itself.

[Tippietoes]

I am basing this on personal experience I live on the boundary line of the cell phone coverage area and my bars constantly on a number one or two bar signal strength and have a lot of issues with both pm and telus in our house. We miss calls drop calls and reception is an issue as well,  however if we are mobile and closer to a tower we have zero issues.... hope that helps answer your question

[srlawren]

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@Tippietoes wrote:

It's 100% the provider

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@Tippietoes what are you basing this on?

[Tippietoes]

It's 100% the provider

[cprnicus]

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@geopublic wrote:

@cprnicus  PM and Bell share the same towers. The only explanation would be that Bell supports VoLTE and PM is strictly 3G for calling.

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Ahhh, this may very well be the reason.TY!

[cprnicus]

2G, 3G and LTE. Usually set to 3G but tried LTE option. No noticeable change to the signal strength.  

[geopublic · Accepted solution]

@cprnicus  PM and Bell share the same towers. The only explanation would be that Bell supports VoLTE and PM is strictly 3G for calling.

[Anonymous]

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@cprnicus wrote:

No change in bars when conn

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@cprnicus wrote:

I work occasionally out of town in Barrhead Ab area. From what I have found out the nearest cell tower is approx 6-7 km from my location. My signal out there is 2 bars at the best of times and goes out quite often - even if I'm stationary all day. Another individual at the same location is on a Bell plan ( trying to convert him as he's had enough with them ) but yet his signal is usually more consistant in strength. Why is that? I have a Moto e4 and he has a Samsung phone. Both are about 4 yrs old I'd say and are on par for quality of product ( price wise ). I'm trying to figure out if it's the service provider or the receiving capabilities of the different phones.

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What happens when you go about making a call? I'm about 13km from a tower. Idle, I get a couple bars. As soon as I make a call it shoots up to full bars. It's due to the switch from LTE to WCDMA. The phone sits idle on LTE. Then wakes up and switches.

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no changed when connected - except when I get dropped, then " no service " is shown.

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What choices can you pick from networks? I have LTE/WCDMA/GSM on a Samsung S7 running A8.

[cprnicus]

This would be a last alternative to consider, but I'll keep it in mind.TY.

[cprnicus]

No change in bars when conn

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@cprnicus wrote:

I work occasionally out of town in Barrhead Ab area. From what I have found out the nearest cell tower is approx 6-7 km from my location. My signal out there is 2 bars at the best of times and goes out quite often - even if I'm stationary all day. Another individual at the same location is on a Bell plan ( trying to convert him as he's had enough with them ) but yet his signal is usually more consistant in strength. Why is that? I have a Moto e4 and he has a Samsung phone. Both are about 4 yrs old I'd say and are on par for quality of product ( price wise ). I'm trying to figure out if it's the service provider or the receiving capabilities of the different phones.

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What happens when you go about making a call? I'm about 13km from a tower. Idle, I get a couple bars. As soon as I make a call it shoots up to full bars. It's due to the switch from LTE to WCDMA. The phone sits idle on LTE. Then wakes up and switches.

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no changed when connected - except when I get dropped, then " no service " is shown.

[cprnicus]

It will drop calls and streaming mid way through. Bars do not go up when connected to either phone or data service. He experiences that occasionally also. How about atmospheric conditions. Signal does tend to be stronger on a cloudy day. ??

[ShawnC13]

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@cprnicus wrote:

I work occasionally out of town in Barrhead Ab area. From what I have found out the nearest cell tower is approx 6-7 km from my location. My signal out there is 2 bars at the best of times and goes out quite often - even if I'm stationary all day. Another individual at the same location is on a Bell plan ( trying to convert him as he's had enough with them ) but yet his signal is usually more consistant in strength. Why is that? I have a Moto e4 and he has a Samsung phone. Both are about 4 yrs old I'd say and are on par for quality of product ( price wise ). I'm trying to figure out if it's the service provider or the receiving capabilities of the different phones.

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PM and Bell use the same networks could be the antenna's reception in each phone.  Are you missing calls or having poor quality when you are making calls?  If it isn't either of these I wouldn't really worry about it unless it is affecting the call quality

[srlawren]

@cprnicus different phone manufacturers determine how many "bars" of signal you have differently.  Don't stress out over that.  Telus and Bell share towers, so you're getting the same coverage as your Bell buddy.  What really matters if if you can make and receive calls, send and receive texts, and use your data when you need to, regardless of the bars showing.  As someone else put it (was it @sheytoon or @will13am maybe?), the signal bars are nothing but decoration.

[kselmak]

Can you guys swap the sim cards ( you'll probably have to unlock your phones)

That may indicate if it's service or the phone difference

Warning: some newer samsung phones do factory reset on the card change, but i believe 4 year olds don't. I suggest you look out up  for the model before you proceed

[Anonymous]

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@cprnicus wrote:

I work occasionally out of town in Barrhead Ab area. From what I have found out the nearest cell tower is approx 6-7 km from my location. My signal out there is 2 bars at the best of times and goes out quite often - even if I'm stationary all day. Another individual at the same location is on a Bell plan ( trying to convert him as he's had enough with them ) but yet his signal is usually more consistant in strength. Why is that? I have a Moto e4 and he has a Samsung phone. Both are about 4 yrs old I'd say and are on par for quality of product ( price wise ). I'm trying to figure out if it's the service provider or the receiving capabilities of the different phones.

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What happens when you go about making a call? I'm about 13km from a tower. Idle, I get a couple bars. As soon as I make a call it shoots up to full bars. It's due to the switch from LTE to WCDMA. The phone sits idle on LTE. Then wakes up and switches.