Coverage around Vancouver area? [signal lost]

[MrAtheist]

I've switched to PM for about 2 months now (the 4.5gb plan). The only complaint that I have is the above average signal lost I have experienced since. Underground skytrain tunnel? no signal. Underground P1 parklng/shopping mall? nop. (not even P2). Driving over George Massey Tunnel? tough luck. Like for real anywhere underground the signal is gone. Like "ongoing-call-went-poof" GONE. My phone even goes out of the way notifying me that the signal is lost. Compared to chatr/rogers I used before and had never experienced a single drop.

Also I went on roaming w/ PM in the US a few weeks back. I did hop on to the AT&T network. And oh my, was it a joke or something... Signal dropped every 5 minutes or so. One minute the signal was there, and the next it was gone, all happened while standing still! Again compared to roammobility Ive used before and also had never experienced a single drop.

So yea, this has been my experience with PM up to now, and so far it's not looking bright. Wondering any other similar experience w/ PM or is it the opposite?

[srlawren]

@MrAtheist that's odd in the Canada Line, it should have full coverage.  But it's not a secret about the Expo line:

https://www.translink.ca/About-Us/Media/2017/December/Rogers-and-Fido-customers-are-now-connected-ac...

Plus, on https://www.translink.ca/Rider-Guide/Mobile-Services.aspx, it states:

"Rogers, in partnership with TransLink, has turned on LTE wireless service in the SkyTrain Dunsmuir, Edmonds, and New Westminster tunnels. The expanded service covers Stadium–Chinatown, Granville, Burrard, and Waterfront stations, between 22nd Street and Edmonds stations, and between Columbia and Sapperton stations.

Freedom Mobile customers can access to LTE service at Waterfront, Burrard, Granville, and Stadium–Chinatown stations, as well as in the Dunsmuir Tunnel."

You're right about your phone, it has all the required and optional frequencies.  I'm not sure why you're having so much trouble. I guess if Chatr meets your needs better, you may want to move back to them.

[MrAtheist]

This is the phone I have down to the exact model: https://www.phonemore.com/sony-xperia-z5-compact-e5823/specs/2367 and I would say the phone is more than adequate to be on the telus network. I just temporarily popped in a chatr sim (the carrier i was with previously) this morning and going around the usual places that I go (including underground skytrain), no signal dropped so far.¯ \_(ツ)_/¯

@srlawren

On Canada line theres no signal somewhere between Granvillie <> OlympicVillage, and CityCentre/KingEdward <> 49. And I didnt know theres the exclusiveity for rogers, then I wouldnt be switching in the first place! And so far the underground places I've been to in downtown my phone gets no signal from PM. In between these 2 skytrain lines my commute takes place 75% around the deadzones and this just isnt cutting it.

[will13am]

The one generality I will make is that Rogers and Bellus both run a pretty solid network but it's not 100% in any locale.  Try hard enough and you will find dead spots.  In some places one network will be a bit better than the other.  In other places, the other way around.  At my workplace all services are pretty bad.  Freedom has the strongest signal.  However their limited number of towers are overloaded and suffer what I refer to as lights on nobody home syndrome.  

[RobertQc]

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@sheytoon wrote:

That website's info is NOT accurate. If you think it's correct, they should be able to identify nearly 100 square kilometers in Vancouver where Telus has zero coverage, yet Rogers has coverage.

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@sheytoon

What is so impossible about that? Because of 100km2 with no coverage? There are huge gaps of coverage for all networks in rural / unpopulated areas all over Canada. Take a look at any provider coverage map, more than half of Canada will be blank.

Ontario Bellus covers 228Km2 - Rogers 203Km2
Nova Scotia Bellus 54km2 - Rogers 39Km2
Rogers covers only 1.36% of Newfoundland/Labrador, while Bell covers 17.81%
Rogers covers only 69.05% of New Brunswick but Bellus covers 77%

Rogers covers only 7.5% of Quebec but Bellus covers 12.05%
etc

Bellus has better overall COVERAGE, but not in Vancouver. If you think the source is wrong- then provide a better one.

[hairbag1]

I've not had much experience around Vancouver but as far as using PM Add-on in USA...I've used it frequently. From Spokane to Seattle to Boise...not a problem using my iPhone SE. Place and recieved calls and texts w/o problems. Haven't tried using  data there though.

[srlawren]

@MrAtheist when you say underground sections of SkyTrain, let me ask:  Canada Line, or Expo Line?  If Canada Line, that is unusual.  I've had a couple of signal drops on the Canada Line but they are very rare.  For Expo line, this is a known problem and the problem is that Rogers and Freedom have exclusive coverage agreements in the Stadium-Waterfront section of the track as well as the small underground section near Edmunds.  

I briefly tried the Rogers network (via Fido) this time last year when they had the 10gig/$60 plan going and found the signal to be vastly inferior in the areas I compared, vs. PM (Telus network).  This was near Guildford area of Surrey, along most of the Expo line, and even in Downtown and surrounding areas.  This was my epxerience, and I cancelled the Fido line and stuck with PM.

What is your phone's make and model?  

[sheytoon]

@RobertQc

I don't want to hijack this thread much longer, so this is the last comment I'll make about it.

That website's info is NOT accurate. If you think it's correct, they should be able to identify nearly 100 square kilometers in Vancouver where Telus has zero coverage, yet Rogers has coverage.

[RobertQc]

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@sheytoon wrote:

@RobertQc, can you share your facts? How many cell sites does each operator have in Vancouver? What is the call drop rate? Access failure rate? Average CQI per subscriber?

Do you have access to such Key Performance Indicators? Because I've seen them first hand...

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@sheytoonOverall rogers has better coverage based on Network Geographical Area square kilometers in Vancouver. No where did I say anything regarding them having better signal strength for any area or dropped call rates or anything along those lines. Coverage.

Both providers should provide optimum signal strength in populated areas. Like I said "you should not be losing signal in populated areas" which brought me to the diagnoses stage of hardware/software on the customers phone.

"Geographic Area Covered in Vancouver

Network Percentage Geographic Area Covered (km2)

Coverage data generated November 2018 from carrier maps"

[sheytoon]

@RobertQc, can you share your facts? How many cell sites does each operator have in Vancouver? What is the call drop rate? Access failure rate? Average CQI per subscriber?

Do you have access to such Key Performance Indicators? Because I've seen them first hand...

The website you're using is not reliable. For example, I live in Toronto and it says every provider is 100% coverage (Freedom is 99.95%). This is demonstrably false.

[RobertQc]

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@sheytoon wrote:

Though I wouldn't make a generalization that Rogers is 15% better in Vancouver. It's different for each person. Both Rogers and Telus should have very good coverage in Vancouver.

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@sheytoonRogers has better coverage in Vancouver. It's a fact. Rogers covers approximately 55.07% of Vancouver, Bellus covers approximately 48.45% of Vancouver. While some places Bellus may be better for reception in Vancouver, overall Rogers has better coverage, almost 15% better coverage.

[sheytoon]

@MrAtheist, were you previously with Rogers? It's possible Rogers provides better coverage in places that you visit. I've heard SkyTrain is much better with Rogers, but elsewhere Telus should be similar.

Though I wouldn't make a generalization that Rogers is 15% better in Vancouver. It's different for each person. Both Rogers and Telus should have very good coverage in Vancouver.

You can see site locations here:

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

As for the US, that's not related to Telus.

[RobertQc]

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@MrAtheist wrote:

I've switched to PM for about 2 months now (the 4.5gb plan). The only complaint that I have is the above average signal lost I have experienced since. Underground skytrain tunnel? no signal. Underground P1 parklng/shopping mall? nop. (not even P2). Driving over George Massey Tunnel? tough luck. Like for real anywhere underground the signal is gone. Like "ongoing-call-went-poof" GONE. My phone even goes out of the way notifying me that the signal is lost. Compared to chatr/rogers I used before and had never experienced a single drop.

Also I went on roaming w/ PM in the US a few weeks back. I did hop on to the AT&T network. And oh my, was it a joke or something... Signal dropped every 5 minutes or so. One minute the signal was there, and the next it was gone, all happened while standing still! Again compared to roammobility Ive used before and also had never experienced a single drop.

So yea, this has been my experience with PM up to now, and so far it's not looking bright. Wondering any other similar experience w/ PM or is it the opposite?

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@MrAtheist Unfortunately as you are in Vancouver, Rogers actually has better coverage than Bell/Telus. Most places Bell/Telus/Koodo/Virgin/Public is the best, it is the best overall in Canada and pretty much everywhere, but in Vancouver Rogers/Fido/ChatR/Cityfone has almost 15% better coverage.

 https://www.whistleout.ca/CellPhones/Guides/Best-coverage-In-Vancouver

Geographic Area Covered in Vancouver

Network Percentage Geographic Area Covered (km2)

Bell	48.45%	712
Rogers	55.07%	810
Freedom	35.94%	529
Telus	48.45%	712

Coverage data generated November 2018 from carrier maps

 

Although you should not be losing signal in populated areas (even underground), I would suggest trying your sim card in another 100% network capable phone, often the cause can be your phone, a weak solder point on the radio antenna, maybe you have the weakest reception phone (not all phones are created equal), maybe your phone hardware is failing, or your radio software is using some sort of high power savings mode.

Your phone also might not have been designed to work with all the frequencies of the network you are on. Post your phone exact model number to see if it is able to pick up every single network tower signal. Many cases someone buys a phone and doesn’t realize there are sometimes 10+ different variations of the same phone that are designed for different countries or different networks. What happens if some of the network frequency bands are missing from your phone it ends up appearing as you have low/weak/no signal when really your phone is only able to connect to certain towers. 

The active / being deployed frequencies used on the Telus/Bell network
3G/4G Class UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+/DC-HSPA+ on Band2(850MHZ CLR) & Band5(1900MHZ PCS)
LTE / LTE Advanced 4G Band2(1900MHZ PCS) / Band4 (1700MHZ/2100MHZ AWS)/ Band5(850MHZ CLS) / Band7(2600MHZ IMT-E) / Band12/Band13/Band17/Band29(700MHZ A/B/C/E)