How to get Help for a Cell Tower issue

[xjeepguy]

We recently got a new cell tower in my area and there have been a few issues since , like today , cant call out and no calls are coming in . And I know its the tower because I just drove out to the next towers coverage area and phone works perfectly !!    So with a forum based help system , who do we call about something like this ?  Its not something a moderator can help with I don't think .  And since we piggy back on Telus towers ,  who do we call with such a problem ?  

Thanks 

[hTideGnow]

Hi @xjeepguy the Telus going to credit you the amount you have here, so  you just want to know how much you had here before your account was closed?  Message Cs agent :

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

[xjeepguy]

I see my account is obviously closed here , the lady from Telus tech support said they were going to credit me what balance of funds I had left here because of all the hassles I experienced , over to my Koodoo acct..   Can someone look into that for me , please .   

[xjeepguy]

"I assume you  are migrating to a postpaid koodo account with a VoLTE capable device?"  The answer is yes and my phone already had that capability .  I already set up Koodoo and ported the number and the phone is back to working again .  Thanks for all the assistance , have a great weekend . 

[darlicious]

@xjeepguy 

I suggest you don't port out right away but test out koodo's service first that way if you are dissatisfied you won't lose your rewards. Your account does not need to be active to port out to koodo you may want to keep it with a replacement phone number for the next 90 days suspended with the option to reactivate on the $15 plan before it gets cancelled and deactivated. That would extend it long enough to see if the rumours are true about pm getting VoLTE by the end of September.

I assume you are are migrating to a postpaid koodo account with a VoLTE capable device? Otherwise you will be in the exact same boat as to you are now. BTW....last I checked  CCS had a 20% off the first month and free sim card activation bundle and a free month credit. Don't forget to use a referral code for the bonus credit.

Lol....tell the owner I said "Hi"....I can finally send him some business his way now that he can no longer activate pm customers.

[xjeepguy]

Well for anyone thats been tagging along reading all this , here is the solution . I drove up close to the new tower so I could receive a call and the Telus lady called me and explained that PM wont work with the new tower hardware UNLESS I'm REALLY close , I'm not getting into the tech explanation but the long and short of this is , I'm going to a Koodoo place tomorrow and sign up .  She said they would give me credit for any unused $$$ I have here ( I pay every 3 months so .... ) so that was fair .   I wish they would of done like Telus ? Koodoo did for their customers and send me out an email stating this was imminent, instead of letting me deal with this crap since Tuesday .   Thats the low down , thanks to all who tried to help me out .  

😄  

[xjeepguy]

Someone texted me from Telus this morning about this . They really didn't offer any solutions either except to restart my phone and reset network settings which I've done a few times already.  I have a feeling this is going to be a case of getting a refund from PM and going to another carrier . IF Public Mobile offered wifi calling this wouldn't be such an inconvenience!  It's completely unacceptable not to have service here when I'm paying for it . The service has sucked SO BAD here the last 4 years . I pay the same rates as the PM people in town yet put up with disconnected calls , unusable data when I need it and pay for it  and so on and so forth .  This new tower they put in was a result of a TON of complaints about service here , in fact people signed a petition and presented it at a city council meeting , that's why we ended up with the new tower .  Every call we've made here in the last 4 years begins with " The service is so bad here , please call back when we get disconnected".  I'm not kidding either, its an embarrassment.  This now is just the icing on the cake . 

[darlicious]

@xjeepguy 

Ohhhh....yes someone else from Salmon Arm was/is having the same issue! Do you have telus home services? You can probably talk to their tech department and may get a quicker response or transferred to the right department to speak with the people that deal with this kind of network issue.

Edit :

Make that 3 of you now....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Reduction-Change-to-Service-Area/m-p/8475...

[xjeepguy]

Yeah we havent had anything like that here .  I'm in Salmon Arm BC , the out in the country part of it 🙂 

[darlicious]

@xjeepguy 

Big thunderstorm? High winds? Maybe the azimuth of the 3G repeater thingy is out of whack and the 3G signal is now aimed at a swathe of forest or a lake? Not sure where you are? You know like how your satellite tv or your old style antenna had to be repositioned after a wind storm.

[xjeepguy]

Except that my next door neighbors is also out and he is on Bell , we had a chat this morning about whats going here.  So not sure what that says . Also , when anyone drives a bit down the road , they all get service  and can call . So there's that too .  Everyone here has excellent signal strength to that new tower.  Its been up and functioning a month and we have all enjoyed excellent service up until a couple days ago , something major changed .  

[hTideGnow]

---

@xjeepguy wrote:

 They're all Bell , Telus , Koodoo , Pub Mobile and  Lucky mobile customers and no ones to happy .  

---

HI @xjeepguy 

But Bell, Telus, Koodo could be unaffected as they have VoLTE.   

PM and (un)Lucky are the one to suffer as we both using 3G for calls and not VoLTE

[xjeepguy]

I will investigate this , thanks  

[xjeepguy]

Yeah I think you have hit the nail on the head there .  When I manually try to set the phone to 3G , it wont even register on the network . This is causing a major stink out here as I'm now running into more and more of my neighbors who have no service. They're all Bell , Telus , Koodoo , Pub Mobile and  Lucky mobile customers and no ones to happy .  Not sure whats to become of this but they will have to do something cause I see the mob sharpening up their pitch forks right now .  I'm not sure if 911 works in this scenario but if that wont call out either , this is not good , lots of retired people here .  Thanks for the reply 😄 

[darlicious]

@xjeepguy

 Rumour has it that pm will get VoLTE by the bend of September. In the short term you an use the workaround. Download a voip provider like textnow or fongo. Choose a local phone number. Call forward (unreachable) your pm number to your voip number. Your incoming when not connected to the 3G network will ring thru to your voip number. Free while on wifi and about 0.5mb/min when on mobile data. This will at least alleviate the issue for now. Call out using your voip app/number.

[dust2dust · Accepted solution]

It does a look lot like they put in a new tower that does not support 3G calling. Phones usually sit idle on LTE which you're seeing with the solid bars. But then when a call comes in or is attempted then with Public, the phone needs to switch down to 3G. 3G needs to be out there. In your close tower apparently it's not.

This is going to happen more and more as Canada reduces 3G use which squeezes us out until Public moves over to volte...if ever.

[xjeepguy]

Well I did a little testing this morning and see the 'Mobile Network State' is disconnected on the phone and it will not make or receive calls when they are like that but Data and Texting will work just fine . So , I drove a little closer to the new tower and sure enough it says 'Connected' then and all works fine . 
I should mention there's a bunch of us here that cant call out or receive as well , all on the new Telus tower.  And the Telus customers got an email saying they must switch their phones to LTE in order for them to work now that we are on the new tower. Thank you Public Mobile for doing that for us , NOT !!!  Who's running this show anyways , anyone ????   
Whats happening is now that we are all on LTE, the phones are all showing this disconnected from network state all the time or just  randomly .  Everyone shows 5 bars on their phones so its not a signal issue . 
Thoughts anyone ? 

[CountyDownIeUk]

Are you sure it is a Telus or Bell tower?

Might show here. https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html?lat=52.000000&lng=-97.000000&zoom=4&type=Roadm...

[xjeepguy]

I have a ticket open now so we will see where this goes .  Thanks for the help one and all .  

[xjeepguy]

Thanks , I know where the tower is , I drive by it every day .  Its brand spanking new !   

[Timer]

@xjeepguy 

check out your area coverage for public mobile network use telus and bell.

Canadian Cellular Towers Map (ertyu.org)

[xjeepguy]

I'd be waiting until hell froze over for them to do anything .  But thanks 

[xjeepguy]

Yep , this tower is LTE only as I saw a message from Telus telling all to make sure cells are all now on LTE , which mine is . It is a Telus tower btw.  If I change to anything less than LTE it will not register on the network , tried that a few times. 

[xjeepguy]

Ok thanks for reply , everyone !  My signal strength is -107 dBm ,  31 asu . Thats what it says .  My bars on the screen are a solid 5 all the time and it is LTE .  Its a brand new Telus tower not to far from our place .  

[darlicious]

@xjeepguy

 Where are you located? We can have a look on the cell tower map. Check your 3G signal strength once you set your phone to 3G only. Go to settings>>About phone>>Sim card status>>Signal strength What is your dBm reading?

[BKNS27]

@xjeepguy 

Call your the Engineering Department at your local City Hall. They will contact the carrier of the cell tower but they will need your location/address.

[hTideGnow]

HI @xjeepguy   is that a Telus/Bell tower or a Rogers or other competitors?

The new towers likely have 5G and LTE and possibly no 3G

Can't call out and no calls coming in.  If you change your network to 3G Only does it connect at all or very weak signal?

you can open a ticket with PM CS agent for more information, or complain here

at : https://publicmobile.ca/chatbot. Follow this to get to ticket open screen quicker:

start by typing : Contact CS Agent
then Click "Contact Us"
then Click "Other"
finally Click "Click here to submit a ticket"
you will then direct to another page to open ticket.

After ticket is submitted, make sure to check your Community Inbox(top right corner envelope icon) periodically for response from PM's CS Agent

If you have problems submitting a ticket, you can also send a private message to the CS Agent (but this can take longer):
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437