Inland hwy, Vancouver Island between Campbell River and Parksville

[Svenski]

When driving this route, either direction and any day, I get dropped calls + areas of no-service. Can't make / receive calls or listen to music. Etc.
Around Coombs and Errington there's generally no service.
I didn't experience this with Fido. Is this the way it is for this area?

[Svenski]

Thanks, I tried today to switch to LTE and then to 3G as 5G had no service on the Inland. None of them worked. 
Turned data off and on. Rebooted the phone. This is unfortunately not going to work for me.

[Svenski]

Thanks for the GPS clarification. I'm a bit frustrated and lumped it all in. To be more clear, GPS keeps working but the cellular portion doesn't. Today, coming from Campbell to Courtenay, I had no service for about 3/4 of the drive i.e. from Jubilee ish to part way along Piercy. I can't stay with Public I'm sad to say.

[DoubleDeuce]

@Svenski ah yes, the spotty Comox coverage - suffice to say I am very familiar with that issue and find myself switching to 3G frequently in that area!

For what it's worth regarding GPS:  the GPS system on phones (or any device) does not depend on the mobile network at all in order to determine your location, that functionality is based on communication with the GPS satellites themselves - so you are never actually "losing GPS service".  However what can happen is that your app (e.g., Google Maps) needs the mobile network to display its layers, look up directions, etc., and when it loses the mobile network it can't do those things and stops working.  This problem can be solved by downloading offline maps within your mapping app, which most of them support.  I generally keep an offline map of the entire island downloaded.

Regarding the other areas - I've travelled a lot on the island, and can offer the following general info:

• Port Alberni has good service, however past there on Hwy 4 you should plan for no coverage until you get to either Tofino or Ucluelet, which both have good service.  The area betwen those two (e.g., around Long Beach) has some coverage but it is spotty - the 3G network trick can be useful there.
• North of Campbell River the island is basically a vast wilderness with significant distances between the few relatively small communities.  Do not expect any coverage unless you are in or very near one of the towns (e.g., Sayward, Port McNeill, Port Hardy, etc.).

Happy travels!

[Svenski]

Hi @DoubleDeuce,
Thanks for the reply and information. I've had no issues with Fido or Virgin before them, other than a 2 block dead zone in Comox. I was actually surprised and disappointed that Public (Telus) would have poor reception in that area. 
I agree, I could download for that area but I found calls dropping as well as GPS having no service for mulitple areas from Parksville / Coombs all the way to Campbell. I'm a new -user so haven't tried further i.e. Port Alberni, going north of Campbell etc.
Thanks for the hint to try 3G/4G and the theory behind it, I'll try that soon.
Cheers

[Svenski]

Hi @hTideGnow 
Thanks for the reply, I'll try switching networks and see if that helps.
I had no issues with Fido other than a very small area in Comox. 
I'm using a Galaxy S21FE

[DoubleDeuce]

Hi @Svenski.  I live in the area and travel that route a lot.  For as long as I can remember there has always been a bit of a "dead zone" in the area between Parksville and the Comox Valley.  My wife is on Virgin Mobile and she has the same experience.  I don't have any experience with the Rogers network around here.  Ultimately I've always just chalked it up to this being a relatively remote area with poor coverage and plan accordingly (e.g., downloading music or podcasts rather than streaming).

As @hTideGnow noted, I've found that switching to the 3G network seems to give somewhat better coverage in the area.  I also find that sometimes switching the phone into airplane mode for ~10 seconds can result in a better connection - my pet theory there is that when travelling at speed the phone may "cling" to a less ideal tower for too long, and forcing it to search for a new one gets better service, but I have no evidence or special knowledge to back up that theory.

Best of luck!

[hTideGnow · Accepted solution]

hi @Svenski 

https://publicmobile.ca/en/coverage

According to the coverage map, both Campbell river and Parksville should have coverage.  But Campbell River might have weaker coverage as it is on the edge

What phone do you have?  

and try changing the network mode to 3G and 4G (or LTE) and test as well