No cell service at work

[haveagooddavey]

Just started a new job and I get very weak reception at BC Children & Women's Hospital in Vancouver. I see two Telus towers there. Anything I can do other than switching providers? It seems Rogers customers don't have the same problem.

Thanks. 

[haveagooddavey]

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@koimr1 wrote:

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@mimmo wrote:

It might be worth swaping sims with your friend to see if the rogers sim does better in your phone before making the switch.  it could your  phone antenna isnt picking up signal well.

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This would be my suggestion as well.

@haveagooddavey, what phone do you have?

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iPhone 6s.

[sheytoon]

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@crtowns wrote:

@sheytoon

WhatsApp?

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WhatsApp would only work with other WhatsApp users. Incoming calls on your mobile number would go directly to voicemail.

[koimr1]

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@mimmo wrote:

It might be worth swaping sims with your friend to see if the rogers sim does better in your phone before making the switch.  it could your  phone antenna isnt picking up signal well.

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This would be my suggestion as well.

@haveagooddavey, what phone do you have?

[TCity]

I'd recommend trying your sim in another phone to verify it's not the phone. It could be provider coverage, but it's best to rule out the phone before deciding if you need to switch providers. Having used Bell, Telus and Rogers in the past I can say (from my experience) they all have pretty thorough coverage in urban areas. 

[mimmo]

It might be worth swaping sims with your friend to see if the rogers sim does better in your phone before making the switch.  it could your  phone antenna isnt picking up signal well.

[crtowns]

@sheytoon

WhatsApp?

[sheytoon]

@crtowns

For sure it would help, but it's not available to PM customers yet.

[crtowns]

@sheytoon I wonder if wifi calling would help in this situation? Does PM support wifi calling?

[sheytoon]

@haveagooddavey

Hospitals and large buildings like shopping malls, airports, etc are notoriously bad for signal penetration from outdoor macro base stations.

Most of the time, if there's good coverage indoors, it's because of a dedicated in-building base station with indoor antennas.

Having said that, it looks like Rogers and Telus both have indoor systems at BC Children's Hospital, so I'm confused why the Rogers experience is better. Has the experience of your colleagues always been like this? Is it only in specific places or the entire hospital is better with Rogers?

[crtowns]

Wow! @sbreakin What a great tool that website! 

I’ve lived in BC and now Ontario and travelled much of the country. I’ve NEVER had an issue with TELUS coverage except in a couple hospitals. For some reason it seems hospitals can have poor coverage. I’ve always wondered whether it’s something to do with the building or the tech equipment used in the building (interference?).

I have heard of people having issues in basement suites but that is with all carriers. 

For people who spend a big part of their life at work/home I can imagine the coverage in those places is way more important than how good your coverage is across the country. 

Helpful discussion. Thanks @sbreakin

[sbreakin]

Aha I misread your question the first time. 

Improving cellular coverage depends on number of factors.  I note that you see couple of towers nearby & that they are Telus which is great. Below I have some screen shots of coverage & as you can see it seems the West side gets better Telus & the right side gets better Rogers so covergae might vary a little depending on which building you are in.

Other factors include the phone and the bands it receives but I don't think Telus has added any new bands in recent past so any newish phone should recieve all available bands (frequencies). For comparison Freedom recently added band 66 (i think it was).

Hopefully you plan to stay with us & some has a few more tips for improving coverage,

Public Mobile is a pre-paid service & normally there is no refund once you have started service for that month or 90 days depending on your plan. If you did decide to change to Rogers (or Fido/ CHatr) keep you PM account active until the port is completed to keep your number. 

Cell coverage varies throughout cities depending on where towers are & to be honest I find Telus generally slightly better coverage overall (but obviously a workplace is a place you spend lots of time at)

Looking at Open signal's coverage map for that area - cell signal would depend on which buiding you are working in as it appears the building closer to Oak (West side) have better Telus signal whereas those on the East have better Rogers signal.

https://opensignal.com/networks?z=15&minLat=49.2352&maxLat=49.2520&minLng=-123.1473&maxLng=-123.1027...

Public Mobile is a Telus family of companies & uses Telus & Bell towers and in that area they would be Telus as you mentioned.

Below are screen shots of the coverage.