Phone Service

[gyjycan]

I am noticing the actual phone service is sketchy. How do we fix this? Shows 1 bar

[darlicious]

@gyjycan 

You may have had a poor connection to the network when call quality is affected or when your texts take a long time to send. Toggle airplane mode on/off to get a brand new connection to the network.

Fongo is also very useful to check your voicemail on limited minutes plans that use outgoing minutes when calling your voicemail.

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[gyjycan]

For the most part the service is pretty good. Signal strenght is -106 dbm

the other day though I was on a call and it was choppy and while on hold lots of crackling.

Data and texting work fine.

I'll check out this fongo app 

[darlicious]

@softech 

Thanks for the link to that thread it was insightful.

@Psygineer 

If you are mostly on WiFi then use the workaround for your calling issues. Download textnow or fongo. If you use fongo you can also use their call transfer feature. Use your phone's conditional and unconditional call forwarding options to call forward your pm number to your fongo number.

 Whenever your signal is too weak to support voice calling your incoming calling will ring thru to your fongo number. It will switch between WiFi and 4G LTE data if you lose your WiFi connection. Fongo uses about 0.5mb/min so the times that it does use your mobile data it will hardly make a dent in your usage.

I was thinking the call transfer feature could help you as well....well maybe it's a cool trick to know regardless. Explained by @kselmak  in this post......

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Made-a-call-while-at-home-on-wifi-no-minu...

This thread by @Nezgar explains your call forwarding options.....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Out-of-service-area-or-on-Airplane-mode/m...

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[softech]

Hey @Psygineer , you were part of the discussion back in 2018

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Poor-Service-in-Thunder-Bay-Ontario-Frequ...

I guess nothing changed since.  With 3G going away soon, there will certainly be no improvement coming

I guess the choice is either you have to go with Koodo/Telus for VoLTE, or wait for PM to bring VoLTE in or go with Rogers.. 😞

[softech]

@Psygineer 

SM-G975W is a Canadian version of S10+, so, it should be fully compatible with PM

so, you have more problem with voice and Data are working well, right?

According  to another site Cellmapper, I filter out 3G towers for Bell , there are none in your area, cloesest one are those in the east end.  

How about your friends?  are they mostly Rogers?  Rogers has a log more 3G towers than Bell in the area, and spread out more

[Psygineer]

@softech @darlicious 

Samsung Galaxy S10+ SM-G975W

That's the correct tower and area. Near those railway tracks on 20th.(the road just below the tower)

[darlicious]

@Psygineer 

Bell only has B2 in your area no B5 so your 3G service is relying only one band for voice calls. Your make and model of phone will help us with your compatibility.

@softech 

Time to pull out the cellmapper app!

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[softech]

@Psygineer 

is that the area?

it is not too bad in terms of the Bell towers

You have any neighbours on Bell or Telus? How's their reception?

But it is true, if you live closer to the east of the airport, I think you get better Rogers signal there.

But if you are on the north or west of the airport, Bell should be slightly better in terms or number of towers

Again, what brand and model  of phone you have?

[Psygineer]

Appreciate the help, the first one I posted was the 4G/LTE turned on, the second was the 3G/GSM only (it's the marginally better one, I tend to leave it in that mode although it means I don't get any emergency alerts anymore).

It makes no difference if I am standing in my yard or in the living room, the signal is always well below what is decent (1XX), even walking around the neighborhood it rarely gets better.

I've analyzed scadacore's data on the towers before. The one closest to me that I pointed my booster at is Latitude: 48.3819 Longitude: -89.3582  (Thunder Bay, Ontario, although I am thinking of moving out west later this year so this problem might fix itself!)

Edit: Also just realized I accidentally hijacked this thread!

[darlicious]

@Psygineer 

Ah yes that reading is considered unusable. Is that your 4G LTE signal strength? What's your 3G signal strength? With that poor of a reading it's probably causing your calls to default to email because switching from 4G LTE to 3G for your voice calls has a delay. How long did you test using 3G only? If your 3G signal fluctuates does it do that everywhere or only certain areas in or around your home?

Many things can impede your signal strength and depending on the network and the bands that you connect to on your local tower are each affected differently by impediments. Even your type of insulation can make a big difference on whether a certain frequency can be strong enough to maintain a connection. Toggling airplane mode on/off could help you always keep a decent network connection.

If you share your location or your local towers GPS co-ordinates we can examine what frequencies should be reaching your home from which tower. You may have tested a signal booster facing the wrong tower or direction preventing the booster from doing it's job. There was a customer in Manitoba who purchased a top of the line signal booster but the "professional" installer managed to install it facing the one direction that had no cell towers within more than 100 miles. Once the customer changed the signal boosters direction it worked like a charm. 

Here is some info on construction materials and their affect on signal strength. I have a dead spot of about 10 square ft in the room off my kitchen that is blocked by my chimney stack, my fridge and stove. A similar section of my kitchen has a poor WiFi signal as it's impeded by the same objects between it and my WiFi box and router.

https://www.wilsonpro.com/blog/how-building-materials-affect-cell-phone-signal-booster-performance

https://www.signalbooster.com/blogs/news/how-much-which-building-materials-block-cellular-wifi-signa...

Lol....if we go thru lockdown again here's something to keep you occupied....

https://www.ciena.com/insights/articles/How-I-built-my-own-mobile-cell-tower-prx.html

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[Psygineer]

@darlicious Same outside too, no Faraday cage effect in my home. It's fluctuating up and down bit but averages around -122 dBm 18 asu (LTE)  and -102 dBm 18 asu (GSM)

[darlicious]

@Psygineer 

Do you get the same results inside your home as outside? Try testing with more accuracy with both networks using the signal strength metre in your About Phone settings.

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[Psygineer]

I only ever get 1 bar and live fairly close to a tower (can see a Bell owned tower in the distance when looking out the window), with two more not that far away (relatively speaking) (All Bell as there are no Telus towers here I believe). In all reality I should be getting near maximum bars! I often drop to "Emergency Calls Only". What I have tried was swapping out the SIM (unlikely, but figured worth a try) which did nothing. Tried GSM/3G only mode, with no luck. Tried upgrading my phone (no luck, oddly enough the thrift shop Samsung S5 Neo gets better bars (two or sometimes three!) than the S10+ (which is always at 1 bar odd time two bars when at home, maxed out when at the stores) or the S8+ (my old phone, got second hand, typically 1 bar odd time two) or the borrowed iPhone 5s I tried (same as the S8+). I tried a single booster designed for Bell/Telus, and it does inflate the bars I get to 3 regularly sometimes even max, but it still drops to Emergency Calls only just as regularly so I guessing the booster can't do much with what little it is getting. Eventually I just gave up and accepted that I am in a bit of a dead zone and that my phone only works half the time if I am lucky, that my calls will drop if I talk too much, and that texting can take a few minutes per message at times (and sometimes causes the message to send 3 times). Since I can use my company webphone for any serious calls that need stability, my PM number is good enough to get the job done for personal use rather than spending $70+ a month to be on Rogers (the main carrier here). (I'm guessing Telus/Koodo/Bell/Virgin/Lucky would give me the same level of service as Public Mobile as they would be pinging  off the same tower.) While my solution won't work for you (and it isn't much of a solution) I figured I would share with you what I tried to fix this issue. The booster would have been a waste of money for me, but thankfully, it was borrowed so I was not out of pocket for it. I can't really test the theory about the other Bell/Telus carriers suffering too because so far anyone who has been to my place has been on Rogers (and get full bars) or also on Public (with 1/0 bars). 

Edit: 
Looked on the tower Map, there are actually four towers, not three, two of them very close to each other, the other two towers are closer to me than I thought! I am in the center (almost) of a triangle. (Still being slightly closer to the one I can see). 

[darlicious]

@gyjycan 

Are you basing your analysis on the bars on your phone or actual service reception and your call quality, ability to send and receive both SMS/MMS texts and speed and/or lag of both your 4G LTE data throttled to 3mbps and your full speed 3G data?

If you would like to get a more accurate read of both your 4G LTE and 3G signal strength go to your phones settings and choose the network you want to test ie. 4G only. Then go to>> About Phone >>SIM Card Status>>Signal Strength : -103dBm  37asu (This my 4G LTE signal strength which is apparently terrible but I have no issues with my data or texts and an unobstructed line of sight with my closest tower in the middle of Vancouver. My 3G signal hovers around - 67dBm which is fantastic. Test in and around and outside of your residence to get a good assessment of your signal strength. The lower your dBm the better the asu isn't that important for your needs.

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[srlawren]

Another consideration: "bars" are only a rough indicator of your actual signal strength/quality.  What really matters is: are you able to use the services reliably the majority of the time?

[Meow]

Could be local town maintenance?

But is your service stable? Do you have issues receiving/placing calls? Delayed SMS?

[dust2dust]

Most phones will sit unused on LTE. Maybe your LTE reception is not great where you are. Start or take a call and you'll likely see the bars jump up as the phone switches itself to UMTS.

[softech]

@gyjycan   It could be just your location/network issue or your device.

What kind of phone are you using?

Make a reboot first and see how it goes

If still just 1 bar, try to change your network type to 3G ONLY/WCDMA ONLY and see if it is better

Also, try to use your phone in other location and see if it is any better