Poor coverage in Fergus

[Gillian]

Unless I'm near the cell phone tower in downtown Fergus, I can no longer get any signal. This wasn't the case when I owned my Galaxy S6 (even though reception still wasn't great) but since getting the S9 reception has been horrible. Same goes for travelling Hwy. 6 and 24 down in to Cambridge. My sister, who's with Bell and lives in Fergus, has absolutely no issues.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it an issue with my phone perhaps? Does PM use Bell or is it Telus? Any trouble shooting suggestions?

If I don't get it resolved I may have to switch providers.

[Gillian]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

 @Gillian : Yes it would when 3G is more prevalent. It means your LTE is weak (not yours...the network of your area). You could verify that by switching it back to how it was and watch the bars go down like before. Then dial 611 or something and watch it switch with the bars going up. Or call the number and watch it switch when the network finds the phone and starts ringing.

The phone rests on LTE. But 3G sits there waiting. Changing it to 3G just gives it better resting bars.

---

Thing is, when it was set to LTE/3G/2G, the connection would COMPLETELY drop out. As in no network available. And since it was on auto detect, you'd think it would at least try to find the next available thing, ie. 3G. Or am I completely misunderstanding how this works?

[Anonymous]

 @Gillian : Yes it would when 3G is more prevalent. It means your LTE is weak (not yours...the network of your area). You could verify that by switching it back to how it was and watch the bars go down like before. Then dial 611 or something and watch it switch with the bars going up. Or call the number and watch it switch when the network finds the phone and starts ringing.

The phone rests on LTE. But 3G sits there waiting. Changing it to 3G just gives it better resting bars.

[will13am]

---

@Gillian wrote:

---

BTW, if you switch to 3G only and you see the signal strength indication on the notification bar go up, then the switch would improve cellular performance. 

---

It did actually. Strength went up another 2-3 bars.

---

This workaround will be effective for you.  Don't forget to switch back when this workaround is no longer needed.  Generally LTE performance when signal strength is good.  

[Gillian]

---

BTW, if you switch to 3G only and you see the signal strength indication on the notification bar go up, then the switch would improve cellular performance. 

---

It did actually. Strength went up another 2-3 bars.

[will13am]

---

@Gillian wrote:

"Did that change add bars of reception?"

It did, actually. We'll see how reception improves on the back roads home. (I'll pull over to make the call, I promise. :D).

---

Generally the tower density in the Fergus area is somewhat sparse but this is probably typical of low density areas without major terrain affecting the reach of the towers.  Take a look at the tower locations in the area.  BTW, if you switch to 3G only and you see the signal strength indication on the notification bar go up, then the switch would improve cellular performance.  If you don't see any change on the signal strength, the the change won't help.   

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html?lat=43.705844&lng=-80.377865&zoom=12&type=Road...

[Gillian]

"Did that change add bars of reception?"

It did, actually. We'll see how reception improves on the back roads home. (I'll pull over to make the call, I promise. :D).

[Anonymous]

 @Gillian : Did that change add bars of reception?

Public Mobile needs 3G for voice and can do text and data on either 3G or 4G. You may not notice any data difference depending on how you use your data

[Gillian]

Phone was set to LTE/3G/2G on checking. I've changed it now to 3G only and will check reception on my way home to Cambridge tonight. I'll be in Fergus this weekend so I can check reception there too. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for your help.

[Triguy]

PM uses Bell and Telus towers.  Try switching network to 3G.

[Anonymous]

 @Gillian : PM is Telus and they share infrastructure with Bell. Could you try setting your phone to 3G/UMTS/WCDMA whatever settings and not include LTE. Data will still work. (don't start with GSM) But it might get you different reception. It also might be that you have weak LTE but then when you make/take a call you might see your bars jump up. That's the phone switching to the required 3G for voice.