Re: Weak signal strength

Noticed this about 2 weeks ago and it seems to persist to this day. I seem to be averaging about -110 to -120 dBm which is very weak signal. I've 'missed calls' where I dont even get a buzz but I see a notification that I have voice mail already.

Thought it might be my phone (oneplus 7t) but it is also happening to my roommate also on public mobile (using moto e5 play) and another roommate on Virgin mobile (galaxy s8)

My understanding is that bell/telus (which own virgin and public respectively) share towers right? so I thought it might be a tower issue but a quick google is telling me towers near me are fine (i live in GTA around etobicoke)

It wasn't always like this, While I dont recall what the previous dBm readings were, I was very easily able to have quality phone calls. SMS seems to be sending fine, as well as Data seems to be working as usual as well (emphasis on SEEMS. They could be suffering too, it's just more obvious with phone calls)

I have tried some of the common solutions like:

- restarting phone

- taking sim card in and out

- turning air plane mode on waiting a bit then turning it back on.

but am at a loss now. Would appreciate some more suggestions or explanation or anything ! thanks

28 REPLIES 28

it doesn't, you explained what that earfcn number meant in another forum. I was just surprised lol

Yes it does, but maybe I'm misunderstanding how that relates to 5G?

does this look familiar @sheytoon ?

2016

Correct. Block C downlink is from 740-746 MHz. EARFCN 5145 converted to frequency is 742.5 MHz (DL), and your channel bandwidth is 5 MHz, meaning it's using 740-745 MHz. The upper 1 MHz is unused.

EARFCN always indicates the centre frequency of the channel. Without the bandwidth, it's impossible to know the frequency range in use.

MFBI is active on all Band 17 channels, so you will see Band 12 with equal coverage.

@gpixel that's 4G.

I think I'm connecting to 5g when my signal goes wonky

@wacko604 Not receiving whatapp mesaage using cell data until opening app isn't a Public Mobile issue. Tech support can't help. The background data is disabled by for app like @gpixel says to save data or battery power.

maybe check your what's app settings. check to see if all required permissions(background data) are enabled. do you have data saver on or something like that?

I switched over to 3g/wcdma/HSPA and no change.

If someone sends me a message on What's app I don't receive the message until I open What's app. However if I'm connected to wifi the messages come in instantly.

I've already tried switching the sim card into another phone and the issue is still present. I'm currently using a Samsung S10 and Samsung A8.

Any other ideas? Or info from public mobile tech support?

Thanks for the help.

@wacko604 me too.. but for whatever reason lte has been inconsistent in certain areas for me. I've actually made the switch to 3g and my battery is better! the webpage browsing is slower because of the latency, but for videos and media content it's much better.

*switched back to LTE, that HSPA lag... I'm finding that the times im losing connection is when my phone is connected to the higher frequencies. which makes sense.. I guess because pm is third tier I might be getting downgraded to a less overcrowded tower with worst LTE penetration. this usually only happens during high traffic times I think? ✊🪵.

I'll give that a try. But disappointed if we need to switch to 3g when we are able to use LTE.

Thanks

Bell/Telus has the best coverage in the country. ESPECIALLY in the GTA. There are so many cell towers here that you should get 4 or 3 bars around here. I know that as a fact because I live in the GTA and travel alot, I’ve never dropped bars bellow 3. (Keep in mind I use 3G and not LTE as signal is better and faster since public doesn’t throttle 3G like LTE)

@wacko604 for a more consistent data experience, I suggest switching to 3g/wcdma/HSPA

browsing is slower, but the connection is more stable

Hi I'm located in East Vancouver and signal has been weak the past few weeks.

WhatsApp has been having issues receiving and sending messages. Problem is gone when wifi is used.

Has anyone else experienced this in Vancouver?

Public mobile has been great up until now.

@computergeek541 that may be true for the general public, but operators and equipment vendors in North America do in fact refer to band 4 as 2100.

@spacecabbage wrote:
@gpixel

interesting thanks for bringing this up!

taking a quick look at ertyu there is only Bell towers near me (i swear there was telus as well? although possible i mistook a rogers tower)

Anyway the absolute closest one to me is 1900/2100. and a few blocks away from that is (700MHz, 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz, 2600MHz)

I'm guessing mine just takes the high frequency tower, because well, it's closer, even by just a couple blocks. (or it does pick up the other tower, but since it is a tad bit further it is thus weaker. Would also explain why my Data is fine!)

Not sure how long it has always been this way though but this would certainly explain the weaker call signal. Do you know how to check history of towers on ertyu? would help my sanity in trying to explain why calls were perfect just 2 weeks ago

i guess it is unfortunate that PM doesn't offer volte! Might be worth researching into/investing into a Cell booster

I wouldn't be referring to anything as 2100MHz, although I know that website does. 2100MHz is most commonly considered to be Band 1, whcih is not used in Canada. What that website is calling 2100MHz is actually LTE on Band 4, more commonly referred to as 1700MHz or AWS-1, althoguh the downlink frequencies are in the 2100MHz ranges.

@gpixel

interesting thanks for bringing this up!

taking a quick look at ertyu there is only Bell towers near me (i swear there was telus as well? although possible i mistook a rogers tower)

Anyway the absolute closest one to me is 1900/2100. and a few blocks away from that is (700MHz, 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz, 2600MHz)

I'm guessing mine just takes the high frequency tower, because well, it's closer, even by just a couple blocks. (or it does pick up the other tower, but since it is a tad bit further it is thus weaker. Would also explain why my Data is fine!)

Not sure how long it has always been this way though but this would certainly explain the weaker call signal. Do you know how to check history of towers on ertyu? would help my sanity in trying to explain why calls were perfect just 2 weeks ago

i guess it is unfortunate that PM doesn't offer volte! Might be worth researching into/investing into a Cell booster

@spacecabbage from looking at ertyu. it looks like Telus has removed most of the towers with the 850mhz frequency in b.c. this could explain the worst reception everyone is experiencing. since 1900mhz is worst at penetrating walls than 850mhz

volte time?

@spacecabbage force your phone to 3G and see if it helps. Bell shouldn't be playing with the network this close to Christmas.

@gpixel

update: thx for the suggestion but ultimately it didnt work! oh well

@spacecabbage wrote:
@gpixel

thanks for this suggestion. at first the strength was high, but dropped to about -100 dBm which is def an improvement.

one issue though is that my APN has changed from public to telus. any issue?

will update this post/make another post if the signal drops again in a few hours...

You're going to have to change the APN settings back, but while that prevents you from using mobile data, it doesn't affect signal strength.

@gpixel

thanks for this suggestion. at first the strength was high, but dropped to about -100 dBm which is def an improvement.

one issue though is that my APN has changed from public to telus. any issue?

will update this post/make another post if the signal drops again in a few hours...

@spacecabbage maybe Telus updated their towers.

follow these instructions

on 4G LTE devices, the PRL(preferred roaming list) is updated with your SIM card. To ensure you have the latest PRL, you can power your phone off and remove/reinsert the SIM card once a month or so.

then reset your network settings

open settings
scroll down to system
tap on reset options
tap reset wifi,mobile & Bluetooth
tap reset settings and restart

this is from my pixel, but you should find similar options

@Helpershelper

Agreed it's not always an indicator, but right now it's all im able to correlate (lower than -110 dBM and no calls)

in these cases i actually did get a voice mail from a non spammer so unfortunately these weren't 1 timers.

Going to see if it persists for a couple more days... 😞

It's bad at various parts, even near windows around my house. It's weird because it wasn't like this like 2-3 weeks ago - I even got reception a bit in my basement.

and immediately in the outside of my residence is also not much better (maybe 5 dBM improvement? hard to say but nothing significant to rule out the house )

and no we are not using any boosters

@spacecabbage

Hi there, I’m in a major city and I sometimes get 1 bar, but it doesn’t affect call quality or anything like that. Strong signal strength doesn’t equal that it’s necessarily better. There aren’t any active outages on Telus’s network only some home phone and internet issues in B.C. With your missed calls sometimes it’s a one-ring call where they call and hang up quickly such as certain spam calls. You can certainly note the date and time of these occurrences and wait until it’s happening more than just once before reporting it to a mod below so they can pass it on to the right team.

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

With that in mind, I would make sure your Android OS is up to date as well.

If its happening on other phones then its most likely not your phone. So is that signal only bad inside your residence or is it bad if you step outside as well? Are you using a cell phone booster?

@spacecabbage , Bell and Telus do share towers. There might be local network problems affecting signal strength.

PM uses Telus and Bell towers.

Check the coverage map.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/coverage

If you still need assistance then submit a ticket to a moderator by clicking on the bubble on the bottom right.

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Weak signal strength