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Chris3M · ‎03-07-2019

I have a fairly weak signal at my cottage (either nothing or 1 bar in some spots). Is there anything I can do or buy to have a better signal withe my Public Mobile service?

sheytoon · ‎07-21-2019

@babinni have a look here if you want to learn more about this topic:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Network-sharing-explained/td-p/129092

If you do find a Telus site in Barrie, it will be an indoor site. They have zero outdoor sites in that area.

GinYVR · ‎07-21-2019

@babinniPublic Mobile belongs to Telus. However Telus tower network only covers (roughly) Western Canada. Out east, Telus uses Bell towers to provide coverage. Bell has the same problem out West, so they reciprocate.

It makes a difference if you are on top of a ski hill and you have line of sight to a tower. Trees can be an issue, however the effect varies depending on different frequencies.. hence it is better to use a phone that is tailored for North America (or better tailored for the network you are using) as you will maximize your chances of getting a signal, especially if you belong to an edge case.

babinni · ‎07-21-2019

I’m sure Telus has towers- when I mapped the towers for sure call antenna direction it showed some.

I don’t quite follow the suggestion to look for bell towers if that’s not my provider.ie p mobile runs on Telus no?

Interesting that 3g and 4g are both on most towers.- It mapped them specifically however it may have been related to one of the exercises I was following for the booster. Pardon my newbie dopey questions- I know very little about this topic other than I want a better signal strength and fewer dropped calls. Does it make a difference if I’m at the top of a ski hill ? Line of sight an issue through trees?

sheytoon · ‎07-16-2019

@babinni pretty much all towers have 3G and 4G.

You should be looking at Bell sites in the Barrie area. Telus doesn't have any outdoor sites in that area.

GinYVR · ‎07-16-2019

@babinniThen you are already connected the the 4G / LTE tower down your road.. for the best performance.. cellphone towers always work best with line of sight.

babinni · ‎07-16-2019

yes lte enabled

GinYVR · ‎07-16-2019

@babinni If you have an iPhone 6 have you enabled LTE under Settings -> Cellular ? You should be able do that.

babinni · ‎07-16-2019

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question, but once I find where the tower is, then what do I do.?

I'm in Springwater just NW side of Barrie and my signal strength has never been higher than 1 bar. Iphone6+.

I Know where the tower is, (Barrie) and I'm on 3g, but the 4g tower is down the street practically. I dont know how to get a 4 g plan - dont see one as an option.

And this 3 g thing is getting old- everyday I have dropped calls and bad reception. To the point that it is the brunt of my friends' jokes.

I bought a sure call booster, but havent scaled the ladder yet to actually install it, just laid it on the evestrough for now. I dont see an improvement, but Im hoping once truly installed, it will. Fingers crossed Is there anything else I could be doing. This is crazy.

Anonymous · ‎03-08-2019

@slash407 wrote:
u can buy a signal amplifier or get another phone if ur phone is old....other than that nothing really, u can try to open windows etc but that really doesnt work.

Seriously?! Open windows in a Canadian winter?! Maybe add a smiley after your jokes.

cavemantoronto · ‎03-07-2019

@Chris3M wrote:
I have a fairly weak signal at my cottage (either nothing or 1 bar in some spots). Is there anything I can do or buy to have a better signal withe my Public Mobile service?

1 bar might not be a problem. 0 bars is a problem. You can have low signal but it could just phone is using higher frequency.

If you have other phones to try, some are a little better. Signal will still be weak but one phone is a little better, you might no longer have no bars no signal in those places.

bridonca · ‎03-07-2019

If there is an area where you can get a decent signal from your cell phone, you leave the phone there, and use something like this to connect to the phone. https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/panasonic-2-handset-dect-6-0-cordless-phone-with-bluetooth-kxtg... That way, you will be able to move around, and still have a good signal.

If you can get your hands on one of these, you will get excellent reception, and much better than any cell phone. You can also hook it up to an external antenna if your coverage is still not good enough. I see them on kijiji for $50. You need to get the carier to unlock them.

http://www.getempowered.ca/connected-home/m627796/zte-mf275r/

Chris3M · ‎03-07-2019

Great information!!

Anonymous · ‎03-07-2019

I was visiting somebody last week in a rural area and they have a booster. Very poor signal otherwise. So they aim it at the tower and the signal is too much for it. So they had to aim it off kilter a bit just to tame it a bit. Excellent signal now.

It seem to think it was a more serious booster than these ones shown above. Of course more money too.

Chris3M · ‎03-07-2019

I did find out that there is a tower fairly close by - I looked it up - plus once I'm out on the dock I'm okay. But I sure would like to have less trouble inside. You know, bugs, rain, etc.

austinhuang · ‎03-07-2019

@Chris3M wrote:
I have a fairly weak signal at my cottage (either nothing or 1 bar in some spots). Is there anything I can do or buy to have a better signal withe my Public Mobile service?

Look up cell phone towers first: https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

IF there is one fairly nearby: Get a booster.

IF there isn't: There isn't really anything you could do. You could try talk to TELUS, but since it's not urban area, I doubt they'll care.

Chris3M · ‎03-07-2019

What I'm finding a bit confusing is trying to figure out the 3G versus 4G and making sure the booster has the correct frequency. Anyone know what frequency PM uses?

sandpublic · ‎03-07-2019

@RobertQc wrote:
@Chris3M wrote:
I have a fairly weak signal at my cottage (either nothing or 1 bar in some spots). Is there anything I can do or buy to have a better signal withe my Public Mobile service?
@Chris3M Yes, a cell phone booster.

Go to google and type in "cell phone booster", you will find stores in your area, or online vendors you can get them from

Also, one of the easiest ways of ensuring cellular signal remains constant and available is finding the nearest cell phone tower.

By cell tower, it means the specific tower of the specific carrier you're using on your cellphone. In your case Public Mobile (They use Telus/Bell towers). It is usually the tower nearest your geographical area.

This technique is the best way to go for finding solution to poor mobile reception. Here're few resources online that can help you with that:

Websites:
CellReception.com.
AntennaSearch.com.
OpenSignal.com.

Apps (Android Devices):
RF Signal tracker.
Open Signal.

Apps (Apple/ IOS):
Cell Phone Coverage Map.
Open Signal.

Hope this helps!

RobertQc · ‎03-07-2019

@Chris3M

walmart

https://www.walmart.ca/en/electronics/cell-phones/cellphone-accessories/cellular-signal-boosters/N-3...

bestbuy

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/category/cell-phone-boosters-accessories/492490.aspx

the source

https://www.thesource.ca/en-ca/cell-phones/cell-phone-signal-boosters/c/scc-2-7?categoryCode=scc-2-7...

amazon

https://www.amazon.ca/Cell-Phone-Signal-Boosters/b?ie=UTF8&node=3379578011

you can get them just about anywhere, just don't buy this thing

RobertQc · ‎03-07-2019

@Chris3M wrote:
I have a fairly weak signal at my cottage (either nothing or 1 bar in some spots). Is there anything I can do or buy to have a better signal withe my Public Mobile service?

@Chris3M Yes, a cell phone booster.

Go to google and type in "cell phone booster", you will find stores in your area, or online vendors you can get them from