Lets compile a list of areas with poor reception.
Having looked into options to improve reception, If the xda wasnt such a damned good device I'd hate it as a phone as I just cant use it as a mobile when I'm at home reliably, and lets face it networks lie about temporary faults with coverage.
Saying that, my Motorola V60 is also poor in my area - So I thought if we could all post bad areas anyone interested in buying an O2 xda in the same area would certainly think long and hard before committing to a contract for a year.
GSM/GPRS
Next to no coverage in the lower hill areas in Rusthall near Tunbridge Wells for O2
GPRS doesnt connect sometimes
single dot on antenna symbol, one bar next to it very occasionally.
SMS
SMS sending sporadic
VOICECALLS
Voicecalls are distorted
Other Network coverage
T-Mobile - coverage awful.
No service whatsover (cant even send sms)
Orange
We also get a poor reception here using Orange (although miles better than O2)
Anyone live nearby with Vodafone?
I'm hoping to switch networks for my xda after the years contract with o2 is up
http://www.webmap.btcellnet.net
Put in your postcode and it can tell you exactly how many O2 cells you have in your area and how close they are.
How damn useful!!!
Is there a weblink for other service providers that anyone knows about??
Rog
its lying about the lower part of Rusthall!
Anon, I notice you're not man enough to use a real name. And that you have to resort to being abusive.
The whole point of this thread is to make people aware that salesmen who say that coverage is ok in your home area are sometimes unitentionally misleading the public.
If you enjoy misleading people then please leave this forum alone - its for sharing information - please read the posting guidelines.
And as for it being a simulation, dont you think its misleading, and why do you think I started this posting, to get REAL data - so we can compile our own results - and help other people who want to buy an xda. After all if a map showing coverage is false - whats the point of it. Would you sail to america in a yacht with a simulated map?
Moderator, how come people can post replies as guests anyway?
The whole system is set up so that guests can post messages. We've felt that the advantages have outweighed the disadvantages so far.
I've deleted the offending post and contacted the user behind this IP-number to see if we can achieve a change in behaviour.
derekcfoley said:
its lying about the lower part of Rusthall!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mmm. The colour coding seems to be misleading but its handy to know how close the cells are. Even if you are very close to the cells I would guess there are things that can block the radio signals (eg. hills, trees, building etc.).
You say T-mobile and Orange are worse than O2, so I would definately try Vodafone.
Also interesting is that O2's cell indicator has a form you can fill in if you have a piece of land they could put a new cell on. Might be an option?
Spent last week in the UK with my Qtek on Vodafone. WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!! You guys have the worst mobile coverage ever! And people seem to think it's ok!
I lost connection all the time while going on major roads between major cities! On the site of the company I visited you had to go outside in certain spots to get any coverage at all, and they used Vodafone as their main supplier. And last but not least, getting a GPRS connection worked like one time out of twenty.
Here in Sweden, I find it irritating that I have bad coverage at my summer house. Which is like 20 minutes drive from the nearest major road or small town. No wonder they use Sweden as a test bench for new mobile services!
Could that also have something to do with the fact that the two largest mobile manufacturers are Scandinavian? You'd sort of expect it to work in your own back yard. When they try and turn up the juice in the UK, everyone complains about their kid's brains getting fried
rgds,
Alex.
well I can safely say that O2 in NW sheffield and south of Leeds is rubbish.
according to the map it should be GOOD
uh uh.
the whole area is a sinkhole for decent reception. about the only phones that give good signal in this place is orange.
Kent seems to work pretty much everywhere for O2. I live in Dartford and work in Bexleyheath and have no troubles.
Rgds,
Rob.
O2 in central Cheltenham is total crap and has been for as long as I can remember and I have used lots of different phones.
Anonymous said:
.
You say T-mobile and Orange are worse than O2, so I would definately try Vodafone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had a problem with Vodaphone here............
Works phone is on Vodaphone...............
The only time I loose the signal is when I am hiding down in the Subway at work....!!! (Birmingham New Street Station!)
addendum to my post about Sheffield and Wakefield.
reception is crap if you are running windows 2003 PPC 4.00.05 and 4.00.11
I put 3.17.03 on my XDA yesterday and I am stunned at the difference.
In my works building on 4.0.05 and 11 I never got a signal. now I thought fair enough because I am in the basement below ground level with iron bars on the window. not even one bar
since I've put my XDA back to 3.17.03 I've never had less than 3 bars, even in places where I've never got a signal.
I think I'll wait until an official O2 ROM release for 2003.
Here are my list of bad spots....
Almost any part of the top of the mendip hills apart from near to major towns. One notable exception being orange, who seem to have much more coverage there.
Crediton in devon, and the road from tiverton to crediton. Reception is patchy at best. This is true for all neworks.
Parts of avonmouth are bad for O2 coverage, with orange being the best in that area.
Parts of the A38 from Churchill to cross, patchy reception for all networks.
Winscombe to Banwell, O2 is ok, but other networks patchy.
Flixton in norfolk, very patchy (stand outside and point the phone in the right direction).
Wooky Hole (village not the cave!) almost no signal on any network, unless you walk to the top of the nearest hill.
Frome a bit patchy for O2, not sure about other networks.
cells said:
http://www.webmap.btcellnet.net
Put in your postcode and it can tell you exactly how many O2 cells you have in your area and how close they are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.webmap.o2.co.uk/
This is the current URL for this site, which according to my Post Code says i'm 0.3km from my nearest Cell. I'm also 0.35km (as the crow flies) from my O2 shop - in my O2 shop my XDAII gets 5 bars reception, from my living room, 0 bars!!!
What can I do to get a better reception?
PS my area is Worthing (town centre), West Sussex.
Related
I've been happily using my XDA for almost a year now, the only complaint being the amount i spend on the GPRS though O2.
What are the other UK networks charging these days? I've heard about others charging as little as £10 for 100MB's, is this true?
I'm about to come to the end of my contract and will be getting an XDA II as soon as it does but i may well get it sim-free and go with another network.
Do i have other options i.e. sticking in a pay-as-you-go sim from another network when i want to use it heavily?
Thanks for your help.
i think the problem may be when you dont say where you are from
the only company's which people can be sure are represented most places are fodaphone, tmobile, o2 and orange and maybe a few others
and those are rearely the cheap ones
oop's sorry. I'm in the UK
t-mobile in usa - $19 a month - unlimited gprs
(not that that would help you 2000+ miles away)
-Mario
mario,
how do you find the gprs speed thru tmobile?
they say its 40k-80k
but i dont think thats true... it takes me too long to download a small 500k file. unless im doin something wrong!
do u have special settings?
to find the actual speed, i have no idea
the only settings i have, is for the gprs setting, it connects to internet2.voicestream.com
speed is up and down usually, right near a atenna (like near a mall or what not) perfect speed.
at work is another question... with 1 bar of signal i can stream 22k mp3s from di.fm (requires ipv6 which tmobile or ie for pocket pc comes with, cause it works)
work is a office full of computers, in a big brick building... signal is allways bad indoors.
-Mario
Help folks,
I currrently own an XDA2 which is all great. I live in an area not brilliant for 02 network but generally I get enough of a signal to talk to people. The problem is that my XDA2 has the worst signal ever and no-one can contact me 90% of the time. When I do a soft reset it seems to pick up 1-2 bars of signal for a while (during which I can retrieve my missed calls) but that will vanish after about 10-15 mins. It just doesn't seem to pick up the siganl as good as my old (Dare I say it) Nokia 3310. I am required by work to be contactable all of the time and it is getting very frustrating and unless I solve it soon i may be looking at my P45 or a Nokia 3310!!
Battle that out with o2 NOT your XDA
Thomo, are you using the latest radio stack/rom.
Yes mate, I am using the official one from O2, I spoke to them and they couldn't work it out. They have even tried sending me a new phone. I am curious as it may be a fault with the phones in poor network areas, is anyone else experiencing this sort of thing? Am i having to resort to 3310
I have the same problem. O2 reception has never been great for me irrespective of the phone in use. Some are better than others though, and my XDA II is one of the not so good ones (along with my Nokia 8850). My daughter's 7210 is terrible too.
O2 boasts the UK's best network coverage, so my theory is that it is to do with the band - and that O2 and Vodafone just cannot deal with buildings very well.
I am going to move to Orange! If I don't, my frustration with O2 reception will probably lead to me throwing my XDA up the wall!! - and I certainly don't want to do that
I just got my cell this week and was dismayed to find out that the phone would get absolutely no service in my house. I was able to make one phone call, once.
Is there any product I can get to boost my reception from zilch to at least one or two bars?
I'd hate to part with this amazing phone...
unfortunately i have this problem also. I dont know whether its t-mobile or the fone but thats why i got a house fone.
hehe
Look for external antenna thread in this forum.
that would be tmobile uk
previously known as one2one or none2none as it was popularly called. i live in central london and their reception is still flakey compared to my vodafone connection
Which is better in the UK? I would love to stick with O2, but their noncompetitive pricing and sudden poor customer service is just ludicrous!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA
Three.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
crypticc said:
Three.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats the signal quality like? My sister used them when 3 first came out and the signal was horrible.
I also have the choice now of Orange?
got a vodafone sim in my s3 and don't have any problems
I've just switched from Orange to T Mobile cause of the Full Monty tariff. Unlimited internet swung it for me even if they throttle speeds.
Stuck with Everything and Everywhere due to network coverage in my rural area and I've never really had problems with either network.
Unlimited tariffs are the way forward, and HB my case I'm buying a tablet soon and like T Mobiles unlimited tethering option too. You don't get that with GiffGaff or anyone else but T Mobile and I think 3.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA
Been with vodafone for many years now and they offer a brilliant service. Good network and good customer service is something goes wrong, I'd recommend them.
bortak said:
Been with vodafone for many years now and they offer a brilliant service. Good network and good customer service is something goes wrong, I'd recommend them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I moved to Vodafone from O2. That's why I'm asking since the Vodafone coverage is awful compared to O2.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA
If you google reviews of network operators, they will all show a high percentage of disatisfied customers and low percentage of happy customers. That's because people only complain when something goes wrong and seldom praise good service.
They all offer an average customer service
They all offer good coverage but there will always be weak signal areas, where one network will work fine and others don't, but the same network fails some place else.
They all offer some sort of 'treats' and loyalty schemes, depends whether they are applicable to your interests.
They all match tariff prices as they are all competing with each other for your business.
Some offer a good range of phones.
My point is... No one can really recommend a network as it depends on so many factors.
My own experience is that Orange offer the best deal for ...me... as they give me Orange Wednesdays, Magic Numbers and unlimited Deezer access. Customer service has been very good as has network service. They may not be the best for someone else.
Vodafone have given me a similar experience, I took a contract out with them because they offered a phone that wasn't available anywhere else at the time.
The point I am making is, it's all subjective and a matter of what's right for an individual.
apprentice said:
If you google reviews of network operators, they will all show a high percentage of disatisfied customers and low percentage of happy customers. That's because people only complain when something goes wrong and seldom praise good service.
They all offer an average customer service
They all offer good coverage but there will always be weak signal areas, where one network will work fine and others don't, but the same network fails some place else.
They all offer some sort of 'treats' and loyalty schemes, depends whether they are applicable to your interests.
They all match tariff prices as they are all competing with each other for your business.
Some offer a good range of phones.
My point is... No one can really recommend a network as it depends on so many factors.
My own experience is that Orange offer the best deal for ...me... as they give me Orange Wednesdays, Magic Numbers and unlimited Deezer access. Customer service has been very good as has network service. They may not be the best for someone else.
Vodafone have given me a similar experience, I took a contract out with them because they offered a phone that wasn't available anywhere else at the time.
The point I am making is, it's all subjective and a matter of what's right for an individual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I started thinking this once I made the post.
I just want a 100% way of checking the signal in my area with each operator ahead of order. The problem there is that I checked Vodafone ahead of that and it said it covers all my area, yet I'm lucky to get signal at all.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA
Go with T-Mobile if you are concerned about coverage as they are now part of Orange and use eachothers cell towers. The signal will automatically swap to an Orange signal if that's the stronger one.
I used to be with Voda. Brilliant 2g signal, especially in the highlands of Scotland but their 3g service is lacking. Very patchy even in large towns and very slow speeds.
Went to Three. Fast data and very good 3g coverage but piss poor handovers to orange who are their 2g roaming partner. Most of the 2g roam had been turned off but what remains is not good.
Now on T-Mobile on their full Monty. Been impressed so far. Orange have a decent 2g service and T-Mobile have a very good 3g service (share the same sites as Three under the tag of mbnl now) and I can use them both.
O2 have very good 2g too and their 3g us rapidly getting better especially with their rapid deployment of 3g over 900mhz. This will get better in building penetration and cheaper to deploy in the sticks.
Steve.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
TMobile offers Signal Booster to take care on poor signal strength.
Just talked to TMO rep. He explained, the reason signal booster (SB) cannot be used in apartments, duplexes, condos, or townhomes there is no security is built in into it.
I.e. anybody within range can use your SB.
And if he/she makes 9-1-1 call, it might be traced back to your address. 99% it won’t, but 1% is there still. So there is a slim chance you can get unexpected police, fire dept, etc. visits and TMO don’t want to be responsible for it (obviously!).
I asked rep, why TMO won’t restrict SB to talk to registered phones only.
I can configure my WiFi access point to accept connection from selected MACs only.
SB can use IMEI, right?
He said TMO basically lends us nextivityinc product.
If I want this feature, I should suggest it to SB manufacturer
Called nextivityinc support too, talked to very nice guy Steve.
He confirmed SB neither has any built-in client devices restrictions nor they plan to add it.
As a workaround, SB coverage area can be changed easily.
SB coverage area is essentially a bubble (sphere) with radius equals distance between “WINDOW” and “COVERAGE” units with the center at “COVERAGE” unit.
That’s all. I hope, you’ll find this info useful.
To mods: I decided to put it on separate thread. If you feel it shouldn’t, please move/merge with another thread.
I have 1, but the signal is too poor to boost.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using XDA
jjlean said:
I have 1, but the signal is too poor to boost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How many bars cell phone shows where "window unit" is?
Will be useful to know for people who cannot decide whether get one or not.