Mobile phone coverage

[fourtwentyfour]

Can anyone answer these questions please...

Where a service provider uses a major network does the traffic for the major network get any priority in terms of signal level, quality or availability? As in iDmobile using Vodafone?

Are there any web sites that specifically identify local base stations, power output, coverage and frequencies used so the best network can be selected, locally?

Does the age of a phone mean that it might be at a disadvantage in terms of sensitivity or reduced number of frequency bands available? I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

If a system was fully used, so there were no free 'lines', would this show up as no signal?

How typical is a signal strength of zero bars, one bar for much of the time, with the occasional 2 or 3, and is this a usable level? (This is in a small town.)

Should I expect a poorer service from a 'cheap' sim only provider?

Thanks

[servodude]

I'll have a go: with a caveat that most of my experience in this area has been of an Australian bent the past few years and from a data (rather than voicecall) perspective

[quote]Where a service provider uses a major network does the traffic for the major network get any priority in terms of signal level, quality or availability? As in iDmobile using Vodafone?[quote]
- this is negotiated between the suppliers and does vary
- often it is older technologies that are on-sold to 3rd party resellers to use and they can restrict which bands are available

[quote]Are there any web sites that specifically identify local base stations, power output, coverage and frequencies used so the best network can be selected, locally?[quote]

- try https://www.cellmapper.net/
- and http://cellidfinder.com/

these can give you the locations of towers, types of connections and the Cell IDs
- there are also android apps that will let you sniff in real time

[quote]Does the age of a phone mean that it might be at a disadvantage in terms of sensitivity or reduced number of frequency bands available? I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4.[quote]

it can
- but it doesn't degrade with age; it's more that bands get turned off by the providers (or re-purposed)
- newer phones can make use of more recently released bands and technologies (5g etc.)
- they also can have better antennas & signal processing
- but they might equally have an antenna in a stupid location


[quote]If a system was fully used, so there were no free 'lines', would this show up as no signal?[quote]

- I don't think so but it depends on how the phone has chosen to do it
- the RSSI (received signal strength indication) is known to the phone before it's registered on the network
- it's generally considered good practice to check this (at a firmware level) before you try to connect to the network (for data anyway)
some info here: https://wiki.teltonika.lt/view/Mobile_S ... mendations

[quote]How typical is a signal strength of zero bars, one bar for much of the time, with the occasional 2 or 3, and is this a usable level? (This is in a small town.)[quote]

it's certainly not great
- most suppliers will have a network coverage map available on their websites (or something like https://www.4g.co.uk/)
- looking at this might indicate how good the coverage might be expected to be in a given location
If this is at odds with what your phone is showing it might be worth enlisting the helps of someone locally to check their experience
- or swapping in a different SIM from a different provider

- sd

[servodude]

apologies for the balls up in formatting the previous post


- sd

[Garless]

I would not trust coverage maps, most seem to be theoretical rather than measured. My Virginmedia supplied phone shows one bar at home but good coverage once I get off the estate. I found an app and web site called Speedtest which shows app measured results which seems accurate.

[AleisterCrowley]

"Does the age of a phone mean that it might be at a disadvantage in terms of sensitivity or reduced number of frequency bands available?
it can
- but it doesn't degrade with age; it's more that bands get turned off by the providers (or re-purposed)
-
example of this - if you have a 2G only phone, some 2G spectrum (G900) may get refarmed (as they say in the business) and used for 3G (U900) so less capacity at 2G. This shouldn't make much of a difference as traffic on 2G is reducing, and the operators will sync the refarm to traffic levels.

The answer to most of the questions, as above, is 'it depends on the operator/phone type'

[fourtwentyfour]

Thank you all.

The sites posted give excellent ideas about coverage. As said above, the operators maps show full coverage but the base station plots tell a different story.

I live within a triangle of 3 base stations, all providing a service from major operators. However the one I use does not cover my road, and another fully covers the area. As a test I walked from my road to an adjacent one and the coverage went from 1 bar to 3+, with fluctuations on each. That confirms the map's data.

I am now looking at frequency bands and my phone's spec to see if I need to take account of some bands more than others. I am in a much better position to find the best network, although I have to do some homework on the abreviations and frequency bands used.

Thanks

[Stompa]

As in iDmobile using Vodafone?

iDmobile uses Three.

[fourtwentyfour]

Yes, you are right, 3, not vodafone.

This seems to be a realistic checker too..
https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage

The companies own plots seem very optimistic.

[jaizan]

The companies own plots seem very optimistic.

Agreed & unsurprising.

Also, not updated to show changes. My Giff Gaff signal went to zero at home & a visitor with an O2 SIM had the same issue. Eventually, I figured out it was probably due to all the new houses built between me and the transmitter.

[fourtwentyfour]

Just to bring this to the top for a recent question...

The issues that I am now aware of, regarding switching phone air-time providers are.

There are several firms that use the main carriers, but these companies do not always use all of the frequencies that the main network might use.

Coverage maps sometime appear better than in reality, but links in this thread show more accurate plots.

A phone might or might not use all the frequencies available locally, due to the model variant or age.

My advice is to look up the spec of your phone, get a list of frequencies it uses, then look for nearby base stations that use those frequencies and give good coverage. Finally choose a provider that uses the network that works best for you.

You have 14 days to cancel a bad choice, but this is made harder by delays in getting a sim, transferring your number, and if necessary, doing the same again for another network. I would advise not porting your number until being happy the new number works ok.