Thanx Spark. It was great while it lasted

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Thanx Spark. It was great while it lasted

old3eyes

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#270487 12-May-2020 10:07

Ever since we moved to Morrinsville our cell coverage has been crap with everyone. Everyone here now using Spark / Skinny and on a normal day we get zero to 2 bars of coverage. Have to go outside to get a 2FA from the ASB. About 2 weeks into lockdown level 4 suddenly we were getting 4 to 5 bars all the time, was great. Discovered by way of Stuff that Spark had put in a temporary cell site in the local intermediate school. Now that we are moving to level 2 the cell site has been removed and it's back to crap again.

There was a proposal last year to put a cell site at the local golf course that would have given great coverage for those on the north and west of Morrinsville but the recently arrived rich NIMBYs blocked it. "Don't want a cell site near where we live, I hardly ever use my cell phone, I have a landline" they said. Unfortunately still no resolution.

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#2481735 12-May-2020 10:11

Luddites and pseudo-science: The scourge blocking progress country wide.

Dingbatt

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#2481751 12-May-2020 10:30

Maybe you could volunteer to have the cell site on your property? Should get excellent coverage then! /joking

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boosacnoodle

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#2481818 12-May-2020 11:29

Similar story with Halcombe unfortunately. Everybody complains about the coverage but nobody wants the tower going in near them. Going on two years now that RCG has been trying to sort this.

Ge0rge

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#2481824 12-May-2020 11:44

boosacnoodle:
Similar story with Halcombe unfortunately. Everybody complains about the coverage but nobody wants the tower going in near them. Going on two years now that RCG has been trying to sort this.

Haha that's because everyone there knows there is no reception at the pub, and doesn't want that to change!

BioNz

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#2483919 14-May-2020 17:26

sounds like you could be in need of a cell fi booster.

have a look at a cel fi - the only approved booster for the spark network. others will get you in trouble with radio spectrum management

https://powertec.co.nz/buy-online/cellularmobile/cellularmobile-celfi-mobile-signal-repeaters/?gclid=CjwKCAjwte71BRBCEiwAU_V9h8_e20cncPTpYFMiehXsB_lliLiH93OxXaxiSCjZFBeruIsMzoDpKBoC52gQAvD_BwE

hio77

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#2483925 14-May-2020 17:35

BioNz:

have a look at a cel fi - the only approved booster for the spark network. others will get you in trouble with radio spectrum management

or worse yet, having @BioNz himself ;)

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Linux

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#2483961 14-May-2020 19:15

2degrees Wi-Fi calling is also another great alternative

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DjShadow

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#2483964 14-May-2020 19:21

Linux: 2degrees Wi-Fi calling is also another great alternative

Hopefully Vodafone has been working on Wi-Fi calling also (saw in a Nokia firmware thread someone found an option for it after updating), one can only hope also Spark has been working on it as well

hio77

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#2483966 14-May-2020 19:26

DjShadow:

Linux: 2degrees Wi-Fi calling is also another great alternative

Hopefully Vodafone has been working on Wi-Fi calling also (saw in a Nokia firmware thread someone found an option for it after updating), one can only hope also Spark has been working on it as well

an interesting question about wifi calling is, when it's not your own network... how can you ensure the customers quality of service? afterall, who are they going to blame when calling is bad?

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BioNz

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#2484020 14-May-2020 19:41

hio77:

BioNz:

have a look at a cel fi - the only approved booster for the spark network. others will get you in trouble with radio spectrum management

or worse yet, having @BioNz himself ;)

haha .....yea.... but im nice i swear

DjShadow

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#2484022 14-May-2020 19:47

hio77:

an interesting question about wifi calling is, when it's not your own network... how can you ensure the customers quality of service? afterall, who are they going to blame when calling is bad?

I guess include a giant bold disclaimer that the service will be as good as the Wifi network and/or ISP you are connecting to

old3eyes

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#2484027 14-May-2020 19:52

BioNz:
sounds like you could be in need of a cell fi booster.

have a look at a cel fi - the only approved booster for the spark network. others will get you in trouble with radio spectrum management

https://powertec.co.nz/buy-online/cellularmobile/cellularmobile-celfi-mobile-signal-repeaters/?gclid=CjwKCAjwte71BRBCEiwAU_V9h8_e20cncPTpYFMiehXsB_lliLiH93OxXaxiSCjZFBeruIsMzoDpKBoC52gQAvD_BwE

Intersting solution but kind of expensive.

Regards,

Old3eyes

richms

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#2484034 14-May-2020 20:04

Wifi calling is pretty hopeless compared to every other messaging and voice chat application. If you leave wifi and go to cellular. It just hangs up. OMG!? Really who the hell thought that was acceptable. On a facebook messanger call I can flip between cellular and wifi and there is a few seconds of cut out and then its back.

I do not consider wifi calling to be a workable solution until they sort the drop out issues. Hell, it will even drop out just roaming between wifi networks.

Richard rich.ms

coffeebaron

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#2484037 14-May-2020 20:09

old3eyes:
BioNz:

sounds like you could be in need of a cell fi booster.

have a look at a cel fi - the only approved booster for the spark network. others will get you in trouble with radio spectrum management

https://powertec.co.nz/buy-online/cellularmobile/cellularmobile-celfi-mobile-signal-repeaters/?gclid=CjwKCAjwte71BRBCEiwAU_V9h8_e20cncPTpYFMiehXsB_lliLiH93OxXaxiSCjZFBeruIsMzoDpKBoC52gQAvD_BwE

Intersting solution but kind of expensive.

These work very well, I've installed quite a few of these, so sing out if you need one. I use a Vodafone variant locked to the 4G band, so now have excellent VoLTE calling at my office - except 111 calls currently don't work on my S10 over VoLTE! Not that I'm hoping for an emergency and I do also have VoIP if I need to.

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hio77

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#2484057 14-May-2020 21:12

richms:

Wifi calling is pretty hopeless compared to every other messaging and voice chat application. If you leave wifi and go to cellular. It just hangs up. OMG!? Really who the hell thought that was acceptable. On a facebook messanger call I can flip between cellular and wifi and there is a few seconds of cut out and then its back.

I do not consider wifi calling to be a workable solution until they sort the drop out issues. Hell, it will even drop out just roaming between wifi networks.

the same sort of considerations are there to be made for how calls transition from VoLTE to 3G or small cells (3g) from 3g voice.

there are pros and cons to each of them, on principal i do agree with you it should just 'work' but i've also taken the time to understand alot of the technical as to why that's not always practical.

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