Vodafone Coverage Maps - Not Reliable?

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chriswiggins

413 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#30141 29-Jan-2009 22:03

Ok so we have a bach in the Whananaki Area (one round from Otamure Bay Doc camping ground for those of you that know) and we get no normal cellphone coverage. If we walk up the hill behind our place and stand on a tree stump with the phone on loudspeaker we sometimes get lucky.

We have rung Vodafone a few times in the past (about 5 years ago and 2 years ago) and were told that there will be a cell site put in at some stage. Apparently the deal fell through with the landlord last we heard.

Anyway I checked vodafone.co.nz/coverage (the coverage tool) just out of curiosity and for Rockell Road, Whananaki the cell signal is listed as this: This location has a very strong signal, so you will definitely experience excellent quality for all services..??

Does this mean that there is a cell site about to be put in or are we getting our hopes up? Can anyone let me know what the plans are for cellphone reception in Whananaki?

Cheers
Chris

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#192849 30-Jan-2009 07:05

As I discovered, coverage doesn't necessarily mean coverage on a frequency that your hardware supports. A lot of the coverage around Wellington apparently is in the 900Mhz band, which unfortunately neither of my phones supports, whereas they do support the 2100Mhz band which is the more common frequency for densely populated areas (or so I believe, with 900Mhz being the more common "rural" frequency). You might have to check the specs on your devices (gsmarena.com is a good quick source imo) and also with VF to check if the area is in 900 or 2100 coverage.

chriswiggins

413 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#192850 30-Jan-2009 07:09

I know 3G can run on 900mhz but 2100mhz has always been the HSDPA (or is it WCDMA?) frequency? We get plain old 2g service up there (and what is on the coverage map) which indictates to me that it is GSM (900mhz)..

Correct me if I'm wrong!