Drat, may have to head back to Vodafone

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Drat, may have to head back to Vodafone

nzkiwiman

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#100092 3-Apr-2012 08:45

With the launch of Dunedin as a 2degrees Mobile Broadband Zone via the updated maps, I assume (which could be my first mistake) that all the testing that has been happening has sorted out the issues.

Looking at the coverage map, I live in one of the small pockets of dead zone for 2degrees signal in Mosgiel (15km SW of Dunedin) -- the main tower is 1.1km away in a straight line on the same street I live on, and coverage ends approximately 10m away and starts up again approximately 500m away (coverage coming from the other 2D tower on Saddle Hill)

Sitting at home (using an X5) I am connected to the 2D network but with no signal and as soon as I need to use the phone I switch over to roaming on Vodafone. While I was hunting for a job last year during the test phase, if my phone didn't automatically switch over to roaming on Vodafone, making or receiving a call was a very painful process with drop outs and static on the line. (Now that I have landed a job, my main use of the phone is text messages ..) - for comparison, until I moved to 2D in April 2011, I used Vodafone at the same location and was covered in a full 3G signal 24/7 and my father (who I live with) is still with Vodafone with an iPhone 4 and has full 3G coverage 24/7.

Looking at Vodafone's plans, they now have the Prepay Smart $25, which I assume is their answer to the original $19 combo on 2D, although with 20 more minutes and 50MB data a month for the extra $6 paid.

I am rather happy with 2D and love their innovation and entry into the market which has caused prices to come down (or more 'extras' for the same price), and don't really wish to move, however not being in the zone and having a phone that sits with no signal while I am at home is not an attractive option anymore.

What I am hoping for is that somehow the technicians are able to improve the signal generation from the 2D tower in Mosgiel so that it covers the small pocket of dead zone I live in -- the tower is able to cover parts of Mosgiel that are further away than I am in a strong signal according to the map, so I assume that it is possible, somehow.

keewee01

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#604329 3-Apr-2012 09:15

Talk to 2degrees - they may tweak coverage. There is a similar situation in Ashburton with a wedge of no coverage, which I assume they will fix...?

johnr

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#604332 3-Apr-2012 09:20

Coverage map will reflect out door coverage, What is the coverage like if you stand out on the road?

nzkiwiman

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#604341 3-Apr-2012 09:45

At my front door, 0 bars on 2D, 5 bars on Vodafone
Corner of Church and Bishop Verdon - 1 bar (maybe), 5 bars on Vodafone

Corner of Park and Church (limit of coverage according to map) - 1 bar, 5 bars on Vodafone

Have made and received called from the corner (Park and Church) and on both times I had to excuse myself from the call because I was unable to hear the person. Went home and either used the landline, or switched to roaming on Vodafone.

pwner

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#604500 3-Apr-2012 13:10

Have you reported the coverage issue to 2degrees?
Geekzone cannot help you with a coverage issue only telling 2degrees will help you with that.

All networks have different spots with poor or marginal coverage, looks like you may be in a 2degrees problem spot while another person could be in a Telecom or Vodafone one.

Any posts are personal comments and not that of my employer

2degrees

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#604506 3-Apr-2012 13:17

nzkiwiman: At my front door, 0 bars on 2D, 5 bars on Vodafone
Corner of Church and Bishop Verdon - 1 bar (maybe), 5 bars on Vodafone

Corner of Park and Church (limit of coverage according to map) - 1 bar, 5 bars on Vodafone

Have made and received called from the corner (Park and Church) and on both times I had to excuse myself from the call because I was unable to hear the person. Went home and either used the landline, or switched to roaming on Vodafone.

Are you able to DM me your address so I can check it out for you?

Cheers,
^SB

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EMAIL: info@2degreesmobile.co.nz

jbard

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#604510 3-Apr-2012 13:19

I also had this problem although in a completely different part of Dunedin. Although the phones I used (yes i tested with different phones) would often show 3-4 bars but calls couldn't be made, my phone wouldn't even ring if someone called me, txts would come in hours later.

I reported this and another dead spot I found to 2 degrees but they weren't interested so I moved - really couldn't put up with the problem any more.

What I also found strange is the vodafone coverage here is great but 2 Degrees seem to have better placed towers for the location of the dead spots than vodafone?

SaltyNZ

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#604532 3-Apr-2012 13:34

jbard:

What I also found strange is the vodafone coverage here is great but 2 Degrees seem to have better placed towers for the location of the dead spots than vodafone?

The best spots are not always available. We have to take into account not only the physics of radio propagation, but also the fact that a lot of people get upset when they hear of a cell site being installed nearby. This sometimes leads us to build in less-than-optimum locations.

It's also the case that the build out is still very much ongoing, so while there may be a dead spot there now, there's always a chance that another is already planned to fill it, but just isn't in yet. Some sites can drag when things go wrong.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

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nzkiwiman

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#604571 3-Apr-2012 14:18

pwner: Have you reported the coverage issue to 2degrees?
Geekzone cannot help you with a coverage issue only telling 2degrees will help you with that.

All networks have different spots with poor or marginal coverage, looks like you may be in a 2degrees problem spot while another person could be in a Telecom or Vodafone one.

No I haven't told them yet (by ringing them up) as I thought any issues that I may be having might be related to the testing phase of the new Mosgiel towers. Now that the map is live and it shows the dead zone quite clearly ...

I know from reading the forum that issues seem to be resolved quicker than going through the proper channels (as well as via Twitter and Facebook, though I dont use them so those methods are out for me)

2degrees:
Are you able to DM me your address so I can check it out for you?

Cheers,
^SB

Incoming!

nzkiwiman

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#604576 3-Apr-2012 14:24

Looking at the NZ Cell Sites Map up top, there is another 2D tower at the same location as the only Vodafone one I can see on the map (on Saddle Hill)

Can anyone enlighten me (if they can) has to how a Vodafone tower can 'cover' a spot, while a 2D tower located in the same spot can't cover the same area? (Probably something simple, I just have no knowledge of towers and how they work)

johnr

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#604578 3-Apr-2012 14:25

nzkiwiman: Looking at the NZ Cell Sites Map up top, there is another 2D tower at the same location as the only Vodafone one I can see on the map (on Saddle Hill)

Can anyone enlighten me (if they can) has to how a Vodafone tower can 'cover' a spot, while a 2D tower located in the same spot can't cover the same area? (Probably something simple, I just have no knowledge of towers and how they work)

Panels at different heights

nzkiwiman

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#604582 3-Apr-2012 14:29

Thanks johnr, knew you would be able to provide a quick answer. :-)

EDIT: That Vodafone tower on Saddle Hill seems to cover a rather wide area - all of Mosgiel, Outram, State Highway 1 .. or else I am not using the NZ Cell Sites Map correctly.

DjShadow

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#604984 4-Apr-2012 11:52

Try locking your phone to vodafone if the signal keeps hopping between the VF and 2D towers

nzkiwiman

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#605003 4-Apr-2012 12:04

I have been trying to figure out how to do that with my X5 since 2D towers went live.
Either I am missing something or it can't be done

Vodafone signal seems to be stronger as I while roaming on Vodafone, I can manually search for a network (wait ~3 minutes for it to find something) and connect to 2D 3G. For about a minute I can actually get 4/5 bars of service of 2D but it then drops to still being connected on 2D but with 0 bars.

nzkiwiman

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#605575 5-Apr-2012 10:38

Update to this. Somehow had 5 bars on my phone last night for about 30 minutes, then back to 0 ..

nzkiwiman

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#607387 10-Apr-2012 12:53

Had a reply from 2Degrees saying that something may happen in June/July regarding patching the areas of fringe coverage in Mosgiel. I do thank 2D for getting back to me with a possible solution even if it does take a while.

And at the moment I will be staying with 2D as my requirements do not see me needing to use any mobile data at home at the moment.