Coverage issus going from Telecom XT to 2Degrees

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Coverage issus going from Telecom XT to 2Degrees

Nokia2012

108 posts

Master Geek

#82290 26-Apr-2011 21:13

Not complaining about 2degrees or nothing but just wondering why the coverage seems to be not very good on 2degrees (Vodafone NZ Network). I lose signal in my house blenheim and also in Renwick if I put my phone in my pocket it will lose signal and if I leave it out it will get full signal it will go up and down all the time. when im at school the voice calls can get distorted which is a pain.

This is the only thing I don't like about 2Degrees other wise its perfect for me. the calling prices are cheap
the customer service is tops in my Opinion I get call divert so i can have my calls diverted to my partners phone if I am out of reach.

1 | 2

108 posts

Master Geek

#462747 26-Apr-2011 21:14

my mum and my partner also have the same problem they are on 2degrees and they both own sony erricsons w508a's

boby55

1539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#462751 26-Apr-2011 21:20

Could be that your house is a coverage deadspot?

what is the coverage like in your house? 1-2 bars before you put it in your pocket?

Are your phones 2100, 900Mhz WCDMA or Telecom XT Phones 850Mhz 2100Mhz WCDMA?

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek

#462752 26-Apr-2011 21:21

I have similar issues at my house, on XT no issue but on 2D one side of the house is good the other bad and downstairs a mixture of no signal or low signal and no 3G data, have yet to find a bad spot when i am out and about though.

I work on the assumption this will improve over time as they reinvest in infrastructure

allan

2044 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#462761 26-Apr-2011 21:32

Nokia2012: my mum and my partner also have the same problem they are on 2degrees and they both own sony erricsons w508a's

Well the W508a on 3G is a 850/1900/2100 band phone only, so that could explain the issues if the phone is locked in 3G mode. It is quad band (850/900/1800/1900) for 2G/GSM, so should be okay there. I don't own one so no idea about switching between 3G/2G

Nokia2012

108 posts

Master Geek

#462765 26-Apr-2011 21:44

boby55: Could be that your house is a coverage deadspot?

what is the coverage like in your house? 1-2 bars before you put it in your pocket?

Are your phones 2100, 900Mhz WCDMA or Telecom XT Phones 850Mhz 2100Mhz WCDMA?

you can set the phones to operate in on umts and GSM witch is dual mode or just umts (3G) or just GSM

my phone is a nokia 6120 classic. there is no 3G coverage in Renwich and in blenheim we don't have coverage issus on telecom xt

Nokia2012

108 posts

Master Geek

#462778 26-Apr-2011 21:58

here is the spec's on my phone http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6120_classic-1958.php

and there are the specs on my partners phone http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_w508-2641.php

They are both Quad band mobiles.

nitrotech

1285 posts

Uber Geek

#462782 26-Apr-2011 22:01

You might be better to try a 900mhz UTMS phone to see if it fixes your problem.

A quick look shows that Vodafone's '3G broadband (2100mhz)' which your phone is capable of receiveing isn't available in Renwick however there is some coverage in Blenheim itself.

Renwick is served by the '3G extended service (900mhz)' which an XT phone is unable to receive.

You may find that UTMS 900mhz is better than 900mhz GSM coverage wise at your location - but the only way to know for sure is to try a compatible phone.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

nitrotech

1285 posts

Uber Geek

#462785 26-Apr-2011 22:03

Nokia2012: here is the spec's on my phone http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6120_classic-1958.php

and there are the specs on my partners phone http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_w508-2641.php

They are both Quad band mobiles.

Quad band GSM but not quad band UTMS.

Nokia2012

108 posts

Master Geek

#462787 26-Apr-2011 22:05

nitrotech:
Nokia2012: here is the spec's on my phone http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6120_classic-1958.php

and there are the specs on my partners phone http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_w508-2641.php

They are both Quad band mobiles.

Quad band GSM but not quad band UTMS.

Well yes but we should only need to get the 900mhz band as that's what vodafone uses in our area
please explain to me how this would be a problem.

If it was a problem wouldn't we just not get any signal at all?

nitrotech

1285 posts

Uber Geek

#462792 26-Apr-2011 22:12

Nokia2012:
nitrotech:
Nokia2012: here is the spec's on my phone http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6120_classic-1958.php

and there are the specs on my partners phone http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_w508-2641.php

They are both Quad band mobiles.

Quad band GSM but not quad band UTMS.

Well yes but we should only need to get the 900mhz band as that's what vodafone uses in our area
please explain to me how this would be a problem.

If it was a problem wouldn't we just not get any signal at all?

GSM 900mhz is Vodafones normal GSM freq in NZ, they also operate a 3G network on 900mhz UTMS or WCDMA - the 2 technologies are different.

Until recently it has not been possible to put a 850mhz (telecom XT) UTMS chipset in the same phone as a 900mhz (vodafone) UTMS one - the iphone 4 was the first to include both and will work well with both networks some other phones have now adopted quad band UTMS but your phones are XT phones and will not fully support vodafone or 2 degrees 3g service.

Nokia2012

108 posts

Master Geek

#462805 26-Apr-2011 23:04

but im only using GSM coverage in 900mhz still don't see why it is a problem sorry I don't understand.

Nokia2012

108 posts

Master Geek

#462815 26-Apr-2011 23:32

I would like to quote something from degrees's website it says on this page http://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/compatiblemobiles

If you've got an XT mobile it will work just fine with 2degrees.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#462843 27-Apr-2011 06:26

Nokia2012: but im only using GSM coverage in 900mhz still don't see why it is a problem sorry I don't understand.

In many places the 900Mhz 3G coverage is far superior to the 900 GSM coverage. By not having a phone fully compatible with Vodafone's / 2d network you're limiiting your options.

nakedmolerat

4629 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#462848 27-Apr-2011 07:36

Nokia2012: but im only using GSM coverage in 900mhz still don't see why it is a problem sorry I don't understand.

as pointed out by others,

1. in Blenheim, 2degrees do not have their own network yet, so you are roaming on vodafone network.

2. 2degrees and vodafone use same bands ie: GSM - 900/1800 (2G network), UMTS - 900/2100 (3G network)

3. XT network uses UMTS - 850/2100 (3G network ONLY, no GSM network)

4. unfortunatey, your phone (W508a) is 2G quadband that includes GSM 900/1800 but 3G triband (850/1800/2100) that did NOT include UMTS 900.

5. in some areas, the coverage is better covered by UMTS 900 but not GSM network. your phone (W508a) is unable to use the UMTS 900 band.

for me, if I were to set my phone to 2G network only GSM 900/1800, my phone only has 1-2 bars. however, if my phone set to 3G network only or dual mode, my phone has FULL bars as it utilises the UMTS 900 band. my phone support UMTS 900/2100.

Ragnor

8222 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#462994 27-Apr-2011 13:06

Basically you want a phone that supports 900 3G/UMTS for 2degrees or Vodafone, your current phone doesn't.

1 | 2