What's the furthest you've received reception?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › What's the furthest you've received reception?

nzpilot1181

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#83156 11-May-2011 19:41

Potentially an interesting discussion. Keen to hear of stories of people who have received cell signal in places you would expect none!

Was driving along Mill Road, Takanini where it goes up hill toward Redbout Road and my phone shows signal from the Farm Cove site with 3/4 bars. Thats a long way as the crow flys! There are sites far closer on 2degrees

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quickymart

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#468032 11-May-2011 19:49

Same thing happens on Vodafone.

1eStar

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#468103 11-May-2011 22:33

I took a photo on a smartphone on Mt Arthur in Kahurangi National Park and the geolocation is pegged as Wakefield (obviously the only fix it got was by A-GPS from serving cell). I recall that's about 40km distant.

CADMAX

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#468107 11-May-2011 22:48

at home on bank peninsula (out past little river) i get signal from Round Top on Vodafone, round top i only found about 8 weeks ago is at the top of the Rakaia river. thats a long way away.

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

quickymart

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#468110 11-May-2011 22:58

I've been on the south coast of Wellington (between Lyall Bay and Island Bay - somewhere near Happy Valley) and my Vodafone phone has said "Blenheim", "Ward", "Seddon" and "Clarence". Have a look on Google Maps to see how far that is...a *very* long way!

1eStar

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#468172 12-May-2011 09:35

Signal travels well over water, we often are using mainland towers while at Great Barrier Island. That's more than 50kms.

sbiddle

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#468177 12-May-2011 09:44

Signals will travel a long way, the problem is it doesn't mean it's usable.

GSM has a 35km distance limitation due to TDMA timing unless the cell is running at a long range/half capacity site. CDMA based air interfaces don't have such a timing limitation. You can connect to a GSM site at greater than 35km but won't be able to use your phone.

The furtherest distance I've recieved a signal was on Turoa ski field before they put a site there, the Otaki GSM site used to give a rock solid signal at a distance of roughly 100km. Because this site delivered a stronger signal than the two near Ohakune it meant phones were unusable.