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openmedia

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#83958 24-May-2011 16:46
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So it looks like I might be moving over to Telecom XT as it appears my new house has little/no reception on 2degree's or Vodafone.

Based on the Vodafone coverage map I should be getting 4 (ish) bars of coverage as we're reasonably close to SH16, but sadly in the house and garden we're constantly loosing reception. Its actually worse that my current house in Titirangi.

I did report this to 2degree's customer care and their response was along the lines of "not our problem as you aren't on our own network". Their own coverage zone end about 1km away just outside Huapai.

The fun thing is I can't report this to Vodafone as I ported my Vodafone number to 2degrees.

What makes this even better is my contact isn't even a month old with 2degree's and to get the same package from Telecom will cost me twice the amount per month.

Any one here got a better idea of what I can do at this stage?

Cheers.




Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.


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richms
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  #473533 24-May-2011 17:09
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Don't move in there?

Otherwise you cant really do anything, if 2degrees don't provide direct coverage there then you are out of luck, a sure signal wont help you unless you are on vodafone directly.

Lack of services is one of the problems with moving to the middle of nowhere. I would have checked first, and a friend did with respect to getting internet and didn't take a property because it wasn't available at a decent speed.




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richms
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  #473534 24-May-2011 17:11
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Actually, if you use it in a fixed location you could probably get a yagi and aim it down towards civilization. I used to see kumeu on my vodafone in beach haven often till they got their site across the harbor working.




Richard rich.ms

nigelj
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  #473535 24-May-2011 17:13
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openmedia: So it looks like I might be moving over to Telecom XT as it appears my new house has little/no reception on 2degree's or Vodafone.

Welcome to the area!

Based on the Vodafone coverage map I should be getting 4 (ish) bars of coverage as we're reasonably close to SH16, but sadly in the house and garden we're constantly loosing reception. Its actually worse that my current house in Titirangi.


I'm in a similar situation, I'm a bit further away from the towers than what you are describing, but when I moved back from Australia after switching to a Vodafone frequency set phone, the reception is so bad that often the phone (Nokia) will only get 1 bar of reception and it'll completely disappear if it's moved ~30cm from a particular location.

I ended up by switching back to Telecom's CDMA network for a while until I bit the bullet and upgraded to XT, which apart from the small black spots on the entire property, works flawlessly.

Any one here got a better idea of what I can do at this stage?


I think the problem is that Vodafone may have lost a tower site, I'm pretty sure there used to be a tower opposite the primary school (the other side of SH16) but it no longer appears in http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=http://sites.google.com/site/nzcellinfo/AllSites.kml

Which means that it's either trying to connect to the Reweti Marae/Woodhill tower, or the Pinetone Rd/Riverhead Forest tower. (I seem to recall mine connecting to Reweti even though Pinetone Rd is closer, so I've also got a feeling that it's very directional towards Huapai - can anyone confirm this?

I think the only solution is to try and convince Vodafone/2D to build a tower on top of the Waimauku Shopping Centre.



openmedia

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  #473557 24-May-2011 18:03
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Mate that map is brilliant. Shame about the VF site being down as I'd be happy to roam at home for calls as I'll have wifi for internet etc.

Looks like Telecom have a strong local site so that is looking like the way to go for now.




Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.


johnr
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  #473563 24-May-2011 18:23
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The coverage maps do not cover the expected coverage inside property or a house

I know we have plans to improve coverage in the area in the coming 12 months

John

nigelj
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  #473565 24-May-2011 18:32
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johnr: I know we have plans to improve coverage in the area in the coming 12 months


Actually, that's a good point, the coverage should get better soon as part of the RBI (parts of Huapai/Waimauku/Muriwai look to be within the RBI areas as they aren't covered by the UFB announcement today & there are large parts that aren't on the ADSL zone 3 plan either) so Vodafone are committed (pretty much) no matter what.

btw John, no idea if it's possible to check, but I'm sure about 5-10 years ago Vodafone had a transmitter Cnr SH16/Waimauku Station Road, was I dreaming it, and if not, why did it disappear?

openmedia

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  #473939 25-May-2011 14:19
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Interestingly under the old Rodney district plan the area around the Waimauku township is classed as Urban and not Rural.

Where can you find out what areas aren't covered by UFB?




Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.


 
 
 

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BarTender
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  #473957 25-May-2011 14:48
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openmedia: Mate that map is brilliant. Shame about the VF site being down as I'd be happy to roam at home for calls as I'll have wifi for internet etc.

Looks like Telecom have a strong local site so that is looking like the way to go for now.


Glad you like them :)

Check my blog for the most up to date exports from the RSM Database.

As johnr said they are not the most accurate since they are based on data exported from the RSM database rather than radio spec information as calculated by the providers radio engineers.  But none of the providers actually release that information which isn't really a surprise so the RSM data is the best publicly available information.

nigelj
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  #474013 25-May-2011 16:14
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openmedia: Interestingly under the old Rodney district plan the area around the Waimauku township is classed as Urban and not Rural.

Where can you find out what areas aren't covered by UFB?


When I looked at the CFH UFB document it only showed Kumeu/Riverhead as getting a 'pocket' of UFB deployment, none for Waimauku/Helensville (the shading of the map & corresponding fibre routes (fibre to Waimauku goes via Riverhead Forest instead of SH16) confirms this).

Originally they had said areas that were Stage 3 ADSL2+ rollout were meant to be included in UFB which implied to me that Waimauku & Muriwai township/villages would get UFB, but by method of exclusion it likely means RBI (assuming as has been stated that RBI = covers UFB coverage shortfall).

As Vodafone is required to build towers to cover (iirc) 95% of the RBI area, I think it's safe to say that we can expect at least another tower in the area ;)  In which case, Vodafone coverage should improve, which implies that 2D coverage will improve (assuming roaming remains).

I realise there are a lot of assumptions, but CFH/MSD etc don't give us too many details/very good maps to work out what the story is. All I've been able to work out, is there is about a 95% chance that I'm covered by RBI, and if so, I might be able to get a quick FTTH connection instead of waiting for the Vodafone component of the scheme to go live.

(I realise this is likely starting to get a bit OT in regards to the UFB/FTTH aspects, but the RBI aspects are still relevant.)

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