Residents' Association Forum

Residents report patchy mobile phone signals in several parts of the area.  Leaving aside the knotty problem of where additional masts might be sited by the various different providers, which has been discussed in other threads, the purpose of this thread is to inquire about practical steps individuals may take to improve their reception at home or in their local office.

1.  Which providers do you use that have good reception / poor reception in your area? - for replies to be of practical use, please indicate which street / locality within a fairly close radius.

2.  Does reception with any one provider vary according to the handset's capabilities? (we have two T-Mobile users in our house - Church Walk.  One reports an almost unusable signal, sometimes no reception, inside the house; the other has no problems.  No signal within the house for Orange.  A neighbour also reports past problems with Orange, has no problems with 02)

3.  Within the laws on transmitting devices, what options for boosting the signal have you tried within your premises and - did they work? 

We both are on Vodaphone and its better than Orange (which I was on before) and Three (which the OH had).

That said its still patchy - for example right now its fine on 3 bars but I also have a sure signal box from Vodaphone which is great when it works - as i get perfect all bars + 3g (routes through broadband). The latter does not always directly connect but 90% of the time its ok.

Thats for alexandra road btw.

I noticed someone else on here (peter I think?) - also mentioned in a post about broadband that he uses the latter for a vodaphone sure signal.

i got the box from vodaphone for free and there is no subscription either (you have to negotiate to get the box for free ... but using the simple argument saying either please ensure I get proper mobile phone signal in an area that is in your coverage map or provide the box for free usually works).

None of the networks have a signal indoors where I am on the corner of Giggs Hill Green by the Library.  We've had builders in for the last 6 months or so, and they've all had to go outside to get a signal. Occasionally, I get a signal in the house, but it's very sporadic.  Apparently the 'cell' size changes according to the load on it: the more people making calls within the cell, the lower the power for the rest of the users, and hence the smaller the cell size.  I can often get a signal late in the evening (on EE and Vodafone), but rarely during the day or early evening.

I'm thinking of getting one of these to resolve the problem: 

http://www.mobilerepeatershop.com/900__1800_mhz_Dual_Band_Mobile_Phone_Signal_Booster_Repeater/p448878_1628840.aspx

We're also on Vodafone and use the Sure Signal device.  If you're having reliability issues (aside from the Virgin Media broadband going down!), it might be worth replacing the device.  They updated it a couple of months ago and it's now better built (and smaller) than the original. 

We are both on EE formally known as Orange.
From Speer Road the reception is fantastic. No problems at all. We have had Orange (EE) broad band at home for the past 7 years and have not had any issues with reception. 
Saying that you are not able to get any signal from the village centre. Frustrating that no shops or cafe's carry free wifi.

I think the Red Lion does

The red lion would! 21st Century guy:-)
Thanks Graigvmax. Glad to see you back on the forum

Am just off Weston Green Rd. Vodafone (blackberry handset) reception lousy, but O2 (iPhone) reception pretty good but not perfect.

Traditionally, by the Angel,  Cellnet were pretty good (who are they now? The Spanish lot...). Vodafone are lousy and 0 Range live up to their name.

I recently switched to Lyca for their incredibly low prices (don't know who they use) and reception is good everywhere except here. Still, I'm at home!

I have just moved into Ashley Road and I find that I get no mobile phone signal in the house and also in various other locations in the middle of the Village (eg Post Offfice and Rose Indian Restaurant).  I currently have an I Phone with a 3G service provided by T Mobile. I would like to hear from other residents as which mobile provider does give a good signal in the immediate area and/or what actions I might be able to take to get a better signal.  

hi, welcome!

I'm on 3 and my wife on EE, agree, service in village terrible. At home you can get a network booster but I find that if i turn my 3 booster on, my wife's signal disapears!

Think of it as a "perk" of living here.

Sorry Mike B - I had the same hassles and switched to Vodaphone for two reasons:

1. I found Vodaphone slightly better than Orange/TMobile (whom I was with - now EE) - for example on the train platform I now get full 3g (whereas before I got nothing)
2. Vodaphone offered a solution for the home via the Sure Signal box (I think other providers might have similar now).

If you ask 'nicely' Vodaphone will provide the box for free... !

One thing I did notice at home though was that my 'old' phone (a sony erikson) was much better than my iphone at getting signal on Orange (I have my old phone on a payg - I couldn't really switch the sims between the two because the iphone uses a small sim).

Welcome, Mike B.  As you see, this is a perennial issue on which we recently started this thread.  I've merged your enquiry into it.  Earlier posts might give you some pointers, and the background.

I am on Station Road and wife and I have never had problems with O2.  My work Blackberry is EE and I have to stand near window to use that.  O2 reception is good throughout the village, never had a problem.