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Hi
I know there are a few 'experts' on here so its not such a dumb place to post a question about mobile phones
I have just gone PAYG and before I did bought a couple of SIMs to see which networks were reliable at our house
Whats interesting is that my nearest mast has both of the networks I fancied on it - from sitefinder/ofcom I found out all the techie stuff I dont really understand 🙂
The stats for each are as follows:
Station Type Macrocell
Height of Antenna 8.94 Metres
Frequency Range 2100 MHz
Type of transmission UMTS
This is the same for both
The difference is that one network has an output power of 26dBW and the other 19dBW
One network is widely slagged off for being rubbish, whilst the other isnt
Strangely I get a better signal and stronger connection with the network using the lower power
The other one drops out a lot and is just quite frankly rubbish
What am I missing here?
Why there be a difference if they are bolted to the same mast and more to the point why is the one kicking out the most power useless?
cheers
3G cells "breathe" - the area they cover changes with the number of people using them. So, a cell that is busy will shrink in the area it can effectively cover. A quiet cell can cover more area.
It's all to do with how 3G separates the radio connections of the different users. It encodes each user differently and needs to be able to extract each user from the overall signal. With more users this gets harder, and you need a stronger signal to be able to work it out - hence you need to be nearer the cell. There are some complicated sums related to signal/noise ratios that I really can't remember from a course 10 years ago.
So... the cell with the higher power may have more people on it, and the lower power cell fewer people - so it can pick you out more effectively and you get a better connection.
Signal strength doesn't really matter for voice calls - if you have one, it'll work - but does affect data speeds.
I'm not an expert so someone who can remember their 3G course may be along to correct me!
(Oh, and 2100MHz isn't great at going through buildings)
More power does not necessarily mean a better signal, we are just starting to switch to a "digital" network (it's still analogue waves, they just represent digital values, don't let anyone tell you different) so it's new to me but we will be doing signal strength [u]and[/u] quality checks.
Given that your power outputs are from SiteFinder (which reflects the typical output before the impact of cell breathing), the one at 19dBW is probably covering a smaller area so runs at lower power to avoid interference with other cells in the area - that's the way Three / MBNL run their network.
The higher power mast is covering a bigger area. So the one running at lower power is probably part of a better network in your locality.
beej
Can you explain to a complete ignoramus on these things why, at my office (I'm on O2), generally there is next to no chance of a voice call, out or in, sometimes there's enough to get the phone to ring but not to sustain a call and very occasionally enough to actually take an incoming call? Texts work but can take a long time to "go".
We're between half and one mile from four masts.
Could be a bunch of things. Not least the fact that when the phone rings it may well be just getting enough signal to ring, but as soon as you move it / put a big slab of wet meat next to it, it doesn't.
http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/rf-technology-design/index.php
For if anyone gets really bored.
A nearby mast doesn't necessarily equate to good coverage. Simplified, if you imagine signal radiating straight out from the top of the mast, you can be 'under' it if you're too close and not get reception.
Depending on what networks the OP is looking at, this might also be an issue:
Because of the ongoing legal process concerning data disclosure, T-Mobile (since 2005), Orange (since 2010) and Airwave (since 2010) have decided to suspend participation and in consequence, data has not been updated.
(from [url= http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/sitefinder/faq ]here[/url])
@Orange Crush
Could be lots of things - mobile phones are just radios and radio signals can be affected by walls, people, other radio signals, other users, trees, weather... The cells near you may be using frequencies that don't penetrate buildings well (and if there are four of them that close then I'm guessing you're in an urban area so the cells might be there to provide capacity rather than coverage, using higher frequencies).
Or, it could be that you're on O2.
(Other networks are available, the opinions expressed by my are my own and not representative of my employer...)
Just back to the computer - thanks for the replies.