[3GScottishUser]

I spoke to Vodafone just before christmas about the patchy 3G coverage in my area. I never got more than 1-2 bars of signal in certain parts of my house and could not access the Live service too well. Voice calls are fine they seem to switch from GSM to UMTS without any noticable effect.

The CSA took the details and said that they would register them on their database and that if they received sufficient demand they would build a new cellsite to improve the coverage in the area.

I thought this was a 'stock' answer and having heard that one from other networks before shrugged it off.

Guess what...... I now have a full 3G signal from Voadafone. Yep.... 100% solid!!! Everytime I push the videocall button up comes the picture and Live is lightning fast now!!

Wow.... so much for my lack of faith. They seem to have done exactly what they said they would.

Happy days!!!

[getti]

Voda are definatly improving coverage. I used to get 1 bar 3G at work if i was lucky and now only 6 weeks later its full 3G. Also 5 mins from my home now gets 3G on Voda so fingers crossed it will cover where i am anytime soon.

As you can guess i have moved to vodafone :p

[teclo]

3GSU, I'm glad they upgraded your area, but I still have terrible service. 1 or 2 bars of GSM at most, with the call quality being dreadful.

I called them up in November of last year to complain about it and as of yet there does not seem to be any increase in the quality of service.

[Ben]

Hey teclo - why don't you check out http://www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk/ to pinpoint where your nearest Vodafone masts are? It's more of a curiousity thing, but it'd give you an idea as to why your coverage is so poor.

[teclo]

Good thinking.

Just ran the check and I appear to be about 150 yards from cell 9850. It is a macrocell running on a frequency range of 900Mhz. The transmitter power is 2.15 dBW, max licensed power is 32dBW and it does GSM.

Yet, I can be in my back room, looking out the window staring in the direction of the mast and have 1 or 2 bars of GSM coverage. More often than not though I won't have any coverage. I wonder if electrical interference from the railway between my flat and the mast would be a problem.

[davidlove]

Here in the backwoods, 4 miles from Hyde Park Corner, still no Voda 3G.

The reason is that local residents have opposed planning for a new mast because it might fry their kids' brains. Seriously.

The good news is that planning decisions on new masts are now made at a national level, where overall service commitments are taken into account.

So I may yet be able to use my 3G datacard at home, instead of taking my laptop to rural Spain, where it ain't cheap, but works perfectly.

[teclo]

It really is a pain isn't it?

When I spoke to VF last year they just audibly shrugged their shoulders and said there was nothing they could do until a new mast was put in. Sometime within the next six months.

[3g-g]

Yet, I can be in my back room, looking out the window staring in the direction of the mast and have 1 or 2 bars of GSM coverage. More often than not though I won't have any coverage. I wonder if electrical interference from the railway between my flat and the mast would be a problem.

You could keep on at Voda and ask if their network performance department could look at your area, it may be that the antennas aren't set up correctly or that there's a fault with the sector facing in your direction. Is seems very strange that with such a small distance between you and the site you're getting no coverage, or very little coverage. Explain where you are in relation to the site and ask if they can send one of their field engineers out to look at the area locally. Give them the site reference number from sitefinder, it'll help them out a lot.

[teclo]

On the phone to them just now. it appears that this mast is a 3/4's coverage mast and i'm in the shadow by the sounds of it.

There are 6 masts going in, with a 3g mast that should be in the same area, but the timescale is within the next 6 months... again.

He recommends I get a signal enhancers / booster patch from the VF shop.