[miffed]

OK

My recent (well documented !) troubles with three led to to grab a another Vodafone contract with a hope to using 3G ( although I knew the signal wasn't very clever around here - I tried my existing Voda sim in my m3100 , and was getting 1 bar of 3G signal
Today (by coincidence) I aquired a 6280 on Voda - so I tried my Voda sim in it ......... NADA ! not a sniff of 3G and no option to select 3G over GSM either :mad: This is all very frustrating , as I know that when I had my XDA exec ( last Xmas ? ) There was almost a 5 bar 3G signal ! - I remember posting on here about how well it performed - yet now it has dissappeared without a trace !!! it's like the put the mast up , tried it out , then took it down again ! :(

Then something Ben said to me made me think ( about how he has 3G "out in the sticks " )
So I check Vodafones (lack of) coverage checker , and notice that all the fields, woodland & wastleland locally have ample coverage ! yet all the residential / populated areas haven't been touched (note - in the pic , the yellow areas are 3G , the blue are 2G :mad: )
Who is in charge of Vodas rollout then ? Worzel flamin' Gummidge ?

Why do Vodafone value sheep over customers like me ?

[Ben]

LoL!

It's possible they're finding it easy to place new sites on farmland but difficult to get new masts up in the more populated areas. As has been said on here, 3G masts work best at a specific height, and maybe Vodafone's existing masts in the area are incompatible for whatever reason.

I definitely think you should email that picture to somebody 'at the top' at Vodafone, as it's an excellent illustration of your point.

[miffed]

I am definately going to be sending a mail - according to the ofcom sitefinder thing , their is a Vodafone UMTS mast actually IN my postcode !! (CT5 1QJ)

So (if the site finder is correct) my suspicions about it being set up , then switched off are probably true

Can you imagine my frustration ? a mast literally FEET away ,yet no coverage whatsoever ? :confused:

Do you reckon they'd switch it on for me - if I asked nicely :) ?

[Ben]

Do you reckon they'd switch it on for me - if I asked nicely :) ?
Well, I don't know about asking nicely, but maybe if you threaten to leave!

[3g-g]

Perhaps, and I think this about both O2 and Vodafone, they've not quite got to grips with their 3G network. Remembering they've been operating a 900MHz GSM network since time began, only recently acquiring some 1800Mhz for city centre use, and now they're having to roll out nationally a 2100MHz UMTS network. The lower frequency works much better more or less everywhere, especially once out in the open, travelling for miles and coping with hills etc. rather well, however, the higher frequency doesn't like objects whatsoever, put a building in the way, or a hill, and the signal goes right over the top creating a big shadow of nothingness on the other side. So, as you're possibly seeing, the "sticks" are nice and covered with GSM and UMTS, yet move into the populated areas the UMTS signal finds it hard to get through. Orange and T-Mobile have had this problem since they started operating, hence the reason they have a LOT more cell sites than O2 and Vodafone, which can only be to their benefit now, making it easier for them to densely cover areas with 3G signal. I think the only way those GSM bits are going to yellow is if Vodafone can get a few lamp post type masts in and around the residents... and you know what that brings out, nimbys. :rolleyes:

[miffed]

Yeah , but if I look out of my bedroom window .. I can SEE a Vodafone UMTS mast !!! and it has been there since (at least) last December

might climb up there myslef and look for an "on" switch :rolleyes:

[Hands0n]

might climb up there myslef and look for an "on" switch :rolleyes:

Probably a bad idea ............. unless you've done having kids that is, or want to be :D

[3g-g]

Yeah , but if I look out of my bedroom window .. I can SEE a Vodafone UMTS mast !!! and it has been there since (at least) last December

might climb up there myslef and look for an "on" switch :rolleyes:

The street lighting style masts don't spread coverage whatsoever, you'll be lucky to get a good signal level on some of them 10 metres from the site, they really are designed to get everything onto the ground more or less around it... That's not to say that the UMTS side of things might be off! Is the GSM signal top notch?

[miffed]

I am just going by the OFCOM site - Plus the fact that when I tried my Vodafone sim in my XDA last december I got 5 bars of 3G

The mast is on the top of a 14 floor block of flats - here are the details from ofcom
Name of Operator Vodafone

Operator Site Ref. 35052

Station Type Macrocell

Height of Antenna 34.8 Metres

Frequency Range 2100 MHz

Transmitter Power 30.4334 dBW

Maximum licensed power 32 dBW

Type of Transmission UMTS

This thing is SOOO close ! (about 30ft from my front door to the base of the building )

See attatched photo - My house is on the left there - and you can just see some of the radio masts on the top of the building there

[3g-g]

I very much doubt, from that picture, you'll get any coverage from that site, you're too close to the base of the building. The radio wave can't propagate to the ground level, when you're that close, at those frequencies unless the antenna was pointing directly down at you. It's the same reason when I'm testing sites I need to move well away from high rises to ensure I can see the correct scramble code for the site, right at base you'll never be served from that site. Vodafone need to get some street level coverage around the building for you I'm afraid!