cell c coverage question

[dominic]

here's the deal

when @ Misty Cliff's near Cape Point my nokia n70 gets no signal but displays "3G" where the signal strength indicator is

my wife's motorola razr, on the same cellc contract, gets full coverage

anyone have any ideas why this would be?

 

[dominic]

bumps and tries one more time while

//tries to avoid nagging *stupid question* feeling

 

[C-People]

On the Cell C website : www.cellc.co.za, you can access the coverage link at the bottom of the main page. This will direct you to an internet coverage complaints form. The form can be completed and submitted online.
Our network planning engineers will further investigate.

 

[dominic]

mazeltov thanks - r u to be an official cell c voice on the forum?

 

[AndrewMB]

internal receiver of cellphone

here's the deal

when @ Misty Cliff's near Cape Point my nokia n70 gets no signal but displays "3G" where the signal strength indicator is

my wife's motorola razr, on the same cellc contract, gets full coverage

anyone have any ideas why this would be?

I am not a technical expert but I think that it depends on the internal receiver of your cellphone itself. It could be that the razr has a better receiver than the n70. Dunno - where are the experts?

 

[jb007za]

Hey, I could be way off the mark, but here goes anyway...

I've noticed at my home that my handset is connected to a Vodacom base station at full signal strength and it displays something like "3G, HSDPA, etc enabled". If I then position my laptop, E620 datacard and external antenna in exactly the same spot, I can't get a 3G signal at all! I wonder if there aren't different sets of antenna on the base stations - 2100 MHz for 3G/HSDPA and 900 / 1800 MHz for GPRS/EDGE and voice. Possibly they are operating at different signal strengths but all broadcasting the same cell information.

Experts, feel free to shoot me down in flames. Just my not-so-technical thoughts on the matter.

 

[ajax]

Hey, I could be way off the mark, but here goes anyway...

I've noticed at my home that my handset is connected to a Vodacom base station at full signal strength and it displays something like "3G, HSDPA, etc enabled". If I then position my laptop, E620 datacard and external antenna in exactly the same spot, I can't get a 3G signal at all! I wonder if there aren't different sets of antenna on the base stations - 2100 MHz for 3G/HSDPA and 900 / 1800 MHz for GPRS/EDGE and voice. Possibly they are operating at different signal strengths but all broadcasting the same cell information.

Experts, feel free to shoot me down in flames. Just my not-so-technical thoughts on the matter.

Not far off, jb.
The "3G, HSDPA, etc enabled" is an area message from a GSM tower. The coverage of GSM towers generally extend beyond that of 3G, even if both towers (i.e. antennas) are in the same spot. You may be on the edge of the coverage of the GSM tower showing the id.

Or it could be that your datacard is set on automatic network mode meaning it will select the strongest signal from both GSM and 3G. Try selecting UMTS only.

But it is strange that you are seeing 3G on Cell C. Well, if you are roaming on Vodacom then you will also get "3G, HSDPA, etc enabled" area message AFAIK. But Cell C doesn't have 3G. There have been some instances where Cell C or Virgin users were able to get onto Vodacom 3G. I was too, but haven't been able for a while now.