Dropped calls

[babalou]

I have been with Fido for almost 5 years and have had no issues. Around the beginning of October/22 I started having dropped calls. Called tech support and the support person could not find any issues. I asked him where the closest tower was relative to my address and he replied, " 0.6 km so there should be no problems". Signal strength here is running -118dBm to -126 dBm with one to four bars showing (varies quite a bit).  The support person then said he would talk to "tech support" so I was put on hold for about 5 minutes then ended up in a queue again. Someone answered and I asked him if the first support person explained my problem and he said no one had talked to him. I explained my problem again and asked him if he worked for Fido and he said that he was with Rogers.  He said my problem was related to technical difficulties they were having with a tower in Brighton (I am close to Wooler, Ontario - as the crow flies about 15 km to Brighton). I mentioned that the Fido tech support person said that there was a tower 0.6 km from my house and he said he had better equipment and that the Fido tech support person was wrong; the closest tower was 6 km away. The Rogers tech support person could not help and just opened a ticket (Ticket # C181115537) to notify me when the problem is fixed and then asked me how happy I was with that "solution".  Really???? Opening a ticket DID NOT fix the problem. Rogers sent a text on Friday Oct 14 saying, "sorry, but the problem has not been fixed". So, FIDO, I am paying for two phones that are good only for texting. When will I be able to use my phone to make calls? On top of this, I installed an app on my phone that shows cell tower ID#139357462 that I connect to is just up the hill from the hill I am on and about 600 meters from my house. So that Rogers tech support person with his “better” equipment that the Fido guy needs to get some even better equipment. Maybe he can try the app I am using.

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Babalou,

  Sorry to hear you're having issues with your calls. I cannot speak as to what was discussed when you had previously contacted technical support. However, there do not appear to be very many cellular towers near Wooler, Ontario.

~taken from here.

    That said, I understand your device appears to be connected to a closer tower. There does appear to be a Bell tower closer to the town. Is it possible your device has connected to that tower as extended coverage (Fido-EXT)? If you are connected to extended coverage, you should note that it is intended for a occasional usage basis. The majority of your usage needs to be on the Fido/Rogers networks.

  What phone(s) do you have? Are they compatible with voice-over-LTE (voLTE)? If they are not, calls would necessarily fall-back to the '3G' networks for calls.

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@babalou wrote:

....Signal strength here is running -118dBm to -126 dBm with one to four bars showing (varies quite a bit). ...

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  I understand your device(s) might show up to 4 bars, however, that signal strength range is actually quite poor (see here). I also understand your signal strength varies quite a bit. That could be happening as a result of to which band/frequency your device connects. The lower frequencies can travel farther and better penetrate obstructions than higher frequencies (see image here). If your device(s) are not capable of voLTE and require the '3G' network for calls, it's possible those signals are not strong enough to make and maintain calls.

  I further understand that you did not have any issues at your location prior to October 2022. Have there been any new possible sources of obstructions between your location and the cellular towers? That said, since you received notification the issue has not yet been fixed, it sounds more like an issue with the cellular tower rather than increased interference due to local obstructions.

  Unfortunately, the information provided probably won't allow you to immediately make phone calls. However, it is possible that closer tower you note might not be a Fido/Rogers tower.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers