3G in Woodbridge, Ontario

[hukerikar1]

Postal Code L4H 1R3. 3G switches from 1 bar to 5 bars in a matter of seconds. Sometimes when steady at 2 or more bars I can make a call but with 1 bar calls never go thru. I sopke to the CSR, Blackberry tech support at Fido but no body knows what the problem is. Does anyone else face this problem in Woodbridge area? I think there is a tower at the intersection of Rutherford and Islington where the signals are pretty strong but as you start moving west or north west of there the 3G signals starts dropping. When I go on the Fido Rogers web site that shows the 3G/H+ coverage area it shows Woodbridge is well covered.

May be a Fido employee can investage and post a note why this is happenning. BTW the phone I am using is a Blackberry Curve 9360 locked on Fido and bought at a Fido store in Vaughan Mills Mall.

***Edited to add labels***

[FidoStephane]

Hi there hukerikar1, 

I confirm that we currently have no recorded network issues in Woodbridge, 

How long have you been experiencing this issue and when did this problem start?

Is anyone else having such reception issues in that area? 

[hukerikar1]

Hi Moderator:

I don't know how long, but ever since I got my blackberry and data plan I have noticed it. We have a Fido phone, a Rogers phone and a Chatr phone. All three phones kept side by side on a desk behave the same way. When you manually select 3G (from 2G) all 5 bars appear at first and then graually falls down to one (sometimes you will see SOS in red) and then within a few seconds climb up to 2 or 3 bars. When at 2 or 3 bars you attempt to make a call the bars fall to 1 bar and the call does not go through, most times "call failed" is displayed.

To cut the story short there is no strong 3G network at at pc L4H 1R3. At best I see 4 bars on EDGE and you can make a decent call. At this point, however, the EDGE switches to edge and some times to GPRS or GSM.

Well, this is what I am getting everyday even if you have no reports of this happenning.

Thanks for responding to my post anyway.

[FidoSamantha]

Good morning Sungamole! 

Do you happen to know if this happens indoors or outdoors, or does it happen no matter where they are located in that area? 

If it's not an indoor related issue, can you ask them to reach out to us via Facebook or Twitter so we can open a ticket with our Network Support team?

Thanks  

[hukerikar]

I am glad some ones listening - better late than never. It look a long time for Fido to acknowledge the problem exits vis-a-vis outright rejection that all is well with their network everywhere.

Howvever, I do not understand why some body has to reach you out on Twitter or Facebook and ONLY then you will open a ticket Are customers making up stories - in short are they lying about this issue. I have given a full credit to Fido reps who have gone above and beyond what they some times do but lately it does appear like a 'One way street' as some one else put out on his post.

Some times before you climb the tower you have to stand on the ground to find out if the problem exists.

[FidoJudhy]

Hey hukerikar1,

It is unfortunate that you are experiencing those issues.

In order to have this flagged myself, I would require more examples.

@ Community: Does anyone from this area also experience issues?

If I am able to gather enough examples, I will escalate the matter internally. In the meantime, you can contact our technical support team to report the issue and they will be able to report it to our network team.

[hukerikar]

Hello FidoJudhy:

We have 4 people in my house subscribing to Fido services, we all have Blackberry devices  with data plan. All phones kept side by side show the same thing. I was on the Canadian cellular towers map (http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html) and I discovered that only one tower, that is also closest to me, has 850, 1900 and 2100MHz transmission. All the others operate at 850 and 1900 MHz. If the Fido/Rogers 3G operate on 2100MHz then what I am experiencing will happen. When I go to select 3G from 2G it connects at full 5 bars but slowly the bars go down to 1 in a matter of seconds. When at 1 bar you can not make or receive calls or get emails and that is very frustrating. If there is a hole in my area then please advise me accordingy if there is none then please flag it and let your technical team attend to it.

As suggested by an earlier moderator I had called Fido custome service to let him know of this issue and I hope it will be attended to shortly.

Thanks for keeping me posted on this issue.

[FidoJudhy]

Hello hukerikar!

I have verified and it would not be possible for me to flag this issue as the network support team would require further information.

Therefore, I would invite everyone who has an issue in the area of Woodbridge to contact customer service for them to escalate the matter with our network team.

Please let us know of the outcome!

[hukerikar]

This is my fourth post, almost after 5 weeks. In these 5 weeks I spoke to Fido CSRfew times. All along the CSRs are either blaming the phone (bold 9900 and curve 9630) or the buildings and trees around my neighbourhood. None is prepared to accept the fact that their 3G service in Woodbridge sucks. As suggested by the CSR I have tried several different phones, I have seen bad 3G signals on all of them including a Rogers phone. Looks like this part of Woodbridge is a neglected area. I have tried Chatr, Wind, Mobi, and Public - all have poor coverage in Woodbridge.

Any one using Koodo, Virgin, Telus or Bell respond to this post how they find the coverage by their providers in Woodbridge area. Fido CSRs want me to go find other people in my neighborhood who have similar problems. I told him what are these forums for. I am sure people must be reading to these posts and would likely respond with their experiences.

I wonder with the competition hotting up, has Fido, Rogers and Chatr stopped investing in uograding their infrastructure. I have heard so many complaints about Rogers and Fido's coverage in my area. I hope some one out there is listening.

[FidoJudhy]

@ Community : Anyone in Woodbridge has issues with the network?

If so, please contact our customer service for them to flag the issue with our network team (WTOC). The more people call in about this, the faster it will get resolved

[hukerikar]

It has been 3 months since my first post on the 3G issue in Woodbridge ON and I am so surprised I have not seen a single comment from any other Fido / Rogers / Chatr customers on this issue. This leads me to believe 1.) either there are very few Fido/Rogers/Chatr in my area or 2.) they are having no issues with 3G. If it is the latter I should also switch to other carriers like Bell or Telus to see how their coverage is. I have tried Mobi, Wind and Public and their coverage is spotty.

Forget the 3G, I find even the EDGE coverage does not go beyond 3 bars at most most of the time. The coverage substantially improve when I walk a few hundred meters east towards Islington or west towards Hwy 27.

Anyways, I am tired of calling Fido and getting nowhere on this issue. If they fix it they fix it or I will walk.

[hukerikar]

I spoke with a CSR at Fido some two weeks back. I could feel the lady was paying attention to my what I was telling her. She told me she will escalate the case with technical dept and somebody from the tech dept will call me in 48hrs. No body has called me so far but I did get a text message that Woodbridge is a known fringe area as far as 3G signals are concerned and they are looking into it. When a CSR takes genuine interest in resolving a customer complaint you feel really good about it you know. Thank you lady, I truly appreciate your time but please follow up on this and see that we get good signals in the Woodbridge area.

[hukerikar]

Finally I did receive a text message from Fido technical department acknowledging that my area is in a fringe location with dead spots. I went on Rogers forum where customers like me have commented about poor coverage in Woodbridge area. The good news I read was that Rogers is putting up a tower between Major Mac and Isington behind the Fire Station opposite to Metro (9600 IslingtonAve.) Anyone knows when that tower will start working? That tower should offer good coverage to the Woodbridge area between Major Mac and Islington Ave. area.

I also hope that this tower will transmit the 2600 MHz LTE frequency as I plan to buy the new Q10 

[Jaberwalkie]

I am also in Woodbridge area.  I've had so many dropped calls, up to 5 in a single conversation! 

I understand Fido uses Roger towers.  My phone uses the 850 and 1900 MHz signals - which all the neighboring towers broadcast.  My phone seems to be using EDGE not 3G for some reason, but this shouldn't impact phone calls. 

I usually have full strength on my phone.  But then it will suddenly drop calls and signal go to 0 for a few seconds!  Then back to full strength!  And this is without moving at all. 

Maybe the towers are not transfering correctly, or interfering with one another in the area.  Happens at Martingrove and Hwy 27. It looks like I have adequate coverage, but am between towers - thanks for the link to http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html .

Or, the strength of the towers is not set at the right level, so the neighboring towers interfere?

Or, is it because this is Fido???

I see many people have viewed this thread, so obviously there is something going on here.

Any help appreciated!

[hukerikar · Accepted solution]

Yesterday I saw guys working on a new tower opposite to the strip plaza that has Metro, Tims and MacDonalds and behind the fire station on Islington between Major Mac on the North and Rutherford Rd on the South. Can anyone confirm that this tower has been commissioned? If it is up and running we should see better 3G and hopefully LTE signals in the area od Sonoma Heights.

Thanks,

[FidoCristina]

Hey everyone!

I was curious to see whether on a wireless tower map there is a tower showing in the area mentioned by kukerikar and in fact there is one very close to Emily Carr High School. I believe it helps Rogers/Fido subscribers in the area

Cheers

[hukerikar]

I am glad somebody is following up on this issue after years of my last post. The tower near Emily Carr SS has been taken down and another new (very short in height) tower has been commissioned at the north west corner of Rutherford Rd and Islington Ave. in a strip plaza. However, I cannot confirm if this is a Rogers/Fido tower or for some other carrier. The 3G signals are a bit better than my last post but does fluctate between two and five bars on my Blackberry. Signal strenght on Telus network is pretty solid with very little fluctations. I guess some fine tuning may be required for steadier connection.

I do get LTE connection with the same thing happening i.e. fluctation of bars from 1 through 5 in a matter of seconds. I would like someone at Fido to confirm Fido custumers have access to the 700MHz LTE connection or the 700MHz frequency is ONLY RESERVED for Rogers customers. I would also like to know if there is a way to find out what LTE band I am connected to on a Blackberry Q10 or iPhone device.

[FidoMatt]

Good afternoon, those are very good questions you are asking. 

First I want to assure you that all customers have access to the same network, whethere they are with Fido or Rogers. 

As for the 700Mhz, it is slowly being implemented in western Canada with more areas getting it in the coming months. And I do not know of a way to see what band you are connected to at a given time. Maybe someone in the community know a way? 

[Sungamole]

Another client with terrible signal in the l4h2r9 area. Signal fluctuates so much that sometimes I got to wait a bit before trying again. From 0 to 5 bars and back to 0 in a few seconds.