Hello GeraldR,
Sorry to hear you're having poor signal issues at your home. Unfortunately, given the nature of cellular service, not all mobile providers will suit everyone at all locations. Cellular service depends on your location relative to your surrounding cellular towers. The different providers have their cellular towers strategically placed to provide the best coverage for most of their customers. While the different providers might have similar coverages, some areas might be better covered by a particular provider. That is not to say that any one provider's coverage is better than the other. It all depends on an individual's specific circumstances. Unfortunately, there do not appear to be many Fido/Rogers cellular towers in the Platsville area.
~taken from here.
I understand your Fido Wireless Home phone seems to work without issue. What cellular phone do you have? When was it purchased from Fido? If it is not supported for Wifi-calling, is it supported for voice-over-LTE (voLTE)? You should note that the different bands/frequencies used vary in their characteristics. For example, the lower frequencies (ie 700MHz) are better able to travel farther and penetrate deeper into buildings than higher frequencies (ie 2600MHz)(see graphic here). On the other hand, the lower frequencies tend to have narrower bandwidths than the higher frequencies (see table here). If your Wireless Home phone is supported for voLTE but your cellular phone is not, that could account for why your Home phone works yet your cellular phone might not. Most modern phones will standby in the best data connection. In most cases, that would be a LTE connection. When calls are made or received, the devices need to switch to the 2G or '3G' networks for the calls to connect. Your phone might show '3 bars' on the LTE network, but would need to switch networks (fallback to '3G') in order to make or receive calls.
I also understand that you were able to use your phone previously for voice calls. A different provider has a closer cellular tower in the area. With the roaming agreements, Fido customers would be able to roam on their networks as extended coverage (Fido-EXT). You should note, however, that extended coverage usage is on a temporary basis and the majority of your usage needs to be on the Fido/Rogers networks. If all of your call usage was using Fido-EXT, extended coverage usage could have been blocked.
It should also be noted that Rogers intends on decommissioning the 2G network (see here). While there have been some delays to that timeline, I would expect the full sunset to occur in the near future. As a part of their LTE improvements, they have begun to refarm their 2G as well as some of their '3G' bands/frequencies. Unfortunately, a reduction of their '3G' footprint in your area could also affect your calling (if your device was not voLTE compatible).
@GeraldR wrote:...mode 7) calls to voice messaging are charged as long distance to Alberta..
Are you referring to when you check your voicemail? What number are you using to access voicemail? As far as I am aware, the voicemail access numbers are not located in Alberta (see here).
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello again,
Thank you for the additional information.
@GeraldR wrote:... My cell shows over 3 bars. My cell is just 3 years old, was purchased from Fido and does LTE; our home phone is also cellular from the same provider and same contract and works perfectly...
What phone do you have? I understand your phone is relatively new. However, technology changes quite quickly. I understood that your phone is LTE-capable. However, it's possible that it might not be voLTE-capable. Does your phone have any setting for voLTE or high-definition (HD) calling? If it doesn't it's possible it's not capable of that functionality. If it isn't capable of voLTE, then calls would have to fallback to the '3G' networks. As illustrated in one of the graphics linked above, the frequency used on the '3G' network does not penetrate as far or as deep as the 700 MHz LTE. Your phone could be showing 3 bars because it's connected to the lower LTE frequency. If your phone has to switch networks for calls, it might be having difficulty maintaining the connection with a lower signal on the '3G' network.
As mentioned previously, it's possible your phone was working properly with calls if it was connecting the the closer Bell tower for calls. If your usage on extended coverage is greater than your usage on the Fido/Rogers networks, access could have been blocked.
If your Home phone is able to access the Rogers' '3G' network, you should note that different devices can vary in their cellular receptivity. Even phone models from the same manufacturer can have differences in receptivity. It's possible the Wireless Home phone module has better receptivity than your cellular phone.
@GeraldR wrote:...When I check voice mail, which according to today's experiment works 1 out of 3 trys, I quick code 1; it is recorded as an outgoing call to 1-587-737-0210 Alberta (my long distance calling minutes at work)....
Have you tried to change the voicemail access number? The link provided above provided some access numbers from Ontario. You should be able to change the access number in your phone dialer settings.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello again,
@GeraldR wrote:..As for the phone, when Fido sold it to me they didn't say anything about it only being useable for 2 years; your suggestion that they intentionally sold me an obsolete phone....
To be clear, I never suggested that Fido intentionally sold you an obsolete phone. Voice-over-LTE only became more popular relatively recently. If you purchased a device prior to it becoming a more standard feature, that is unfortunate. However, technology changes quickly. No one can foresee the future.
In addition, your phone is not obsolete. As you note, you are able to use the services at different locations. As previously mentioned, given the nature of cellular service, not all mobile providers will suit everyone at all locations. Though, you are not willing to use the provider with the closer cellular tower. I understand it worked previously. However, you were also provided possible explanations. That said, if there is a technical issue at one of the cellular towers, hopefully a fix will resolve your issue.
Cheers
