Very Poor Cell Reception

[a_meow]

I have such bad reception with my Fido phone (iPhone 4) when at home it's becoming a HUGE problem. When trying to make a call it's "searching" for a network, text messages are never delivered and if I do have service it's only one bar that doesn't last for long.

When the phone is used elsewhere there are no problems so I know it's not the hardware.

Is there a quick fix for this or is it that Fido's services where I live are not 100% supported. If that's the case, I will have to consider switching carriers.

[Preetgrewalz]

I can say the worst network ever. I never receive any calls or text messages. My calls are always being directed to voice mails and i never receive text messages on time. 

[Cawtau]

Hello Preetgrewalz,

  Welcome to the community!

  In addition to the questions posed by FidoRachel above, what phone are you using? Was it purchased from Fido or from elsewhere? If it was purchased from somewhere else, have you verified it has compatible bands and frequencies? You can verify those bands/frequencies here.

  Coverage also depends on your location relative to the cellular towers. From what you describe, it sounds like you could be outside of cellular coverage. You can get an idea of your surrounding cellular towers here. Are you able to manually select a network? If you are outside of Fido/Rogers coverage, but within coverage from one of the other providers, I would expect your phone to be able to access extended coverage as Fido-EXT (assuming your phone is compatible).

Hope this helps

Cheers

[FidoRachel]

Hey @Preetgrewalz, 

Can you give me more details, when did you start experiencing those problems? 

Where are you located? Have you tested your SIM in another device? 

[Jon65]

Thanks for the tip to use "Network Aid" through the account app.....maybe that will zero in on why my signal is only 1 Bar.

[FidoPierre · Accepted solution]

Hey Everyone! I realize this is a bit of an older post but I thought this would be a good place for a plug-in about our Wi-Fi calling service.

Wi-Fi Calling can be a great help in situations where you have weak coverage, low/no signal bars. You can check out more details about this option right from here 

You can also check out our NetworkAid feature on the My Account App. It's simple, you just need to log into My Account > Select ``Help``> ``NetworkAid``. 

This will let you check on the status of the network in your area and even lets you directly report network issues & outages!

You can read about this in the following blog to check out all the details. I hope this helps!  

[deepakgandhi]

I have very poor Fido Service. I tried enabling wifi calling but got a message that my device Samsung Galaxy Note 10 is not compatible. Is this not weird?

[Cawtau]

Hello Deepakgandhi,

  Sorry to hear you're having issues with reception. However, many factors can influence cellular reception. Unfortunately, some elements are beyond their control and might not have a solution (ie lack of compatible bands/frequencies, outside their coverage, signal interference, etc).

  What version of the Note 10 do you have (see here)? Did you purchase it from Fido?

  While Wifi-calling might work with some grey-market versions of devices (Canadian versions not purchased from Fido), it's rather unlikely that any versions other than the Canadian version will be provisioned for Wifi-calling. If you do have a Canadian version (SM-N970W), you might consider contacting customer service to see if they can assist in provisioning your line for the service. In addition, they can also be contacted via Live Chat, Facebook, or Twitter. Those methods can be accessed via the contact page posted above. However, there is no guarantee that Wifi-calling will work on a non-Fido Android device.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[ezza]

Great advice but does nothing.  I used to get 3-4 bars for a signal strength with my iPhone 6.  A tornado passed through this summer and the network went down.  Since the network has been back up (according to the network map you mention and the Fido CS Agents I’ve spoken with) I can’t get any more than 2 bars.  I recently upgraded to an iPhone 8 Plus and I still get the same ... 2 bar max.  I think the towers are pointing differently or they were never repaired correctly.  Nobody at Fido will look into it.  Tempted to pull the plug on this company.

[FidoPhilippe]

Hey @ezza! Thanks for posting.

There was certainly a lot of damage caused by the weather during that time. I'll send you a PM to look into this with you directly.

Talk to you soon!

[deepakgandhi]

Guys, any idea when this Fido reception will be fixed? I am really sick and tired. Please respond.

[FidoSamantha]

Hi Hansvill!

What exactly is the issue with your phone? Are you still covered by the manufacturer's warranty? If so, did you take your phone for repair? 

You can also try putting your SIM card in a different phone to see if the issue persists. If it doesn't, then you'll know that the issue is with the phone. 

Let me know!  

[drobert33]

Still wildly variable reception in north end of Whitby (Ontario).  No improvement from changing SIM card in HTC Desire C, no improvement with new Sony Xperia M2 which works fine a few blocks away.  Signal meter shows anything from one bar to two bars to none to none with a red 'x'.  Calls are dropped in mid-conversation, calls are missed, people ask why I never answer my phone:  well, it's because it doesn't ring!  Fido support gives the same response every time, 'we haven't received any other complaints from that area', perhaps because they don't gave any other clients in this area, and soon they will have one fewer;  enough is enough, switching to Bell.

[FidoKenny]

Hey drobert33.

We wouldn't want to see you leave without making sure that everything was done on our end to get this resolved.

I would like to take a look at what was done with our support team.

I'm sending you a PM.

Talk to you soon

[Hansvill]

Fido told me that was my telephone problem, I changed and the problem still there. I am going to change the dealer.

[SansObjet]

Indoor reception can sometimes be improved by installing a repeater (a.k.a. signal booster). You are basically installing an exterior antenna, an amplifier and re-broadcasting the signal inside with another antenna. It only works if the exterior signal is strong enough, if you are located in a RF "black hole" area there will be nothing to pickup and bring inside.

This is how you can receive signals in basements, for example. Look for products from Wilson or Phonetone. Expect to spend $250 minimum.

[long_time_user]

I too have a reception issue, but only on weekday evenings between about 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. and only in my neighbourhood. Around 10:00, I will suddenly get all the texts people had been trying to send me over the previous 5 or so hours. If I leave the neighbourhood (shopping or errands), I will get all my texts as soon as I cross a particular street.

Note that reception is fine during weekdays and weekends. It's only in the evenings that it seems to be a problem and only in the late spring / early summer period. The same thing happened last year. Last year when this happened, I went through all sorts of things with Customer Service, including re-initializing my account. I eventually bought a new phone, which seemed to help, but now I'm wondering if it was just the time of year that restored service.

Customer Service says there is no process for passing on this complaint to the network technical people. Who do we contact to let them know there seems to be a network problem in my neighbourhood (I live in a suburb of Ottawa)?

[FidoStephane]

Hi there long_time_user,

What an odd issue. First thing that comes to mind is a massive network congestion, however it can't possibly be so consistent.

Do other people in your neighborhood experience this issue as well?

What phone are you using? Have you tried a different phone model?

Let us know,

[long_time_user]

I don't know if other people in my neighbourhood experience this, but other family members do. I'm using a Nokia X2, which I  bought this time last year when this happened to me with my old phone. And that was only after several weeks of trying other things with Customer Service. I received texts fine all winter. It's only since spring that this has started happening again (it did the same thing last year, which makes me wonder if it's some kind of solar interference).

I have been in touch with Customer Service through various channels and my understanding is they are looking into it.

[evonne]

I have poor reception.

I do not receive texts, calls. Now I might not be able to send texts either.

Horrible network and customer service.

Anyone can suggest a better carrier? Telus? Bell?

[FidoStephane]

Hi everyone,

Have either of you contacted our technical support to trouble shoot your issues?