Mobile Broadband - Signal Strength

[journeyoflife]

Hi,

I am using Vodaphone's mobile broadband (via dongle) and my signal is always 'Poor' or 'Very Poor'. Often my speeds are akin to Dial-Up. Sometimes my connection shuts down completely.

I have run the 3G Coverage test on Vodaphone's website which gives a reading of 'Excellent' for my postcode.

Is there a way in which I can boost my signal?

Thank you.

[jarviser]

Call 191 and ask if your nearest mast is working properly. Hopefully it's just down temporarily.

If you are very unlucky you may have a row of buildings between you and the mast even though the area is well served.
If you can't get a better signal upstairs there's not much to be done apart from a 3G aerial on the roof and a dongle that will take an aerial + adapter lead. The latest dongles don't seem to have that socket though, so then you'd need to buy a better dongle from a third party ... it gets expensive - lets hope it's the local mast at fault

DIY help - This site will show locations of all UK masts - look for Vodafone GPRS. You could try walking a laptop nearer and see if it works better.

[Retired-Wayne]

Hi journeyoflife

Thanks for your post here. I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with this and can appreciate how frustrating this must be for you.

So that we can look into this can you give us the full postcode that you are having this problem at?

Also,jarviser has given you some great advice with regards to signal boosters there as well

Thanks

Wayne

eForum Team

[journeyoflife]

Hi Wayne,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

My postcode is E5 8SA.

jarviser's advice is useful, but unfortunately I am not in a economically favorable position to purchase a rooftop aerial and another dongle. I do not believe that large buildings are blocking my signal.

Thanks for your help.

[Retired-Trev]

Hi journeyoflife

On checking coverage at E5 8SA, it's showing very good 3G/2G services. In fact you are central to a triangle of sites situated at N16 5SR, E5 8BP and N16 7QY. A site check of the last 30 minutes also shows no issues, and all are taking traffic.

Do you still have issues?

If you do, is this at all times or at certain times in the day?

Regards

Trev
eForum Team

[journeyoflife]

Hi Trev,

My signal is constantly Poor or Very Poor and often I am unable to connect to the web.

Sometimes my internet connection changes to EDGE which is very slow.

On a few occasions when I connect to Vodaphone the connection is rated as Very Good or Good. However this soon changes to Poor or Very Poor.

Often my bandwidth is not capable of playing videos on YouTube, guardian.co.uk, etc. But this may be a different issue.

Thanks for your time and help.

[Retired-Trev]

Hi journeyoflife

This is strange as your coverage is very good in that area.

Have you tried it in different rooms?

It may well be the construction of the building that's causing the issue.

Regards

Trev
eForum Team

[SurfSilver]

Hi,

I am using Vodaphone's mobile broadband (via dongle) and my signal is always 'Poor' or 'Very Poor'. Often my speeds are akin to Dial-Up. Sometimes my connection shuts down completely.

I have run the 3G Coverage test on Vodaphone's website which gives a reading of 'Excellent' for my postcode.

Is there a way in which I can boost my signal?

Thank you.

I suppose that a strong signal is better than a weak signal, but the relationship between signal strength and effective speed seems to be far from straightforward. In my usual location, in over two years, I've never, ever, not even once seen a 3G signal strength of better than "Poor" but I nonetheless always get adequate speed, and at times when there are less likely to be many other users on my local cell (e.g. 5:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, LOL) I can often see speeds approaching the theoretIcal maximum that the cell can deliver. However the highest speeds that I see (I think something around 5Mbps is the current record) are always transients and are never sustained for long. I guess that might improve if signal strength was better?

[journeyoflife]

Hi SurfSilver,

Thanks for your thoughts.

I guess that my next step will be to look inti getting home broadband to hopefully increase my speeds.

Cheers.

[journeyoflife]

Hi Trev,

The signal is poor throughout my flat.

I do not think that there is anything unique about the construction of the three storey block I live in.

Can the signal be interferred with by other signals such as mobile phones or TV satelite dishes?

Cheers.