Getting 3g to come to a village?

Andy From Sligo · 11-08-2014 1:36pm #1

Whats the criteria for getting the big mobile providers to bring 3G to a village. Has there got to be a minimum amount of population in an area before they will consider offering 3G? - how would a person go about effectively trying to 'pester' the well known providers such as Meteor/Vodafone/o2 to provide or look into providing 3G mobile signal.

I am with Meteor and live in vilage 11 miles from sligo town - at best possibly some times can only get an EDGE signal if im 'lucky' but very sketchy and most times can only get GPRS. Can see the telecoms mast on the mountain, its in viewable distance. Surely these companies are missing out on business by not supplying 3G even to villages because if they did offer 3G they could get or compete in the home mobile broadband business?

- as it is the only other way we can get broadband in the village is ADSL or by dish on the roof pointing to the mast on the mountain, but it would open up choice if we could get 3G in this area because we could go with 3g package from a mobile phone provider. - is there anything a local TD can do to try and bring 3G to an area, is it worth me asking the local TD and see if they can put pressure on the mobile phone companies to bring 3G to our area or is it worth getting some kind of a petition and get people to sign it and hand it into some department in government?

boardzz · 12-08-2014 1:54pm

Property owners with high buildings can apply to become a host for a mobile antenna. Doesn't mean it will happen but if the option is there to a network they might do it.

Andy From Sligo · 12-08-2014 6:36pm

boardzz wrote: »

Property owners with high buildings can apply to become a host for a mobile antenna. Doesn't mean it will happen but if the option is there to a network they might do it.

blast - dont think theres any high enough buildings in the village. thanks for the reply anyway

Discodog · 12-08-2014 6:46pm

There is often opposition to masts & this causes problems. I am in a similar situation. The mast was moved & local opposition has affected getting it replaced.

Any landowner could potentially get a very nice income.

Andy From Sligo · 13-08-2014 1:14am

boardzz wrote: »

Property owners with high buildings can apply to become a host for a mobile antenna. Doesn't mean it will happen but if the option is there to a network they might do it.

Only 'tallest' buildings I can think of in our village is the Catholic Church and the C-of-I I doubt if either of them would want an antenna installed on them lol !

boardzz · 13-08-2014 9:03am

If there are no tall structures available to networks then they would need a dedicated mast site which is costly and probably why none of them have done this so far.

Explosive_Cornflake · 13-08-2014 10:26am

Does anyone have 3g coverage?
Comreg siteviewer here
If you can see a 3g mast, might be worth considering some external aerial setup.

mr kr0nik · 13-08-2014 10:26am

Probably not much help but if its just mobile reception at home you're looking for then you can get devices that create a nano cell and then send the mobile traffic over a broadband connction (if you have one?).

Andy From Sligo · 13-08-2014 4:19pm

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

Does anyone have 3g coverage?
Comreg siteviewer here
If you can see a 3g mast, might be worth considering some external aerial setup.

nearest one to us i can see in the distance:

Site ID: SOBRA
Easting: 158234
Northing: 326633
Services:

GSM
UMTS

Operator: Vodafone

Explosive_Cornflake · 14-08-2014 7:15am

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

nearest one to us i can see in the distance:

Site ID: SOBRA
Easting: 158234
Northing: 326633
Services:
GSM

UMTS

Operator: Vodafone

Vodafone have 3g on that mast. Homework for this week is to get a Vodafone sim and test.

Andy From Sligo · 14-08-2014 2:07pm

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

Vodafone have 3g on that mast. Homework for this week is to get a Vodafone sim and test.

im on Meteor, and would like to stay with meteor if i can. Interestingly if I select 'automatically register on network' in my mobile phone settings if it cannot get a Meteor phone signal, it will register on a vodafone signal... albeit roaming and a 'R' symbol shows up. I think though it will only use 2g on vodafone.

ED E · 14-08-2014 2:30pm

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

im on Meteor, and would like to stay with meteor if i can. Interestingly if I select 'automatically register on network' in my mobile phone settings if it cannot get a Meteor phone signal, it will register on a vodafone signal... albeit roaming and a 'R' symbol shows up. I think though it will only use 2g on vodafone.

You're complaining you dont have 3G in your area, Cornflake says its likely vodafone do provide 3G there, and you wont change network but you will try and petition a provider to set up in competition?

Get a vodafone sim, test it, if 3G works just move to them. If its a small town and vodafone already cover it Meteor/eMobile wont be in a rush to build a mast.

Andy From Sligo · 14-08-2014 3:20pm

ED E wrote: »

You're complaining you dont have 3G in your area, Cornflake says its likely vodafone do provide 3G there, and you wont change network but you will try and petition a provider to set up in competition?

Get a vodafone sim, test it, if 3G works just move to them. If its a small town and vodafone already cover it Meteor/eMobile wont be in a rush to build a mast.

alright i try and explain it better - my meteor phone uses vodafone signal when there is no meteor network ... and it only finds 2G from vodafone, therefore i am deducing that there is no 3G in our village. Yes to double check I suppose I could get a proper Voda sim and put it in an unlocked phone and see if I get vodafone 3G signal or try and find someone on Vodafone and ask if they get 3G in the village, but im pretty sure no-body can because I have heard of people in the village getting a Vodafone dongle for 3g broadband for their laptop and having to return it back to shop because no 3G signal.

Thargor · 14-08-2014 3:27pm

You're deducing wrong then, Vodafone provide a simple roaming calls and text service to Meteor and Three so people can still get calls and text when they go out of range of other masts, no data. You were seriously going to go petitioning for a mast to be built before you checked other providers? The people with laptop problems were probably doing something wrong or tried it years ago.

Andy From Sligo · 14-08-2014 3:42pm

Thargor wrote: »

You're deducing wrong then, Vodafone provide a simple roaming calls and text service to Meteor and Three so people can still get calls and text when they go out of range of other masts, no data. You were seriously going to go petitioning for a mast to be built before you checked other providers? The people with laptop problems were probably doing something wrong or tried it years ago.

ok i see - right then your right I should have checked it out fully and not rely on hearsay and try it myself and buy a Vodafone sim and then pursue it lol arent some of you getting uptight because I havent checked it out fully? - I was only enquiring how you get 3G into a village that hasnt got 3G signal, didnt need a lecture from some that I should have checked it fully before complaining :-)

Thargor · 14-08-2014 3:51pm

Not getting uptight it makes no difference to me whatsoever, just thought it was a bit funny to go getting the mast built on the research you'd done, like contacting the ESB to restore electricity to your village because a bulb had blown in your bathroom

Explosive_Cornflake · 14-08-2014 4:37pm

Do check if you a three mast near you also.
I'm quite the fan of their unlimited 3g service.
The Meteor Masts with 3g will normally also be 4G as meteor were late to the game and put up LTE masts that require little work to convert from HSPA to 4G
The Vodafones are a mixture of old 3G and newer HSPA with LTE I believe.
O2 are only 3G.

You can get sims for most networks cheaply, max 10e. Carphone warehouse normally have all in stock.

Andy From Sligo · 14-08-2014 7:27pm

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

Do check if you a three mast near you also.
I'm quite the fan of their unlimited 3g service.
The Meteor Masts with 3g will normally also be 4G as meteor were late to the game and put up LTE masts that require little work to convert from HSPA to 4G
The Vodafones are a mixture of old 3G and newer HSPA with LTE I believe.
O2 are only 3G.

You can get sims for most networks cheaply, max 10e. Carphone warehouse normally have all in stock.

thanks for that very informative -

Andy From Sligo · 14-08-2014 7:30pm

contacted Meteor the other day about it because their 3G coverage map shown our village as having Meteor 3G coverage - support guy told me to DM my phone number and password, have had no answer yet and dont know if I will get answer, but if I do I will post outcome.

fbradyirl · 18-08-2014 2:13pm

boardzz wrote: »

Property owners with high buildings can apply to become a host for a mobile antenna. Doesn't mean it will happen but if the option is there to a network they might do it.

How does one apply for this? Interested....

jay93 · 27-08-2014 11:12pm

You know that you could just do a network search from your phone if it's an android and it will show who has 3G 2G in your area? To be honest if I knew there was a network with 3G I'd switch to them I'd hate to be one EDGE all the time . My town / village although quite small has 3G since 2002 I think it was and Vodafone last month installed 4G on the local mast which was great .

Andy From Sligo · 28-08-2014 1:26am

jay93 wrote: »

You know that you could just do a network search from your phone if it's an android and it will show who has 3G 2G in your area? To be honest if I knew there was a network with 3G I'd switch to them I'd hate to be one EDGE all the time . My town / village although quite small has 3G since 2002 I think it was and Vodafone last month installed 4G on the local mast which was great .

yeah, when i do a manual network search at home it only finds O2 2G (forbidden) and Meteor 2G - very poor so it is ....

no surprises - Meteor never did get back in touch with me about it. About a month a go asked for my phone number and PIN and said someone would be in touch about it and I havent heard anything since

Andy From Sligo · 25-11-2014 6:48pm

I saw this gsm repeater kit today on the internet, so there is the electronics physicaly available to enable GSM & 3G (and even 4g if your near a 4g enabled mast) coverage inside your house without having to go outside to get a signal (to even make a phone call properly) , the units are quite pricey at €360euro or 500 odd for the 4G one, but I couldnt see why you could not rent one off your mobile supplier (in my case Meteor) for a small monthly add on so people like me would no longer have to go outside in the cold and rain to answer or make voice calls which is what we have to do at present.

This is how it works, you put the transmitter on your roof like an aerial , run co-ax to the internal receiver and it turns your 1bar of signal into full 5bars of signal strength:

Fred Swanson · 28-11-2014 5:10pm

This post has been deleted.

Andy From Sligo · 28-11-2014 7:30pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Yes only realised recently that they are in fact illegal and it was confirmed after I contacted comreg and they sent back an email to me saying unless its equipment supplied by the mobile phone network provider (in my case Meteor) then it is illegal to use.

The annoying thing about it is that I can see the Broadcasting Mast out of my window on a mountain and that if the mobile network provider (in my case Meteor) had these equipment to sell or rent as an add on, and got licences for them I would more than likely be able to get 3G inside my home, it would most probably draw in the 3g signal from the mast whereas at the moment I can only get 2g and very rarely on the odd occasion get EDGE at the most.

I wonder who I would have to contact in meteor to even suggest trying out this equipment and trying to get a licence from comreg or how far will i get before the obligatory standard answer "I am sorry we have no plans at present to use these devices on our network now or any time in the future" ?

Discodog · 30-11-2014 10:41am

You could get a wifi modem/router that takes an external aerial. Mount the aerial high up with a short lead to the router in your loft & then wifi to your computer.

StaticNoise · 01-12-2014 1:13pm

Illegal? Technically.
Available? Yes, from a reputable Waterford company.

You can read into that what you wish.

Andy From Sligo · 01-12-2014 5:55pm

StaticNoise wrote: »

Illegal? Technically.
Available? Yes, from a reputable Waterford company.

You can read into that what you wish.

I will imagine if comreg detect you using one they would come down like a ton of bricks - I would of thought they could even prosecute someone selling them too

Andy From Sligo · 01-12-2014 5:58pm

Discodog wrote: »

You could get a wifi modem/router that takes an external aerial. Mount the aerial high up with a short lead to the router in your loft & then wifi to your computer.

Yes but it would have to be a special 3g router that sends 3g signal to yor mobile, not one that sends 802.11g/n - its not the computer I want 3G on its my mobile, at the moment it just abouts gets a 2G signal!

bugfreebob · 01-12-2014 8:54pm

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

Yes but it would have to be a special 3g router that sends 3g signal to yor mobile, not one that sends 802.11g/n - its not the computer I want 3G on its my mobile, at the moment it just abouts gets a 2G signal!

If it's just better 2G/3G voice coverage you need in your house, then use a free app such as "Smart Call Forwarding Lite" (Android) to divert incoming mobile calls to your landline. You can set this app. to toggle on and off the call forwarding automatically when the phone senses that you are at home. This app switches based on proximity to your home Wi-Fi router. This ensures that all incoming calls will be landline quality. Your mobile plan probably includes free minutes to landlines, so this should cover the diverted calls. Or if you change to an eMobile plan, you get all calls to landlines free (same network as Meteor).

With outgoing calls you have the choice of making the call on your landline, so the coverage should be less of an issue.

Andy From Sligo · 01-12-2014 9:20pm

bugfreebob wrote: »

If it's just better 2G/3G voice coverage you need in your house, then use a free app such as "Smart Call Forwarding Lite" (Android) to divert incoming mobile calls to your landline. You can set this app. to toggle on and off the call forwarding automatically when the phone senses that you are at home. This app switches based on proximity to your home Wi-Fi router. This ensures that all incoming calls will be landline quality. Your mobile plan probably includes free minutes to landlines, so this should cover the diverted calls. Or if you change to an eMobile plan, you get all calls to landlines free (same network as Meteor).

With outgoing calls you have the choice of making the call on your landline, so the coverage should be less of an issue.

thanks for the info, thats interesting that e-mobile dont charge for calls to landline - im on meteor pre-pay at the moment - although i dont really want to go down the road of diverting calls to the landline

Getting 3g to come to a village?

Comments