T-Mobile cellular service - Re: How to find closest T-Mobile tower?

Author

Re: How to find closest T-Mobile tower?

halk@despammed.com

2005-06-27, 10:55 pm

On 30 Dec 2004 17:38:00 -0800, "John" <johnfofawn@hotmail.com> wrote:

quote:

>I want to put a directional antenna on my house so my T-Mobile phone
>will work in my basement. I need to know where the closest base station
>is.
>
>Any advice on how to figure this out? Can FCC records help? Do you
>think T-Mobile customer service would have a clue?
>
>It would be great if I could get a LAT/LON for the base station. But
>even just a descriptive name for the place, would be fine.
>
>T-Mobile does suck, but they are cheap and so am I so alas, I'm a
>T-Mobile customer.
>
>THANKS!!!
>John

Go to this site:

http://compass.t-mobile.com/

Put in your address and it will give you signal information
for your location. Scroll around on the map and you can
get a good idea of where the towers are sited.

Doug Warner

2005-06-28, 6:55 am

halk@despammed.com wrote:

quote:

>http://compass.t-mobile.com/
>
>Put in your address and it will give you signal information
>for your location. Scroll around on the map and you can
>get a good idea of where the towers are sited.
>

Interesting. I browsed to the local signal strength page from the
home page, and ended up at http://coverage.t-mobile.com
It's not exactly true. They show my area as midway between good and
great, but I'm lucky to get 1-2 bars in summer. The only way I can
get dependable service IN my house is to park the phone in my
Cellsocket, with it's extended antenna. =20
When I first got the service, it didn't work at all on my street, and,
after I and others complained, they did some adjusting, which brought
it up to the marginal level it's at now. =20

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Cyrus Afzali

2005-06-28, 6:55 am

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 23:50:23 -0400, Doug Warner
<dwarner22@ccharter.net> wrote:

quote:

>halk@despammed.com wrote:
>
>
>Interesting. I browsed to the local signal strength page from the
>home page, and ended up at http://coverage.t-mobile.com
>It's not exactly true. They show my area as midway between good and
>great, but I'm lucky to get 1-2 bars in summer. The only way I can
>get dependable service IN my house is to park the phone in my
>Cellsocket, with it's extended antenna.

If you'll read any of the literature about cell service and
reliability, all of it will say indoor service can differ and is not
guaranteed.

A lot of things can interfere with cell service that are present in
homes, not to mention the building itself.

(PeteCresswell)

2005-06-29, 6:55 am

Per Doug Warner:

quote:

>The only way I can
>get dependable service IN my house is to park the phone in my
>Cellsocket, with it's extended antenna.
>When I first got the service, it didn't work at all on my street, and,
>after I and others complained, they did some adjusting, which brought
>it up to the marginal level it's at now.

I went from Cingular TDMA to tMobile GSM.

When I had Cingular, I didn't even have the concept of a call not getting
through because of no signal - it just never happened....sort of like blue
screens and NT 3.51...

Under tMobile, I cannot receive or place calls from much of my house. Upstairs
works sometimes.... but most of the time I have to walk out into the driveway.
--
PeteCresswell

Joseph

2005-06-29, 4:55 pm

On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 21:12:54 -0700, "(PeteCresswell)" <x@y.z.invalid>
wrote:

quote:

>I went from Cingular TDMA to tMobile GSM.
>
>When I had Cingular, I didn't even have the concept of a call not getting
>through because of no signal - it just never happened....sort of like blue
>screens and NT 3.51...
>
>Under tMobile, I cannot receive or place calls from much of my house. Upstairs
>works sometimes.... but most of the time I have to walk out into the driveway.

Patient to doctor: It hurts when I do that.

Doctor to patient: Then don't do that!

Sheesh really! If cingular worked for you and T-Mobile doesn't why
did you stay with T-Mobile. You had 14 days to try the service out
and if it didn't work you could cancel. Any problems you are now
having are your own doing! What's wrong with this picture?

- -

(PeteCresswell)

2005-06-29, 10:55 pm

Per Joseph:

quote:

>Sheesh really! If cingular worked for you and T-Mobile doesn't why
>did you stay with T-Mobile. You had 14 days to try the service out
>and if it didn't work you could cancel. Any problems you are now
>having are your own doing! What's wrong with this picture?

1) Cingular's customer interface is all that wonderful around here, whereas
tMobile's seems pretty good.

2) tMobile offers a better monthly deal: 1,000 minutes vs 400 for about the same
price.

3) tMobile includes a v180 with the contract. Cingular wants fifty dollars
extra.

Note that I didn't say I couldn't live with tMobile. I made that decision in
the 14-day period. But if somebody were to ask me about relative signal
strengths....
--
PeteCresswell

(PeteCresswell)

2005-06-30, 4:55 pm

Per SirJaymes@gmail.com:

quote:

>In house coverage is a variable as is coverage in any location. You
>started with saying in your basement.
>
>Things such as pipes, cables, metal structure memebers like rebar or
>beams all can block your signal.... and ofcourse being below ground
>level...

One thing that puzzles me: About 20 minutes ago I walked out into the driveway
to place a call and made it no problem - 3 bars, even...

About ten minutes after that, I went out into the drive way, stood in exactly
the same place, and was unable to make a call to the same number - zero bars.

Five minutes after that - while writing this post, in fact - I went out to try
again. Stood in the same spot. Two bars, no problem

There seems tb a minute-by-minute component in signal strength.

Some local anomaly?

--
PeteCresswell

rocky

2005-06-30, 4:55 pm

In article < cac8c1h9rgdo290j8ev0
hifegr2bm5npdd@4ax.com>,
"(PeteCresswell)" <x@y.z.invalid> wrote:

quote:

> Per SirJaymes@gmail.com:
>
> One thing that puzzles me: About 20 minutes ago I walked out into the
> driveway
> to place a call and made it no problem - 3 bars, even...
>
> About ten minutes after that, I went out into the drive way, stood in exactly
> the same place, and was unable to make a call to the same number - zero bars.
>
> Five minutes after that - while writing this post, in fact - I went out to
> try
> again. Stood in the same spot. Two bars, no problem
>
> There seems tb a minute-by-minute component in signal strength.
>
> Some local anomaly?

I've found in the fall and winter I have coverage in places that I don't
have so good coverage. I think it's because of the leaves on the trees
absorb RF energy at 1.9 Ghz and cause a weaker signal than in the fall
and winter. Just a guess.

Mark Daniel

2005-06-30, 10:55 pm

> If you'll read any of the literature about cell service and
reliability, all of it will say indoor service can differ and is not
guaranteed.

And if you say anything to T-Mobile about lack of signal in a building, at
least with the CSR that I had to suffer through, they read a script which
basically says that inside service isn't guaranteed.

A lot of things can interfere with cell service that are present in homes,
not to mention the building itself.

SirJaymes@gmail.com

2005-07-01, 9:55 am

Like the CSRs have a magic frickin' wand to wave...

Read the Terms and Conditions agreement YOU agreed to when you started
service...

Section 6:
Service Availability and Limits. Your Phone operates as a radio and
Service is only available when your Phone is within range of an antenna
providing Service. Coverage maps only approximate our wireless coverage
area outdoors; actual service area, coverage and quality may vary and
change without notice. There may be gaps in Service within the
estimated coverage areas shown on coverage maps. Even within a coverage
area, factors, such as: network changes, emergencies, traffic volume,
transmission limits, service outages, technical limitations, signal
strength, your equipment, interconnecting carriers, terrain,
structures, weather and other conditions (without limit) may interfere
with actual service, quality and availability.

And since TMobile didnt build your house... Wonder how they are
responsible for knowing where your structure may attenuate or block the
signal from reaching your device...

And besides...

They are MOBILE devices....

And if some poor CCR is told by his employer to respond to your query
in a specific manner... You act like that poor CCR is making it up, or
bloeing you off...

SirJaymes@gmail.com

2005-07-01, 9:55 am

(PeteCresswell)

2005-07-01, 10:55 pm

Per SirJaymes@gmail.com:

quote:

>It could be simply that the site you were registered in was having more
>users registered and using the site at one point then another. Actual
>signal strentgh can vary and drop as more users register...

So that would make it a possible capacity issue?
--
PeteCresswell

Kevin K

2005-07-02, 6:55 am

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 20:45:15 -0700, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

quote:

> Per Joseph:
>
>
> 1) Cingular's customer interface is all that wonderful around here,
> whereas tMobile's seems pretty good.
>
> 2) tMobile offers a better monthly deal: 1,000 minutes vs 400 for about
> the same price.
>
> 3) tMobile includes a v180 with the contract. Cingular wants fifty
> dollars extra.
>
>
> Note that I didn't say I couldn't live with tMobile. I made that
> decision in the 14-day period. But if somebody were to ask me about
> relative signal strengths....

In my case, when I switched to Sprint, I ended up switching back to
Cingular within a year. The poor signal quality at home didn't make up
for the better plan and phone.

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