Data over mobile network

I know, which is why I asked the OP what he meant.

slots

sector

Not in the network providers interest to have backhaul capacity problems, it would affect all services. Yes you could prioritise some traffic over other but bandwidth is cheap. Far simpler just to shove everything down a big enough pipe.

aerial

Could be but most "contention" problems these days are not the network backhaul but capacity within the ISP. I quite like the idea of the local cell being "upgraded" to 4G and the 2G service ceasing from that cell. Need feedback from Tim on signal strength, trouble on the backhaul wouldn't affect signal strength. Does he have a 4G capable phone?

Never had my ADSL slow down in the evenings, even when people I know with ADSL on the same exchange but different ISP have complained about it.

It would make no sense to upgrade backhaul beyond the capacity limits of the transmitter. Or to have it less either.

Some years ago I attend as a vendor an open air show before it started - we came the night before - cell coverage was OK and up to 9600 bps was available. With the show in fill flood you couldn't even sustain a voice call reliably.

In the end its transmitter capacity that dominates

The transmitter/receiver *is* the backhaul. More fibre isn't usually the issue.

Oh, sorry, are you still talking about cellphone bases, the discussion seems to have extended to comms services in general? Don't mobile networks rent backhaul too?

You could use a dual wan router to load balance a pair of connections. So one provided by a 4G USB dongle, and the other from a MiFi type device with ethernet. Or in some cases the router can use a phone in hot spot mode as a wan connection, and then load balance that with something else.

Load balancing will double your overall throughput, but not increase the maximum data rate for a single connection or lower the latency or ping. (which matters for serious gaming)

Have you tried with a different phone?

Them getting second phone line and broadband connection might make more sense (load balanced if required)

no, technically the backhaul is between the point of presence and the carrier. The transmitter to phone is 'the last mile'

Of course they do. to get data to the towers and back.

We were talking at cross purposes. I was thinking you meant BT's transmitter driving the fibre.

That'll be it! Tenants in buildings served by communal TV systems often talk of the 'sucking up all the signal' problem. It seems to be a major problem.

Bill

All direct paths to a transmitter are radial.

Bill

They are actually beyond me but on the same radial.

To clarify a few points upthread.

Current mobile is an Alcatel one touch. Basically because it fits my trouser pocket. The display only shows signal strength but I think this version is 3g. The problem is variable over a few minutes: going from 3 bars down to 1 and then searching, usually followed by 2 or 3 bars of emergency only.

I tried wandering off the direct line and found no improvement. The bulk of the village lies between us and the transmitter so it may just be half-term TV and downloads:-(

I'll just have to fire up the Motorola!

Stick your postcode into

If I guessed right, it told me for 2G, 3G and 4G

We're aware of some network issues in $POSTCODE

There?s a problem with our mobile network in this area at the moment that may be causing issues with your service. We?re sorry if you?re experiencing any disruption, we know how frustrating this can be. Unfortunately, it?s taking us a little longer than we expected to fix this issue ? sorry for the delay. Rest assured, we?ll get things up and running again as soon as we can, and we?ll update this page once we have an update. Thanks for your patience. As soon as we have any further updates, we?ll let you know here.

Been there! I'm signed up for alerts and did get one. Nothing since. There is a nearby bad patch on 3 and 4g but my signal strength here has always been good.

See what Monday, back to school brings!

But they're not saying you're in poor coverage, they're admitting the nearby mast has a fault ...