vB Easy Archive - tested a Fido Rep's phone

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tested a Fido Rep's phone
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Posted by: f20c

Hello,

I spoke to a long time Fido rep and she told me that most GSM phones do not have coverage in basements and underground parking lots. what ???? I said ???

I really could not believe this so we set up a meeting where I could see this for myself. Wow, was I surprised, as soon as a basement or lower level of a complex, parking structure were upon us, her signal strength was gone and my tdma and cdma signals was FULL..

So I'm thinking, will this be the case with Roger's GSM as well ?

I don't think I'm gonna spend the money on a GSM phone. I'll stick with either tdma or cdma until this GSM technology gets more improved.

I just thought this story was an interesting one, due to the rage of Rogers

-thx
s2k93

Posted by: Steve Punter

Quote:

Originally posted by s2k93
I really could not believe this so we set up a meeting where I could see this for myself. Wow, was I surprised, as soon as a basement or lower level of a complex, parking structure were upon us, her signal strength was gone and my tdma and cdma signals was FULL

None of the various PCS technologies are much better or worse than the others. Comparisons such you quote above are meaningless unless you know the locations of the nearest sites, and whether one network or another has REPEATERS inside that building.

Where I live and work in Mississauga, Fido has some of the BEST indoor coverage compared to all the others. Why? Simply because the places I frequent are in closer proximity to Fido sites than they are to Rogers, Telus, or Bell sites.

When you can find an indoor location in which the sites for competing providers are in the same place, you STILL can't be sure the tuning on the sites are equal. However, over countless tests performed over many years, I can assure you that GSM is no better or worse than IS-136, CDMA, or iDEN when it comes to in-building performance.

Posted by: Ditcho

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve Punter

Where I live and work in Mississauga, Fido has some of the BEST indoor coverage compared to all the others. Why? Simply because the places I frequent are in closer proximity to Fido sites than they are to Rogers, Telus, or Bell sites.

Well, you are one of the few lucky Fido subscribers, then. In my most frequented place - downtown Calgary - I have yet to find a building, where Fido has at least decent indoor coverage. I suspect they don't have a single repeater anywhere. As a result - poor to no coverage in all premises, if you are away from the window. On the other hand, Rogers seem to have repeaters everywhere, cause I get perfect Rogers GSM signal in almost every downtown concrete bulding.

Quote:

However, over countless tests performed over many years, I can assure you that GSM is no better or worse than IS-136, CDMA, or iDEN when it comes to in-building performance.

Of course. But the reason for some people to say such things, is the fact that so far in Canada, the only implementation of GSM was Microcell's tiny and shallow network (at least in Alberta and BC). So they have probably got used to substituting the word "Fido" with "GSM", which could be the explanation behind such obviuosly incorrect at first look statements.

Posted by: Steve Punter

Quote:

Originally posted by Ditcho
Well, you are one of the few lucky Fido subscribers, then. In my most frequented place - downtown Calgary...

I can't speak for Microcell Connexions coverage in Calgary. Possibly that isn't a very good city for Fido service. I can speak for Southern Ontario though, and their coverage here is VERY GOOD.

Posted by: mpeg

Quote:

Originally posted by Ditcho

Well, you are one of the few lucky Fido subscribers, then. In my most frequented place - downtown Calgary - I have yet to find a building, where Fido has at least decent indoor coverage. I suspect they don't have a single repeater anywhere. As a result - poor to no coverage in all premises, if you are away from the window. On the other hand, Rogers seem to have repeaters everywhere, cause I get perfect Rogers GSM signal in almost every downtown concrete bulding.

Well, yeah ... it's Calgary ... what do you expect??

j/k

Posted by: VTECMAN

I'm in calgary, and its awesome!! It even works in my basement.

Posted by: JohnnyK

Cingular's TDMA may suck horribly in almost every aspect, but I've got to hand it to the little guy, my 8260 can get a signal anywhere, under or overground.

It still sucks, tho

Posted by: Tooly

Quote:

I can speak for Southern Ontario though, and their coverage here is VERY GOOD.

There's a surprise, better coverage back East. Obviously any provider will spend more money where there is a larger population base. (ie. more money)