So I've been with Telus for more than a decade now, and I've noticed that I've always had incredibly poor reception everywhere in downtown Toronto.

At my office (and most of the other towers downtown) I barely get 1 bar most of the time... and only in certain places on the floor. Most places I get no reception at all.

Not only do people on Rogers get reception anywhere on the floor, but amazingly they get reception in the elevators too!! (the commercials are true!)

This isn't just limited to the office towers I go to... I've noticed all over downtown, Rogers reception is far superior to Telus. Everyone else I know on Telus has the same experience.

Anyway I'm wondering WHY this is? Is it because Telus simply has fewer towers downtown, or is it something to do with CDMA vs GSM/UMTS?

If it's because Telus simply doesn't have enough towers down here, I think I may be forced to switch. However if it's to do with network technology... then perhaps I'll hold out until HSPA is launched...

Stick with TELUS for the time being. I think you will be happy when HSPA is rolled out.

- Jason

i really hope so!!

Probably has to do with freq. I have always found rogers/fido better at building penetration than telus/bell.

The hspa launch should make that all even.

Us Rogers customers may have more bars in more places but the number of dropped calls, data network issues etc. And outages are simply a joke.

i think the issue that they are only using 1900 which is good for long range as long as there is nothing blocking the signal.

so hopefully with the HSPA they start using the 850 band which will greatly improve their coverage and signal strength.

Well I was recently in the USA and my phone was on 800mhz and it wasn't that much better. Could have been something else though.

Wirelessly posted (BB Tour 9630: BlackBerry9630/4.7.1.40 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/126)

Same in Vancouver. My phone always loses signal in elevators yet those on Rogers can sometimes carry on a conversation. Rogers seems to get better penetration in basements as well. I don't know anything about the technology, but I've been told it's to do with the frequency used. But IMO TELUS still gets better overall coverage. Go on a road trip with a friend on Rogers and you'll see that TELUS has far superior highway coverage. And camping in tim-buck-two, I'll often get full EVDO (aka 3G for all you Rogers folks) in places where Rogers is lucky to have 1 bar of EDGE coverage. TELUS ftw in overall coverage.

Yes i absolutely believe that Rogers has superior coverage to Telus in Toronto. After all if you read the fine print of their coverage claims in those commercials it boils down to them claiming the superior coverage exists in certain specific areas where they directed their "independent third party" to conduct their testing. Outside of those specified areas then their claims are no longer valid so everywhere else would be where they no longer hold the advantage.

"Voice reliability refers to call clarity and dropped calls test results as conducted by Rogers and a recognized third-party research company in the majority of urban Canadian centers within the Rogers Wireless footprint, comparing voice services of the major wireless providers"

In other words, they directed the company doing the testing to the spots where they were allowed to conduct these tests making sure that they only sent them to places with absolutely solid coverage.

And Toronto has always been a very strong focus for Rogers so you would hope they could get some good results with all that attention. Outside of that southern Ontario region and the claims don't seem to hold true anymore. Here in Alberta coverage on Rogers appears decent in the city and the major highways. (Highway 2, trans Canada, and Yellowhead highways) Move outside of those areas and it gets very spotty. The interior regions of BC are little islands of coverage for Rogers, Vancouver is pretty good. Victoria and the southern end of Vancouver island has been a challenge for most carriers due to the regions very vocal not in my backyard stance when it comes to cell tower placement. I have heard it's next to impossible to get a new tower construction approved there so Telus as the incumbent has the advantage just because they have more historical tower locations to build from before that NIMBY's took hold.

The reason that the others have pointed out that you may find this situation turned on it's head when Bell and Telus complete their HSPA roll out is that they are going to be doubling up and sharing their towers. You can follow this more on the HSPA thread here but the short short version is that Telus and Bell are going to be sharing the radios on each others towers but have a separate back end. So if they implement this the way it's been described so far that would result in every Bell and every Telus tower being shared. So in the city where they both have existing towers you get that increased tower density and fewer dead spots as a result.

As always though coverage can be a very personal experience. Every network has some trouble spots and if you happen to spend lots of time in one of those dead zones then you will have a bad time with it.

I too think it has to do with the frequency. I believe I read somewhere on these forums that Rogers frequency is much better for in building penetration. I too am hoping that the HSPA launch will improve better in building coverage. When I was with Rogers a while ago I had coverage everywhere in the GTA. Honestly never had a problem with them coverage wise except sometimes if I tried to call someone i'd just get dead air all the time.

Thankfully I moved to an area that is super close to a TELUS tower so I get great reception at home and at work so no complaints. For what its worth, in my buliding, TELUS phones work in the elevators.

After having a Bold for 8 months i went back to Telus , No 3g half the time, lost dropped calls all the time, and my telus phone works all the time now . I wish i never swtiched to rogers cuase i lost my amazing data plan the 15$ one, now im the hole for 25 unlimted data, o well your learn and live. My telus works underground garages and elevators where i go , try the underground food court in Eaton Centre ! Telus works and Rogers dont, just saying each prvider have there ups and downs

I'm thinking as well the GSM radio seems to penetrate buildings better than the CDMA.

I work all over the GTA and to many times my co-workers Rogers phone will work inside a building where i have to get close to a window to get signal.

They certainly don't have more bars in the Maritimes where their coverage is a joke. Ditto up north and out west. The GSM-CDMA technology have nothing to do with it. Try to find ONE New York city iPhone reviewer who is happy with AT&T's coverage while Verizon's CDMA is excellent. It has to do with the number of towers.

Things are about to change in a hurry over the next few months so I'd stay put for a while.

To be honest, not in my case. Rogers works in the places I spend most of my days (ie work and home... and around downtown), whereas Telus does not (well it does, but terribly).

Sure Telus MAY have better coverage in rural ontario or whatever, but since the vast majority of my time is spent at home or work, that is obviously more important to me.

Anyway I'm reeeeally hoping HSPA fixes all this...

that is exactly it...

GSM uses a 1watt transmitter in the mobile operating in one of 8 time slots, so 125mW PEP...

this has 5 times the 'punch' that a continuous 200mW maximum output CDMA mobile can give... therefore, assuming the same distance to the cell site, gsm will penetrate better... and interfere with radios and such better too...

there is power control in both standards, so your actual transmitting power will normally be less...