New mobile phone mast near us - any chance of Three using it

[Chrysanth]

If so, it would end a 20-year old signal nightmare!

Our situation (might save a bit of  time);

First of all, I probably don't need as many instructions or explanations as the average end user.  Though we're an elderly couple, I'm a Londoner who was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to discover 'home computing', and the tinkering with basic low-level settings still makes it easy to understand the hows & whys of each new innovation).

But since we moved to west Donegal in the early 1990s, we've been on the wrong side of one digital divide after another, from the very start.  That was getting our building a phone line, which seemed to be soluble in rainwater (e.g. blocking news of a relative's death), and not learning until 2007 that its theoretical maximum was 16 kilobytes per second, despite Eircom's insistance that it was enabled for broadband.  (End of rant - sorry!  It still feels quite raw).

Fortunately, starting with an independent mast appearing near us (in about 2010, I think), we're now getting broadband adequate for our needs, from Three.  But it's the opposite with our mobile phones.  When we got our first ones in 2004, the only signal anyone could find in our area was a faint one from O2.  (E.g. phones on Vodafone went dead while passing through the district).  As far as I can tell, that hasn't changed.

The O2 and Three people have tried hard to help on several occasions, but they always came up against the same thing.  (No prospect of the local infrastructure being improved, and whatever mast our signal's from evading the tech team's attempts to locate it).

With wifi imternet inside the house only, and the mobile signal (if any) outside the house only, it's always a pain.  But the real fun and games comes when someone sends us an authentication code by text.  It was something of a last straw a few days ago when I got in a minor muddle trying to make a small online payment, ending with bank cards getting blocked, and then needing replacements, because I failed to reply to a text from the bank, which never got through, despite rushing down the back garden in the dark. (I'm just hoping our new cards will arrive before we next need valid ones).

And then… a few weeks ago, we had a grandstand view of a new mobile phone mast being built in clear view nearby.  (If we could get there along a straight line, I'd guess about a 5-minute stroll away).

Our signal hasn't improved, and with the help of some tech forum people I've learned that phone masts should go live as soon as the structure is completed (meaning that Three probably isn't using it).  And also that it's the type of small mast that's outside the planning system (so the council can't help with any info).  They don't figure in the Comreg map either (not that anything does any time soon).  And nobody's coverage maps seem detailed enough to be relevant.  (I've had one of the independent apps that can help for about 2 years, but they need a bank card to register with/return to!). My husband included a diversion to the mast in one of his drives, but couldn't spot any identifying clues.

People often suggest wifi calling, but for us, that would be like going back to the days of just having the one phone handset in the hallway.  (I am aware of the options, and ported our home phone number to VOIP years ago.  That can be useful when people can't get through to our mobiles, but when storms cause power outages here or upstream, a usable mobile signal could enable some kind of contact with the outside world (and my husband has a few medical vulnerabilities).

So it's over to Three - any ray of hope there?  (Judging from the views far and wide from the ground at the mast, I could imagine it attracting more Three customers (especially if a signal was already there).

[Three_Stacey]

Hi there, @Chrysanth. I'd be happy to check to see if we've added a new mast in your area. I'll just need you to send me a private message with your name, number, full address, date of birth, and eircode. 

[Chrysanth]

Will do that next, Stacey - thanks.  (It's a while since I've done that, but I expect the method will come back to me).  I'll include a bit about the mast's location while I'm at it.

So far, I've learned that the decisions to build this type of mast are made by one of the infrastructure companies involved, rather than by e.g. Three.  But if I understood right, the mobile companies should be aware that it exists, and be able to avail of whatever the radio spectrum is that's reserved for them.  (And if anyone wants to read up on it online, the legislation is called Section 254).

Yesterday was topups day.  Luckily, the above-mentioned replacement bank cards arrived in time.  But they first need validating next time we're in a town (tomorrow, in my case).  Luckily again, I'm already able to get back here because I managed to find a faint mobile signal out in the garden, so was able to do a phone topup of the router and my phone.  (It's a useful standby, but a bit of a struggle from here!).

I got another app yesterday, which found the new mast as my nearest.  It's called Open Signal, and is one of those that collects its info from members of the public, anonymously (but this one doesn't need card details).  I walked up to the mast with it yesterday.  I'd found that it was already on the map in the app, so someone must have already contributed their info.  I have no idea who, or via whose network (except not Three's).  They're likely one of the newer residents near the mast, where there's been some building going on recently.  I'd ask them what they had to do to get connected, but I don't know them yet (or who lives in which house, or when they'll be in).  And I haven't the spare time to keep going up there on spec.

The pointer showing from which direction its signal came changed direction accordingly all the way from inside our house, and not always pointing to the mast (because of often roundabout routes taken by signals).

That might explain some unfavourable reviews of the app.  During previous attempts to find where our existing signal's coming from, I also got the impression that it's hard to get them from very near a mast.  (If so, that may have been another confusion).

The app showed some figures about the speeds or whatever from the mast at the time (I haven't yet studied those screenshots), and collects them to build up a picture of performance over time.  (I think I did the right settings for sharing the info, but it won't have worked if it depends on the user's phone signal being good enough in this area to cope with data).