Cell Phone Service on Lake

[tis]

Well, thanks, Skip. I do remember when they changed over. They are in Falmouth or someplace close to that right?

[Skip]

Originally Posted by tis

Well, thanks, Skip. I do remember when they changed over. They are in Falmouth or someplace close to that right?

Actually they build a large tower is West Baldwin, Maine. You can see it from many spots in NH along the 16 corridor in the Ossipee/West Ossipee area.....

[tis]

Ok, the tower. But I meant where did they move the studio? Now I am thinking Westbrook.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by tis

Ok, the tower. But I meant where did they move the studio? Now I am thinking Westbrook.

You are correct young lady....the studio is in Westbrook.....

[thinkxingu]

So...I posted above that the answer is always Verizon, but I'm hearing a lot of talk--and experiencing myself--of Verizon's service being very much reduced this last year.

I posted on I Boat looking for feedback, and there were a few takeaways:
1. Verizon is working on tower changes to eliminate 3G and replace with 4G and 5G, but there's little info on timeline or progress.

2. T-Mobile is 50/50. Some people have said it's awesome (and their map shows great coverage), others say there are too many dead spots.

3. ATT seems to be the next best service.

My Verizon has been weak at camp, and there have been days I can't use it at all--this started last summer/fall, which stinks because for 20 years, I've not had an issue (including camp).

Thoughts welcome.

PS A former student of mine found a map that shows a (the only?) 5G tower being tested on Moultonborough Neck. Screenshot attached. Also, some info out there about 5G rotting brains.

[Taz]

I have had Verizon for several years. Never had any issues. Great service all around the lake and in the white mountains, North Conway area. May get a dead spot but very seldom and does not last long. A lot say Verizon is expensive. My monthly bill is $58.61 total including taxes and fees for unlimited talk and text, 5 GB of data and if the 5 GB is not used up one month it will carry to the next month. I think that is very reasonable, not expensive at all and its the best coverage anywhere I go. I don't think T-Mobile, Sprint, ATT, whoever is much cheaper if at all. I have talked to people who have other carriers and its spotty at best and lousy at worst.

[Wifi-1]

-> LTE-A is a higher speed LTE, it is not 5G.

-> The "brain rotting" will happen (allegedly) when they start using (much higher) GHz freqs.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Wifi-1

-> LTE-A is a higher speed LTE, it is not 5G.

-> The "brain rotting" will happen (allegedly) when they start using (much higher) GHz freqs.

Thanks for the clarification--if that tower is there, any idea why I get horrible service in Hanson Cove, just north?

Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk

[SAB1]

Cant add much to comment on resolving the issue but I have the same experience, sometime last fall/winter the service went way downhill at our house. Used to have great service now it sucks. Dropped calls are frequent. Sometimes cant even make them. Texting works but sometimes I will get 4 or 5 all at once that people sent me and hour or two ago. Trying to send a text with a picture attached wont work.

[mishman]

I went through an analysis of leaving Verizon for Spectrum mobile since I had Spectrum for internet and cable (and phone but I never use it as we need a landline to connect to our security system). Wish I could drop the land line but the extra equipment the security company would need to install would not pay back for 2.5 years).

So back to Verizon wireless vs. Spectrum. I was about to switch our two phones for the 4 gig plan (4x$14/g x 2 phones). I called Verizon back one last time and said I was about to switch and they told me about the 55+yr plan mentioned above. Decided to stay with Verizon but saved about $35/month over what I was previously paying Verizon. Amazing that they don't advertise this plan since NH is the third oldest state in age.

[Wifi-1]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Thanks for the clarification--if that tower is there, any idea why I get horrible service in Hanson Cove, just north?

Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk

Sorry, had some local problems, back to your answer. I corrected the cell tower locations for Verizon in NH, see the attached image.

There are three Vzn towers in Mboro, one behind A&B lumber, their sectors cover rt 25 from Center harbor to Fox hollow. The second is on the rise across from Fox hollow on Rt 25, that covers from Greens to the Sandwich line, Rt 25 only. There is nothing on Red Hill. Caution here, the fire tower is owned by LRCT which won't allow commercial use, the RH tower is on a lower ridge east of the fire tower and sheltered by the ridge looking out towards MBoro neck, so it is great looking into Sandwich, but not Mboro. Curious point, there are no providers on that tower that aim sectors to Sandwich, lol.

So, the third and main tower is at 781 Mboro neck road, which is the old Bell System microwave tower which relayed from Laconia. It is obvious as you drive down there. Looking at the attached (corrected) map, Hanson cove is covered by three sectors: Green, Pink and White (or more, considering where you exactly where you consider the definition). From the description of these sectors (can't determine the color on the map and relate it), the sectors that face west are: West 288 degrees 700Mhz & W 288 Degrees, 1.9GHz. The defined sectors don't really match the map, but it is crowd sourced based on samples from cell phones in the area.

Notice the only one that really counts on penetration is the 700Mhz; the 1.9G is like your wifi router (lower band), you really wouldn't expect much penetration. The other thing is these are what Verizon CAN transmit on and don't necessarily have to be (due to maintenance, or what ever). Would be great if they took the other two towers and added antennas, but it is all economies.

[Weekend Pundit]

Originally Posted by Wifi-1

-> LTE-A is a higher speed LTE, it is not 5G.

-> The "brain rotting" will happen (allegedly) when they start using (much higher) GHz freqs.

The millimeter wave bands for 5G are unlikely to be deployed here anytime in the near-to-middling future. As mentioned in another comment, 3G networks will start being phased out starting at the end of the year. 5G will subsume the the existing 3G/4G bands and make use of the new 3.7GHz band. The new coding/spectrum use formats will make more efficient use of the available bands. Much of 5G will exist there.

The new millimeter wave bands have very limited coverage, will require between 5 and 20 times the number of cell sites to provide similar coverage realized on the lower bands, and a lot of optical fiber to connect them all together. That makes sense in urban areas and thickly settled suburbs, but not out here. The customer density is a money loser.