Very poor signal coverage in Carleton Place, ON

[AgnosticEagle]

Hello,

Just moved over my mobile service plan from Rogers and I’m finding that since switching, my data coverage has been very bad. I live in Carleton place, Ontario and am only getting one bar of LTE, whereas before I was getting full 5G coverage. Is this something that can be remedied? Or should I switch back to Rogers? 

[dks · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your concern. My favourite cell map says you have five Bell towers in the Carleton Place area. Many factors can limit signal strength, especially if you're indoors, other factors are topography, environmental conditions and line of sight to towers. There may also be tower congestion. Did you also get a new phone? if so, some settings may need tweaking. 

[Juan]

I am in the same situation. When I decided to change to Bell, I was expecting a better experience.

I live here and the signal is poor all the time. It's really frustrating that I switched to Bell as well a few weeks ago and  paid additionally 75 CAD per each line to have this poor connection. I was better off with my old operator for the same price.

[dks]

Please see the helpful replies with a green check mark for more information. Vacation areas are also heavily overloaded on weekends, as well. 

[shawnatcp]

The cell map is wrong and has shown 5G in CP for years when there is NONE!. I called and Bell admitted there is no 5G, but refuses to tell the truth on the map. 5 towers for 12K people who are not all on Bell, give me a break. Bell service has consistently got worse over the past 14 years we have been out here. 

[dks · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your comment. My favourite cell map shows two Bell 5G cell sites in the area of Carleton Place on #7 at Dwyer Hill Rd and west of Scotch Corners Rd. The remaining cell sites are all 4G (LTE) or 3G. 3G will be going away in a year or so. Bell's own cell map is reasonably accurate, but cellular radio signals are dependent on topography, environmental conditions and line of sight to towers. Tower congestion may also be a factor. Cell phones always adapt to the strongest signal and prioritize voice over data by design. You will rarely get a 5G signal everywhere, because of the variability of the signal, due to the factors I have mentioned. 5G also has short range as opposed to LTE. 

[shawnatcp]

Neither of those towers cover Carleton Place! They are too far away. So I say again, we DO NOT have 5G, and the map shows we do! Calls to Bell result in no timeline to upgrade. Bell has decided to leave us to rot. Other small towns around us have had 5G since it came on line. Time to move our company to Rogers

[dks]

You are correct. That is what the cell map I linked to, which is not a Bell coverage map, says. As this is a peer to peer web site, we have no access to Bell's mobility network engineering or their plans. With the removal of 3G from Bell's network, your area may be in line for upgrading. I have no idea when that might happen however.