Poor Cell Service in Sarnia

[Vinnie]

We live in Sarnia's North end and cell service is poor at only two bars and is frustrating. People that visit also comment on the poor cell reception. Can something be done to improve the cell service? 

[jerryg50 · Accepted solution]

I am a user. If your phone's network service is set to 4G/LTE/+H, check the network settings and see if you can set your phone for 3G. Generally 3G service has better reception. For general use you really don't need the data speed of 4G/LTE/+H.  You may have to verify the settings names to know which on is 3G.  I have all my phones set to 3G because with 4G the reception was not very good in some of the places where I have to go. If you do not have 5G in your area and if BELL is still supporting 3G in your area my suggestion should work. Eventually 3G will be phased out.

Many places in the US have been shutting down 3G service because of its age and the new 5G service is being put in to place. From what I read, when 5G is put in 3G must be removed because they share the same frequency band.

[STANLAY]

That's helpful of you to suggest, but not a solution, as device and network support for 3G, and even eventually 4G / LTE will be discontinued. 

The solution is to lobby Bell and the other providers through the CRTC to provide adequate coverage of a highly urbanized region that is advertised to have complete coverage, but doesn't.

[Jim09]

Sarnia Ontario. Northgate area. Oxford Street, London Road, Exmouth Street. The data is not working. I called in but the lady said there is no outage. There is. No data. My friends on Bell are having the same issue. Voice and bell text (the iPhone green text bubble box) is working just not data. Who do I call to get this taken seriously? Thank you. 

[BellKris]

Hi there, @Jim09. Thanks for reaching out.

We're sorry to hear about the difficulties. For the Community to be better able to assist, could you provide some more details as to the issue?

• When you called in and spoke to someone, did you request a Tech Support ticket be made for further investigation?
• Are you experiencing these issues indoors, outdoors, or both?
• When did these issues start?
• If you've tested, when do you start to see services improve the further you get away from the area?
• Is it only users on Bell devices having issues? What about users on Rogers, Telus, etc.?
• What troubleshooting steps have you personally completed? Restarting your phone, removing and reinserting the SIM, etc.

In the meantime, we'd also recommend taking a look at our How To article on Troubleshooting data connectivity for tips.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

— Kris

[Jim09]

Indoors and outdoors. Data stopped a few days ago. If I leave north gate area data works again. Just Bell, my friend on Rogers has no issue. I’ve reset my network setting more times than I know. Nothing. It’s not just me. Other people are having problems here in this area. Yes a ticket was created. I told the tech lady I would be getting a rogers hotspot because I can’t go without data. She closed the ticket.  Nothing was done or looked at.

[BellKris]

Thanks for getting back to us and sharing that info, @Jim09.

We'll be happy to take a look, as well as look into that ticket that had been created. We'll be reaching out in a private message to gather more info. Please check your Messages within your profile avatar in the top right corner.

Unsure how to check or send a private message? See How to send a private message

Looking forward to hearing from you.

— Kris

[1971]

Live in the Elgin st area cell phone calls aren’t coming in and being dropped on a daily basis data is also not working properly. This is been going on for about a week now would like to know what’s going on

Once I get closer to mall are everything is fine again

[BellKris]

Hi there, @1971. Thanks for reaching out.

We'll be happy to take a look. We'll be reaching out in a private message to gather more info. Please check your Messages within your profile avatar in the top right corner.

Unsure how to check or send a private message? See How to send a private message

Looking forward to hearing from you.

— Kris

[Bhavya]

Hey i have similar issue, it literally goes to sos near bluewater hospital and it stays like that for around a km south 

[BellAntonie]

Hey there @Bhavya ,

Welcome to the community and thank you for taking the time to let us know. 

Our teams are currently investigating the service degradation in the area. We will update this thread if we receive any further information.

You can periodically restart your phones and/or turn airplane mode on/off to see when the issue will be resolved.

Let the community know if you have more questions and/or feedback. 

[1971]

Apparently i am not the only one having this problem hear other with similar issues 

my sister can barely get of me or her daughter too it just goes to voicemail 

Sure hope bell fixes this problem soon or I will be gone going to Roger’s 

[BellKris]

Hi again everyone. Thanks for your patience.

Just as a quick update - the primary cause of the issue has been identified, and a temporary fix has been put in place to help alleviate the more severe performance degradation. While we don't have an ETA for a permanent fix, a technician is being dispatched to repair and replace equipment as soon as possible.

As suggested by @BellAntonie earlier, you can periodically restart your phone to keep an eye on the issue from your end.

Thanks again.

— Kris

[BellKris · Accepted solution]

Good afternoon everyone,

We've heard back and gotten confirmation that service has now normalized in the Sarnia area, with final repairs expected to be completed later this week. If you're continuing to experience a lack of service, we recommend restarting your phone periodically. Otherwise if the issue is persistent and does not improve over the rest of the week, please let us know so we can investigate further.

Best wishes.

— Kris