Just How Bad is My Cell Signal?

My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.

RVers know what poor cell signal is.  We tend to have it way more than we want.  Some of us rely on Wi-Fi in RV parks and others struggle with their own contraptions through an air card, Mi-Fi or even satellite.   Well, we are experiencing poor cell signal right now as we have an extremely rotten internet connection at our little cabin except during the wee hours.  We knew it would be a struggle.  We just knew it but now we’re trying to deal with it.

You’ve all heard it.  Verizon is every place.  When I hear folks say that I just want to shake my head.  No cell provider is every place. Your location and your main travel destinations dictate just who the best cell provider might be for you.  How you travel and where you go might be places others don’t.  So when you hear those who know-it-all tell you that his is so much better than the others, just turn a deaf ear.  It doesn’t matter if that ONE has more cell towers and is in more places.  That doesn’t matter at all.  What matters is where you will be.  All of the providers have their own little dead zone pockets. Some folks never visit them and others seem to spend a great deal of time in those locations.

Maps showing cell coverage for both voice and data are available online for carriers.  This is a good start but it’s still not entirely accurate.  You need to zoom in and check out the little holes in their coverage. In addition to the dead little pockets in that map, you might get good signal but it still doesn’t mean the internet speed is going to be good. There’s more to it than just getting a good signal from the tower or even four bars on your phone or router.  Most of you know that if you’ve been places and had other RVers converge on the same location.  The signal might be good but with all the RVers using the same cell provider as you are using, the internet can get very sluggish.

I know it’s not smart to have two cell providers but we do.  Having two may mean we can compare two in the same location but it also means we have two bills to pay each month.  We like having the two but we don’t like paying for both of them.  We’ve often thought about dropping one or the other but that’s just before we pull into a new location and discover the one we were going to keep doesn’t work there or it works but is very slow.  We're considering going to tethering for one provider.  Ugh!

We have a Wilson trucker antenna and amplifier on our motorhome.  Between the two we often see those little bars jump up about two notches.  We figure about one bar for the antenna and another bar with the connected amplifier but that’s not really accurate.  The bars don't tell the whole story.  Having this setup has made the difference between whether we get a signal or don’t get a signal in some places.  However, there are many times the signal itself is perfect but the bandwidth stinks.  The bandwidth in our current location falls into that category.  Obviously, it’s even worse on the weekend than during the week because all the locals head to the lake with their AT&T iPhones and other smart phones.  We keep hoping AT&T will upgrade its equipment in the area to handle all the smart phones that have been sold but no luck so far.  Eventually, they’ll have no choice.  Terry and Jerry (my twin) know all about the equipment end or lack thereof.  Both were Operation Engineers in this field but it's beyond them now to have any input.

In the meantime if folks wander in this area with Verizon or Sprint service, they will totally be out of luck.   There is no signal at all for either of those providers.  Both of these have the same issues in other places that we're having now in this location with AT&T.

Aaaargh!  If they were graded in school for their performance, this would get an F.

Of course, there was a little we could do to improve our service at the new little cabin other than use the internet in the wee hours of the morning.  We're hoping we don't have to wait too long for AT&T to improve their equipment but we also know that's wishful thinking.   In the meantime, we decided to duplicate the equipment we currently have in the motorhome.  The first thing we ordered was a Wilson trucker antenna.  Just as expected, the signal jumped up one little notch.  The plan was to order a Wilson Soho amplifier too.  Instead I decided to go cheap and ordered a wireless kit …. mistake!   After a lengthy discussion with a tech at Wilson Electronics, this is now in FedEx’s hands and being returned to the  seller. 

Our intent is to replace it with the one I had intended to order in the first place but got swayed by price.  We know this isn’t going to increase the bandwidth but we also know at least it should provide us with a better signal to the tower.  Our fingers are crossed.    The other option might be taking a look at satellite internet but I really don’t want to do that.

The other day we stopped by our little storage shed.  Guess what I found?  I found a Cyfre CA819 amplifier that we had ordered a couple years ago.  Hmmm.  I'm not expecting great results because I wasn't thrilled with it before and replaced it with the Wilson amplifier we currently have in the motorhome.   However, I've got to at least try it again before I put in the new order.  

There are two things very important to us when traveling.  One is a clear sky for satellite television and the next is good internet service.   It’s amazing how good the internet works after midnight and before 6:00 AM. However, those aren't the hours either of us are on the internet.

‘Tis life on the road.