T-mo, or me?

Switch services.

 

Where abouts? town, road/crossroad?
used to live there myself, so know the area very well.
might be able to shed some light.

 

Frankly, I don't know what else can be done. The solution can't be simpler than that.

To drive that weak signal indoors, he would need a nice $600 repeater, or simply pay the ETF, if any, and switch to a different carrier. I am really surprised T-mobile doesn't roam on Cingular up there.

 

Probably does but probably holds on to the Tmob native service.

I didn't mean to be so blunt earlier, and I'm a big fan of Tmobile as well as Cingular, but unfortunately there are areas where carriers have problems for Tmob this seems to be one, you could try calling their customer support center they may wave the ETF for you on this one.

 

Actually they can be had for less than half that now: YX500-PCS Booster. Of course you have to run the antenna and cable outside and that may prove difficult.

 

yea the phones are programmed to hold on to T-Mobile and won't roam unless the can't detect a single decibel of service.......i don't get T-Mobile service in my basement but it won't switch over because, there is some T-Mobile signal but not enough to register on the tower...

yeah if you explain the problem to them they might waive the ETF

 

I tried to get Verizon to waive the ETF because of lousy signal levels here.

Their response: :lmao:
Talking to Verizon is like: :deadhorse

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Anyway, inputting the original poster's zip code (14586) into T-Mobile's Personal Coverage Check, the poster should have coverage all over that area. In the map that appeared by using just the zip code, there are no dead spots. There is a small one-bar area on the map near Greater Rochester International (an airport?), but the rest of that area shows two through five bars.

 

i believe there's No roaming Bet T-Mob & Cing in NY
http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/n...6846-8-new-cingular-cell-sites-rochester.html

 

Quite Understandable, you may want to try a simple solution, go by your tmobile store or by a local cell phone agent (or even rat shack) see what they'll sell you an external antenna for (there's a little rubber access panel on the back of the phone you'll also need an adapter) that may be enough to get you service at home, which is an inconveniece but hey, while you're at home it could be like a home phone almost plug it up to the outlet and the antenna, when you're ready to leave just grab and go. It's a cheap alternative.

 

Is it just me, or does that not sound right?

If you are in an area where it says you should have service, but you don't have service, wouldn't that be false advertising or something?

 

but there is service in his area......full service almost but his apartment complex blunts the signal.....

 

Ah, I must have mis-read his post.

That sucks, possibly take it up with the Apartment manager and see if you can get them to give you the money for the ETF? (Doubt it, but isn't it worth it to take a chance?)

 

no it wont work......if there is anything that he should ask his apartment manager for......its money for a repeater because that will help everyone in the building.....not just him

 

But, I have to ask, are you sure that the tower you're close to is tmobile? Furthermore that may be part of the issue you're experiencing, keep in mind the panels are directional and there are blank spots in the immediate vicinity of the tower because of the directional spacing of the panels. I'm glad you're following up on this though, I was curious how it was going with you.

 

yes but the problem is that he gets service outside his apartment but not inside it

the only way it could be a panel directional problem would be if the tower was on top of the aprtment building

 

Then it's still a problem of the tower, I'd say that the tower near him is not Tmobile, that the closest tower is probably a few miles away which means the Walls would be enough to effictively insulate from the weaker signal, vs. him stepping outside and having unobstructed access to the tower. Then again, I may be completely off, his building maybe creating a type of Farraday Cage, however, he said specifically when he stepped onto the roof of the building he still didn't have signal.

 

This is the question I was wondering, is the OP positive the tower is a T-Mobile tower that he is looking at?

And depending on how much longer your plan is for, sometimes it's worth paying the ETF to get a provider that does work for you, if you still have a year + it's worth it, only a month or 3 & you can deal with it till then, then it's not worth paying it.

 

well if you can get the @Home service.....go for it.......however you need to be using a router that was supplied by T-Mobile.....if i understand correctly...i dont know if this incurs extra costs......but that also means that if your creating a HotSpot for the @Home service you would think that T-Mobile would actually pay you for them to use your internet connection

 

Haha I never made the connection between the two posts, sorry about that .

In regards to it being t-mobile, use the street level coverage map on tmobile's site and see what they say for your address, that should prove whether it's a tower/geographical problem, or if it's trully your building.

 

also...you could call T-Mobile and have them submit a trouble ticket for your area and they can actually tell you right then and there if they will be putting in new towers and when

the when is usually put into 2 time frames.......1-6 months.......or 6+

 

Since you are at that 2-3 bar location, per T-Mobiles site you may not get coverage indoors, & even in a car.
Being 1900 when towers are spaced further away provide less indoor coverage vs 850 carriers. There are a lot of variables but a simple concept is figure 1-2 miles for 1900 signals and 4-5 miles for 850 signals, with terrain, trees, buildings etc... effecting range & coverage. Of course if the towers are placed correctly, then 1900 can give the same coverage as 850.

I do understand you not wanting to leave T-Mobile & if you can put the repeater in, and it's going to be a while before the @home is available, this may be your only option for now.

I do hope the @home becomes available to you soon since it most likley will be a cheaper option & don't know if they will let you put a repeater in your apartment.

 

yeah.....looks like a repeater or @Home are your only hope.......how much longer does your contract go for???

 

I thought T-Mobile had introduced a "coverage guarantee" that allowed customers that have moved a certain period of time to test their service, and if it was no good, to cancel without penalty?

Or does that policy only apply to areas that truly have poor/no coverage at all, not "moderate" coverage as the TM map indicates the OP should have?