How accurate are network coverage maps?

413x · 31 Mar 2014 at 16:46

I have been looking at 4G coverage where i work and it seems 4G is availible from EE in peterborough

however there is a block of missing pixels literally on the place i work.
I work on the outskirts

Im not sure how these maps are produced but if accurate there is no point me getting 4G

Myshra · 31 Mar 2014 at 18:32

They are guides, nothing more. Block missing means they believe the signal will have lost it's power by that stage and will not be able to penetrate the wall which means you're probably on the cell boundary and you should assume no 4G tbh.

Ravster · 31 Mar 2014 at 18:34

As a guide 3 is usually pretty good...but there have been plenty of times where the map has shown no coverage and I've been on location with full reception...

pugwash · 31 Mar 2014 at 18:38

Ofcom have a map of mobile phone masts. It is no longer required that providers list the masts, but I found that it gives you a better idea of what masts are in the area. It certainly explained why three mobile was much better than Vodafone in my local area as it was a three mast at the end of our road.

jas72 · 1 Apr 2014 at 09:18

is 4G better at penetrating buildings than 3G was? My 3G connection sucks for some buildings.

I moved office and had to change provider as the provider I was on had no connection in my building.

However when I have to go to a meeting in another building again my phone gets 0 reception with my new provider.

Hope 4G is better for this.

413x · 1 Apr 2014 at 09:21

It's an interesting one for sure. I don't want to change networksto ffind I'm without it.
The problem is I don't have a 4G phone currently so cannot test it out!

Myshra · 1 Apr 2014 at 10:30

Depends on the network. The bands sold for 4G use fall across a wide amount of spectrum. Some networks picked up 2 slots so they can do long range (lower frequencies) and high throughput metro zones (high freq). Having more spectrum also means more capacity.

Not that I want to tattle on a network but you can't trust the sitefinder on ofcom for T-Mo/EE/Orange because they deffo arn't updating their masts as they consolidate them. I can't confirm what the other networks are doing.