Cell service sucks big time???

[freewheat]

We use texting a lot on our farm to communicate from home base etc. Up until seeding this year, service was fair to poor, but useable. Since around June, the service has been deplorable, often no service at all. Because we rely on texting so heavily for busy times, I am a bit concerned about harvest time. We have complained, and been told to get a "booster", but has anyone else noticed their serice go downhill badly?

I mean, I can text my wife from the home quarter, if I am lucky enough that the text goes, she still may not receive it for 24 to 36 hours, which is a travesty, and a concern.

Anyone else? While Sasktel concentrates on giving urbanites and those with service 5 and 12 g service, here we sit with no service. Stupid. GRRR!!!

[farmaholic]

I'm assuming Sktel is your only option?

Just out of curiosity, what do you use for internet service. We just got converted to fusion.

[Daylate]

Ours has been terrible too. I'm wondering if it's the trees leaved out causing problems. Have poor service to begin with but last couple months have been terrible here too.

[Braveheart]

MTS in MB absolutely sucks! Texts either fail or are delivered late. Phoning is impossible in mornings or most of the day.

I'm 6 miles from a tower! WTF!

My son tweets the bad service every day. They respond with "trying to figure it out" or "no improvement scheduled".

[hobbyfrmr]

Same thing. On and off the the phone network, this stalls text messages, sometimes for 2 hours, sometimes overnight. It had happened frequently I will send a text in the morning, then it will chime with 5 texts from the evening before. Very annoying. My farm is 8 miles from a cell phone tower.
We just setup Fusion. Compared to shitty xplornet, I think it is the evil of two lessers! Either way we lose.
Third world countries have better mobile phone and internet service.
There is a very gratifying youtube video explaining how sask customers just take what they get.

[fjlip]

Good point, fastest internet I once heard was Korea. And just thick with cell phones I wonder how the service is with BILLIONS of users in India/China, etc?

[agchat]

In our area since May the cell phones drop big time. Since they have been converting once again to the latest and greatest the trouble has started. Everyone here is pissed off, but yet you phone sasktel, and they make it sound like no big problem, and hardly no complaints. They told me to log calls, and after five dropped send it in and they will check into it. Ya right. Our internet was sasktel WBBI and worked great for what we needed. Now have fusion and works great also, just did not need the extra three hundred a year cost. Once again lucky city people, they get to choose the speed they want.

[Klause]

Cell phone service here dropped hard right around seeding time.

Went from aalways 5 bars to 1 bar and having to call from the top of the air cart.

[freewheat]

We have yourlink. Works well enough. We gotta get on this, fellows. Call and say what?

[farmaholic]

By the sounds of it, I don't have much to complain about. I live about 1 1/2 miles from a cell tower, before that service was non existent and never even had a cell phone...didn't pay.

[blackpowder]

Telus has been spotty the last year or so. 4G internet so so for your mobile. Used to be better.
Doesn't sound quite as bad as You guys though.
Thought Sasktel better. Agree they can't keep up and don't need to for rural.
Do you think our sparse population over a large geography is a reasonable excuse. My hired man says he paid half what we do here and one fifth in long distance over in Europe.

[Klause]

It's bs.


Actually telus is better than sasktel here... Same towers but each has its own bandwidth sector. The towers are overbooked....


Too many smart phones and not enough investment in the network.

[bucket]

I once called and complained about cell coverage. Told them the area I was in and all they said was there was no one in that area.

That's when I told them that exactly why I need cell coverage.

[farmaholic]

When you think about the area of Western Canada that needs to be covered and the population density of some areas it isn't surprising coverage can be poor in some spots. Now compare it to some poorer yet heavily populated areas. How good is the service in those countries like the Philippines, were they say everyone has a phone and is cheaper than what we're paying(here, what ever the market will bear, right). If those people had to pay what we are, allot more wouldn't even have one. Would their towers not be over subscribed?

Who ever thought we'd be paying for a tv signal and now a telephone signal.

[Partners]

Seems to vary alot..One day Good, next day zip..We can see the tower 7 miles away..