Methersgate Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 It does not seem to matter whether the provider is Globe or Smart - I have not had a proper conversation with K for MONTHS, apart from face to face, when I was there. For at least half the time, I get "the subscriber cannot be reached" (Globe) and the odd thing is that if Globe is not working, neither is Smart, but as soon as I can dial on one I can dial on the other. When I was at K's house I found the same thing in reverse - "no signal" for at least half the time. K has a Globe "pocket wi-fi" which in practical terms is useless as the signal is so poor. When we do get through, it is wise to hold the conversation in "journalese"*. So we start not with "how are you?" but with the important stuff and work down to the trivia, as the call will always "drop" and usually when I try to re-dial I get "the subscriber cannot be reached"... followed by no signal for several hours. I am somewhat technophobic and K is acutely so (won't use Facebook!) Need help! Is there anything that can be done and am I right in thinking that both systems are using the same mast? Why does the cell coverage behave in this way? *Journalists used to be taught to write, not essay style with a beginning a middle and an end, but with the big news in the first sentence, with each succeeding sentence less important, because you never knew at what point your story would be "subbed" (cut) to fit the page. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginprune Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 We have a Smart pocket wifi which is fairly erratic. While I'm in the UK we get our best skype connection at 4 am on a Sunday, Philippine time, we are usually on for about 4 hours. At other times and on other days it drops out fairly regularly. This is in South Cotabato. I can only suggest try at that time, if you haven't already of course. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbago Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 Why not use Skype? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i am bob Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Why not use Skype? No signal... :( 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon1 Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 It used to happen a lot to me when I was in your situation. It probably has to do with power outages at some of the relay stations. Believe it or not, they do not have UPS installed in all of their relay stations. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i am bob Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 If you guys would stop going to all the errotic sites... Oops! Erratic, Bob, erratic... :D 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methersgate Posted February 8, 2015 Author Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) Update: 20 seconds of Skype and 12 seconds of Facetalk, plus some text messages. My mind is running on aerials and signal boosters...anyone got any experience with these? Edited February 8, 2015 by Methersgate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methersgate Posted February 8, 2015 Author Posted February 8, 2015 We have a Smart pocket wifi which is fairly erratic. While I'm in the UK we get our best skype connection at 4 am on a Sunday, Philippine time, we are usually on for about 4 hours. At other times and on other days it drops out fairly regularly. This is in South Cotabato. I can only suggest try at that time, if you haven't already of course. That suggests that the problem is cell system capacity, rather than signal strength, which is interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 My mind is running on aerials and signal boosters...anyone got any experience with these? A young filipino man told me how he solved that problem and showed me what he had done. I am skeptical as he was trying to get me to pay him 2500 pesos to do the same thing to improve my signal. Here is what he did (perhaps others can say if it is logical or voodoo as I never took him up on his offer): He took half of a binocular set and put a globe tattoo USB stick in the focal point, securing it with wire and tape and inner tube. He then fastened it to the highest point on the house with the lens pointed at the Globe tower. A long USB extension line ran from the USB stick to the laptop down below and the signal was improved. I have to admit I was skeptical that the signal could be amplified with an optical lens but it seemed to work. Science? Or Voodoo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methersgate Posted February 8, 2015 Author Posted February 8, 2015 You were right; it's voodoo. The wavelength of light in the visible spectrum is much shorter than the wavelength of cellular phone radio waves, and an optical lens will not refract them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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