Carrier Missing Bands and Bad Coverage

[jjang1993]

Hi everyone,

I tried googling answers but couldn’t find any luck. Sitrep: I have an American iPhone SE model A1662 (Verizon/CDMA). I’m living in France and using that phone with a local cell network here. Mostly I get good service but I don’t get service in some places including my apartment.

I am considering getting a cheaper device locally here in France. According to frequency check, my American phone is missing 2 bands on the French cell provider. I’ll post a link below.

Will getting a phone that is fully compatible with the French cell network fix the coverage issues I’m having? I get “no service”, not even 3g inside of my apartment.

https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...a1662-4g-lte-16gb-apple-iphone-8-4/sfr-france

 

[saber32au]

Will getting a phone that is fully compatible with the French cell network fix the coverage issues I’m having? I get “no service”, not even 3g inside of my apartment.

It's difficult to say. Some phones do have better reception than others (lookup qualcom vs intel reception for more information).

Do you get reception when you phone is next to an external window in your flat?

If yes, it could be a few things:

* Your apartment may be blocking or weakening the signal into your flat (ie your apartment may have thick block walls which stop the signal penetrating into your flat). A new phone may help (though it'll be trail and error to see which phone works best for your situation).

* Your phone isn't capable of picking up the broadcast frequency of your provider which penetrates into your flat; try to find out which bands your provider (SFR) is broadcasting in your area (whilst the site shows 4 bands, it's rare a provider will use all 4 bands for all areas they serve. More than likely they'll use 1-2 bands. Which bands the provider users depends on the area they are serving, population density etc etc) and match that against your phone.

Hope that helps!

 

[ian87w]

Hi everyone,

I tried googling answers but couldn’t find any luck. Sitrep: I have an American iPhone SE model A1662 (Verizon/CDMA). I’m living in France and using that phone with a local cell network here. Mostly I get good service but I don’t get service in some places including my apartment.

I am considering getting a cheaper device locally here in France. According to frequency check, my American phone is missing 2 bands on the French cell provider. I’ll post a link below.

Will getting a phone that is fully compatible with the French cell network fix the coverage issues I’m having? I get “no service”, not even 3g inside of my apartment.

https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...a1662-4g-lte-16gb-apple-iphone-8-4/sfr-france

If you are not even getting 3G signal, it probably means that either you are on a poor coverage zone, or your apartment building is significantly attenuating the signals. Getting another phone probably won't make a difference since the universal 3G signals are not even going through.

Can you get signal just outside your apartment? If so, then the building is the one attenuating the signal. I would check to see if your carrier offer their service over wifi so you can still receive calls/SMS through your home's wifi connection. If not, well, you are probably just in a dead zone of that particular carrier. Try different carriers if possible (or as your friends). Dead zones are not unusual in any country with any carriers.

 

[areyes163]

You could see about WiFi calling. However if you know for a fact your missing two bands used by your provider then that’s most likely why you have no signal. Those could be the main bands in your area. Getting a model made for your carrier and region would make more sense.

 

[ian87w]

You could see about WiFi calling. However if you know for a fact your missing two bands used by your provider then that’s most likely why you have no signal. Those could be the main bands in your area. Getting a model made for your carrier and region would make more sense.

I doubt it's about the bands considering he doesn't even get 3G signal.

 

[rui no onna]

Do you have friends on the same carrier with other devices? I don't know if you're on mandatory quarantine but when things go back to normal, maybe you can have friends come over and test coverage at your place. Also, maybe some of your friends have a different device (with all 4 bands supported) on same carrier. That should give you an answer if changing devices will fix your coverage issue.

 

[jjang1993]

Hi everyone, it turned out being my operator (Bouygues). I switched a new one because they had a promo deal and now I have 2 bars of 4G. Much better improvement from the previous (SFR)