Experiencing unreliable reception on your mobile phone? Wondering where your nearest cell tower is and how to improve your signal?
5G small cell base stations have been popping up all over our cities and towns. Along every major thoroughfare, sitting atop the highest geographical points, and tacked onto the sides of buildings and lamp posts, the small cell units are multiplying at breakneck pace.
So surely you should be getting more stable reception and faster speeds, right?
Understanding where your nearest cell tower is located can provide some insight into why you may have unreliable reception, and also provide some ideas for how to improve your signal.
The simplest way to find your nearest mobile cell tower is to go to the Radio Frequency National Site Archive (RFNSA) website.
The website is managed by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association on behalf of the Mobile Carriers Forum. The Forum is made up of the three mobile phone carriers who are deploying mobile networks in Australia - Telstra, Optus and TPG Telecom.
The RFNSA website plots the location of all mobile cell towers in Australia, providing a unique numerical identifier, GPS coordinates, carrier owner, signal type, height above sea level - and the distance from the search address.
On the RFNSA website, a search can be made using a Keyword or a Near To Address parameter.
As an example, MobileCorp's head office is located at 247 Coward Street, Mascot. The RFNSA website shows multiple towers surrounding the MobileCorp address. The tower highlighted in the image below is Tower #2020010, and is located at Mascot Railway Station, which is 226 metres from the MobileCorp office location.
The GPS coordinates are listed and the height of the tower antenna is 9.81 metres above sea level.
It is a shared tower with all three carriers utilising the infrastructure. The frequencies for each carrier are listed from 3G through to Telstra's In Building Coverage solution.
There are multiple reasons why the mobile signal at a particular location can be unreliable. Some of these include:
How far are you from the nearest cell tower? MobileCorp provides a Site Feasibility report by certified radio engineers to provide detailed information about the signal at a specific location for a standard fee of A$350. It will highlight barriers to signal strength and recommend a solution.
As an individual user you can also use Ookla to do a speed test on your device, you can download an App that will help identify the mobile towers in your area and provide information about the signal strength or network outages. These include AusPhoneTower and OpenSignal. Or your can utilise the RFNSA website.
It can be common to experience poor reception in one area of a premise or business site - maybe a warehouse, a garage, a showroom, or even just the back office.
There are a number of basic tips that can be tried to improve mobile signal, however for enterprise and business the most reliable answer is likely to be installing a mobile network signal booster.
Network coverage extension devices amplify the network signal that the mobile device receives, which extends the area the device can work in. MobileCorp provides a mobile reception diagnostic service and supplies, installs, and tests network booster devices.
When you move around, the phone and network constantly adjust to your changing location. The movement makes it harder to find and hold onto strong signals.
As buildings and structures block the mobile signal, going outside could improve reception. If you are outside, an open area like a park will make it easier for the network signal to reach you.
A phone needs enough power to fully utilise the available signal. If your battery is low, there might not be enough power for the phone to acquire and hold the signal.
The mobile signal will be different in different parts of the same building. Moving to another part of the office or home could give you better reception. Try the reception at different windows, as a window will not block the signal as much as a wall would. An open window would be best if weather permits.
A higher position either within your building or on a hill outside, will reduce the chance of obstructions blocking your mobile signal. Finding the highest point in your immediate surroundings and moving there may improve reception dramatically.
All smartphones allow for WiFi calling and texting these days, and all major networks in Australia support this. There are many messaging apps available that will enable you to do audio and video calling. If the mobile reception at your location is weak and you have access to reliable WiFi signal from your home or office, switching to WiFi may solve your problem.
Your mobile phone auto-selects the network type. During busy times, changing the network selection to older network types of 3G and 4G may improve call quality due to lower levels of bandwidth contention.
All the newest handsets are 5G compatible. the Telstra 5G network is now accessible by 80% of the population. Having a device that can access 3G, 4G and 5G frequencies gives you a greater chance of securing a more reliable reception.
If you have a case on your phone, removing it may improve the signal. A case could block the network signal and prevent it from reaching the phone's internal antenna.
Most phones now on the market use internal antennas. It is possible to block the signal depending on how you hold the phone, so be aware of your hand's position on the phone while using it. Remember Steve Jobs ... you're holding it wrong!
MobileCorp is an Australian communications technology company providing 5G Networks, Managed Mobility Services, Complex Data and IP Networks, and Unified Communication solutions. We have a proven track record providing solution architecture, build, deployment, and managed services for Australian enterprise and business.