What mobile operator owns the mast near me?

[CAMRAMan]

I'm in the sticks and my 3 reception is shite. Move to the window to make a call shite.


There's a mast about 50 yards from my house and my logic tells me that I should use that provider's services.


Mastdata tells me that 3 is my best hope, though. I'm fairly sure they don't operate the mast I mentioned. My aerial installer told me so.


Anyhoo, give or take a few yards, the mast is at 52.22520,-1.42272,18 according to OS. Any ideas?

[Kim]

Sure it's not the railway's?

Can you get close enough to see whose name is written on the cabinet?

ETA: Thought occurs that there might be a record of planning permission being granted for it in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard".

cellmapper.net shows Vodaphone and O2 masts in Bishop's Itchington, but not that one.  Its mapping is far from complete, thoguh.

[davelodwig]

If it's the mast next to the railway I would put money on it being part of the train comms system.

They used to use some sort of 2g/3g in cab comms system.

[CAMRAMan]

Could be the railway's I spose. Aerialman thought it was a mobile mast though. I'll see if I can get close enough to see if it's labelled.

[rafletcher]

Do 3 offer wifi calling?  I'm on Vodafone, and home, despite the coverasge maps, has poor reception, but they offer wifi calling (I guess a development of the old femto cells they used to offer) that hooks the phone to your home wifi.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Could be the railway's I spose. Aerialman thought it was a mobile mast though. I'll see if I can get close enough to see if it's labelled.

GSM-R. The -R signifying adapted for railway requirements. Due to be withdrawn from use sometime this decade AIUI.

[matthew]

The other issue could be that you are in the shadow of the mast. I believe the antenna tend to be aimed out horizontally with a small angle either side therefore being stood at the foot of a mast can be the worst place for reception as you are talking to a mast much further away. This is definitely a factor in radio and TV reception but I don't know if the same applies to mobile phones.

[grams]

Could be the railway's I spose. Aerialman thought it was a mobile mast though. I'll see if I can get close enough to see if it's labelled.

Check if the antennarryish bits point along the track.

[Kim]

The other issue could be that you are in the shadow of the mast. I believe the antenna tend to be aimed out horizontally with a small angle either side therefore being stood at the foot of a mast can be the worst place for reception as you are talking to a mast much further away. This is definitely a factor in radio and TV reception but I don't know if the same applies to mobile phones.

There's also the factor that larger masts tend to use directional aerials, treating (usually 120 or 180 degree) segments as separate cells, rather than radiating in all directions as is usual for TV/radio.  The signal can be a bit iffy if you're on the line between two segments.

[Kim]

Could be the railway's I spose. Aerialman thought it was a mobile mast though. I'll see if I can get close enough to see if it's labelled.

Check if the antennarryish bits point along the track.

I don't think that necessarily proves anything, as it's usual for the phone companies to want to provide good coverage along major roads and railways.

[Karla]

There are various websites where you can check cell coverage - can you work it out from those? 

The other issue could be that you are in the shadow of the mast. I believe the antenna tend to be aimed out horizontally with a small angle either side therefore being stood at the foot of a mast can be the worst place for reception as you are talking to a mast much further away. This is definitely a factor in radio and TV reception but I don't know if the same applies to mobile phones.

It does.

[hbunnet]

This link is useful to identify masts.  https://mastdata.com/portal/map_mobile_mast.aspx?Table=15&AdTyID=43&ROName=AB42%200SW&Z=14

[CAMRAMan]

Thanks. That confirms that it's a Network Rail mast


According to Three's website, my coverage is shite. My contract with them expires in October, so I've ordered a Lebara SIM, as according to Vodafone's website my coverage is non-shite. We'll see about that before I jump ship. Luckily I have a spare SIM tray in my phone.

[Regulator]

This link is useful to identify masts.  https://mastdata.com/portal/map_mobile_mast.aspx?Table=15&AdTyID=43&ROName=AB42%200SW&Z=14

It does appear to be a bit out of date though.  The mast at the rugby club down the road and the one in the next door village don't appear on there (both have been in situ for several years).

[CAMRAMan]

Vodafone was also shite, but a mate with EE had a strong signal here, so it's Plus Net for me...