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Question

Poor reception at home

  • 11 September 2023
  • 16 replies
  • 106 views
Pixel

My Koodo mobile reception is VERY poor (typically -118 dbm or worse) at my home inside my house. The people I'm talking with are always complaining that my voice is "choppy" with periods of missed phases or dead spells. I am constantly saying "can you hear me now".

Sometimes the slightest movement on my part causes a dead spell. I can always hear them perfectly. This happens with many different people ... and it is ALWAYS my talking that is interrupted or dropped. Sometimes the call is dropped and has to be reinstated. 

I have WIFI calling enabled and when the call is via WIFI there is not an issue. However, it seldom uses WIFI even though it should always be invoked due to the pitiful cell reception inside my house. Is there a way that I can force it to use WIFI calling? How does the system "decide" which path to use for a call? The algorithm for this decision must be VERY inadequate.

If a viable solution is not available I will have to look at other mobile providers since my current situation is so frustrating and embarrassing.

Thanks for your help. :)

16 replies

Dinh
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

You could try to force the phone on wifi calling by turning the airplane mode with WiFi On. However, make sure you disable airplane mode when you are out of the wifi zone.

A Koodo customer, opinions are my own.
Pixel

Thanks very much but i should have mentioned that I already considered doing that. However it is still necessary to be able to receive incoming calls.  I also meant to mention that I do not live in a rural area far away from cell towers. I live in Belleville, a city of ~50K. 

Dinh
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Thanks very much but i should have mentioned that I already considered doing that. However it is still necessary to be able to receive incoming calls.  I also meant to mention that I do not live in a rural area far away from cell towers. I live in Belleville, a city of ~50K. 

If you are using wifi calling. You can use the phone to make receive calls on wifi normally as if you were on the cellular network. 
 

do you happen to know the location of your cellular tower? As well, did the issue followed you every where you went?

A Koodo customer, opinions are my own.
M
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Thanks very much but i should have mentioned that I already considered doing that. However it is still necessary to be able to receive incoming calls.  I also meant to mention that I do not live in a rural area far away from cell towers. I live in Belleville, a city of ~50K. 

Wifi calling is dependent on the quality of the Internet connection. Have you considered rebooting your modem to see if that helps with your calls? 

G
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Which phone do you have?

Pixel

Wifi calling is dependent on the quality of the Internet connection. Have you considered rebooting your modem to see if that helps with your calls? 

 

Thanks, yes I’m aware of that. I have a very good (~150 meg down and ~30 meg up) internet connection at my home with a modern, fully updated router.  As i said, when my phone indicates that wifi calling is invoked there is never an issue with the quality of calls. In my opinion, wifi calling should always be invoked when I’m inside my house due to the poor quality of the the cellular signal.

Currently,  my Network Signal Pro app shows the signal strength of my cellular signal is terrible at -120 dbm. The tower currently used is 1,085 feet away. I have a solid wifi connection with my router. My internet is idling along. Therefore, wifi calling should be invoked!

Pixel

My phone is a Pixel 6a.

R
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Not sure how the phone handles wifi calling VS cellular calling. At this stage, I’m not sure Koodo would be able to help as it’s a Google problem most likely. 

When you like my post, my boss gives me a raise, my dog is happier and my kids love me more.
Pixel

Not sure how the phone handles wifi calling VS cellular calling. At this stage, I’m not sure Koodo would be able to help as it’s a Google problem most likely. 

 

Interesting … I was wondering the same thing. I’m curious of the decision algorithm. So perhaps it’s the phone’s firmware that makes the ultimate decision which path (cellular vs wifi) to use?  Question: Can the path change mid-call?

R
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

It does change mid-call. At home, I have bad reception. When driving off, starting a call in the house, my iPhone automatically switches to cellular. So yeah, I suppose it changes. 

Some phones may allow you to set preferences, such as "Wi-Fi Preferred" or "Cellular Preferred," letting you choose which network to prioritize for calls. Don’t know about the Pixel.

When you like my post, my boss gives me a raise, my dog is happier and my kids love me more.
Pixel

Thanks. I’ll check out the Google Pixel forums to see if it’s a known issue.

G
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

So the pixel 6a, with the tensor g1 chip, has relatively poor reception. So where there's good reception, it doesn't really matter. But where it's generally poorer, it will be worse still. You can try confirming by putting your Sim card in someone else's phone in your home. But I imagine that's part of it. As for WiFi preference, there is an option to prefer WiFi network over cellular when WiFi calling is available. I have a pixel 6A as well and when I check, I do not seem to have the option to change that but I have seen online that you should be able to. I can flag a rep if you liketto confirm if it's a Koodo restriction or not.

Pixel

Thanks. Do you happen to have a link for your 6a poor reception research please? And yes, I too discovered a while back that my 6a did not have the option for WIFI Preference. (I doubt Koodo would have any influence into whether Google provides a toggle in the 6a settings?) Perhaps it’s unique to Samsung.

My previous phone was the Pixel 4a. Although I had the same issue, it did not seem to happen as frequently.

(btw, I’ll try the sim swap test with a friend’s phone sometime. Thanks for the suggestion)

G
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

I spoke with a couple people with pixels and they no longer have the option. You can find quite a few articles searching and likely more technical info on the modem used in the tensor g1 VS the one used in the tensor g2:

https://www.phonearena.com/news/tensor-2-features-better-Samsung-modem_id143027

I've flagged a rep

Pixel

Thanks Goran .

(btw, Koodo has opened a ticket)

Darius Koodo
Userlevel 6
Badge +4

Hello @Pixel 

We can see that you already had a conversation with our tech support team and they indeed opened up a ticket in regards to the situation.They will get back to you as soon as possible with a resolve. 

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