Bad mobile internet north of Bais

Is this normal that the mobile internet in Negros Oriental north from Bais is so bad? Either I have full signal but only Edge (2G) speed or I have 4G but only 0 or 1 signal bar not depending on the location. Anyway the internet is not usable that way. Network is Globe. Switching to flight mode and back does not fix the issue. Even restarting the phone does not help. Interesting is that there seems no 3G(+) available anymore and that there is no 5G at all.

 

Darn, I paid 1 month SuperSurf with Globe which worked fine on Leyte.
Btw: it tooks about one hour switching off and on mobile data till the message above was posted.

 

We're NW of Bais and use Smart for mobile with 4G widely available but a few blindspots, particularly in the mountains

 

I'm directly at the Nat'l Highway, but a km outside of Ayungon. And have bad signal here. Same issues even in several places in Tayasan.

 

One of the reasons we switched from Globe to Smart was the coverage. We're up in the mountains near Mabinay & Globe was either intermittent or down whereas we've not had a problem with Smart. It pays to remember that coverage is, in general, line of sight. At one particular location in the UK I had to drive 3 miles and climb to the top of a hill to get a signal.

 

3G / 4G / 5G coverage map, Philippines

https://www.nperf.com/en/map/PH/-/-/signal/?ll=12.875461964339756&lg=121.76499999999999&zoom=5

 

I had checked this map previously and unfortunately it is nowhere near accurate as it shows zero coverage from Bais to Kabankalan (the area in which we live) and we have excellent 4G coverage with a 5G tower 100m away, and a 4G tower 1km away (both also not shown). Coverage from Mabinay to Kbk is good to excellent throughout.

 

Have you tried Dito? Looks like they have new 4G sites in Bais and Ayungon. See screeen shot from https://dito.ph/network-coverage

I have used Dito in Valencia for over a year 750PHP for 95GB of data that expires every 365 days. Its been excellent, I have a dual SIM and use Globe when moving around, in the beginning turning on Globe was anytime I went out but lately Dito seems to be covering more and more areas so I hardly turn Globe on and its always crap when I do so its only for emergencies.

Globe has issues beyond just proximity and line of site to cell sites. Sectors are over capacity and full of internal interference (build quality). Loaded cells increase the power levels so the interference, external and internal, get worse. Full cells will also prioritise data traffic pings, the moment you sit and read a page, data can be idle and you are bumped out of the slot, not a problem normally but you get lag and reconnect issues when the cells are full, 2ooo people scrolling endless Instagram and FB are always connected and this can amplify the "poor internet" experience.

Also Globe can provide Boosters at your home, just ask them. Do not go third party China boosters as they ruin the networks for everyone, spent many days running teams hunting them down Manila.

View attachment upload_2023-7-19_10-14-10.png

 

Also, make sure you have a newer handset that supports Band 28 700MHz APT, its a data only 4G band. Its underutilised and has the best range and building penetration (lower freq, bigger wavelength) so if the tower is a long distance from you its the best band.

Earlier USA Apple iPhones and some android phones had unique 700MHz bands for Verizon and AT&T that are not the same as the ROW. I am not sure if that is still the case. If it is they will not connect to the APT700MHz band 28 here. Check your exact handset model number.