Going to Vodafone from 02? Mast Sharing!

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  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    d123 wrote: »
    That sounds like the kind of crap a salesman would try and BS you with, where did you hear that? From a salesman in a Vodafone Retail store?

    Without going into hysterical meltdown (it's already happened but I've recovered enough to type this), just stop it you mad man.......

    Gigabit, I will admit that compared to the Japauls, Bookey's, RAN Mans, PlymouthBloke's and various others on here, I know absolutely nothing.
    However, even if we agree that O2 is possibly now the worst network in the UK, there is no way they would be putting a cell up that only had one sector (unless that was necessary for the geography of the area) in a kind of haphazard way that they kind of didn't care where it was pointing.
    I mean what are they saying to themselves, "Oh ok we are O2 and we are shit so we don't really care where the fu** our antenna points"??
    Most of the work is going to be being done under the CTIL umbrella so O2 will get roughly the same coverage as Vodafone on a given mast.
    Backhaul may well be different but coverage should work the same way as for EE/Three.
  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    I hate to say this Giga, but I don't believe 02 would be anymore sloppy than Voda with sectorisation & integration...

    It sounds like internal Voda-chest beating (in vain) we're better than o2 rhetoric...

    IMHO only...

    A pretty good opinion IMHO.......
    I hate all this "my network is better than yours" shit as much as the next person but I think the CTIL plan will mean that they are the same coverage wise per mast even I suspect in some cases (like ThrEE) sharing antenna. So how can they be any different?
  • tycho-magtycho-mag Posts: 8,642
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    DevonBloke wrote: »
    A pretty good opinion IMHO.......
    I hate all this "my network is better than yours" shit as much as the next person but I think the CTIL plan will mean that they are the same coverage wise per mast even I suspect in some cases (like ThrEE) sharing antenna. So how can they be any different?

    I didn't think CTIL was sharing antennas on masts, just co-siting them, so on the poles there will be one network's antennas higher than the others. Unlike EE and Three sharing an antenna for 2100mhz.
  • Pedro_CPedro_C Posts: 906
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    The dual stack monopoles with antenna schematics I have on my system have Vodafone using the top section antennas and O2 on the lower sections. Furthermore, a lot of the towers have Vodafone antennas mounted higher up the mast than O2. However, in almost all cases O2's antennas are pointing in the same direction as Voda's and in cases where O2 only has two panels, they seem to be targeted.
  • natbikenatbike Posts: 517
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    To clarify, to the south east of London o2 seems a lot better than Vodafone. Several areas are not spots on Vodafone but have o2 and EE coverage.
  • interactiv-ukinteractiv-uk Posts: 627
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    Pedro_C wrote: »
    The dual stack monopoles with antenna schematics I have on my system have Vodafone using the top section antennas and O2 on the lower sections. Furthermore, a lot of the towers have Vodafone antennas mounted higher up the mast than O2. However, in almost all cases O2's antennas are pointing in the same direction as Voda's and in cases where O2 only has two panels, they seem to be targeted.

    As I mentioned earlier, these are likely to be older CTIL shared sites not newer Beacon sites.

    Also on your website I notice some Beacon masts with two panels per sector where you state that one panel is for each operator.. This isn't the case and you'll find they are both used by both providers - one for 800/900/1800 MHz and the other for 2100MHz (both) and 2600MHz (VF only as O2 doesn't own any of this spectrum). They look different to other Beacon masts on your site simply because they are a different vendor. Remember you have O2 in the east using Ericsson in the North and NSN in the south, and Voda in the West using NSN and Huawei (can't remember which is North and which is South here) so depending on where you are there are several different antenna "looks" but all work in the same way.
  • M1kosM1kos Posts: 660
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    Yes once the masts are upgraded the Antennas are shared the 4G is on the same panel but the rest has a dedicated panel for each network too achieve more gain I suspect
  • Pedro_CPedro_C Posts: 906
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    "Also on your website I notice some Beacon masts with two panels per sector where you state that one panel is for each operator.. This isn't the case and you'll find they are both used by both providers - one for 800/900/1800 MHz and the other for 2100MHz (both) and 2600MHz (VF only as O2 doesn't own any of this spectrum)."

    I have antenna schematics which state VF 800/900 for one panel and O2 800/900 for the other panel on a two panel per sector mast. I thought long and hard about what you suggested but it's not correct (from evidence I've found). Pretty sure I've seen schematics with VF 800/900, 2100 in one panel and O2 800/900, 2100 the other. I'm noy emphatically saying you're wrong but find my hypothesis more likely.

    The double stack monopole was O2 then listed as CTIL. It was CTIL'd in late 2014 for 4G.

    EDIT: found some more applications and some more ways to cable the double panel per sector masts, so another site update is required I think.
  • interactiv-ukinteractiv-uk Posts: 627
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    Pedro_C wrote: »
    "Also on your website I notice some Beacon masts with two panels per sector where you state that one panel is for each operator.. This isn't the case and you'll find they are both used by both providers - one for 800/900/1800 MHz and the other for 2100MHz (both) and 2600MHz (VF only as O2 doesn't own any of this spectrum)."

    I have antenna schematics which state VF 800/900 for one panel and O2 800/900 for the other panel on a two panel per sector mast. I thought long and hard about what you suggested but it's not correct (from evidence I've found). Pretty sure I've seen schematics with VF 800/900, 2100 in one panel and O2 800/900, 2100 the other. I'm noy emphatically saying you're wrong but find my hypothesis more likely.

    The double stack monopole was O2 then listed as CTIL. It was CTIL'd in late 2014 for 4G.

    Like I said the old pre-Beacon CTIL is different.

    So your detail is hypothesis and not actual fact then?
    I'm not here to argue.. Simply trying to point you in the right direction.. ☺️
  • clewsyclewsy Posts: 4,222
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    The documents that go into planning round here always had all of the panels shared between o2/VF. The top ones do one one set of frequencies and the lower stack the others. However maybe I've read the plans all wrong.

    This is what I understand from documents like this one.

    Also here is how they are laying them out so one network can't surely have better location coverage than the other, from the placement of the antenna.

    This drawing probably means something to the techy ones who know what it all means.
  • Pedro_CPedro_C Posts: 906
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    Sorry, I wasn't trying to argue either. :) Just going to have to rethink these double panel ones.
  • interactiv-ukinteractiv-uk Posts: 627
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    clewsy wrote: »
    The documents that go into planning round here always had all of the panels shared between o2/VF. The top ones do one one set of frequencies and the lower stack the others. However maybe I've read the plans all wrong.

    This is what I understand from documents like this one.

    Also here is how they are laying them out so one network can't surely have better location coverage than the other, from the placement of the antenna.

    This drawing probably means something to the techy ones who know what it all means.

    Single panel that covers all techs.. Voda half of the country.
  • clewsyclewsy Posts: 4,222
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    Single panel that covers all techs.. Voda half of the country.

    Yes but that is an O2 update in the Vodafone area? Notice on roadworks.org o2 are now doing more and more upgrades in the area, yet Vodafone are meant to be covering this part of the UK. Sometimes it all just seems very strange.
  • interactiv-ukinteractiv-uk Posts: 627
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    clewsy wrote: »
    Yes but that is an O2 update in the Vodafone area? Notice on roadworks.org o2 are now doing more and more upgrades in the area, yet Vodafone are meant to be covering this part of the UK. Sometimes it all just seems very strange.

    If it's an ex-O2 site that would be why it's on the docs like that.

    I've seen some planning applications round here that are addressed as the Orange mast.. All legacy site names for shared sites.
  • clewsyclewsy Posts: 4,222
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    Oh that makes sense then. So its still VF but just confusing because it uses the other operators name. Lol
  • Pedro_CPedro_C Posts: 906
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    http://pedroc.co.uk/recognising_vodafone_and_O2_4G_setups.htm

    It's mainly the top left setup which is getting me in a bit of a muddle. It is possible for 800 and 900 to be combined into the low input. The mast also carries 2100MHz, but no 1800 (has never done either) and no 2600 (at the moment).

    I can see how 800/900, 2100 (Vf and O2) (panel A) and 2600 (VF) (panel B) could work, but it would leave the lo input unused on panel B. In fact, I initially thought 2600MHz, but asked on the VF forum and their networks admin said 800, 900, 2100.

    800, 900, 1800 and 2100, 2600 is impossible without combining the 2100 and 2600 onto hi input on Panel B, which would leave the lo input unused.

    Why can't they have schematics for all the applications!
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