Most of the streetlights in Surrey use a radio control system using something called a Leafnut.

There are central nodes which communicate via GSM to the council and 868MHz to leafs (streetlights connected to the node). They take a SIM card but does anyone know which operator?

And yes, they have problems where the nodes can't pick up a mobile signal! This is despite many being mounted at 9M+ (so higher than your average mobile user!)

Must be similar to the system Vodafone use in the South Hams. I think they call it Fukall.

Haha.

Nearly spat my tea out.. LOL

Contender for post of the year right there! (and we're only 9 days in)
The South Hams is great but tonight coming back from Totnes via Dartington (so I could bask in the lovely Windmill Hill 4G EE coverage, I seem to have hit a really big puddle (well ok, lake) just after Cornwall Farmers and ripped some of the plastic under engine protection off.
I wasn't even going fast. Probably 40-50 and there it was, a **** off great lake in the road!!!
I now have bits hanging off my car and dragging on the ground.
That's going to be expensive!!!
For anyone living here though, EE's activation of Windmill Hill on the 23rd was a stroke of genius.
4G now all around. Bottom of town totally covered.
Dartington totally covered (3G as well, I bet Three users weren't expecting that!!!!).
Totnes to Marley Head via the lower road totally covered.
Paignton to Totnes, covered!
Staverton to Totnes covered.
Windmill Hill to Ashprington, covered.
Awesome mast. Well done Orange (when you existed).

800 on that baby and look out everyone else!!!!!

PAHAHA!

Just looking on the Vodafone coverage map for 4g and planned 4g. In fairness when you zoom out now, its looking more and more impressive. Looking around the midlands, you are starting to see connections being formed east, west, north and south. It definitely looks like most major towns have 4g or are going to get 4g.

If the plan is to cover these areas before switching on the more wider scale masts, it could work. I guess so long as you don't overload those more wider scale rural covering masts, then this could be the year when Vodafone have a network which is in the 21st century. EE could have a real genuine rival.

Haha

That also describes the situation with Voda 3G in East Northamptonshire quite nicely as well! (Certainly east of Higham Ferrers, anyway.)

On the full country map: https://imgur.com/y4vNW8v London to Bristol looks quite good and so does Leeds to Sheffield and Edinburgh to Glasgow but there's still a long way to go.

When was that done as the Midlands looks more populated when I looked this morning. However I guess I was also looking at proposed coverage.

It's the latest on their map servers for the proposed map but the rendering might be a bit off at that national level. I'll go back when I'm free and see if I can get it to look any better.

This looks slightly better: https://imgur.com/HsV0pnf

Can't believe how pathetic the south west and east Anglia ook.

Don't get me started. Even Cornwall has more than Devon.
I'm telling you, they just don't like us here.
See that tiny yellow dot in the middle of South Devon? That's this telegraph pole in Kingsbridge. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.28...8i6656!6m1!1e1
Why would you just activate one monopole in Kingsbridge and not do any of the big rural towers anywhere?
They have Plymouth, some in Torbay and the main Newton Abbot mast done.
Not even this one.. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.44...8i6656!6m1!1e1
Hello??

Yeah you can see connections starting to form now though. If they carry on at a pace this year I suspect it will be nearly all purple by the end of the year

They do see to be rolling out at speed now, the main problem being the lack of historic investment in 3G which there is nothing anyone can do about now. Had they spent more time putting in backhaul and getting some 3G going, they would have a much easier job now. Anyway, we all know that is the case, let's hope they push on with 4G. It is slightly frustrating that many places which have perfectly good 3G are being done but other places are still a 2G zone. But I suppose those places probably have backhaul already in place.

O2 and Voda's 4G coverage in North Wales is a total joke, O2 has ONE site 4G enabled in the middle of nowhere and Voda has TWO enabled. One of Voda's is at least in an area that makes sense to enable.

EE and Three walk all over them with both 3G and 4G coverage here, EE more so on the 4G front.

Well that's because sheep cant use mobile phones.

Maybe in fairness they are holding back here hoping someone comes up with a more economical plan to cover large rural areas with? It they know they need to actually find sites to develop because they don't have them now?

O2 already have blanket coverage all around where i live but all of it is 2G only, they have four masts covering the valley where as Three/EE only have two. If they CTIL'd all of them then they'd have blanket 3G/4G down the whole valley without a doubt.

It must be the backhaul then. I bet when they get it to one site, they could try and do all of them via Microwave?

That said it appears that they are doing everything properly at the moment as look at the depth of coverage they have in areas with 4g.

Is it me or does that big tall mast on the second link look like Beacon Hill?

Chances are VOD/O2 will upgrade the larger masts later; otherwise with all of the area being covered by a large mast, the 4G800 and (I presume) 3G900 would get totally swamped.

In my area, CTIL have upgraded one main mast in Rushden (used to be Vodafone), and last year, they upgraded one on the outskirts of Rushden and one on the train track near Irchester. Nothing else done in my area, with still large areas uncovered by 4G (and even 3G!).

In my area we have the big out of town VF rural masts done with none of the smaller sites and so far only one CTIL site out of town. The rest is 2G and I think backhaul is one major obstacle - the BT fibre rollout has been pushed back which in turn has pushed back the rollout to some extent for all the networks in some areas.

The rollout of BT's fibre broadband network for consumers shouldn't have anything to do with getting fibre to a cell site - BT will put fibre from anywhere to anywhere when you want it, regardless of what they may be doing for themselves

Thanks for the correction

Just a coincidence that the some of the rural sites do not have the exchanges enabled for consumer also do not have any 4G where they are in locations where microwave will not work.