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Do mobile masts operate at lower power/output overnight
uno
05-02-2016
Where my brother lives he is on the edge of a good sized town he gets 2-3 bars of 4G signal on EE during the day with download speeds of 30mb plus but then around 1am until 6am everyday he loses that signal and can only get 3G.

At first I thought may be atmospheric conditions but have seen it myself it happens near enough spot on 1am so began wondering if in non urban areas masts reduce their power and signal output as if you go close to the mast you can still get full 4G signal
jchamier
05-02-2016
Originally Posted by uno:
“Where my brother lives he is on the edge of a good sized town he gets 2-3 bars of 4G signal on EE during the day with download speeds of 30mb plus but then around 1am until 6am everyday he loses that signal and can only get 3G.

At first I thought may be atmospheric conditions but have seen it myself it happens near enough spot on 1am so began wondering if in non urban areas masts reduce their power and signal output as if you go close to the mast you can still get full 4G signal”

Not on the mast near my house (visible from my window). I get the same 4 bars of 4G on EE 1800 (double speed) 24x7 in my bedroom. 3G however does 'cell breathing' so this does occur.

Maybe some interference??
Chris1973
05-02-2016
I find the complete opposite. I live in the Staffordshire Moorlands, there is no 4G locally but I can get 1 bar of 4G signal on EE in the loft bedroom, probably from Stoke or Biddulph.

At night this sometimes increases to 2 bars, which I can pick up on lower floors. I had heard that Radio signals travel differently at night than in the daytime, and figured that the same was happening to the phone signal. No idea why you would be seeing the opposite happen though.
The Lord Lucan
06-02-2016
Might be atmospheric, might be local interference of some sort. Not sure if street lights can give off enough EMF in the right band to affect mobiles but they can affect other signals. Or something physically obstructing the mast. Knew of a street mast that was located just down hill of a bus depot.. Folk at top of hill and just beyond it had no issues receiving signals during the day, but at night when 40 or so double deckers parked up for the day. Signal was measurably degraded....

Unusual though as generally at night, 3G masts increase their output as they get quieter (if they were shrinking coverage <cell breathing> due to capacity issues), 2G& 4G is unaffected by this.

Also at night the surrounding area is 'clearer' due to less interference from competing phones/masts/noise, so mast and phone can 'hear' each other better resulting in slightly better signal
'Bars'
Thine Wonk
06-02-2016
I do wonder if any of the networks implement beamforming. I was looking into how 4G can essentially dynamically increase or reduce coverage in certain areas as capacity is needed by changing the radiation pattern. Interesting stuff, I doubt that's the answer in this case, but it's an interesting read anyway.

Surely 3G at night gives reasonable performance anyway. I can't think why there would be a big difference though.
bookey_uk
07-02-2016
Originally Posted by uno:
“Where my brother lives he is on the edge of a good sized town he gets 2-3 bars of 4G signal on EE during the day with download speeds of 30mb plus but then around 1am until 6am everyday he loses that signal and can only get 3G.

At first I thought may be atmospheric conditions but have seen it myself it happens near enough spot on 1am so began wondering if in non urban areas masts reduce their power and signal output as if you go close to the mast you can still get full 4G signal”

If this is repeatable on a daily basis, then it will be some form of interference, you can lodge this with Ofcom it will help the mobile operators fix it.

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/enf...m-enforcement/

If ofcom direct you back to the operator, let me know.
bookey_uk
07-02-2016
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“I do wonder if any of the networks implement beamforming. I was looking into how 4G can essentially dynamically increase or reduce coverage in certain areas as capacity is needed by changing the radiation pattern. Interesting stuff, I doubt that's the answer in this case, but it's an interesting read anyway.

Surely 3G at night gives reasonable performance anyway. I can't think why there would be a big difference though.”

Beamforming is a good idea but hard to do on a dynamic basis, as the network experience will change to often and be hard to provide a consistent experience.

Ideal use I see is for rail cuttings, tunnels, certain road routes to 'push' coverage further in to a dip. etc...
uno
07-02-2016
Thanks Bookey_Uk I will contact Ofcom when I get some spare time and will also get my brother to do the same.

It really is quite puzzling what it could be especially as so rigid with timings every day have now found that it also affects sister in law on O2 as well. The only thing I can see near them is some sort of water pumping station or electricity sub station which has got a satellite dish along with a mast that has an approx 2-3 metre microwave dish attached
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