Can Telco's Do Anything from a Technical Point of View, When There Are Reception Issues? Woolworths Mobile

OzyBe on 17/03/2025 - 11:05

Hi All,

I have been with Woolworths mobile for ages, and as most would know they use the Telstra network.

It seems that in the last 12 months or maybe longer, I have been experiencing the following issues: 1) Only 2 bars when within 2 kms radius from Telstra tower 2) Someone tries to call me, and it goes straight to message bank without the phone ringing (the second issue is intermittent).

Woolworths mobile doesn't seem to have a support number anymore, so I followed the online directions and lodged a fault late last year, and from memory a message stated to allow 7 days for them to lodge this with their carrier.

Haven't received any response from them after a number of months. Perhaps time to refer this to the Ombudsman.

My question is, from a technical point of view, can a Telco do anything to address these issues?

They can hardly boost the transmitter tower, so what can they do to improve the signal strength between their tower and my Samsung phone?

(The issue was happening before the 3G network was shut down).

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Comments

  • Duckie2hh on 17/03/2025 - 11:06

    can a Telco do anything to address these issues

    No.

    That being said, I complained to Boost and got a refund from them.

  • Fredfloresjr on 17/03/2025 - 11:08

    Switch to Telstra that's what I did. Happy days.

    • ricadam on 17/03/2025 - 14:27
      +1

      Spend more money, that's what he did. Happy days.

      Op if you're wanting to save money still, Boost uses the FULL telstra network rather than the limited one that Woolies use.

      • JIMB0 on 17/03/2025 - 22:42
        +1

        Telstra customers get priority over Boost and the other resellers.

        • kipps on 18/03/2025 - 15:19
          +1

          I'm not sure why your comment has been negged.

          Boost has access to the full Telstra mobile network, however, that does not imply that a Boost and a Telstra customer will have equivalent priority when it comes to using that network in times of congestion.

          Telstra publishes that it has products available with different levels of priority when the network is congested - see for example at https://www.telstra.com.au/business-enterprise/products/mobi…
          Our solution automatically provides enhanced treatment over 4G on the Telstra Mobile Network

          OP, I would :
          * check https://www.rfnsa.com.au/?first=1 to ascertain what frequencies your nearest Telstra tower uses against those your device supports
          * check to ensure your Samsung device is running the latest firmware available
          * check Telstra's website for outages local to the area
          * request a replacement your SIM card (as when these fail some odd things can happen)
          * try a different phone with your SIM
          * see if Telstra customers in the same location have similar issues
          * record speedtest results in both off-peak and peak times to ascertain if network congestion is effecting service
          * note when the issues occur (i.e., is during peak periods)

          If the network is congested then it might explain why your phone is not ringing. 2 bars should be sufficient to sustain data.

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 17/03/2025 - 11:14
    +2

    1) Only 2 bars when within 2 kms radius from Telstra tower

    Maybe a problem with that that tower. What is the signal like when you are near different Telstra tower?

    2) Someone tries to call me, and it goes straight to message bank without the phone ringing

    Could be a phone setting. Try Googling the issue for your phone and model.

    The two separate issues may or may not be related.

  • 87percent on 17/03/2025 - 11:31
    +2

    Telstra can definitely investigate reception issues, there's a form you fill out and the engineering team investigate it

  • JimmyF on 17/03/2025 - 11:38
    -4

    Perhaps time to refer this to the Ombudsman.

    For what? Having bad coverage in your area? That isn't something they cover or control. If coverage is bad, change providers. Time to buy up some $2 sim card and see who has better coverage.

    and my Samsung phone?

    What phone do you have? A Samsung what?

  • brendanm on 17/03/2025 - 11:46
    +3

    Have you tried a different phone?

  • pjetson on 17/03/2025 - 12:36

    It's possible that your coverage changed because Telstra changed the bands that your local tower provides.

    • Quarter Pounder on 17/03/2025 - 13:48
      +1

      If a tower upgrade happened recently, and added more bands, you might be sitting on say b7 p cell instead of b28 before. Theoretically its meant to push you down which does happen most of the time.

  • BigBirdy on 17/03/2025 - 12:37
    +2

    Try to narrow it down, is it just that tower, is it just your phone

  • Quarter Pounder on 17/03/2025 - 13:49

    Only 2 bars when within 2 kms radius from Telstra tower

    I get 0 within 500m, -130 b28 from a gen 1 site. 2 'bars' is acceptable. Bars do depend from device to device though.

  • boomramada on 17/03/2025 - 14:00

    Can Telco's Do Anything from a Technical point

    Yes, but your service uses Telstra, that's the worst when it comes to customer service.
    I found Optus is bit proactive. The best you could do is swap to different services and find the one with the best coverage.

  • Nitrollparty on 17/03/2025 - 17:34

    had an issue with telstra in my workplace, lodged a complaint, they investigated, few days later they said they couldnt find any issues, made me do a network reset ( which i had already done many times) nothing changed and still had the issues…..so i changed to optus, and no more problems

  • GordonD on 17/03/2025 - 18:00
    +1

    The bigger the organisation the more layers of bureaucracy between the customer and the people who could do something about the customer's problem, if they knew, which they usually don't. And if they do know they've probably got other priorities.

    Telstra is a very big organisation. The strategy that's most likely to get you a better phone service is switching to another phone company.

  • Universal Constant on 18/03/2025 - 12:09

    I live about 10kms from the city centre in suburbia. The Telstra coverage has always been terrible. Optus used to be better but that deteriorated about 2 years ago. I now use the Vodafone network, twice the bars of the other two. With wifi calling enabled over the NBN at home all is good, if the NBN goes down I can still use mobile data. There are only 3 networks but many retail providers, Telstra has wholesale (reduced coverage) and retail (full coverage). Buy cheap on sale sim's on the other networks and trial before porting out.

  • 87percent on 18/03/2025 - 13:39

    What handset are you Actually using? Was it Aus bought?

  • ColtNoir on 19/03/2025 - 16:13
    +1

    I worked in Telco tech support many years ago and there’s a few points I can give you:
    - wholesale networks have less access to towers within the primary providers network (with boost being the exception)
    - wholesaler support is limited. Unless it’s a massive outage, good luck. (For reference the team that supported all wholesalers was less than 10, 2 of which dealt with technical issues).
    - for the most part short of building more towers, you’ll not get better reception. Places like Sydney and Melbourne back in 2015ish were not approving any further locations due to the volume of towers.
    - mobile towers are cone shaped directional in nature from the cells on them. Think the nuclear symbol, so you might be 2km from the tower but if the cells don’t face you/you’re in a gap signal will be reduced. You may even be connecting to a different one. The cells can technically be shifted but that will just displace the issue so will only be done for increased population coverage.
    - height plays a factor, so hills and valleys can also impact reception.

    TIO may force some tech support but the answer you’ll likely get is to try another provider, anything else is largely a waste of your time.

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