Three Mobile reception at Specific Marinas

[Dartagnan]

I am considering changing my mobile phone plan but in the new year I am probably going to change my mooring location.  Two marinas that I am considering moving to are Wigrams Turn or Kings Bromley if either have vacancies.  I am currently with EE but I want to change to a better plan with 3 mobile but obviously I don't wish to change if the signal at my new mooring is going to be crap.  Is there anyone on Canalworld who moors at either Kings Bromley or Wigrams turn and who uses 3 mobile that could give me their opinion on the phone signal at these locations please?

I want to use the go binge on 3 for Netflix so the signal strength is important

[NB Lola]

Three was marginal whilst at kings Bromley, depends on the mooring spot but even then, not great.  They also have WiFi but you need to be close to the office to really benefit.  This is said on the basis that it’s two years since we were moored there, things may have changed.

[Tony Brooks]

Three is fine, although often only 3G, at Calcutt and that is three locks lower than Wigrams so I think it should be fine there as well. The only "problem" is it tends to slow down when schools and workers go home.

[PaulJ]

I find Wigrams Turn marina and the moorings opposite heading towards Calcutt to be bad on Three. Strangely though I can get a really good signal both approaching from Napton and Braunston-just not that bit in the middle. 

[Dr Bob]

Sorry I cant comment on 3, but we are at wigrams and have vodafone and EE. Vodafone is pretty naff. I can get a signal if I sit in the cratch but the signal is bad in the boat....just about get a signal by a window....and then no signal in the car park....and my phone has a good antenna.

We have EE for data and with an antenna at 1m off the roof we get 4 bars reception and never had a problem. EE is also great for data in all the surrounding areas, never been without a strong data signal in a 15 mile radius.....and in fact never been without a decent signal anywhere.

Note: the price of data is varying widely at the moment. There are some very good deals so 3 may not be the cheapest.

[NB Lola]

1 hour ago, Dr Bob said:

Sorry I cant comment on 3, but we are at wigrams and have vodafone and EE. Vodafone is pretty naff. I can get a signal if I sit in the cratch but the signal is bad in the boat....just about get a signal by a window....and then no signal in the car park....and my phone has a good antenna.

We have EE for data and with an antenna at 1m off the roof we get 4 bars reception and never had a problem. EE is also great for data in all the surrounding areas, never been without a strong data signal in a 15 mile radius.....and in fact never been without a decent signal anywhere.

Note: the price of data is varying widely at the moment. There are some very good deals so 3 may not be the cheapest.

Possibly so.  I have 3 at £20 per month.  200 mins calls unlimited text and unlimited data.  Sim only plan

[Dr Bob]

3 minutes ago, NB Lola said:

Possibly so.  I have 3 at £20 per month.  200 mins calls unlimited text and unlimited data.  Sim only plan

That data allowance sounds good but is it restricted to 30Gb of thethering? .......so you can only run unlimited data from the individual device and hence not good for video streaming to a TV?

[NB Lola]

18 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

That data allowance sounds good but is it restricted to 30Gb of thethering? .......so you can only run unlimited data from the individual device and hence not good for video streaming to a TV?

I don’t need tethering but it’s 15gb a month for tethering.  I have a iPhone 7s and it’s adequate for my needs, often watched my football team lose on it.  If I want to watch movies I use Netflix and d/l to an iPad 4 device

[Grassman]

I moor in Kings Bromley Marina and for the last 4 years  have been on 3 mobile using a mi-fi dongle hanging near a window .

90% of the time I get 4 or 5 bars on 4g with only the occasional slight drop at peak usage times.

I think Kings Bromley Marina is currently full and has a small waiting list.

 

When I first looked into it 4 years ago so many people on here said that 3 Mobile was the best for coverage around the canal network. Since then I've cruised extensively and have very rarely had signal problems.

[Dartagnan]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful replies.  As for the small waiting list at Kings Bromley I blame the boating press.  Fancy doing a magazine article on a marina I am interested in!   Gits. ?

[john6767]

18 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Three is fine, although often only 3G, at Calcutt and that is three locks lower than Wigrams so I think it should be fine there as well. The only "problem" is it tends to slow down when schools and workers go home.

You do better than I do at Calcutt, I struggle to get anything from Three there, and certainly nothing in the boat.

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Sorry I cant comment on 3, but we are at wigrams and have vodafone and EE. Vodafone is pretty naff. I can get a signal if I sit in the cratch but the signal is bad in the boat....just about get a signal by a window....and then no signal in the car park....and my phone has a good antenna.

We have EE for data and with an antenna at 1m off the roof we get 4 bars reception and never had a problem. EE is also great for data in all the surrounding areas, never been without a strong data signal in a 15 mile radius.....and in fact never been without a decent signal anywhere.

Note: the price of data is varying widely at the moment. There are some very good deals so 3 may not be the cheapest.

EE consistently provides us with good to excellent coverage where ever we go, I would need to be heavily persuaded to switch back to Three which we found was variable at best. Interestingly Three's coverage checker shows Wingrams Turn as having good indoor and out door coverage and for 4G too, (which just goes to confirm that you cant relay on their coverage predictions). The only problem I have with EE is the incredibly snail like pace their web site runs at.  But their on line chat facility is excellent in my experience.

[Tony Brooks]

18 minutes ago, john6767 said:

You do better than I do at Calcutt, I struggle to get anything from Three there, and certainly nothing in the boat.

I suspect the signal comes across from the Ventnor direction judging by which window the MIFI has to go in. I suspect the banks and building may shield certain berths. I would not attempt to use a mobile internet enabled tablet or phone to access any provider from within a narrow boat, its all but a Faraday cage. If I absolutely had to use something inside the body of the boat I would be looking at external aerials/repeaters (if there are such things).

[Dr Bob]

10 minutes ago, MJG said:

EE consistently provides us with good to excellent coverage where ever we go, I would need to be heavily persuaded to switch back to Three which we found was variable at best. Interestingly Three's coverage checker shows Wingrams Turn as having good indoor and out door coverage and for 4G too, (which just goes to confirm that you cant relay on their coverage predictions). The only problem I have with EE is the incredibly snail like pace their web site runs at.  But their on line chat facility is excellent in my experience.

I get the same with EE. Great 4G speed but their web site (for checking useage) is the slowest site out there. God knows what it is doing while you wait for the wheels to spin and cogs to click before it drags itself to the next page.

[Sea Dog]

2 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

I would not attempt to use a mobile internet enabled tablet or phone to access any provider from within a narrow boat, its all but a Faraday cage. 

You'd think so, wouldn't you, but my experience doesn't really bear that out. My only connection afloat is via my mobile phone, either directly or via a Bluetooth link or WiFi hotspot to my laptop or tablet. The only concession I occasionally have to make is to put the phone next to a window on one of those dash board suckered jobbies, so an all porthole boat would need that all the time I suppose. I also use 3 and it's pretty rare I encounter a connection difficultly.  That's not to say never, and if you must have 4G in a particular fixed venue it's wise to check, but out and about I'm not convinced I'd gain much by either adding complexity or by changing provider. 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

I suspect the signal comes across from the Ventnor direction judging by which window the MIFI has to go in. I suspect the banks and building may shield certain berths. I would not attempt to use a mobile internet enabled tablet or phone to access any provider from within a narrow boat, its all but a Faraday cage. If I absolutely had to use something inside the body of the boat I would be looking at external aerials/repeaters (if there are such things).

When I was on three and boating I used to use a dongle with an external 3g aerial when the signal was marginal and it did improve things. It sat on the roof with magnetic base. On our mooring at Pollington it was the difference between getting the internet or not.

[john6767]

6 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

I suspect the signal comes across from the Ventnor direction judging by which window the MIFI has to go in. I suspect the banks and building may shield certain berths. I would not attempt to use a mobile internet enabled tablet or phone to access any provider from within a narrow boat, its all but a Faraday cage. If I absolutely had to use something inside the body of the boat I would be looking at external aerials/repeaters (if there are such things).

To be honest if there is a decent phone signal it works fine in the boat.  It is only when the signal is weak that you can get a bit more signal by putting the phone in the window or in the cratch.

 

Thanking about it, I think the signal is not too bad above the top lock.

[Nobag]

There is a app called "Opensignal"

Which shows nearby towers and download speeds.

[eid]

I bought my boat at Wigrams in May. I couldn't get a signal on my mobile with Three unless I climbed the surrounding mounds.

[Dartagnan]

18 hours ago, eid said:

I bought my boat at Wigrams in May. I couldn't get a signal on my mobile with Three unless I climbed the surrounding mounds.

Thank you very much for that.  Best I delay any change of network until I have sorted my mooring location 

[Dr Bob]

22 hours ago, eid said:

I bought my boat at Wigrams in May. I couldn't get a signal on my mobile with Three unless I climbed the surrounding mounds.

The car park at Wigrams is however the worst location there for telephone signals. You do have to climb the mounds to get one. Out on the marina however, on the boats, the signals are much better and you can get a signal when outside the steel boat.

[lockedout]

So...  Not sure about marinas specifically, but 'Er Indoors is on EE and I am on Three. Generally whilst out and about on the network I get rubbish coverage compared with the distaff side.

 

I will be changing my provider fairly soon, to get the hell away from Three.

[Naughty Cal]

We are both now on 3 and there are very few places that we can't get internet. 

 

It is also worth noting that different phones pick up signal differently. My Samsung tends to pick up signal better than Liams Sony.

[Grassman]

We travel around the country and I use my laptop for the internet using a 3 Mobile mi-fi dongle. I get decent internet signal in most place around the system, sometimes only 3G but often 4G depending on the area. My wife's android phone is on 3 Moblie and often the signal is poor but is fine when she tethers it via my mi-fi dongle.

 

So I think sometimes the device you are using may be a factor rather than the network provider.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

It is also worth noting that different phones pick up signal differently. My Samsung tends to pick up signal better than Liams Sony.

Good point.

My Sons I-Phone and my LG are both on 3

He gets far stronger signals than I do and can even have 3 bars when I just have the dreaded "Red X" (no signal)