Cell Signal dead, Whitehaven

[Yzerman19]

Could someone from the company reply and give an estimate for the the signal (calls and data) outage in the Whitehaven area?

No signal since Thursday, and one message that there'll be an update on Friday 31st (over a week on from the initial failure) is pretty unacceptable.

Before anyone advises dialling 150, there literally is no signal and works phones block the landline number. Similarly, tethering personal devices to works' WiFi is not permissible. 

[Yzerman19]

Do you work for EE, because you seem to know more than the rest of us: "I'm surmising from updates sent out by the status tool " 

Considering the status tool literally reads (and has done since I first checked):

*We're aware of a problem in your area. We can keep you updated by text message or email.

We’ll only send you updates about this issue. Once it’s resolved, we won’t send any more.*

How can one surmise there are access issues?

The status tool doesn't send updates: it reads the same as it did since day 1... Shoddy.

[Matt_124]

Text updates have cited access issues, one of the sites (north of the town) is seemingly back online but not enough bandwidth available to support the entire area. Often picking up a small amount of Band 20 signal (5 MHz reported on Netmonster), albeit with a high signal strength, in the centre.

5G NSA currently reporting as Disconnected.

Also reporting some Band 1 and Band 3 coverage in certain locations with the best performance coming where Band 1 can be picked up. Very inconsistent even when picking up Band 3.

VoLTE seems to be struggling at points today.

[650Max]

Can't imagine why there are access issues to Bleach Green transmitter tower, there's a scabby wooden gate at Huntinghow Cottage, it's very rarely closed and never locked, I've driven a Sprinter down there from Quality Corner.

Is there any way to get these messages to someone at EE, maybe they should be answering rather than well meaning civilians.

[Matt_124]

It is the site that seems to be back up and running, evidently this is not the location that they're struggling with accessing.

It is currently trying to cover the entirety of Whitehaven centre by itself and the surrounding areas, so congestion may kick in.

As of yesterday there was a good level of service available near to Tesco with multiple carriers aggregated. And no issues heading north on the A595.

The rest of the town, not so much. No usable data in most locations.

[bristolian]

As mentioned, I'm not EE staff but post here with some experience in the RAN area.

There's 3 EE sites covering Whitehaven, 2 of them are equipped with the "extended range" 800Mhz service, and these can sometimes be prioritised in any outage situation in order to provide a basic coverage layer - albeit at the expense of data speeds. All depends on what the underlying fault is.

Ultimately no fix is intentionally delayed and I don't know specifics of the situation there. You'd have to call CS and follow their escalation process if you want specifics - bear in mind CS are broadly geared up to deal with customers who just want their phones to work and don't much care how.

[650Max]

It must be either Rosemary Lane or Cleator Moor rd behind the Haven club, I'll have a drive around to see if there's any activity.

[Matt_124]

Rosemary Lane was still offline as of yesterday, picking up only extended range coverage from Bleach Green on that side of town, but it's too thin to support connectivity with VoLTE falling over at random points. Think there may be a small cell or femtocell operating nearby to that location as was picking up some 1800 MHz from an unfamiliar node identifier that is not any of the 3 main serving sites.

Unsure of the status of the site on Cleator Moor Rd.

Currently just Bleach Green 800 MHz indoors with pockets of 1800 MHz outdoors in the town.

Also picking up some 2100 MHz in some outdoor locations but unclear where this is coming from.

[650Max]

The  story around Whitehaven at the moment is that someone has gone through the power cable at Rosemary Lane and there's much head scratching as to how they're going to repair it because Albion Square is in the way.

[Yzerman19]

Three weeks and... crickets

EE chat is automated bots, website advice about text alerts are useless when there's no signal over which to send said texts, advice on using WiFi is EE abdicating its responsibility to provide a service to other suppliers whom we pay under a different contract.

If it is Rosemary Lane, Albion wasn't in the way of whatever tool cut the power, and cables aren't buried under building foundations. Plus, without saying too much, the occupying company of Albion has a contract for its works phones, so even if it means digging a metre down around some of the parking/delivery area, I'm sure they'll be cooperative.

EE staff obviously monitor these boards, so how about an official response?

Nature of problem?

Estimated fix?

Assurance our bills will be reflective of the lack of mobile service for our current bricks...

I mean, as much as I like Kev (who couldn't like Tremors?), the fella's rich enough, how about spending some of your ad budget on a mini-digger and a sparky?

[bristolian]

DNO power cuts have been a major cause of mobile network site outages across the northern part of the UK in recent weeks, it would not be a surprise if this was another example.

It's for the local distribution network operator to resolve.