Topic: Orange mobile network down in Westbury ?

[baldy]

I'm in Leigh Park and I can't get a signal at the moment.  It's usually fine here.
 
Does anyone else have the same problem?

[Al]

Its out there for me too. I had a much weaker than normal signal in Bitham Park this morning too.

[baldy]

Maybe they are swapping out the 2G panel antenna for this sector or the electricity supply has been cut and any backup generator has run out of fuel. Any other problem usually sorts itself out within a few minutes with a re-boot of the base station kit, unless the radio dish link to the nearest node base station or further downline is down as well.  I speak as an ex-Orange telecoms surveyor.

[Debs]

daughter in laws orange is crap signal at momnet... cant recieve calls  but can txts for some reason 

[Eric]

daughter in laws orange is crap signal at momnet... cant recieve calls  but can txts for some reason 

Yes my one is down as well. Not that I ever use it. Can't understand the damn thing at all. Much prefer a black one with a round chrome dial and figures on.

[baldy]

SMS text messaging works on very weak signals - which are too weak for voice calls.
 
Lots of people have been saved from peril in a weak signal area by sending a text message.   Although the signal may be too weak for the phone to receive anything, base stations a long way away may still pick up the sent message from a handset and route them to their correct destination.

[Sally Beenwell]

 My long bit of string tied to a couple of Baked Beans cans works fime

[Slow Joe]

My sister is on Orange and just rang them (from my landline!) to complain. They told her a mast has been vandalised and the network in this area will not be up and running again until 9th August !! 

(They also said they can't guarantee a 100% service, so she said she can't guarantee 100% that her bill will be paid...)

[Al]

Anyone know where the mast is?

[Quantumtheory]

Anyone know where the mast is?

There is a mast at Slag Lane. No idea what it is for but it looks telephony.

[baldy]

Anyone know where the mast is?

Yes.
 
The local Orange base station is up on top by the edge of the escarpment directly overlooking Newtown. Vehicular access is via the lane going south west from the cross-roads by the entrance to the Lafarge quarry.
 
Put another way, the base station is on the northern side of the quarry by the lane about half way along the quarry.
 
It has a full array of 2G and 3G antennas.  It would be normal for Orange to put up a temporary "mast" when any busy base station is likely to be down for more than 48 hours.  They have plenty of them to tow into position.

[baldy]

Anyone know where the mast is?

There is a mast at Slag Lane. No idea what it is for but it looks telephony.

The last time I looked at the mast off Slag Lane, it had Network Rail and T-mobile antennas.

[Al]

I know the mast you mean baldy, its at the top of a bridleway that meets the road up to the white horse at the house where teh road turns left. There was a big crane up there yesterday... I wonder if its related?

[baldy]

Crikey. If they need a crane to put up a new mast then I do wonder how the mast could get so damaged as only a really strong explosion or direct hit from a heavy vehicle could normally damage a heavy duty steel lattice mast like that Orange mast. That mast is basically the 15m high bottom half of what could be extended to a 25m mast as the base is built so strong in the first place.
 
Alternatively, if you meant a cherry picker, then someone is going up the mast to fix or swap the antennas / feeder cables.
 
I have a sneaky suspicion that all they might be doing is adding an extension to the top to raise the height of the mast. This will allow another array or two of antennas from another network to share the mast. Normally, Orange would move its arrays up to the top and allow the sharer below. But, in high locations like that there is nothing achieved from raising the arrays and only an interuption in service for a few days.

[Al]

Not a cherry picker, a proper crane, like a king lift jobbie.

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