Forum Discussion

GrahamS_1507134's avatar
GrahamS_1507134
SMARTY Maverick
15-03-2026

Smarty Coverage claimed vs Actual

The Coverage Claimed: "Yes - Excellent service Indoor and Outdoor"
My Actual Coverage : NO Outdoor BARS (ever) but not "No Service"
Indoors is similar, but dBm readings are worse

What I need:
One Time Passwords arriving before expiry (if at all) would be a good start,
OTP by SMS is like London buses - None for ages, then three all at once

What I'd like:
Incoming calls to my phone, not to Voicemail when I AM at home. 
I'm 87 - Normally, I AM at home

About Me: 
I worked in IT from age 20 to retirement at 67
I still offer a Fix your PC service to my local community, so I can cope with tech to a fair degree
This issue is really about variable radio signal quality rather than nice, easy, digital logic
I hope my issues will ring many bells for many other users

My Environment Summary:
I live in a Victorian brick semi-detached house in flat countryside SE of Maidstone.
My office has excellent wifi, but no chance of mobile signal. (Thick brick etc)

BBand
It's an FTTC service today (15 MBps down, + 0.5 MBps up), 1.6kms distant from the cabinet
MAJOR CHANGE SOON:   FTTP will be installed next week

Phone Settings
WiFi is Calling is always ON - of course.
They say "Wi-Fi calling allows smartphones to make and RECEIVE [??] calls."
That's not my experience for Receive  - and not on SMS either
WhatsApp gives a far more reliable service, but callers usually use the conventional mobile network to make their calls.

How you can help:
I'd really like to understand what affects my phone's visibility on the mobile network,
and what I can do to improve it.

Here are some SIM card status results for signal strength
My readings were taken Outside on a 1st floor balcony
Mobile network state "Disconnected"
Best dBm: -114dBm Worst -127dBm

I have an EE SIM on the way to get some EE signal strength readings
Looking at EE coverage map, I think EE will be worse than SMARTY
O2 and Vodafone's claims are nowhere near

Spilly

Call Issues
SMS Issues
Wi-Fi calling

5 Replies

  • GrahamS_1507134's avatar
    GrahamS_1507134
    SMARTY Maverick
    15-03-2026

    Thanks MSF for your prompt reponse

    I'm convinced that my issues are all about the LOCAL Signal Strength
    - unless someone here tells me otherwise
    and says what I can do to improve the delivery to my phone at my house.

    Once upon a time Vodafone, inter alia, offered a signal booster, but no longer.
    I don't want to spend >£1K on the current commercial offerings, and others aren't fully licensed.

    To answer your question...
    There has been no change in my SMARTY service. I've used it for years now (I'm a cheap skate).
    The network thinks it's a great service, and, overall, it probably is.

    But it doesn't actually DELIVER that service to ME, in my 100m sqared block of the country.

    - and neither does any other network as far as I can tell.
    Hence my trying out the signal on a 1pMobile SIM, costing me £1.00.  (Yes, a cheap skate!)

    I reckon SMARTY is fine seen from above, but it's rubbish for Tommy Atkins in his trench on the front line. Thing is - the others are even worse!!

    Spilly

    • MSF's avatar
      MSF
      SMARTY Guru
      15-03-2026

      GrahamS_1507134​ From what you are saying, your property seems to be in a 'dead spot' for mobile coverage.

      That being the case, does wifi calling not kick in?

      I empathise because I used to live in an area close to a met but just in a geographical dip. To take a call successfully, we had to race up the stairs and sit in our bedroom at the front of the house - sounds like we were lucky!!

      • GrahamS_1507134's avatar
        GrahamS_1507134
        SMARTY Maverick
        15-03-2026

        My Apologies - I appear earlier to have replied to my own post instead of to you

        My experience has been similar to yours

        For me, WiFi Calling works fine making calls, but not at all well on incoming traffic.
        I've wondered if the mobile network "sees" me when I'm out of signal at home, but am still present and accessible on WiFi Calling.  

        I wondered if the feature was carefully named - WiFi CALLING, as opposed to WiFi SENDING?
        For me I find that fits my experience exactly with SMS traffic.
        In all honesty, as an oldie I don't get a huge volume of calls, but I get really unhappy when I can't authenticate my registered ID due to poor mobile connectivity with 2FA traffic.

        It is significant that my SIM status screenshots all say "Mobile network state "Disconnected" when I was theoretically Ready, Willing and Able to take a call (outside my house!)

  • MSF's avatar
    MSF
    SMARTY Guru
    15-03-2026

    GrahamS_1507134​ I'll start by admitting that I'm not a mobile system engineer! There may be someone on here who is and therefore will be able to give a definitive answer.

    Although you mention the Coverage Checker, have you looked the Network Status Checker for any mast issues locally?

    Has this situation always been the case with a Smarty sim? You didn't mention how long you have had it?

    Did you ever get a better signal with another network?