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Has anyone else noticed a decline in the quality of their AT&T cell phone reception this summer? I used to be able to use my phone in my house, and occasionally had to to stand near a window to get reception. Now even when I go outside the quality is bad.
If your cell service is marginal in the Winter then it is perfectly reasonable for it to get worse in the Summer. Increases in humidity and the presence of foliage have negative impacts on RF transmission and reception.
The quickest and easiest thing to do is to try calling from the second floor of your house. Raising the height of an antenna is one of the best ways to improve performance. If that fails there are repeater devices on the market that use antennas much better than the one in your phone but they require some expertise to set up.
Does it matter who you carrier is? The intersection of Southville rd and Parkerville rd is terrible but it doesn’t seem to matter who the carrier is.
I’ve been wondering about the cell coverage as well. I use Verizon and have always had solid coverage in town and particularly at my house. Now I can’t get through a call without it dropping. If anyone has called and complained to their carriers I’d love to hear if there is an explanation.
I can confirm there is a problem. We used to have AT&T and it was ok and then switched over to Verizon early in the year and the service got better. In the past few months we have both noticed more dropped calls and I have to be out on my porch to make it work.
Southville and Parkerville is a black hole for electronics for sure. Anyone know where the cell tower is that services this area? I wonder if the tower assignment has changed or if there is some new electromagnetic source between it and us.
I’ll complain tomorrow, anyone else? Squeaky wheel gets the grease!
Thanks Alan, Bill and Matthew for the response.
I did call AT&T yesterday to complain and they said they would look into it and call me back within three days. We’ll see if that actually happens. I read though some support forums and some people are suggesting that it might have to do with the rollout of 4G LTE. However, that’s beyond the scope of my understanding of cell phone technology.
I also live on the southside near Parkerville. My service has never been excellent, but it used to at least work (with the occasional lapse that I blamed on solar flares, or who knows what).
My cell phone is my only phone and I work from home. The weather has been nice enough to conduct meetings outside, but that’s certainly not a viable solution for the winter!
Thanks,
Erin
What’s going on with the site of the Exxon-Mobil westbound on Rt. 9 in front of the Red Roof? It looks as though they’re excavating to bedrock. Hope I haven’t missed a previous report.
You have, but it was quite a while ago so I won’t hold it against you. ;)
https://mysouthborough.com/2012/02/02/cumberland-farms-on-route-9-to-get-an-upgrade/
Thanks, Susan. I thought I remembered something, but I hadn’t expected such drastic site preparation.
On a similar note to Kelly, what is happening on Rte. 9 eastbound, just east of the Gulf station near 495? Are there plans in the works for that land, or is that part of the new housing project?
That one is the Madison Place 40B that secured approval from the ZBA earlier this summer: https://mysouthborough.com/2012/07/06/mwdn-southborough-finalizes-approval-for-40b-complex-on-rte-9/
There seems to be two separate construction sites on each side of crystal pond road. Are both for the new housing project? I have never found a site plan online anywhere.
No….the site near the Gulf Station is housing, the one further down is commercial property owned by Bartolini Construction.
So happy to see the land at the Lovers Lane/Main St triangle cleaned up! What a dump that was! Now how can we get the Main St./Newton St. former gas station cleaned up? Does the current owner have any plans for this piece of property or is he just going to let it be an eyesore?
Sorry, I meant Lynbrook Road and Main St.
Unless a property owner is in a violation of a town bylaw you can not force them to tidy up there property. I agree that the Newton / main st property does not look pleasing. Overgrown brush and grass is not against the law, some people call it nature. I’m remembering the issue when people took the owner of Rock’s landscaping to court about the pile of bark mulch they didn’t like looking at. After the court case they got to look at the pile of bark mulch and a flag pole with the american flag on it. If you want to be a crusader you can contact the owner and get permission to weed wack it yourself. St Marks looks terrible and is a larger area, how come no one complains about that?
The St. Marks field does not look worse than the property at Newton/Main St. corner. St. Marks looks like fescue, which is grown on many golf courses. It does not have trees, bushes, golden rod, weeds and poison ivy growing out of it. Also not mowing St. Marks field saves on gas and emissions. The lot at Newton/Main is a negligent mess, owned by someone who does not care. One wonders why he bought the property in the first place. Also a weed wacker would not do the job — how about a bull dozer and a front end loader — and be careful of the medal poles left in the mess.
I agree with Alan, by the way I’m the one who put up the flag pole…….aka – rockys son
It seems strange that all of sudden there is so much construction in Southborough and all of the trees and land are being excavated off of route 9. (i.e rental property, new children’s center). Where is the conservation committee ? Also what kind of tenants can we expect from the rental properties ? I wonder what is going to happen to the quality of education in the town and if this is going to lead to an increase in thefts, vandalism etc..
For clarification: are you saying that people who rent are more likely to engage in thievery and vandalism?
Absolutely not. Only that this is the first rental property in the town with a designation of (40B). (i.e.affordable housing (at least partialy). My concern is for the wildlife, maintaining the quality of life we have in the town and why all of a sudden we are overflowing with construction projects.
Thank you for your reply!
Does anyone know someone local who walks dogs during the day?
hi – fabulous person – Sharon McCarthy of Pet Luv’n. we had her for several yeras & she is wonderful – caring, attentive, reliable. awesome!
508-846-6272