Ski Club 2.0 Home
Snow Reports
FAQFAQ

Mail for help.Help!!

Log in to snowHeads to make it MUCH better! Registration's totally free, of course, and makes snowHeads easier to use and to understand, gives better searching, filtering etc. as well as access to 'members only' forums, discounts and deals that U don't even know exist as a 'guest' user. (btw. 50,000+ snowHeads already know all this, making snowHeads the biggest, most active community of snow-heads in the UK, so you'll be in good company)..... When you register, you get our free weekly(-ish) snow report by email. It's rather good and not made up by tourist offices (or people that love the tourist office and want to marry it either)... We don't share your email address with anyone and we never send out any of those cheesy 'message from our partners' emails either. Anyway, snowHeads really is MUCH better when you're logged in - not least because you get to post your own messages complaining about things that annoy you like perhaps this banner which, incidentally, disappears when you log in :-)
Username:-
 Password:
Remember me:
👁 durr, I forgot...
Or: Register
(to be a proper snow-head, all official-like!)

WiFi protocols in resort (no b or g in Grandvalira)

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I've just spent 6 days in Grandvalira (Andorra) and my smartphone never picked up ANY wifi network, yet my partner's laptop and smartphone picked up plenty. I began to suspect my phone was faulty, and even reset its network settings (with no joy).

Upon further investigation, it appears that all wifi networks in Grandvalira are 802.11n and my elderly smart phone only works with 802.11b or 802.11g.

Having returned home to the land of normality, my phone once again picks up wifi networks that support the older protocols.

Anyone else come across this phenomenon?
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Wow, 802.11n equipment has been around since 2006, so it's not exactly new and has now been superseded by 802.11ac. How old is your phone?
latest report
 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
How old is your phone? I can't say I've ever noticed a WiFi standard limitation, but then again I've never kept a smart phone for more than 3 years.

802.11ac has been around for 7 years and 802.11n for 10 years.
snow report
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
My phone is a cheap'n'nasty 50€ Chinese thingy I bought a couple of years ago. Never noticed its lack of 802.11n until now.

I've also noticed that wifi routers are coming out without support for b & g.

However, it's pretty bizarre that an entire ski resort (on piste too) has no support for b/g. I was even wondering if Andorra was a peculiar country that had never approved b&g, and only approved ac/n. There's plenty of b&g in French Pyrenees resorts.
latest report
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@crosbie, am guessing that you might have a US spec phone which doesn’t cover all EU channels ...
snow report
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
@under a new name, that is a distinct possibility.

So you're saying there may well have been b&g wifi available, but, coincidentally, it always happened to be on channels that my phone didn't support.

ok... so naff phone on my part.

[but I have NEVER had this problem in UK or France]


Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 30-12-19 22:45; edited 2 times in total
ski holidays
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@crosbie, you expect to pick up WI-FI on piste? How?
latest report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@telford_mike, by 'on-piste', I meant cafe/snack bar type places (perhaps 'slope side' is better?). In Grandvalira they have piste-wide wifi with credentials printed on ones lift pass.
snow conditions
 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Sounds like they've made a conscious decision to implement n/ac only then. And that would be a good decision. The old protocols are slow and insecure.
ski holidays
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
The only grief I've had was not getting a normal cellular phone reception in Andorra. When I got back to the UK I called O2 to question them about it, they said if you had called them whilst in Andorra they could have sorted it out then and there. I'm not sure they completely understand the issue sometimes...... Confused
snow report
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@king key, you mean your phone had no reception at all, or was camped but only for emergency calls? If it's the latter then it's O2's fault for not having roaming agreements with the Andorra networks (though O2 is owned by Telefonica and I would assume Telefonica is present in Andorra). If it's the former then the networks in Andorra are simply crap. Not much O2 can do about that.
ski holidays
 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
The phone could not connect to any network at all. I had no need to try the emergency services so no idea if that would have worked. The phone magical worked again upon re-entering France. This is about 5 years back things may have improved. Puzzled My friend's phone using the Three network worked fine the whole time.
ski holidays
 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Steilhang wrote:
@king key, you mean your phone had no reception at all, or was camped but only for emergency calls? If it's the latter then it's O2's fault for not having roaming agreements with the Andorra networks (though O2 is owned by Telefonica and I would assume Telefonica is present in Andorra). If it's the former then the networks in Andorra are simply crap. Not much O2 can do about that.


You assume wrong; Andorra is in the iron grip of Andorra Telecom, and the network is excellent. You'll pay a pretty penny for it via roaming, though...
ski holidays



Terms and conditions  Privacy Policy