New thread about cell service around the lake
 

Has anyone seen the two red balloons floating above Tuftonboro neck? My neighbor told me today they are future cell tower locations. Did a quick search but couldn't find any info on them. If they are future locations, it seems odd to mark them that way.

Any new cell tower installation has to go through a planning board site review process. Sometimes balloons are used as a temporary visual indication so that board members and the public can see the potential visual impact.

Yes they want to build a new tower on Eaglemere Road on Tuftonboro Neck. I guess the town requires the balloons as part of the approval process. I just always thought that the towers were on a hill and that isn't much of a hill. Maybe it's higher than I realize but it's not high.

Any idea which carrier will own them?

I'm pretty sure it is Verizon. It was in the Granite this week. Yes, I checked, it is Verizon.

What's the latest on cell service up there? It may be hard to tell right now given the difference between a busy network needing to prioritize service and a quiet one with congestion, but I'm interested if anyone has noticed any changes?

The summer before last, my wife and I dropped Verizon after 15+ years and went to AT&T. Other than the ~mile stretch from Canoe to Piccolo Market, we've had great service.

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For me with AT&T, signal strength is still lousy in the Mirror Lake area. I ended up installing a signal booster system because we haven't been able to get high speed cable service where we are. It was an improvement but was about $400 and has limited area coverage. Still have to work off a cell hotspot with data limits so forget about streaming etc.
Recently, we got Charter (Spectrum) to agree to bring cable up to us along existing power lines. We've been negotiating with them for about 9 months and still waiting for their install (permitting issues and scheduling).
Hopefully, in the near future, I'll have a cell booster system to sell.

Normally carriers rent space on the tower. There are companies that lease land, go through the town approval process, build the tower and then rent space on the tower. The usually have commitments from carriers prior to the the start of the process. A tall tower can accommodate more than one carrier. Just look at the stacks of antennas on most towers.

For internet, check out hub66 and Starlink......may be a good option for internet.

No takers
 

Several years ago my sister was approached about locating a tower on her land in Alstead. Very excited to negotiate to get good service compared to the poor service then available. As time went by, and the permitting proceeded without major delays, the project was dropped. The tower developer couldn't rent enough space to make the project feasible.