It's still a surprise that some places in this present world do not have network signals for anyone who'd visit for any reason at all. You go to a new place and you find yourself asking for what network works better there so you'd pause using the ones you've been using to fit into the place or you run away if you can't deal with that issue.
Worse case scenario! The Network providers you use are what others are using in the place but somehow, the people there have a special area for you to find bars so you could connect online and do what you need to do before going off the grid again... So what about my bed time and fun time when I need network? You'd be frustrated.
If there is a way out of network problems totally, I'm very sure I'll be among those who would have taken that route because what bad network has cost me is too much to think about it right now. All my years of using network providers in my country, I've used all popular four at one point but till today, only two have become my best go-to.
Etisalat went obsolete since the change to 9mobile, airtel just somehow couldn't get me to like their services in many ways, Glo won my heart with their cheap data and I was opportune to get a sim card for almost free. MTN is my favourite network provider and I have an old MTN number that won't let me let go of the network.
So yeah, I use MTN and Glo network providers and they are each other back up plans in my mobile phone. Maybe I'll understand later how people are able to do with just one network provider in their phones, when the two I have act crazy whenever they like. If only there are hints that network providers will act crazy sometime.
My experience with bad network are plenty! Walking about to get signals, turning on and off airplane mode to get signals, turning off my phone as if it's the phone that's the problem to get signals, and asking just anyone around to know if you're the only one having the issue, what have I not done for bad network situations?
One experience I can't forget that almost had me in tears was when I had to make transfer at the market place. The mistake I did was going to the market with the mind that I'll withdraw there and buy what I need. The market is very far from where I stay and even very expensive to use transport for it so I do walk to the place using a shortcut that I wouldn't want to repeat in a day.
Just imagine walking about in a market that's filled with people, trying to get signal because your two network providers has abandoned you. One sec, there's network and the next sec, I'm throwing my hands in the air for the sudden network I found. How I got out of that situation was weird because I would have gone back home without buying anything. I asked a stranger for Hotspot from his own Glo network, just imagine.
First image is AI generated
