3G getting unusable in London
Discussion
Alex said:
Eversleigh said:
Waterloo station from 17:00 - 19:00 full service and showing 3G and zero data until the train has passed Vauxhall. Happens frequently in London.
Same for me, but on 4G I get superfast data at Waterloo.Burrow01 said:
The worst place is Docklands - I cannot even make a call from there
Assume its due to the thousands of 3G enabled phones in the location, but you would think this would be one place that telcos would invest in the infrastructure to support the population
If they are all equally crap, what is the point in investing? They already have your money, and there is nobody better to change to.Assume its due to the thousands of 3G enabled phones in the location, but you would think this would be one place that telcos would invest in the infrastructure to support the population
Perversely I find 2G provides a better service at some locations, such as Kings Cross station.
Puggit said:
Vodafone 3G has been unusable in the City for quite a few years now. Also happened once in Guildford for me.
As others say, it's like being in a stadium.
Agree, when I was on Vodafone it was totally unusable in the City. I worked near Bank, after 10am it would drop like a stone and regardless of signal strength you would get no throughput. Changed to Canary Wharf and it was no better. As others say, it's like being in a stadium.
Changed network to 3 and saw a slight improvement, but between 12-2 you have no chance, at least there is free WiFi in the outdoor areas (and that's properly quick) but back in the office it's unusable.
essayer said:
Puggit said:
Vodafone 3G has been unusable in the City for quite a few years now. Also happened once in Guildford for me.
As others say, it's like being in a stadium.
Agree, when I was on Vodafone it was totally unusable in the City. I worked near Bank, after 10am it would drop like a stone and regardless of signal strength you would get no throughput. Changed to Canary Wharf and it was no better. As others say, it's like being in a stadium.
Changed network to 3 and saw a slight improvement, but between 12-2 you have no chance, at least there is free WiFi in the outdoor areas (and that's properly quick) but back in the office it's unusable.
If you want to make calls during busy periods then forcing your phone back to 2G normally works though.
To those asking why...it is simply over congested. You have full signal, yet the tower's bandwidth is at it's limit, so you just get stuck in an effective queue for the data to be sent/received.
Like being a home on the Wi-fi you get several computers downloading you will still be seen as having Full Wi-Fi signal...but you wont be loading your favourite motoring website!
3G masts get taken down and replaced by 4G, so there is still 3G coverage from the remaining masts (esp in big cities) but the bandwidth has been cut.
Happens at New Years Eve for non-data related stuff as well, this is why you wake up and have received happy new years Eve txts at 2am-3am etc etc...everyone overloads the masts with txts and it forms a backlog.
I imagine most networks are equally effected to some degree, so rarely is it one specific network that is worse then others though YMMV obviously.
Like being a home on the Wi-fi you get several computers downloading you will still be seen as having Full Wi-Fi signal...but you wont be loading your favourite motoring website!
3G masts get taken down and replaced by 4G, so there is still 3G coverage from the remaining masts (esp in big cities) but the bandwidth has been cut.
Happens at New Years Eve for non-data related stuff as well, this is why you wake up and have received happy new years Eve txts at 2am-3am etc etc...everyone overloads the masts with txts and it forms a backlog.
I imagine most networks are equally effected to some degree, so rarely is it one specific network that is worse then others though YMMV obviously.
I moved into a new place in Canary Wharf 4 months ago after a spell abroad and was shocked at how bad the 3g signal is. I'm only getting edge about a third of the time when out and about. This is on GG.
It's particularly annoying as 3g is fine when it works. I spend time in Sri Lanka and tether my laptop/tablet to a prepaid 3g sim which is fine for streaming video, skype, voip etc. A lot of people use the tech in place of a broadband via the landline. Last year in Italy I seem to recall getting almost 20mb downloads via a 3g dongle.
Even my mother who is a bit of a luddite has complained of losing signal at home.
It's particularly annoying as 3g is fine when it works. I spend time in Sri Lanka and tether my laptop/tablet to a prepaid 3g sim which is fine for streaming video, skype, voip etc. A lot of people use the tech in place of a broadband via the landline. Last year in Italy I seem to recall getting almost 20mb downloads via a 3g dongle.
Even my mother who is a bit of a luddite has complained of losing signal at home.
Edited by rpguk on Friday 3rd October 15:14
I thought it was just me that was suffering...
I'm on O2 and over the last 2-3 weeks the 3G data speed has been absolutely shocking to none-existant, and I'm nowhere near london, but in a large town near the Lake District. It used to be fairly quick, but now pages almost always 'time out' before anything loads. Even checking the weather app is a slow and painful process.
I have to day though, O2 is utterly terrible compared to EE and suchlike.
My girlfriend has an iphone with EE and it gets a full 2G signal pretty much everywhere in the Lakes, and a really good 3G one in most places, even in remote villages! Her phone has now started picking up 4G in our home town and goes like a rocket.
Compare that to my phone on O2: Only gets 3G in the town and literally as soon as I drive out of the town it is back to GPRS, and stays like that until I reach the centre of another large town. Absolutely shocking.
Why is it so bad??
I'm on O2 and over the last 2-3 weeks the 3G data speed has been absolutely shocking to none-existant, and I'm nowhere near london, but in a large town near the Lake District. It used to be fairly quick, but now pages almost always 'time out' before anything loads. Even checking the weather app is a slow and painful process.
I have to day though, O2 is utterly terrible compared to EE and suchlike.
My girlfriend has an iphone with EE and it gets a full 2G signal pretty much everywhere in the Lakes, and a really good 3G one in most places, even in remote villages! Her phone has now started picking up 4G in our home town and goes like a rocket.
Compare that to my phone on O2: Only gets 3G in the town and literally as soon as I drive out of the town it is back to GPRS, and stays like that until I reach the centre of another large town. Absolutely shocking.
Why is it so bad??
NinjaPower said:
I just phoned O2 and complained that the 3G signal in my area was virtually unusable for data.
After around 15 minutes of 'checking everything' and tapping away at a keyboard, they confirmed everything was 'absolutely fine' and there was no problem...
Bit of a waste of time really!
In my area there is no 3G, but there is full signal GPRS. I can see the mast about 500 yards away and I always have full signal.After around 15 minutes of 'checking everything' and tapping away at a keyboard, they confirmed everything was 'absolutely fine' and there was no problem...
Bit of a waste of time really!
One day last week there was no signal at all and I phoned O2 to ask about it. They told me after about 15 minutes that it was perfect and there was nothing to worry about apart from maybe a problem on my handset (everyone else had the same problem).
Their website said the same. The next morning their website finally admitted that there was a problem. Nice one.
I've been with them for about 15 years (BT Cellnet originally). Maybe I could try a different provider.
Mr Will said:
3G masts are being taken down and replaced by 4G ones, resulting in congestion on the remaining masts. Not a lot you can do about it except upgrade to a 4G phone really 
Don't make stuff up, not a single 3G site has be lost during the 4G upgrade process.This was discussed before, see my comments http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by Spyder5 on Saturday 4th October 20:27
RobinBanks said:
I've been with them for about 15 years (BT Cellnet originally). Maybe I could try a different provider.
Me too. Joined them in around 2001 and have never left. But, as I described in my post earlier in the thread, my coverage is absolutely dire. I only get GPRS unless I'm actually in a town where it switches to 3G, whereas my girlfriend gets 3G or 4G pretty much everywhere on EE, even in the middle of nowhere.
The difference is night and day.
So does this mean that if I stay with Vodafone and go to their 4G service, I'll actually get a connection?
Was just about to leave them for EE as whenever I don't get a connection [in Brighton] my girlfriend's 4G EE phone works perfectly. Every time.
Spoke to Voda yesterday about leaving and they admitted they were losing A LOT of customers because of the 3G connections, missed calls, straight to voicemail, hearing my own voice on the line on virtually all calls, etc etc
Was just about to leave them for EE as whenever I don't get a connection [in Brighton] my girlfriend's 4G EE phone works perfectly. Every time.
Spoke to Voda yesterday about leaving and they admitted they were losing A LOT of customers because of the 3G connections, missed calls, straight to voicemail, hearing my own voice on the line on virtually all calls, etc etc
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