Why such crap mobile reception in the UK?
Discussion
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
So that's the story with Vodafone. Either upgrade to 4G, or forget it. But if you do upgrade, trust me, it is awesome.
That's great, except I don't need 4G - the vast majority of data is over wifi, so I'm not paying them even more just to get an acceptable level of service. I think a complaint is in order and a free upgrade, at least temporarily, to see if that improves reception.EE are currently investing £1.5 billion a year over the next 5 years into their network. This includes 2g, 3g and 4g whilst 5g is already being talked about. The past couple of years have seen a big focus on 2g upgrades but that has now shifted to 3g. 4g is about to go nuts with two big projects set to get going very soon.
Mobile networks are complex things, for them to be effective to the maximum they need saturation coverage, something you dont get in the UK due to people not wanting a mast on top of a near by building (yet still complain when they cant get a signal).
Newer technology means better footprints (2G & 4G both have a set area footprint whilst 3G shrinks with useage to give the best data coverage), 4G is at the moment, is data only but VoiP is getting closer, that will make 3G obsolete but 2G will still have a place.
Networks will be spending vast amounts of money upgrating their networks, coverage will be patchy in places but that cannot be helped, all networks will point out that the % of "populated" area's, this is because its too expensive to put in the infrastructure (fibre etc) to remote area's, hopefully one day it can be done as technology moves on and hence costs will drop.
Bandwidths also play their part, higher = faster but less penetration into buildings, lower = slower but better penetration.
No one network excels all the time, the future is going to be unsure as fixed lines still use old technology (except Broadband but for your bog standard calls, those exchanges are pushing 25-30 years old).
My only suggestion is find out which provider does the best coverage near you and stick with them.
Newer technology means better footprints (2G & 4G both have a set area footprint whilst 3G shrinks with useage to give the best data coverage), 4G is at the moment, is data only but VoiP is getting closer, that will make 3G obsolete but 2G will still have a place.
Networks will be spending vast amounts of money upgrating their networks, coverage will be patchy in places but that cannot be helped, all networks will point out that the % of "populated" area's, this is because its too expensive to put in the infrastructure (fibre etc) to remote area's, hopefully one day it can be done as technology moves on and hence costs will drop.
Bandwidths also play their part, higher = faster but less penetration into buildings, lower = slower but better penetration.
No one network excels all the time, the future is going to be unsure as fixed lines still use old technology (except Broadband but for your bog standard calls, those exchanges are pushing 25-30 years old).
My only suggestion is find out which provider does the best coverage near you and stick with them.
A very blinkered viewpoint most probably, but if all the providers got together 15 years ago and decided to put an equal amount of money into creating a company purely to erect masts and setup a Mobile network would all this have been avoided? A bit like Openreach, dealing with all providers, with all providers having an equal share? No more weak or poor signals, all providers having the same signal (more or less!)?
judas said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
So that's the story with Vodafone. Either upgrade to 4G, or forget it. But if you do upgrade, trust me, it is awesome.
That's great, except I don't need 4G - the vast majority of data is over wifi, so I'm not paying them even more just to get an acceptable level of service. I think a complaint is in order and a free upgrade, at least temporarily, to see if that improves reception.Vodafone then upgraded us to 4G which made very little difference to phone call signal its still not good enough most of the time (data is much better but not calls).
ecsrobin said:
The biggest problem appears to be......
Vodafone.
I'm on 3 and travelling all round the country ive only been unfortunate to not get signal in a few remote locations. Or at major events where with thousands of people you can expect that.
Just left 3 for Vodafone as I couldn't get a signal at home (south east of London, just inside the M25) or at my current client (Reading). Strong 4g signal in both places now. Also found I had no 3 signal in Cornwall, Devon, South Wales, Norfolk, Bury St Edmunds...Vodafone.
I'm on 3 and travelling all round the country ive only been unfortunate to not get signal in a few remote locations. Or at major events where with thousands of people you can expect that.
ie unless I was on wifi or in central london the chances of being contactable were practically zero.
wiggy001 said:
Just left 3 for Vodafone as I couldn't get a signal at home (south east of London, just inside the M25) or at my current client (Reading). Strong 4g signal in both places now. Also found I had no 3 signal in Cornwall, Devon, South Wales, Norfolk, Bury St Edmunds...
ie unless I was on wifi or in central london the chances of being contactable were practically zero.
Out of curiosity what phone was it on? Having just moved from Basingtoke I used to always be in Reading and got full 3G signal everywhere I went and then before I left it went to 4G and that was on iPhone 4s then 5s. ie unless I was on wifi or in central london the chances of being contactable were practically zero.
However all the places other than london/reading still use flags to send messages to each other, I have the same problem indoors if I'm in rural Lincolnshire but then it's not worth having a transmitter installed at huge cost if the customers aren't there.
MissChief said:
A very blinkered viewpoint most probably, but if all the providers got together 15 years ago and decided to put an equal amount of money into creating a company purely to erect masts and setup a Mobile network would all this have been avoided? A bit like Openreach, dealing with all providers, with all providers having an equal share? No more weak or poor signals, all providers having the same signal (more or less!)?
The Network Rail of the airwaves, as it were? Nice idea, but they all like to use some kind of 'best network' BS as marketing guff don't they, to churn customers from one network to the next? That sells a lot of handsets to people signing up for new contracts. I live in northern suburbs of Reading, hardly rural, but EE service is poor and Vodafone just as bad. Three might well be geting my business at renewal time.
ecsrobin said:
Out of curiosity what phone was it on? Having just moved from Basingtoke I used to always be in Reading and got full 3G signal everywhere I went and then before I left it went to 4G and that was on iPhone 4s then 5s.
However all the places other than london/reading still use flags to send messages to each other, I have the same problem indoors if I'm in rural Lincolnshire but then it's not worth having a transmitter installed at huge cost if the customers aren't there.
I was on an iPhone 4S on Three, now on a iPhone 6 on Voda. To be fair, town centre coverage was always ok, but I'm working a couple of miles to the east of Reading and staying about 5 miles east of Reading and the service was patchy and non-existent respectively.However all the places other than london/reading still use flags to send messages to each other, I have the same problem indoors if I'm in rural Lincolnshire but then it's not worth having a transmitter installed at huge cost if the customers aren't there.
I am glad it's not just me then. At work we started to install repeaters a few years ago, and then found they were illegal, because the installers were tracked down by Ofcom,. and then they came after us to say the systems were not legal.
Using a repeater constitutes "broadcasting" and so you are not, or cannot get a license.
It's a shame really, we had a 900? (MHZ?) one that covered Vodafone and O2 at my depot. It changed it from no signal, to full strength throughout a large building.
Invaluable when you are trying to run a business and the copper wires down the road keep on getting nicked!
Using a repeater constitutes "broadcasting" and so you are not, or cannot get a license.
It's a shame really, we had a 900? (MHZ?) one that covered Vodafone and O2 at my depot. It changed it from no signal, to full strength throughout a large building.
Invaluable when you are trying to run a business and the copper wires down the road keep on getting nicked!
anonymous said:
[redacted]
You should be fine on Three in central London. I found the issues were in more remote places. Or just outside of big towns and cities.To be fair, their coverage map is fairly accurate. But where they say you should get an outdoor signal only, you probably won't get anything.
urquattroGus said:
I am glad it's not just me then. At work we started to install repeaters a few years ago, and then found they were illegal, because the installers were tracked down by Ofcom,. and then they came after us to say the systems were not legal.
Using a repeater constitutes "broadcasting" and so you are not, or cannot get a license.
It's a shame really, we had a 900? (MHZ?) one that covered Vodafone and O2 at my depot. It changed it from no signal, to full strength throughout a large building.
Invaluable when you are trying to run a business and the copper wires down the road keep on getting nicked!
You need to speak to the operator, they will happily install a repeater inside your work premises and completely legal as it is the operator who owns the license.Using a repeater constitutes "broadcasting" and so you are not, or cannot get a license.
It's a shame really, we had a 900? (MHZ?) one that covered Vodafone and O2 at my depot. It changed it from no signal, to full strength throughout a large building.
Invaluable when you are trying to run a business and the copper wires down the road keep on getting nicked!
1. NIMBYs don't help the situation - elsewhere in the world infrastructure projects are pushed ahead regardless , in part helped by lower density , or there isn;t the culture that supports NIMBYism
2. for in car use the fact that few mobiles are capable of taking an external ant connection really doesn't help as a car is a (very) imperfect faraday cage but it really doesn't help - same with the trains
2. for in car use the fact that few mobiles are capable of taking an external ant connection really doesn't help as a car is a (very) imperfect faraday cage but it really doesn't help - same with the trains
I'm with EE and before that was with Orange for years. I have certainly noticed that before where I would have solid 3G coverage I'm now often seeing GPRS, which is s
te for anything other than making calls. Even iMessage struggles with GPRS. How come I signed up for 4G and ended up being on something worse than 3G much of the time?
te for anything other than making calls. Even iMessage struggles with GPRS. How come I signed up for 4G and ended up being on something worse than 3G much of the time? E
urquattroGus said:
I am not sure if people agree, but its seems to me that mobile phone reception seems to be worse in the UK than it was.
One theory is possibly that as companies have merged, some masts have been shut down. The company I work at sells to farmers, and we know a good few who used to rent masts, but had notice served on them.
I live in Essex in a semi Rural area.
It never cease to amaze me how poor signal can be across the south east. It's the most densely populated area of the country, surely there should be good coverage!??
Whenever I travel to anywhere in Europe, or other countries such as Japan, the coverage seems to be so much better!
Big cities now have 4g and yet the rest of us can't even get a sodding GPRS or EDGE signal half of the time.
Do people agree?
I am finding it frustrating because we have 270 vehicles on the road, half of which are service vans.
We keep on being told to use the latest mobile data widgets, but none of them will work without a decent signal...
Anyway, half hear-ted rant, but surely this is holding back the UK just as much as broadband access.
It's because the providers are driven by profit so giving out as little as possible One theory is possibly that as companies have merged, some masts have been shut down. The company I work at sells to farmers, and we know a good few who used to rent masts, but had notice served on them.
I live in Essex in a semi Rural area.
It never cease to amaze me how poor signal can be across the south east. It's the most densely populated area of the country, surely there should be good coverage!??
Whenever I travel to anywhere in Europe, or other countries such as Japan, the coverage seems to be so much better!
Big cities now have 4g and yet the rest of us can't even get a sodding GPRS or EDGE signal half of the time.
Do people agree?
I am finding it frustrating because we have 270 vehicles on the road, half of which are service vans.
We keep on being told to use the latest mobile data widgets, but none of them will work without a decent signal...
Anyway, half hear-ted rant, but surely this is holding back the UK just as much as broadband access.
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