02 - 3G switch off

[119]

Over the last few weeks we have e been getting regular notifications about 02 switching off their 3G network which we knew was on the cards.

Thing is, we get quite a good 3g signal in our area whilst 4g is patchy at best.

Once they flick the switch do they turn up the 4g signal or is it not as simple as that?

[Baldchap]

Allegedly they'll enhance the 4g signal coverage using the freed up bandwidth, although whether this is an immediate switchover or a plan for the future I couldn't say.

[Sixpackpert]

If it’s anything like Vodafone then coverage gets worse.

I was with O2 for 25 years and the last few 2023 and 2024 were terrible. I can see it getting even worse when they turn off 3G!

[Alorotom]

I’ve recently ditched O2 thanks to their very patchy 4G and utterly garbage 5G for Lyca (running on EE)

I can see their signal issues getting much worse when then switch 4G off and losing even more customers because of it

[119]

There was an area we used to visit that had full 4G signal and yet the internet was totally unusable.

I would switch but haven't got a clue who to jump to tbh.

[OutInTheShed]

119 said:

There was an area we used to visit that had full 4G signal and yet the internet was totally unusable.

I would switch but haven't got a clue who to jump to tbh.

I have found that adding a second 'eSIM' to my phone for £5 a month gives me fair coverage from Lyca, but I've not got around to moving my old number to them yet.

[Ham_and_Jam]

119 said:

There was an area we used to visit that had full 4G signal and yet the internet was totally unusable.

I would switch but haven't got a clue who to jump to tbh.

You can try any of the mobile networks for £5 with no ongoing commitment.

It’s the only real way to see whether it works for you.

Edit - Lebara (Vodafone) are doing 3 months ar £1.48 for 5Gb data at the moment. Good network and pennies to see if it works for you

https://www.lebara.co.uk/en/uswitch/p/441195.html

Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Sunday 6th April 16:19

Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Sunday 6th April 16:21

[jesusbuiltmycar]

It’s depressing that 3G is still in use - it’s 25 year old tech and appears to be the only signal available across large swathes of the UK.

Pity that 5g in the UK hasn’t lived up to the expectations- even when the phone shows a 5g icon it doesn’t mean that the phone is camped on and using 5g, it only means that 5g has been detected.

The lack of investment in the UK is depressing- especially given the population densit

[bristolracer]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

It’s depressing that 3G is still in use - it’s 25 year old tech and appears to be the only signal available across large swathes of the UK.



The lack of investment in the UK is depressing- especially given the population densit

It’s a joke, we are a G7 economy and yet if you go to somewhere like the Greek islands you get really fast reliable 4g everywhere.

[Road2Ruin]

bristolracer said:

It’s a joke, we are a G7 economy and yet if you go to somewhere like the Greek islands you get really fast reliable 4g everywhere.

I bet you don't on all the Greek Islands. The tourist ones, yes. I had fantastic 4g while skiing, down the valley, nothing.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Cyprus last year I had reliable 5G pretty much everywhere …

Even had decent 4G coverage in Morocco (drove from Agadir to Essoueria)

Yet in the UK there are still populated areas with either no coverage, Edge (2G) or 3G with no data.

[GlenMH]

Road2Ruin said:

bristolracer said:

It’s a joke, we are a G7 economy and yet if you go to somewhere like the Greek islands you get really fast reliable 4g everywhere.

I bet you don't on all the Greek Islands. The tourist ones, yes. I had fantastic 4g while skiing, down the valley, nothing.

Properly rural northern Spain has rock solid 4G everywhere and I have had good 5G in some really surprising places. The coverage in the UK is woeful.

I have just moved from full fat Vodafone to Lebara and apart from not getting 5G in some places that I probably would have before, there has been no difference - apart from the 10 quid/month saving and included EU roaming.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

This is a great explanation:

[mcflurry]

119 said:

There was an area we used to visit that had full 4G signal and yet the internet was totally unusable.

I would switch but haven't got a clue who to jump to tbh.

You can try multiple networks using a pan-European esim - for example this one has access to O2, EE and 3 :

[Lucas Ayde]

GlenMH said:

Properly rural northern Spain has rock solid 4G everywhere and I have had good 5G in some really surprising places. The coverage in the UK is woeful.

I have just moved from full fat Vodafone to Lebara and apart from not getting 5G in some places that I probably would have before, there has been no difference - apart from the 10 quid/month saving and included EU roaming.

In Lanzarote a good few years back I was surprised at just how good the 4G coverage was - pretty much perfect everywhere I went and decent speeds everywhere too. Way better than at home.

Now I'm on EE 5G and in my house the signal is pretty poor - luckily the phone can switch to IP calling on my wifi otherwise it would be unusable in the house.

[GlenMH]

Lucas Ayde said:

Now I'm on EE 5G and in my house the signal is pretty poor - luckily the phone can switch to IP calling on my wifi otherwise it would be unusable in the house.

Likewise and I am less than 500m from the mast... I just happen to be at the bottom of a dip in the road. You would expect better ~2km from the centre of one of the major cities in the South West. Ho hum.

[Crudeoink]

There's a lot of legacy infrastructure that relies on a 3g connection still, especially in London. Updating this to 4g is a bit of a headache!