topic Re: O2 poor coverage - why? in Discussions & Feedback

O2 poor coverage - why?

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:36:34 GMT

I have been with O2 for about 6 months after 16 years with Orange. On my last upgrade, O2 had better deals.

But I am amazed at how poor O2's coverage is, especially when compared with Orange/T-Mobile. I live within a mile of Canterbury city centre and within a mile of the dual carriageway A2 but the signal is not good enough to keep a voice conversation going. My phone always shows that Orange or T-Mobile are in range but the O2 signal just keeps dropping out.

We have just been to the Chichester area. Same again - although very near the A27, O2 coverage is terrible. Again, Orange coverage is fine.

It looks as if I made a big mistake changing to O2. Are they not investing in their network? I wonder if as one of the older providers they are not upgrading their antiquated transmission equipment?

I had expected much better.

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

adamtemp64 — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:47:17 GMT

o2 invest a lot in the network and signed 3 year deals to modonise the whole network splitting the country in 2 north / south. various press releases confirmed this

They have just joined up with vodafone to share mast and equipment like ee. This will allow them to roll out 4g faster meeting the 98% coverage by population in 2015 not 2017 as expected.

O2 has the best 2g coverage. What phone are you using and have you got it set in 3g only mode? I travel from somerset to kent every week And have no signal issues with my iphone a303 m3 m25 etc to gillingham hospital we also travel the south coast from eastbourne all along the a/m27 back to somerset again good coverage but mainly 2g.

o2 have commented in other threads that the existing 2g footprint will be 3g900 enabled in the next few years this ties up with the 3year timetable started last year.

Just my take on the issue.

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

adamtemp64 — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:54:39 GMT

also see this recent o2 blog entry http://blog.o2.co.uk/home/2012/08/post-olympics-4g-is-lining-up-in-the-network-fast-lane.html

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 20:44:57 GMT

I have an HTC Sensation XE. Another member of my family has an HTC Sensation on Vodafone and has better reception in Canterbury than I have on O2.

There seem to be a lot of grumbles about O2 coverage generally and it looks as though they are being left behind. On the basis of coverage I certainly regret having moved away from Orange.

I note that O2 have plans for the future but the signs are that they have underinvested in the past. People will vote with their feet if coverage continues to lag behind that of competitors.

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

adamtemp64 — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:28:37 GMT

Well if on vodafone that will be the same on o2 soon due to the agreement with voda,

Again are you only using 3g or is the handset set to use all available 2g and 3g eg gsm & utms etc.

My iphone is set to use both and I rarley suffer issues due to o2's vast 2g gsm coverage.

If on a fring 3g area tuirn 3g off so it defaults to 2g and calls should be fine.

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 18:33:37 GMT

So you are saying that we have to wait up to 3 years to get better 3g coverage.
What is the url of the coverage checker?

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

perksie — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 21:06:54 GMT

http://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:08:01 GMT

My phone is set to switch automatically between GSM and 'WCDMA'.

The O2 coverage checker says that at my home postcode in Canterbury the 2G coverage is good inside and out.

It isn't.

I spend a lot of time in Ashford (Kent) and the O2 coverage is noticeably better there than in Canterbury. Canterbury has two universities and attracts a lot of tourists, so why is the O2 coverage substandard in this area? Is anyone from O2 prepared to comment?

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

MI5 — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:03:43 GMT

This is a community forum so not much input from O2 directly.... If you switch your phone to 2g only rather than auto it will help with your 2g reception as it will stop the phone from constantly searching for 3g....

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:34:41 GMT

The O2 coverage checker is useless, it says the same thing all the time.

I've had convo's with the O2 twitter team about this telling them about various places where it isn't good inside & out, such as Barking ,West Ham and certain parts of The City (London). My comments always get brushed aside and they say it's probably a glitch, no it's the same every day yet they cant get that into their thick skulls.

Regarding Kent MikeyMikey i too have problems when i go down to my Sisters in Sandgate. 1 bar max is what i get when i'm down there yet what does the coverage checker say, yep you guessed it....good inside and out...what a load of nonsense.

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 03:29:20 GMT

Indeed, it looks like no investment in towers. Just advertising.
There is no real excuse for such poor coverage in such a small country with such a large population.

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

perksie — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:43:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Indeed, it looks like no investment in towers. Just advertising.
There is no real excuse for such poor coverage in such a small country with such a large population.

O2 actually spend over a million pounds a day on network improvements, but there will always be areas where coverage is patchy.

It's wireless not magic unfortunately, if you study the coverage maps you will see how difficult it is to cover the whole country, which is unlikely to ever happen.

http://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:11:26 GMT

@perksie wrote:

O2 actually spend over a million pounds a day on network improvements

I have asked O2 Admin to be directed to the proof of this claim by O2 but so far it has not been posted.

£365,000,000 p.a. is a lot of dosh......even if it's just working days, £253,000,000 is still a heck of a bundle.

Personally, I would doubt the claim until specific data was published.

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

ewanrw — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:35:38 GMT

You know that the coverage checker (as with all networks) is based on a mathematical prediction, and does not represent actual coverage?

All the networks claim circa 99% population coverage, and 95% landmass but it's rubbish. The BBC did a survey in 2010/11 which mapped out actual coverage, and the networks should be embarrassed (will try and find the link to survey results).

Personally I very much doubt that any network is currently investing in their 3G coverage, as 4G will make it null and void in a year or two.

ewan

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

perksie — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:01:21 GMT

Re-stated by the CEO here, why would he not be telling the truth?

http://news.o2.co.uk/2012/08/17/post-olympics-4g-is-lining-up-in-the-network-fast-lane/

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

perksie — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:02:44 GMT

@ewanrw wrote:
Personally I very much doubt that any network is currently investing in their 3G coverage, as 4G will make it null and void in a year or two.

ewan

No doubt much of that infrastructure will still be needed.

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

ewanrw — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:31:57 GMT

No doubt some of the infrastructure (masts/power supply) will still be needed, but I believe 4G will require entirely new transmission equipment in most cases, so I just don't see any network spending huge amounts on improving the 3G footprint, when 4G is just around the corner. Not too mention the £Bns the 4G rollout will cost them.

Anyway, regards coverage in general, in Scotland, unless you are on O2 or Voda, you will struggle for signal outside of cities and large towns. To say a network has poor coverage is usually in relation to a specific set of circumstances, and if O2 doesn't work for you, try Voda (will soon be identical to O2 coverage) or T-Mob/Orange/3 who use the poorer quality 1800MHz frequency.

Just my 2p worth.

ewan

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

adamtemp64 — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:38:21 GMT

All the o2 equipment that is being replaced as part of the 3 year deal jan 2011 (2 companies one up north one down south) will make all the existing 2g and 3g kit compatable with 4g as a software update when required the 2g and 3g bands will still be used and 4g will provide the main data path as far as I can make out reading all the snippets posted on many news sites.

re 3 year upgrade see here http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/story/ericsson-and-nsn-share-o2-uk-network-upgrades/2011-01-28 .

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

ewanrw — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:08:23 GMT

So new transmission equipment then

I wonder if they need permission from the local authority the base station is located in to turn on a new frequency?

Also, regarding the point about how much the networks spend on improvements, if the network sharing programs that EE and now Voda/O2 are doing, are expected to save them £Bn's in maintenence costs, do you reckon they'll still quote £1M or £1.5M per day of investment? Surely they can't reduce costs, yet continue to invest on the same overhead? Or will the savings lead to increased investment?

ewan

P.S. Or the savings could just be translated as extra profit!

Re: O2 poor coverage - why?

adamtemp64 — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:18:44 GMT

new equipment yes hence the 1.5 million a day quoted elsewhere

And no planning would be required as far as I understand it only for new sites. A good guide to planning law regarding masts http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/planning_and_the_environment/planning/mobile_phone_masts.aspx hints that not all new masts need planning