topic Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds in Discussions & Feedback

Rubbish 4G Speeds

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:12:22 GMT

Has anyone else noticed ridiculously slow 4G speeds in central London?

This has been ongoing for a few months now, basically since I have been upgraded to a 20GB data p/m plan which raises the question of being throttled by the network.

The first two screenshots were taken in a park 5m between each other, the third was inside my building where I work. Notice how I have FULL 4G SIGNAL and these are the speeds I get on my handset.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

MI5 — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:16:06 GMT

Yes, it has been reported by others on the 20gb tariff.
No one on here will be surprised if it's throttled although I doubt O2 would admit it.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:21:17 GMT

Great thanks for the reply, it's clearly time to leave

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

jonsie — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:22:27 GMT

The excuse will be congestion....

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

MI5 — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:28:41 GMT

Unfortunately, they do seem to like shooting themselves in the foot!

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

MI5 — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:30:38 GMT

Just as a check, does the needle bounce up higher then drop quickly when you start the test or does it struggle to get going from the start?

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:34:07 GMT

Good question, with the download it struggles to get anywhere above 1mbps but with the upload I noticed it does start very high (~35mbps) before crashing to 0 and staying there

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

MI5 — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:39:10 GMT

It's not an exact science, but a high jump at the start can indicate throttling as the restriction kicks in.
Congestion will certainly be an issue in Central London, and I suspect the data speeds are "managed" rather than outright throttled tbh.
I'd try out some other PAYG sim cards and see if you can find one that delivers the speeds you need in the places you go and make a decision based on your findings.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:43:41 GMT

That was my thinking regarding the PAYG sim cards.

I have noticed whilst being located anywhere near Waterloo Station there is almost no connectivity on the handset. This is from loading a web page / loading train times on the National Rail app, it could take up to 4-5m to complete.

What are they doing to solve the congestion on their network?

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

MI5 — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:47:37 GMT

Investing £2 million a day in network improvements, but they don't tell us where until the work is done.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

jonsie — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 13:13:47 GMT

Probably half or more of that is on fixing faulty masts...

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

MI5 — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 13:18:32 GMT

Apparently been working on masts recently in this area though.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 14:01:16 GMT

I mean this hasn't been a recent thing, this has been going on for months and months. Only noticeable during peak times such as 8-9AM / 5-6PM when the station is packed which instantly lead me to believe the network can't handle the number of people trying to connect.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

MI5 — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 14:03:23 GMT

Quite likely....

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

jonsie — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 14:19:05 GMT

Usually the case in London unfortunately but you would think in the capital city (personally I think Manchester is the capital) that efforts would be concentrated on signal there especially with the droves of tourists coming due to the good exchange rates.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 14:20:35 GMT

Going to be contacting them shortly for an answer on this throttling story, I think this will be the final straw with this network

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

jonsie — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 14:28:16 GMT

I would be trying a few payandgo sims from the various networks to see which provide the best signal for you. You would need to have an unlocked phone but it's worth the research.

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Other-Products-Services/Unlocking-an-O2-phone-to-use-a-different-SIM-card/td-p/540294

Simplest way to unlock is to follow the link in My O2.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

Beenherebefore — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 14:39:08 GMT

@Anonymous .........just a longshot....why not try an O2 PAYG SIM to test whether they are applying the same type of throttling in London as they are in mainland Europe.

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 15:16:17 GMT

Thanks for the info regarding unlocking the device off the network.

@Beenherebefore - Well I won't be able to test mainland Europe as I live in Wimbledon, London but when I travel this is something I could test lol

Re: Rubbish 4G Speeds

Beenherebefore — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 15:22:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@Beenherebefore - Well I won't be able to test mainland Europe as I live in Wimbledon, London but when I travel this is something I could test lol

No....I meant test the connection speed in London using an O2 PAYG as O2's contract customers in Europe have their connection throttled.