topic Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester in Discussions & Feedback

Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 09:47:58 GMT

Just switched from EE and I'm shocked at how bad the 4G performance is on O2. It's simply not 4G and the big data package I was offered is a complete con as it's totally unusable. I'm aware that there are advantages and disadvantages with different networks but honestly EE is 5 times faster when using 4G. We regulary use our mobiles to connect and upload files from laptops, we've been doing it for two years with EE, and can't get the O2 4G to upload anything and an acceptable speed. O2 is more like early 3G speeds from 5 years ago. If anyone is being enticed to switch through data packages then don't do it - EE 4G is far better. O2 will know this and unfortunately I'm a couple of days outside of my 14 day but will definately be buying an EE mobile broadband package.

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

MI5 — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 09:53:57 GMT

O2 is limited by the bandwidth they have available to them I'm afraid.
Some basic research and testing would have highlighted this before you switched.

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 19:44:41 GMT

Interesting..

when I went into the shop to get my payg phone they said yeah we have excellent 4g in this area & the 3 other areas I gave, but how can you test it out.. when you don’t know how many people are going to be using it at any given time?

so any details of how to research & test would be greatly appreciated!

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

jonsie — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 19:56:27 GMT

The only real way is to get free sims online and check each network for the best coverage at different times of the day. Of course you need an unlocked phone which is easy enough to do via My O2.

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

MI5 — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 19:56:50 GMT

Research the technicalities by using a search engine such as Google.
If you go to www.google.co.uk you can type in all sorts of questions and find answers to them.
Test with a PAYG sim before committing to a contract. Who cares how many people are connected?
All you need to know is if the service is acceptable to you at the times you are awake and in the places you go to.

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:01:32 GMT

Who cares how many people are online..

Surely if no one but me is connected to a tower then I get full whack.. is that not how it works?

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

MI5 — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:04:01 GMT

Yes, that's exactly how it works, but the statement was clarified by the next sentence of my post.

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:14:08 GMT

But as the times we use phones never stay the same.. weekends and weekdays.. it must be hard to get a good reading on exact speeds etc.

how long do you suggest testing for, a few days? A week? And at what times.. morning & afternoon rush hour, weekday evenings & say a Saturday night?

When you get home broadband you get a minimum and maximum speed and if it drops below you can complain / receive compensation / contract review. Is there anything like that with mobiles?

I have to admit, when I’ve gone to a network before, I’ve never thought about testing.. just took the shop / website at their word..

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

MI5 — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:20:14 GMT

No guarantees at all on mobile networks for anything, but "they" have that all covered in their T&C's.
You need to test the network out for a good month at least on PAYG covering all your normal usage times and patterns. It could save a very costly contract mistake for the sake of a £20 topup.

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

packages — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 16:26:05 GMT

o2 simply don't have the spectrum to cope with major urban city areas like Manchester.

They have the least amount of spectrum per customer out of all the networks. (2nd highest customer base and I think lowest amount of 4G capacity)

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

jonsie — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 01:02:01 GMT

Says it all @packages

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

owza57 — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 13:26:07 GMT

29.56Mbps Down, 18.10Mbps Up in Blackley, NE Manchester

Not that bad?

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

MI5 — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 13:29:32 GMT

No, not bad at all but it will vary at different times of the day.

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

packages — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 23:10:51 GMT

@owza57 I'm guessing that's not a city centre location?

4G is probably fine in the surburbs of Manchester - it will just be over capacity in the centre,

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

Skyhawk1010 — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 19:09:00 GMT

Every mobile network has its strengths and weaknesses in particular areas and these go back to pretty much the days when the networks were set up in the first place. This is in addition to any availability of bandwidth.

For the record, O2 are at their maximum strength in London, Leeds, Slough, Birmingham and Glasgow. This goes back to the time when the original company Cellnet were setting up their initial GSM network in 1994 and had its HQ in Slough (can’t afford to have rubbish coverage where the HQ is situated) and also had a major presence in Leeds. This situation continues to this day where Leeds and Slough were the first cities to receive O2’s 4G, 4G calling etc.

Sadly this isn't the case in Manchester where EE have a major presence. This goes back to the one2one days c1997 when they became the major provider for Manchester Airport. O2 do want to improve coverage and capacity in Manchester like it does everywhere else but site acquisition and construction is hampered by the fact EE ‘got there first’.

Hopefully although difficult, it isnt impossible to resolve and O2 will have to chop and change frequencies to 4G like is done in Leicester (large chunks their 3G 2100mHz has in the City centre have gone over to 4G resulting in a most welcome 4G ‘spike’).

Obviously I can’t promise Manchester will get better for O2 coverage anytime soon but O2 are seeing enhanced coverage as a priority. Bear with them and it will get better eventually.

Re: Terrible 4G performance in Manchester

Amina01 — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 18:34:17 GMT

So in June 2021 I have 02 5G SIM, there is no difference in 4G or 5G both get under 10mbps which is mid level 3G. I am in Manchester. Fortunately this is not my main SIM and mainly used for calling otherwise would have returned it. For comparison EE 5G speed here is from 100-500Mbps, vodafone and Three about 180 average for 5G. Three 4G speed is bad here too while Vodafone, Plusnet mobile, virgin mobile 4G mostly 30-90Mbps more at times. I am truly shocked how poor O2 is. They say Evey cloud, so VoLTE is supported.