O2 say I will be getting 4G soon but coverage predictor says I already have it.

[Infobleep]

Hi everyone

The other week, 27 May to be exact, I had a text message from O2 stating: 

In the few days we're bringing 4G to <insert postcode> and upgrading our 3G network too.

It may affect your signal. Stay connected over wifi with TU Go. Make calls. Send texts. Get the app free.

http://s.o2.co.uk/gnrpv3VU

Keep an eye on our progress:

https://s.o2.co.uk/CdNkWcSt

Now according to the coverage predictor on the 27 May, I should get 4G inside and outside my home. So how can it tell me I should be getting 4G when the text message says they are bringing me 4G in the next few days.

I asked O2 Twitter staff whether the coverage predictor was wrong or the text message was sent in error and started a direct message with them but they never answered that question, always avoiding it in their answers.

Can anyone answer it? Obviously I don't wish to give out the postcode on a public forum but I gave it to the member of Twitter staff.

Needless to say by now, I sometimes get 4G but mostly I don't. This afternoon I had 4G and then suddenly for no reason it switched to H+. I can easily be E other times and if it's E it doesn't connect to anything. This applies outside and inside. Does anyone know what causes it to switch from 4G to H+?

I live in Guildford and I find the coverage appalling and it seems to be getting worse. It rarely gets 4G and most often it's H+ or E. If it's E then you can expect to do nothing much. The other week I uplodaded two photos to Facebook whilst in town. It took about 30 minutes to upload them! My own WiFi router from Plusnet over ASDL could do it within less than 30 seconds. When I get 4G with O2 it does it in less than 30 seconds.

In parts of Surbiton where I have previously raised issues more than once, I've not seen any progress or improvement, despite the coverage checker stating one should get 4G inside and outside their homes there.

So is the predictor no good and if it's no good, is it the predictor that the government will be using then assessing how well O2 have done when they claim to be covering so many % of the country as per the 4G spectrum licence agreement?

I've not left O2 yet because I like other aspects of what they offer, such as customer service in the past, O2 priority at concert venues and the fact they auto-cap your data without you having to ask. They even offer a way of automatically unlocking your phone via the My O2 app. A friend told me about it. I was surprised. Sadly for me it didn't work so I'll raise a separate question on that but the idea was good.

However they are trying my patience and not getting a straight answer to my question via Twitter or even a we don't know, isn't helping O2's cause to keep me.

[Anonymous]

The coverage checker is just there to see what you are supposed to be getting.

Use this link to see if there is a faulty mast

http://status.o2.co.uk

You can complain here but if you wish to leave then you will still have to pay what you owe.

You could download TU & use that over wifi

http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

[MI5]

Your signal will be up and down for a few weeks whilst the mast is fully commissioned and would explain your fluctuating signal for now.
You may also drop to 3g or lower depending on demand for the mast you are connected to.

[Infobleep]

Thanks for your replies. I'm notooking to leave O2 before my contract ends but O2 are trying my patience.

When I said reception was getting worse, that wasn't after the upgrade to 4G text message but before.

Therr is possible to have a list of postcodes where upgrades to 4G are taking place. It may be that over the past year in Guildford, each postcode area in turn has slowly been upgraded.

Of course if I should be getting 4G already, why did O2 tell me that 4G was coming?

Is it possible to check whether a postcode already was predicted to have 4G before the text message was sent?

Is the coverage predictor updated in advance of changes?

When I clicked on keep am eye on progress on my mobile, it just took me to a page where I enter my postcode. Enter my postcode and it tells me I am getting 4G. Nothing about upgrade works. Perhaps they had happened by then. However I'd expect something for a few weeks after, otherwise how would people know it takes time to bed in?

With the coverage predictor, is the postcode shape (polygon) given a rating as to whether the area can receive 4G and / or 3G or is another method used to determine whether one might get 4G.

I'm fascinated as to how it works. Gatwick Airport, South Terminal I think, gets two separate ratings for coverage when you search on it.i don't think they match either but I've not checked in over a year. Things may have changed since then.

All the best

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

Once the work is complete they update the status checker, but, it is only a guide and cannot compensate for the geography of the land or interference from buildings, trees and other structures.
Remember, we are only dealing with bog standard radio waves from a low power transmitter so can also be affected by weather and any number of other factors.