Coverage Concerns

[Anonymous]

Ok I’ll start by saying I live in a large town…a heavily popular LARGE seaside tourist town which should be a priority for O2 almost as much as a city. In my house I get decent 4G signal (2-3 bars) and decentish speeds (not as fast as EE but not slow by any means). Now my house is in the more rural part of the town. Venture outside however? I have been struggling to even get 4G in a lot of places with the network seemingly choosing to use 3G instead of 4G which is SO SLOW that it cannot even load a basic Google webpage without timing out. And this was in a main high street of a busy town. EE in the same location? 5G!! O2? 3 bars of 3G…not even 4G! Both EE and Three offer widespread 5G coverage here, O2 don’t even offer 5G in the neighbouring city yet let alone here. I wouldn’t have an issue if it was fast and decent 4G but it isn’t…it’s 3G that can’t even load a basic Google webpage. Now the signal inside my home is good and decent functioning 4G but I use WiFi at home so it’s kinda irrelevant. Data comes in handy when you’re out an about and it’s when I’m out and about that I’m seriously struggling to even connect in a lot of places where other networks provide 5G signal. O2 claim that their rapidly expanding their network, investing £1 million a day in their infrastructure and boast about how much they’ve expanded in the past year…well that doesn’t correlate to a lot of reviews I’ve been reading on TrustPilot nor does it match up with my own personal experiences so far.

[Enlli]

O2 are well behind the curve on 5G.

In many areas the network is oversubscribed causing problems. It's got worse with over 3 million Virgin customers being added.

This is not likely to change anytime soon despite what the blurb says.

Download the My Network App and register. It will allow you to check where you are and report problems.

Not much else you can do other than change networks 

[Anonymous]

It’s annoying because I mostly use data on the go to check my emails, stream Apple Music, and do simple web searches. It’s not like I’m asking to stream a movie in 4K HDR using my data while walking down the street. I’m just expecting to be able to do simple tasks that you should expect to be able to do when out and about and it’s concerningly bad. Ok you expect a few dead spots here and there but to have them frequently and in populated areas that should be a priority for O2 is worrying. To not even have strong 4G in some places is the real shocker…how many years has 4G been out now? 10? Maybe more even? And they’re still using 3G?! In 2023? Come on O2…seriously!

Might I add that the coverage checker claimed strong 4G both indoors and outdoors in the same locations it was connecting me to 3G only.

EDIT (45 minutes later): just received a text from O2 claiming they’re going to be doing work in the area on 5th June:

”To improve your local network and help keep everyone connected, we're carrying out essential work in (postcode removed).

While we do, your signal might come and go. We'll keep you posted though.

The work will happen on 05 Jun.

Fingers crossed this is good news…

[Enlli]

The only suggestion we as customers can make is to try PAYG SIM cards on the other networks to see which gives you the best reception in the areas you frequent and move to them.

Three years of under investment by Telefónica who have been trying to ditch O2 but no takers. O2 and Three did try to merge but the powers that be put an end to that.

Now Virgin Media is on board we don't know what's going to happen. I hear of plenty of investment on the broadband side, but not much on Mobile. Their figure of £1 million a day has been around for years!

In the end you can only vote with your feet

[Anonymous]

I just received a text from O2 (edited it into my previous reply). Apparently they’re doing work to improve the service on 5th June. I used to be on EE which provide excellent service however they are the most expensive network by a long shot and after receiving an additional price increase of nearly £40 (yes that much) in April I decided to up and quit. Three refused to give me a contract, as did Vodafone. I tried to join ID on a £15 a month unlimited data 30 day rolling sim only because they use the 3 network and was very surprised to be declined for that too! O2 actually accepted me (maybe they’re desperate for customers idk). I was a long-time customer with EE but they’re just greedy. Too greedy. Damn good network though (coverage and speed wise). Part of the thing that attracted me to O2 was no additional credit checks to upgrade from sim only to device and unlike EE they don’t hike the prices on your device plan (EE did). I don’t mind paying a small annual increase on airtime if that money is actually used to improve the network but hiking device plans too? That’s just greedy. Shame because EE’s signal was amazing. Had blazingly fast speeds.

[madasaf1sh]

EE (BT) aren't that brilliant in a lot of areas, so its not just limited to o2, and to be honest Voda and Three have the same issues.. 

In areas such as coastal areas the problem is 3 fold, lack of grid connectivity and capacity (this will start to affect lots of things going forward), Lack of Dark Fibre connectivity to provide the backhaul, although with the likes of OpenRAN and microwave technologies this should improved, and Councils, 5Giots and NIMBY's rejecting / objecting to planning applications for infrastructure that would benefit everyone.. 

3G will be around for a while longer on o2 as will 2G as it provides M2M and IOT for lots of services such as Smart Meters... 

And never trust any coverage checkers, they are computer simulations based on perfect conditions.. VMo2 are investing,  but improving coverage and speeds takes time thanks to how convoluted the process is..

[Anonymous]

Ah…the objectors…funny you mention those because my Nan was part of a group of elderly women who went to the council to openly protest against 5G claiming it was negative to their health. Kinda ridiculous really. I told her how 5G benefits everyone and she’s like “if you want to die young that’s on you”. 😂

[MI5]

EE isn't all that much more expensive if you use comparison sites to buy through but you certainly get what you pay for.