I've been an O2 customer since 2001 and throughout that time have always been 100% happy - until now. I get the feeling they have over subscribed and the network simply cannot cope. I realise I'm generalising, but anecdotal online comments suggests there are issues. Here are a few words about what I'm experiencing.
I have an iPhone 5S. When I'm at home (off wifi) I've NO complaints. Everything works as it should on a strong 3G service. Because of this I'm fairly confident the issues I'm experiencing for many months now are not anything handset or sim related.
I spend a good deal of my time in York. O2 have already admitted the demand here is beyond capacity and actions are in place (since January). Last week I was in Sheffield and I found exactly the same issues. Similar with various and multiple train journeys this year, and two specific locations (one city, and one semi-rural where the coverage checker says strong 3G is available, and I know full well there is no 3G either inside or outside and never has been).
The main ways these network issues manifest for me are;
- slow to non existent internet
- slow loading twitter feeds (and don't even hold you breath for images in the feed)
- iMessages failing to send and eventually re-routed via SMS
- random iMessages disappearing and turning up days if not weeks later (admittedly this could be Apple)
- occasional call drops (though I don't make many calls so the problem could be worse than I think)
I do use TuGo to get around some of these issues, particularly to override iMessages and get simple SMS sent.
There was a time when the O2 network was second to none, but these recent issues have really got me thinking about switching. I often compare my phone and my business phone (different network) during my travels and the number of times mine is stuck on GPRS when the other one has a pretty decent 3G signal is almost comical.
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