Extremely slow 3g Edgware

[Anonymous]

Hello,

For the last 3 months, I have been experiencing a very slow 3G service in Edgware HA8 town centre, Sometimes is ok for a minutes or 2 then it will just drop out with a android error saying it cant access the URL what is Gmail and it goes the same when i payed my water bill.

My partner experiences the same issues aswell as me, However she is on a virtual network and uses the same O2 mast.

Postcode HA8 (Town centre)

Cell ID 807553 (Used a Android app to get this info)

Also when im back home the 3g service is completely fine, Again using the androd app it tells me im using cell id 823381

[MI5]

It's a common problem of mast congestion on the 3g network.
Nothing you can do at the time but you may find it works fine when there are less people in town.
It's the same for me in my home town and has been for nearly 2 years - during busy shopping periods you can forget any kind of usable 3g connection.

[MI5]

Looking at the service status http://status.o2.co.uk/ you appear to be fully serviced with 4g so I would expect you would see a benefit if you upgraded to a 4g phone and tariff.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately i only have a 3g / H+ compatible phone at the moment, It happens even at 8am in the morning when on the bus to work but i know myself is going to get less congestion as more phones are going 4G, Then 4G would have the same problem as 3G haha

[Anonymous]

I have also noticed that 3g is getting slower, I have a theory that the networks are showing it down in order to push 4g. When I first bought my razr i back in 2013 Web pages would load almost instantly now I have to wait for almost 10 seconds in some cases

[Anonymous]

*slowing

[Anonymous]

3g works a bit like a motorway @Anonymous

There are only so many available contacts on the cell for 3g. Too much demand and it grinds to a halt a bit like if there are too many vehicles on the motorway.

[Anonymous]

4g works differently. It works a bit like fibre broadband in that there is much more capacity. Data then goes down the fibre backhaul (most likely BT or Virgin) and in to the interweb lol.

Congestion won't appear in the same way as 3g

[Anonymous]

True, to much congestion will slow it down but the authorities can also slow the stream by restricting the flow of traffic (like closing lanes) this way when you buy your new 4G phone and upgrade your tariff to a more expensive one (which actually give less for more money) your amazed at how fast it is and you think your network has done a fantastic job

[Anonymous]

We have a conspiracy theorist in our midst @Spud77.

I thought I was the only one here. Welcome