Re: Overall Reception on O2 in the UK? - Page 2

Anonymous · ‎08-01-2011

Anyone having any problems with the O2 reception, on any phone/platform??

Anonymous · ‎17-03-2011

Yes I understand about the reception in larger cities, but why has the reception not improved steadily over the years, in my home and at my work place in Swansea I can get from full signal to no signal at all, it drifts in and out at random. There is a serious problem with the coverage in the Swansea and Hereford area's.
Thanks for the info regarding the signal booster I feel like I'm on the equivilant of the old modem dial up when everyone else is on broadband!

Anonymous · ‎18-03-2011

I live in shrewsbury -shropshire.
I love going walking around the local area, and just over the border in wales.
However i have noticed that the signal quality of o2 is terrible in church stretton.
I then made the mistake of relying on my o2 signal on a dayout in powys, i had no signal at all throughout my visit to presteigne, knighton and surrounding villages - frankly i think o2 need to make drastic changes to it's lack of service - the current signal is just not good enough and renders my usage of the service pointless.
my advice to anyone useing this service in the areas i have mentioned is simply try another provider - orange/T-mobile seem to have their act together, o2 seem not to have sorted out this problem, yet they have known for a while now this lack of signal is occuring according to alot of locals in that area, and business owners i spoke to said the same.
its less o2 and more o dear! is the running joke -
i am changeing my provider.

Anonymous · ‎18-03-2011

I just wish O2 would do a wholesale merger of networks with Vodafone (like t-mob/orange) instead of their infrastructure merging of sites and air-con units in cabiniets etc. Yeah it saves them a bit of money but it doesn't seem to provide any benefit to the end-user in any way, shape, or form.
Anyone else noticed a degredation of data speeds in general? My 3G is non-existant apart from at my GFs when it flits between HSDPA, 3G, EDGE, and GPRS. My 2G just seems slower than normal in most locations, failing to load, and the dreaded requests interrupted by the host (see other threads!!).

Anonymous · ‎18-03-2011

Yes I understand about the reception in larger cities, but why has the reception not improved steadily over the years, in my home and at my work place in Swansea I can get from full signal to no signal at all, it drifts in and out at random. There is a serious problem with the coverage in the Swansea and Hereford area's.
Thanks for the info regarding the signal booster I feel like I'm on the equivilant of the old modem dial up when everyone else is on broadband!

I get similar but only regarding switch from 3G-2G etc. Overall ability to get a signal is good for me, it's just old-school 2G.

Anonymous · ‎18-03-2011

Yes I understand about the reception in larger cities, but why has the reception not improved steadily over the years, in my home and at my work place in Swansea I can get from full signal to no signal at all, it drifts in and out at random. There is a serious problem with the coverage in the Swansea and Hereford area's.
Thanks for the info regarding the signal booster I feel like I'm on the equivilant of the old modem dial up when everyone else is on broadband!

I get similar but only regarding switch from 3G-2G etc. Overall ability to get a signal is good for me, it's just old-school 2G.

I guess with O2 it is all about returns for the share holders, so investing millions in improving the coverage is not a priority to them, now they think they have reached 'critical mass' with good coverage in the cities, us folks who live a little more rurally don't really count and we can whinge until our hearts are content, well they will be the losers in the end because customer loyalty means absolutely nothing to them, I have no benefit from staying with O2 just large bills, poor reception which leads to festering frustration I don’t need 3g just a signal so that I can talk to people is that too much to ask o2?

Anonymous · ‎20-03-2011

Vodafone have some great deals on, however a friend of mine has been with them for the past 2 years, and he cannot wait to move from them, he as a few week remaining with them, he has a blackberry storm, provided by them, and near enough has no reception most of the time!

Anonymous · ‎20-03-2011

Yes I understand about the reception in larger cities, but why has the reception not improved steadily over the years, in my home and at my work place in Swansea I can get from full signal to no signal at all, it drifts in and out at random. There is a serious problem with the coverage in the Swansea and Hereford area's.
Thanks for the info regarding the signal booster I feel like I'm on the equivilant of the old modem dial up when everyone else is on broadband!

I get similar but only regarding switch from 3G-2G etc. Overall ability to get a signal is good for me, it's just old-school 2G.

I guess with O2 it is all about returns for the share holders, so investing millions in improving the coverage is not a priority to them, now they think they have reached 'critical mass' with good coverage in the cities, us folks who live a little more rurally don't really count and we can whinge until our hearts are content, well they will be the losers in the end because customer loyalty means absolutely nothing to them, I have no benefit from staying with O2 just large bills, poor reception which leads to festering frustration I don’t need 3g just a signal so that I can talk to people is that too much to ask o2?

o2 spent at least £356,000,000 on the network in 2010 and this is due to increase in 2011. They're also beginning to broadcast 3G on the 900mhz bandwith meaning 3G coverage in new areas and improved coverage (especially building penetration) in existing areas.

I just wish O2 would do a wholesale merger of networks with Vodafone (like t-mob/orange)

This only happened because Orange bought t-mobile, they are now one company called Everything Everywhere. o2 and Vodafone still compete fiercely and it's highly unlikely you'll ever see a network share agreement. It makes sense for them to share sites and some equipment because it gives lower costs to both parties. It doesn't currently make business sense to level the playing field on coverage.

Anonymous · ‎21-03-2011

Actually it's a 50/50 joint venture between the network's repsective parent companies, but I'm nitpicking there

Anonymous · ‎29-03-2011

I live in shrewsbury -shropshire.
I love going walking around the local area, and just over the border in wales.
However i have noticed that the signal quality of o2 is terrible in church stretton.
I then made the mistake of relying on my o2 signal on a dayout in powys, i had no signal at all throughout my visit to presteigne, knighton and surrounding villages - frankly i think o2 need to make drastic changes to it's lack of service - the current signal is just not good enough and renders my usage of the service pointless.
my advice to anyone useing this service in the areas i have mentioned is simply try another provider - orange/T-mobile seem to have their act together, o2 seem not to have sorted out this problem, yet they have known for a while now this lack of signal is occuring according to alot of locals in that area, and business owners i spoke to said the same.
its less o2 and more o dear! is the running joke -
i am changeing my provider.

I am very familiar with all Network coverage in the areas you mention-every May Bank Holiday I used to visit Dolley Green and would take a couple of handsets with me and check coverage.
Orange has got pretty much the whole area wall-to-wall(!) I was right in the middle of the countryside without a mast of any description in sight and had a 5 bar 2G Orange signal. Vodafone was also pretty good. Sadly T-Mobile and O2 were pretty lame and Three had nothing for miles around.
It's the same in Church Stretton, only Orange went out to get somer decent coverage in Shropshire and Powys, although Vodafone has made a belated attempt to do so. O2,whether it is 2 or 3G in these are are hopeless as are T-Mobile (this will have improved by default as T-Mobile and Orange 2G have now merged with 3G to follow). Same for Three.
I doubt whether O2 have any real plans to provide those areas you mention with any decent coverage at all. This will apply to Three as well.
I could be wrong and O2 could surprise us all with commissioning about 70 new Masts they need to sort out coverage/capacity issues in those areas you mention.
However, the odds are against it and you may have to leave if coverage in these areas is an issue.

Anonymous · ‎05-09-2012

I live in Lincolnshire and the O2 checker says that the signal is good for my post code, it is not true as to use my phone I have to go upstairs near the window facing the mast and I can sometimes get 2 bars. As I live in the lowest point in the village I think the signal goes over the top. I thought of getting a booster but at about £80.00 I think it is a bit risky. I found acompany online that says O2 recomend their product. It's from the Mobile Repeater Shop, O2 and Vodafone 900MHZ Mobile Phone Signal Booster, Repeater. Does anyone have any experience of this?