Rubbish 4G Speeds

[Anonymous]

Has anyone else noticed ridiculously slow 4G speeds in central London?

This has been ongoing for a few months now, basically since I have been upgraded to a 20GB data p/m plan which raises the question of being throttled by the network.

The first two screenshots were taken in a park 5m between each other, the third was inside my building where I work. Notice how I have FULL 4G SIGNAL and these are the speeds I get on my handset.

[Anonymous]

Oh I see, I was unaware of this.

I have contacted O2 directly to get their input on the matter. They have advised it could be a sim card problem (highly unlikely) and they'll be sending a new card for me to test. I am assuming they will unthrottle the account whereby the new sim card will magically be faster or atleast I hope this is the result.

[MI5]

Yeah be sure to let us know

[Anonymous]

Well the sim card has not arrived yet, hopefully this will be today to test out for you guys. Speed testing every few hours to get a general idea of the congestion here, currently ranging from 4-5mbps in the morning to 1-2mbps at lunch (DL), and 12-14mbps upload during these times.

[Martin-O2]

Hey @Anonymous did you get a chance to test your data speeds with the new sim card? 

[Anonymous]

Sorry about the delay, I received the sim card later that day from my previous message and tested the speeds.

Unfortunately as I imagined, the speeds to my handset have not been any better nor worse but exactly the same. I think congestion is sadly the reason for the terrible speeds.

[Martin-O2]

Thanks for the update @Anonymous ! Fingers crossed you'll see some improvements as the network continues to be upgraded 

[Anonymous]

Just joined o2 on a sim only deal (25gb for 25 a month) abit concerned about rumours that it's throttled? I haven't personally notice any issues of throttling but I'm not in a congested area I don't think. Did a speed test in the early hours of this morning and got over 84 meg so speeds not rubbish everywhere.

[jonsie]

Data was only throttled when roaming but we are told that the restriction has now been removed. There is no throttling on the network in the UK. Wow, 84 meg is fantastic! 

[Anonymous]

thanks for confirming this. Wish I went into field test mode on my iPhone to check what bands I was connected to because that's the fastest I have seen on o2. It was at 4 am tho.

[MI5]

O2 has rolled out enhanced 4g (4g+) in some areas so that is the kind of speed one would expect in those places at that time of the day
We've also heard of people mention potential throttling on that tariff before but it is more likely congestion issues as they are usually in the middle of London or other big cities.