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]

Hi there, found this whilst doing a search on the issue as I’m experiencing the same problem.

Mobile internet on O2 in London is extremely slow and I have also seen a dip in 2G and 3G signal strength to the point I can no longer use my O2 service at work.

I’m leaving for Vodafone as I believe the slow speeds are down to the fact that O2 has a smaller amount of 4G spectrum than EE and Vodafone and this could be the problem.

It’s been going on for months and O2 deny there are any problems with the service. 3G typically has always been a bit patchy on O2 however the 4G speeds we are seeing are slower than any typical 3G service and the 3G speeds are slower than the old CMD WAP dial up service.

This is very bad for customers particularly those who spend a lot of money each month for the privilege of having a 4G smartphone.

To be honest I’ve never been satisfied with speed and quality of the internet on O2 and it just seems to have gone from bad to worse.

I believe in coming months, there will be a lot of angry customers leaving O2 for this problem, it’s not only London either, typically the speeds seem to be slower than the other networks nationally but noticeably worse in more urban areas.

[packages]

Guys remember o2 have a tiny amount of 4G spectrum compared to Vodafone and EE. Their base layer is only 10mhz which gives a maximum speed of around 75megabit/s (and that’s to share with everyone else). O2 will not work well in populated areas (especially west side of England and west side of London)

O2 may have 4G+ in some places but this may only boost it up to 15-20mhz (Leicester maybe 25mhz). Compare this to EE who can deploy 85mhz or Vodafone 50mhz.

Safly O2 just didn’t invest enough in the 4G auction. There’s a good graph to show you how little O2 have here: http://www.analysysmason.com/About-Us/News/Insight/UK-4G-auction-Mar2013/ (note EE have started using some of BT’s share)

[Cleoriff]

@packagesHave there been any changes since that article and graph were published in 2013?

[darrengf]

@Cleoriff@packages

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Other-Products-and-Services/LTE-UK-Bands-Who-owns-what-Band/ba-p/10808...

I wrote this a few months ago and will help you out

[Cleoriff]

Thanks @darrengf. So O2 are still poor 4 years later then...:smileysad:

[darrengf]

Yep I’m afraid.

they are currently trialing 2.3ghz on masts near Swindon headoffice.  But there only in trial faze and as the Ofcom Auction hasn’t been announced yet. Nothing can happen. 

Something else to to check with too o2 are desperate for extra capacity 

https://www.breakingviews.com/considered-view/o2-and-britain-are-losers-in-5g-spectrum-fight/

[packages]

@darrengfEE have started to use the 2x15mhz 2600mhz block that BT bought so it’s even more now and no doubt in the future they’ll use the 25mhz of TDD spectrum that BT also bought in the auction.

[darrengf]

@packages Very true

a force to be reckoned with data speeds

of to London this week for work, but will try EE, O2 and Voda for speeds.  See what there all like there

[jtuk]

Central London is hopeless! I spend most of my time in the West End and rarely do I enjoy any kind of speed. 4G comes and goes. Usually when you see 4G on screen as soon as you open Google etc it drops to 3G or even no signal.
After they discontinued International Favorites this is a huge problem as I now have to use Skype daily but can't connect to calls. Tonight it took me 30 minutes wondering around trying to find signal before I was able to make a Skype call and even then I could hardly hear the other person.
There have been no improvements by o2. Their rates go up but we get nothing. What good is all that data when you can't do anything with it! It feels like o2 just doesn't care about anything but taking our money.
The International Favorites has been the last straw but am stuck on a contract!
I am not sure if a company could get away with such lousy service in any other field?

[darrengf]

Just been to London and wrote a article on the visit and speeds at various places. 

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-Feedback/Recent-Trip-to-London-and-O2-Coverage-wise-on-tra...

Have a a read and comment. It backs up that the lack of spectrum is having a bad affect in London