Contract advice needed

[Anonymous]

I’m with EE and recently upgraded to unlimited data for £28 with a smart benefit (Apple Music = £9.99) included. Which is a great deal, problem is, since upgrading the data is slower than slow at home. Sometimes it’s less than a 1 mbps, but mostly less than 5.
I stream radio almost 18 hours a day and when I try to do multiple things.. everything grinds to a halt, including the music stream. (I’ve done all the EE fault finding to no avail)

The data has only (totally) dropped out a few times and I’ve never been without any kind of signal unless I’ve been in the middle of nowhere, so I can’t really groan about that.

I’ve done some A grade whining and yesterday I got a call from one of their resolution guys who wanted to help solve the problem.
Now this guy got the mast data up and could see that it gets 400 million data requests every day (apparently that’s hardcore) but the throughput speeds were averaging 8 down & 6 up.
(Side note - He explained that masts breathe, when the usage slackens off.. the coverage extends and when it gets busy the coverage area shrinks - didn’t know that)
So my speeds are never going to be wonderful unless usage drops or I connect to another mast, as the nearest mast is only 75 metres (as the crow flies with only a few houses between) from my place, connecting to another mast is not going to happen.
The other possible explanation is that a lot of people aren’t at work/school so data usage is up and has been all year. Which may explain the struggle

After an hour of chat he has said it’s up to me what I do. He has asked me what I want to do.
I didn’t want to say, give me £?? off a month and I’ll be happy (free Apple music would be good) but then it looks like I’m just looking for a freebie and not really bothered about the poor speed! (I am but it’s soften the blow if I was paying peanuts for it)

I jokingly mentioned binning EE altogether & he offered that to me FOR FREE (22 months to go) which left me gobsmacked.

The thing is £28 for unlimited data & Apple Music is a great deal & I can’t find any other contract even close to that.

So do I..

Try to blag £?? off a month
Put up with it and hope parents / kids go back to their daily activities and stop using all the data.
Or bin the contract altogether.

You’ve never steered me wrong before so come on folks, do your best please.

edit as I pressed post on this.. the music stopped. 😕

the 12/12 result showing WiFi is from a 4g router (I stiuck my sim in it) the 13/12 result is the only time I've had double figures. (Note all the tests are done at varying times)

[gmarkj]

Might be worth getting a PAYG sim from the other main ones (o2, Voda and 3) to see what the signal is like...

[Anonymous]

Thanks @gmarkj
I was with O2 for a bit on PAYG, not the best, then went to Three for a year or so, not too bad in town but no signal at all in the sticks. (Voda not existent round here)
EE was the best overall, which is why i’ve stuck with them, and why I’m asking you lot for more advice.
It’s the best of a bad bunch

[Cleoriff]

TBH @Anonymous 

I can't see home usage reducing anytime soon. I suspect a lot of areas will go into Tier 4 after Christmas.

In which case getting your contract paid for the remaining 22 months, might not be as good as it sounds.

There again, I would imagine all networks will have the same problem (with the tier system and people working from home) so you could try other sims as suggested by @gmarkj  but keep that in mind.

Me? I would tend to stay with 'the devil I know' unless you can find much faster speeds with another network. Remembering you would have to try all these sims for at least a few days to get a full picture as to whether it's good all the time, or drops out from xxxx time onwards.

That's my 5 pennorth for what it's worth...

[Anonymous]

Last night couldn't watch / do / listen to anything.. 

and today..

it truly is mind boggling. You can't tell me everyone was using the net last night but not today?

[Anonymous]

Speeds still struggling, so I’m thinking of hanging on with EE & trying to get a few quid knocked off. That way when an iPad comes free I won’t be so out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

They’ve offered me 3 months 50% discount with an option to continue that discount if it’s still no better or leave without penalty!

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:
They’ve offered me 3 months 50% discount with an option to continue that discount if it’s still no better or leave without penalty!

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Can't say fairer than that @Anonymous 

[jonsie]

Good options.

I spoke with EE customer service this afternoon and waited less than a minute once I'd chosen the relevant option

Great customer experience

[Anonymous]

Indeed @Cleoriff

And yes @jonsie That’s one of the reason I’ve stayed with them.
I’ve rang them all since I originally posted this. (BT made a promise when it took over EE to bring all CS to the UK(and they have)

Results
Vodafone didn’t listen and just wanted to sell me stuff (coverage is rubbish here anyway)
Three has UK sales but foreign technical & accounts, no thanks)
O2 well you know the story. (I’ve found the CS to be pants (waiting times too) but the forum bods seem ok(ish)

So when the lady offered me 50% off I couldn’t resist!