Crippled O2 Travel Data

[darrengf]

So I just wanted to give you feedback on my recent visit to Spain today and tell you on how much o2 have truly crippled data usage.

So as you know you are supposed to be able to use 50 Mb before they start to slow you down and class 100Mb fair use age before they cripple you more.

Well now I have proof that it's utter rubbishy and they cripple you from the world go and I'm going to complain to both o2 and offcom ( if o2 don't be honest ) as it's misleading and I'm sick of them not doing anything.

so findings in Spain (Barcelona) today and also out in the country side too.

O2 sim with o2 Travel

From switching the sim on I got

0.35mbs up

0.34mbs down

113ms ping 

this was the same from 0mb usage until 60mb usage.

after 60mb usage I now get

0.10mbs down

0.11mbs up

289ms ping

I've manage to use 71.5mb all day.

I also have 3 more sims from different networks and they were all tried on same networks and same times.

BT Mobile: 4G and 3G no problems.

speeds were Above 4Mbs and ping was 110-119.  I ran out of data though for further testing.

Three sim: 3G only

wosrt I got was 1.48mbs down and 1.34mbs up. Ping 119

best I got was 4.59mbs down and 1.32mbs up. Ping 141

But the best sim of all was Tescos

lowest speed I got all day was 1.31mbs down and 0.36 mbs up. Ping 146

best 9.36mbs down and 3.59mbs up. Ping 110.

tescos in the city was great, never failed and speeds superb,  lowest speed was recorded in the middle of the mountain Prynees which I thought was still respectable. 

also I had a full day in France on Monday that we drove for 12 hours from north to south. (I was the passenger) and Tescos sim was again the best. Never missed a beat, I was able to stream YouTube, download apps, update and so on.  Speeds were about 5-8 mbs up and 1-3mbs down.

o2 have absolutely ruined o2 travel in what they have done and when you speak to them they Blaim is on the network which you are using saying it's them that causes the slow speed which is utter bull crap.  

Sorry for the rant, but why can't o2 just be honest and then I could accept this,

just tell us it's throttled or let us use up to 100MB before you throttle it.  

Also so to let you know

it took 20mins to send 1 picture via what's app at 70Mbs before it was taking 30 seconds to 2 mins.  Also iMessage pics failed

[adamtemp64]

@darrengf you do mean to take the complaint to the ombudsman as ofcom do not investigate individual issues

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/communications.html

[jonsie]

Well the extended O2 Travel to Thailand at £4.99 is totally useless and much overpriced. How o2 get away with this is ridiculous. 

[darrengf]

@adamtemp64

yep sorry,  I have to wait another 4 weeks though.

by then and Time I've complained it will be utter pointless as Eu rules will be in by next June.

@jonsie O2 travel is useless in any country the appkybit too and must take in lots of the £1.99 charges as you can't use your phone for data so people give up.

not a bad little earner

[MI5]

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darrengf wrote: 

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as Eu rules will be in by next June.

That's only price based though and networks will still have to purchase bandwidth for their roaming customers.

I would expect o2 to do it as cheaply as possible - just the same as now.

[darrengf]

@MI5 Yep I would agree

but Europe rules state that there is to be no slowness or network priorities,  each person connecting should have the same speed regardless.

but some where a loop hole will be found and we will be yet again up the creak

[darrengf]

As you know, O2 travel data speeds is one of my bugbares with o2. I understand why they have implemented them but its that bad you are slowed to a snails pace.

I did write to o2 complaints and today I got an an answer (They did forget me and thanks to Toby for sorting it out.

Any how the response was what i thought I was going to get that when you are outside the UK, they have no control over the networks or speeds you receive and its down to the networks abroad. Now i could choose to go to the Ombudsman, but I always like to understand and check first before going further and I think ive found my own response and O2 are not breaking any rules at all.

So hear me out and see what you think.

O2 Travel says they offer Unlimited Data, 120 mins and 120 sms when you are in a EU or Certain outside EU countries for that day. (Contract)

O2 also state "There's no upper usage limit on data, but data speeds might vary"

If you are a O2 PAYG Customer, you get 100mb in EU countries only and then have to repay again

Now O2 state that there is no fixed allowance with o2 travel (For Contract) but we may slow down the service if its network affecting, affecting other customers and other reasons which it does say on the web 

There KFI sort of backs up the statement too saying they will slwo the service down after 50mb

Hope your all still with me 🙂

However this is where they can offer any speeds they want at first.

1) There is no indication any where of the speeds you will ever get

2) It mentions nothing any where that you will get full speeds on 2g or 3g or anything.

What it does say

1) You can have unlimited Data (Correct)

2) We may slow the service down if we want (Correct), but doesnt say what you get first (Also correct)

3) Also states speeds may vary (correct) but again they never said what you would ever get first (So covered them selves)

So O2 Travel statement is correct, its unlimited, speeds may vary, we may slow your speeds down and thats it.

You can fight it as much as you want, but o2 is covered by everything so no point in going to Ombudsman as they would say they have not breached any rules which is correct they havnt.

If you think im wrong or have another idea, let me know.  but there you have it folks. Tale of the story is that the detail is in the finer print.

[Anonymous]

To say that O2 roaming service is pathetic is an overstatement. I'm paying 130 pounds per month for two contracts, we travel 40% of our time and we can't use our mobiles. This is bloody ridiculous. FIX IT or we are out

[adamtemp64]

@darrengf Have to agree with your synopsis and conclusion such a shame o2 obviously are not willing to pay for decent data roaming abroad

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:
To say that O2 roaming service is pathetic is an overstatement. I'm paying 130 pounds per month for two contracts, we travel 40% of our time and we can't use our mobiles. This is bloody ridiculous. FIX IT or we are out

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As you say @Anonymous ..it is pathetic and obviously doesn't meet your needs, particularly as you travel 40% of the time. I would be changing if I were in your position. Just a suggestion...have you considered using a local sim?

[jonsie]

It's such a shame that O2 are willing to let people struggle for data when roaming when all the other networks seem to be able to allow customers to use data as they would at home. @Anonymous....put the pice up a little and pay the overseas networks to get decent speeds. £1.99 may seem cheap but awfully expensive paying an unusable service. Innotative and a leading network? Not these days I'm afraid and I'm speaking as someone charged £4.99 outside Europe for a service not fit for purpose.