Data abroad unusable

[Anonymous]

I've just returned from my holidays I paid £1.99 a day for the bolt on that other than calls and texts which was not why I needed it was almost completely unusable. I could barely access any sites or apps and if I did manage to connect they were so slow they were useless and I ended up still have to buy wifi from various places. My friend who was on t mobile however had lightening speed and no issues. Any explanations and also who and where do I write to, as I'd like to take this complaint further?

[jonsie]

There's always that little nagging doubt in your mind until you actually see the charges on your bill

[darrengf]

So Ive just had a quick Trip to Ireland (Went for the day) Well rude not to for £9.98 return with Europes Fav Airline (Got to love Ryanair :-))

Any how, I just thought I would let you have an update on O2 Travel which just happened to be on the 14th July when the rest of the other countries came onboard.

So I had 3 sims with me and 2 phones, (One of them was a dual sim 4G phone)

O2 Contract (O2 Travel)

Tescos PAYG

Virgin Mobile PAYG

All the tests were done in the same place, same time,

Both O2 Contract and Tesco PAYG connected to three 3g (Old O2 ie 3g network)

Virgin connected to Metor 3G

All the phones connected to the same Dublin Server as well to be fair.

1st test Dublin airport (all phones were switched on at the same time, so no network or data had been used until this point.

O2 - 0.32 Mbps Dowload

O2 - 0.30 Mbps Upload

Ping - 210

Tesco - 7.08 Mbps Download

Tesco - 0.80 Mbps Upload

Ping - 247

Virgin - 2.40 Mbps Upload

Virgin - 0.62 Mpbs Upload

Ping - 160

2nd Test Was done in Dublin City it self Middle of the day. 

O2 - 0.33 Mbps Download

O2 - 0.30 Mpbs Upload

Ping - 197

Tesco - 7.32 Mbps Dowload

Tesco - 0.80 Mpbs Upload

Ping - 234

Virgin - 2.70 Mbps Download

Virgin - 0.56 Mbps Upload

Ping 162

So O2 throttle the data beyond beleive as soon as you switch the phone on.

These tests were all on iPhone 6s+ with o2 sim in

Apple Maps worked, So did google Maps

iMessage text worked (iMessage pics failed (Timed out))

Whats App Worked fine

Twitter was too long in loading anything like pics and just timed out

Safari Worked,but was slow in loading pages on occasions

Dublin Airport app failed to load anything and timed out

Ryanair page did load (Eventually) (Good job I had printed my Ticket)

Dowloading Apps (Forget it and same with Itunes)

I used 62.5Mb in the whole day

So its 62.5Mb x 4.3p = £2.69

So I did get my £1.99 worth out.

But my phone went flat and had to be recharged to even get 62.5Mb.

It was painful slow,

Now my other 2 friends were on three. they had the same speeds as me connecting to three.ie network via 3G. So they also throttle it beyond use.

Nice to see Tesco haddnt throttled it and this worked perfect all day with out one faltering issue.

Virgin media (I ran out of Data, but again worked with out issues)

[Cleoriff]

Thats fascinating @darrengf particularly as Tesco use the O2 network?.....

Edited to add re your reference to Ryanair. I travel frequently to Spain...and actually find them the best/ cheapest airline I have ever used.  Believe me I have checked all the others...they all add charges....

[MI5]

Very interesting.
I may take a Tesco sim with me to France next time to see how it performs over there.

[darrengf]

@Cleoriff I love Ryanair,  never delayed, love the jingle when we land, to me its get on, get off.  No Fiff No Faff. Simple.

booked again with the to go back to Dublin for later in year.

Re Tesco Sim, I was so surprised my self. I was mega impressed to be honest and it never flaked once. Well impressed with them.

im off to France and Spain soon, so again will take Tesco Sim and try again. But top marks to them.

O2 travel have totally ruined it and it needs to be either altered or removed. Unlimited Data, I couldn't get past 62.5mb in 12 hours, that's how bad it was. 

There own terms say 150mb is excessive, 50mb we slow you down.  Well I would truly love to get to 150mb and slow you down at 50mb is a joke, it's slowed from the word go.  So to me the breach what they say.

I just don't get why,  if Tesco, virgin, Vodafone and EE can do it, why can't o2. Some one had a Voda sim while there, connected to Voda Ie 4G. It was same speed as Uk and like lightning.  Ive took EE out my self before and no issues at all.

What is o2 scared off?  People abusing it,  but they can cap it. I just don't know. 

[MI5]

I use Three, o2 and sfr (voda) in France and in all honesty I've found Three to be the best subjectively, but I've never done any speed tests, so I can't provide any real data.

[darrengf]

@MI5 I've used my three sim in France last year. It was great on Orange Fr 3G but slow on Free 3G. 

Voda sim was fast regardless and didn't slow down.

EE sim again was faultless and didn't slow

o2 that was just the same as every country I've visited.

France, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany. Useless to so slow useless.

Although Germany it managed to send a couple of iMessage photos, then went blrrrrrrr stop. Lol

i love O2, the 4G in uk is lots better and I get it everywhere except 1 pub lol. There I get nothing, but does have free wifi.

but O2 travel is a massive let down and you hammered with slowness straight away.  

[Cleoriff]

I have said this before but I have no trouble with O2 in the South of Spain. I KNOW I don't use mobile data much as many people... as I have access to WiFi in most places....However on the occasions I do use it ...I find it fast...sometimes faster than WiFi.  I only get 3G and am always connected to Movistar in Spain.

I am probably not your 'typical heavy data user'...but it's ok to see both sides.

[MI5]

@darrengf yes, I'm in agreement with the disappointment over o2 travel in most places - sounds good but fails to deliver.

[darrengf]

Im curious if anything on my account says this person is a bad boy and make it slow for him. Lol

do they have that option,  I may ask Toby to check as Cust SVC always say, well your not in Uk. Mmmm. Well you know what,  I know that as I can't use my phone. Lol