Appalling 3G Coverage

[Anonymous]

I have recently renewed my o2 contract for a further 2 years (which I am now seriously regretting) and have noticed the 3G coverage is utterly appalling. To be honest it has always been poor but my patience is running thin. I also requested 1GB of data as part of my new contract - pointless.

Does anybody else have this problem?

In an age where the majority of mobile phone use is spent online a networks 3G coverage should be vital.

My friends that hold contracts with other networks, notably '3', do not have this issue. In fact most of them have 3G even in the most remote areas.

[aldaweb]

As Adam stated above, O2 have to provide 98% coverage of 3G and 2G as well as 4G as a condition written into the sale of the segment of 4G spectrum.

So as more 4G gets rolled out expect those services to improve as well.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 EE is way superior and usually better and sometimes the same as O2. 

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LOL!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 EE is way superior and usually better and sometimes the same O2. 

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LOL!

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Badly worded. EE IS way supperior. Usually far better as in providing 3G as against 02's GPRS if O2 even manage that although very occasionally O2 do manage to equal EE.

[perksie]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Badly worded. EE IS way supperior.

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Absolute tosh, you have no way of directly comparing one network against another.

Where one works well another may not, service quality and signal strength will vary, and it's like that all over the country.

It's a wireless service, not magic!

[Anonymous]

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@perksie wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Badly worded. EE IS way supperior.

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Absolute tosh, you have no way of directly comparing one netwo against another.

Where one works well another may not, service quality and signal strength will vary, and it's like that all over the country.

It's a wireless service, not magic!

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Please don't accuse me of "absolute tosh" when you have no idea of my circumstances. I travel about the country quite a lot - my phone is O2 and I have a wifi dongle for EE. I can confidently report that wherever I go EE is consistently better than O2 for data. I often have to use the dongle to get a decent signal on my phone. You only have to compare EE and O2's coverage maps to see that O2 only provide any sort of coverage in towns while EE also cover most of the bits in between.

[Bambino]

If EE's coverage is that much better for you than O2's, why do you still use O2? Take your business to EE. No point in complaining about it here. Vote with your wallet.

[Anonymous]

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@Bambino wrote:

If EE's coverage is that much better for you than O2's, why do you still use O2? Take your business to EE. No point in complaining about it here. Vote with your wallet.

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You're right about there being no point in complaining on here although I thought this was the place to do it. O2 certainly don't seem to take any notice and there seems to be some hostility to my comments regarding poor data coverage in support of other peoples' complaints. I have been with O2 since 1992 in the days of Cellnet and had hoped to continue to support them but it seems I have been rewarded with a service less than that achievable elsewhere. I regret my last upgrade/renewal and will not be making the same mistake next time. In view of the responses received on this forum I am unlikely to return here either!

[jonsie]

It's a fact that networks have different coverge in different parts of the country. I certainly take on board what you say, you can only talk about your own experience.

I don't, fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your viewpoint), tend to travel around the this country much and whilst the signal is fine in my area, I have struggled for coverage in most of Wales, most of the Lake District and many parts of Scotland.

A companion travelling with me on Orange tended not to suffer as many blackspots.

One thing this forum has taught me is to try P&G sims for all networks for the best coverage in my own home, workplace and normal travelling routes.

I'm not sure we should be criticising someone for passing on his own personal experience and his own opinions.

[Anonymous]

Well, since we retired an bought a campervan we have been moving a lot around the country. 

Most sites I stayed at (Around 20 in all) had no 3G coverage. 

We moved networks and were away for a fortnight  - 3G coverage everywhere we have been so far, some quite rural. I shall see in the next couple of weeks as we are revisiting some places.

O2's  geographical 3G footprint is quite small compared to some other networks. % of the population is fine but it is not an indication of good coverage throughout the UK

[aldaweb]

Well travelling down in Devon recently with an O2 contract phone another PAYG phone on T-Mo (EE) and a MiFi from Three and trying to meet up with a Vodafone user, I had at least voice coverage consistently from O2 whereas the friend had no network, and no network also for the PAYG phone. For Data I had to put the MiFi as high as possible to get a signal where we were staying, though nothing on the phones.

Just shows everyones experience is different and you should go with what works for you.