I visit different sports and cultural events throughout London frequently, and almost 80% of the time I run into trouble with connecting to the network. The post is lengthy and I vent my frustration, so TL : DR am I the only one who can't connect to internet when there are people in the area?
Devices used: LG Nexus 4 and HTC Butterfly 3 from Japan, both updated to latest firmware available; HTC Butterfly 3 with idata.o2.co.uk and mobile.o2.co.uk APN settings stored
Examples of Locations: both Westfield at White City and Stratsford, Wembley, Upton Park/Boleyn Ground, Arsenal Emirates Stadium, White Hart Lane, QE2 Stadium at Stratsford, Charlton The Valley, Oxford Street, Selfridges
Time: when there is an event, that means a lot of people using their phones
Problem:
10% of the time I am connected to voice network ONLY and no ANY data network, GPRS/EDGE/HSPA/LTE. Nothing at all
30% of the time I am connected to GPRS/EDGE, but with a lot of latency that apps like Chrome or instant messaging saying I'm offline.
60% of the time I am connected to HSPA/LTE, but with the exact same problem as GPRS/EDGE. Connected yet offline.
Let me elaborate with an example. Just now I went to the QE2 Stadium at Stratsford for a football match.
Outside the stadium in the garden, the coverage was great in LTE, and no problem in connection. When I step into the stadium and find my seat, the network switches to GPRS immediately. The phone is offline and I cannot assess the internet by any app, e.g. BBC Sports, Chrome, Whatsapp etc.
Throughout the match I am unable to connect at all, with the phone stayed in GPRS with consistent rebooting and switching on/off flight mode.
After the match I stepped outside the stadium, and a hell lot of notifications arrived. I am connected to LTE again.
So, why? I manage to come up with 3 scenarios:
1. O2 simply can't handle such data traffic and I shouldn't moan
2. As a SIM-only monthly user my rank in the O2 user hierarchy is too low and I can't get good service unless I buy a new phone or become a corporate user.
3. Something wrong with my SIM card or my connection settings, but I swapped phones *and* swapped SIM card during the period, and came up with the same result.
To add salt to wound, my partner uses Vodafone and every single time I am disconnected, her phone is totally connected.
I am highly likely to leave O2 on such performance but before doing so I want to find out if I am alone. Kudos to you for reading the whole complaint.
