O2 DC-HSPA (42.2mbps) SO SLOW

[Anonymous]

Hi all

I'm sure this questions been asked so many times and is still being asked.

Why is it that O2 has never been able to give me above 5.7mbps download on HSPA+/DC-HSPA Connections across the UK and at home I can rarely acheive above 4mbps.

I Live in the B38 area of Birmingham and get a Full DC-HSPA reception from a mast close by on Green Lane (Tower Block)

Theorectically I should be able to acheive very high 4G like speeds on DC-HSPA as its rate 42.2mbps but I find I can only acheive 3-4mbps download and 2 - 2.2mbps where 3 can give me 10mbps download and around 2-3mbps upload on low signal.

I'm sick of the poor data network!!

[Anonymous]

Agreed. I was with o2 a few years ago and the whole thing was much better then.

Signal issues weren't prevalent then but I guess we are all more demanding now.

Prices were lower.

Customer Services could be relied upon. Sadly not anymore. O2 appear to be trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory these days.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
You also mention you tested when you upgraded (your phone I presume). Can I please ask did you alsochange your tariff to include 4g access?

If not then your test would have been on 3g and not 4g.

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I had my Xperia on a 3G contract but did upgrade to 4G for 2 months and that is the test I first got 7.5 mbps 4G speed but the signal was very poor, when with 50 metres of the new 4G mast I got the 40+ mbps seen in my signature but I reverted back to 3G as £15 extra per month didn't seem worth it for the poor coverage I found in and around Birmingham.

My 3G speed is around 2-4mbps in most areas sometimes I can get 6mbps but upload will be poor, where vodafone, ee and three on 3G will give me greatly higher speeds than I get with o2 regardless of there signal or location.

I'm not in a rural area or tedting in a rural area, these tests have been done in a mixture of places.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
O2 do not force people into contracts. You enter into a contract usually with a handset that may cost upwards of £500 being provided for FREE at the outset and paid back over two years.

No one points a gun to your head to sign up.

And given the investment o2 have made it is reasonable for them to expect the customer to honour the contract they have voluntarily signed into.

If the signal is so bad it can barely be used (like I have at home) then o2 do frequently allow customers to return the handset and leave. But a customer getting 7.5mb download speed? They won't allow someone to leave who gets that. Many millions of people don't get that sort of speed on their home broadband.

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May I please point out that the 7.5mbps was not 3G it was 4G!!!! My 3G is 2-4mbps anytime and everywhere!

[Anonymous]

It is still very fast in comparison to the rest of the country on 2 and 3g although I accept others are experiencing 40mb plus in parts of the country.

Were you on the edge of the 4g area? Ironically you can also be too close so the signal goes over the top.

[Anonymous]

This is my speedtest for O2 3G http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/713944166

I don't use 4G anymore and my 3g are always poor everywhere in the UK I go compared to other networks.

[Anonymous]

I do agree with you on that, o2's signal has deteriorated over the last few years as more people use data hungry smartphones and o2 have failed to invest sufficiently.

This is why they are upgrading 2g 3g and introducing 4g to reach 98% of the population by the end of 2015 a full 2 years ahead of the requirements of their licence. No other network has this requirement following the licence bidding process.

However people have to be real about this. We are talking massive infrastructure and huge cost in the same way as fibre broadband has taken £3.7bn and several years to complete. These things take time frustrating as it may be.

If you can't or won't wait then you have to choose the best network for your needs but, and I am sure I don't need to tell you, don't rely on the online coverage checkers as they are only guides. Get pay as you go sims and test in the real world where you use your phone's most.

[Anonymous]

Well the case is for my that i will have to pay off the ramaining £255 on my phone plan (O2 Refresh and cancel the the airtime without further charges and switch to H3G or similar.

[Anonymous]

Of course the choice is yours but before you rush think logically.

With the speeds you get now from o2 what do you want or need to do that you can't (bearing in mind access to wifi). If you want the speed just cos you can then it sounds a lot of money to burn

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Of course the choice is yours but before you rush think logically.

With the speeds you get now from o2 what do you want or need to do that you can't (bearing in mind access to wifi). If you want the speed just cos you can then it sounds a lot of money to burn

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Well with the data llowance I currently get from O2 much faster wouldn't be needed because I wouldn't have enough data to do what I wanted, but I wasn't looking to upgrade my data if I didn't have the bandwidth to do downloading and streaming on the move so I would more than likely be changing to a network that also gave me unlimited data aswell as the speed so three and virgin pop to mind as I recently tested Virgin and it was quite fast clocking 14mb at 1/5 bar of signal.

And three currently have 4G active in Birmingham so that would be more the route I would take.

[Anonymous]

Then of course we wish you will with your choice.