Planning to move my number

[Anonymous]

I have been with O2 since '08 and think that they were a great company. Albeit that for the duration of this time I have suffered horrific indoor signal reception. Well, they've sold of their broadband and their email service close down real soon. That and they're in process of merging with Vodafone, I see little reason to stay around anymore for the poor signal strength.

So my question is, who would be the best company to move my number to?

I have looked up giffgaff and it seems that they use O2's network so I wouldn't be getting any better signal strength from them indoor wise? Their prices are really good though, but better indoor signal strength is what I need the most.

So far the only plan I have found that has interested me has been with Orange [ http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/plans/fragments/newAjaxOverlay.jsp?fragPath=/mobile-phones/pl... ] but alas I have no experience of their mobile services, do they have good indoor signal strength?

Or does anyone else here know of a company with good indoor signal strength?

Thanks in advance for any replies to my question.

[jonsie]

Your best option would be to research by getting P&G sims for the various networks and go with the best overall coverage in your home, work and usual locations.

[Anonymous]

Before you jump ship be sure to check that your phone is unlocked to all networks.

If not then fill out this form

https://www.o2.co.uk/apps/help/help?qid=1&q1=2&route=unlocking&case=Handset%20Unlocking%20Form

Free to contract customers and £15 to payg customers {t&c applies}

They are mast sharing with Vodaphone not merging.

If your having issues at home then look at ;

TuGo

WhatsApp

Viber

which work off Wifi or data.

[Anonymous]

@Jonsie: That could easily become a very costly venture because payasyougo sims need a ten to fifteen pound topup before you can even test it out. Or is it possible for an unactivated sim to receive incoming calls? if so that would be one cost effective way to go about testing signal strength per provder.

@bandofbrothers: thanks for the link and I'm certain that it is a full merger, uswitch seem to think so: [ http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/news/2012/10/vodafone_and_o2_will_merge_mobile_networks/ ]

quote: "The plan will result in the formation of a new company, in which O2 and Vodafone will hold an equal share."

Or has their plans changed to mast share only since that posting?

[Anonymous]

I would speak to neighbours and friend around where you live to see what network they are on to see what service they are getting.

Invite people round and intentionally ask what network they use and give it a go.

[Bambino]

The link to the Uswitch article you posted is a year old.

[jonsie]

You don't need to top the sims up to check for coverage. Just really to ensure there is coverage.

[Anonymous]

Are customers going to be able to roam across networks, ie use both the O2 and Vodafone network?

No. This is just about sharing the land and the basic network infrastructure and equipment; sharing our expertise and doing our bit for the environment. We will still be running our networks on independent spectrum, but this partnership will improve the service that customers receive today on 2G and 3G and give Britain the 4G networks that it will need by the end of 2015.

http://www.o2.co.uk/network/future

[Anonymous]

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@jonsie wrote:

You don't need to top the sims up to check for coverage. Just really to ensure there is coverage.

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I agree but unfortunately we have seen where coverage has been fine as showing on the phone status bar, but still not allowed stable calls and data use, as sometimes the signal bars are not 100% accurate.  

Making calls on the sims would highlight if their is an issue.

[Anonymous]

@Jonsie: That's the issue though. Currently, when I am not using my phone indoors or out, it shows full signal strength. However, when I am indoors and receive a incoming call or make a outgoing call while indoors, my signal strength drops to one bar away from nothing. And the calls are plagued by what seem to be intermitent but repeating pauses of silence where the connection seems to break temporarily (people even think I hung up on them sometimes!) On top of that, the quality of the call sounds like I am calling abroad when I am calling locally or being called from somewhere local. It's not much fun having to ask someone to say something again or for them to ask me to repeat it. I'm often told by people I call that I need to call them from a better location because of the lack of call quality. Regardless of if I am at home, work, college or university.

I have had the above issue across all of my phones from O2.

However, say I dial the same number/receive the call from the same number while standing outside with enough open air. The call signal strength is full, the clarity and quality is there 100%. There are no intermitent silences and no issue hearing people or being heard back.