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 · Accepted solution]

The point is, it's difficult to recommend a network without being able to try it out first. As we all know there are many poor reception areas and without checking, you take pot luck. Better to canvass friends in their local area than us guessing which will be best for the OP.

A two year contract is a long time with poor coverage so it's in the OP's best interest to research before jumping to whichever network.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree.

Thats why i suggested in post 5 that the OP checks out what their neighbours and friends in the area are using, to try and get some inside knowledge before eventually choosing what to do.

[Anonymous]

After some further research it seems that is the only course of action I can take right now, even ofcom recommends doing it

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

After some further research it seems that is the only course of action I can take right now, even ofcom recommends doing it

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And that would be to ?

[jonsie]

Research?

[Anonymous]

As they say on that T.V. millionaire question show, phone a friend. Hopefully that bears fruits of helpful information.

I just checked Orange's online coverage checker. On the visible map it shows around my location there are at least 40+ areas marked as "outdoor coverage only."

[jonsie]

Seems EE is ruled out then:smileywink:

[Bambino]

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SeaCat wrote:

@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.

Invariably outdoor coverage will always be better than indoor, although 4G is supposed to improve that too. 

Have you tried using TuGo indoors?