Poor signal at certain times of day

[Georgeee1]

Every day at about 5pm onwards my signal drops and calls frequently drop out. Rest of the day 3 bars and calls just about ok, but not always - signal often goes up and down like a yo-yo during the day, too.

Partner on Vodafone, never any probs. I used to be on Vodafone and had no probs, she used to be on O2 and was always complaining. (Our respective employers coincidentally switched their contracts within a few months of each other.)

Today while talking to O2 CS re another complaint I mentioned this and was advised (as I always expected) that it was probably a time of day thing as lots of people get home around now and too much activity/demand for the local mast. But when I pointed out the O2/Vodafone difference, I was also then told that it should make no difference re O2 vs. Vodafone due to mast sharing.

Hmm. I thought it was shared pointy sticky up physical thing, but each company hoisted its own transmitter on said mast - so the 'no difference' line I was being spun would be plain wrong. Or am I wrong - in which case if it IS shared transmitters, does it imply that Vodafone (who apparently manage my local mast) are favouring their clients over O2's, somehow.

And O2 persistently claim there is a good signal here, but if 'signal' is a function of bandwidth demand at certain times of day (and it is never better than 3 bars) how can they get away with claiming it is a 'good' signal in general when at times of increased usage I cannot get more than one bar or even have no service far too often, and calls drop out late afternoon/early evening, even if I can get a service?

Are we supposed to treat this as acceptable? Why can't O2 increase whatever needs increasing (transmitter capacity, backhaul, whatever) on the local mast to cope with something closer to peak demand (and also improve my signal during the day, too)?

If I ever get my own personal mobile, guess who won't be getting my business?

[MI5]

I can't help with your log in issues - Sadly O2 have chosen a rubbish provider for their forum and we have to wait months for the slightest little glitch to be sorted out.
OK, I missed your point about TV/Radio etc but they only receive a signal and process it at a low bit rate.
If you had a signal meter on your radio you would see it go up and down too but it is less sensitive than a mobile phone to those changes.
When o2 say "good" they mean more than 2 or 3 bars. Quality is not a consideration here and often the coverage maps are wrong in relation to real life experiences.
These claims have been challenged and OFCOM have forced changes to some areas of the map but in general, they aren't too bothered by the claims any mobile network makes about signal.
I'm thinking of using a water tap to explain the different in signal and quality.
A slow dripping tap is still delivering water (the signal) but the quality of delivery is low, turn it on faster and the quality improves, turn it off and although the water is still being delivered to the tap (full signal) you are getting none of it (poor quality).
In this analogy the tap is the transmitter and the water is the bandwidth and backhaul.

[Georgeee1]

Thanks for the further reply (been offline, ill, for a few days). Your water analogy did not really help me with 'strength' vs 'quality' though. I need to befriend Google for a while, probably. Hoping soon to skip to another provider, though. Cheers.

[MI5]

Best of luck mate.