Bristol City Centre 4G/5G data speeds

[Malakhi75]

Just thought I'd start a thread about the data speeds in the city centre of Bristol. 

I have 2 devices, an Oppo X2 Pro and a One+ 5T (dual SIM).  So, one 5G and the other 4G capable.  I run EE, Virgin and O2 across the phones, so have a healthy comparison for the data services.

I live in St. Werburghs and walk into work in the week so see the difference between 1 mile outside of the centre and right in the  middle (where I work).

So, findings:  I get full signal bars on all devices and networks, but the data speeds up and down are vastly different.

O2 and Virgin's data speeds on 4G+ and 5G are absolutely appalling.  Ookla measures download at 230kb and cannot measure the upload its that bad.  I'm old enough to remember HSCSD, GPRS and early 3G.  Well, its considerably worse than 2G all the way back in the late 90's.  

EE - Data speeds are up 32Mb and down 6Mb, so perfectly acceptable on 4G.  Those speeds seem pretty consistent throughout the centre and up the M32.  

Seems the underlying infrastructure of the O2 network isn't up to the job of supporting a cite entre populous, or throttles traffic it doesn't deem necessary.  

I'm not streaming or gaming, simply accessing my business's FTP site to upload and download docs and other collateral.  

Anyone else having issues with the data services in Bristol?

[madasaf1sh]

@Malakhi75 

Just to clarify Virgin Media is on EE so you are getting what EE provide to their MVNO customers

The o2 network has nothing to do with Virgin Media apart from being part of VMo2. 

Upload speeds are always going to be slower than download speeds as its not synchronous upload and download speeds. 

Bes think to do is download the o2 My Network App and log the problem so o2 are aware and have a look on https://status.o2.co.uk and see if there are issues.  

[Malakhi75]

Aren't Virgin piggy'd onto Vodafone's network?

And yes, I understand its an asynchronous service, but I would expect some upload.

I'll log a fault.  I just wanted to find out if other shared the same experience to add some weight to the report.  If no one replies, then it could be just me and need to find an alternative solution to doc management.

[madasaf1sh]

@Malakhi75 

That is where it gets fun with VM, if you took a contract with them recently its on Vodafone, all older customers are stuck on EE for the time being. This is all thanks to VM's funky Belgian roaming sim cards....