topic Re: Constantly Poor 4G/5G in Mobile Network discussions

Constantly Poor 4G/5G

Bow_Don — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 08:41:01 GMT

All around my local area, Bowdon (WA14) the phone and 4/5G signal is terrible and has been for years. This is not limited to just me, it is problem that is well known to all residents.

My phone actually displays 4/5G signal but nothing loads or works online. As above, this is not limited to me or my device, I have the same issue on my work phone (EE) as does my partner, friends and neighbours etc.

This is despite the EE coverage map suggesting the are should have full 4G and limited 5G coverage outdoors.

I have tried to log this online but the report a fault page has been down for several days and when you click submit, you get ‘the service isn’t working right now’ message.

How do we get this be looked in to without the fault reporting page and is it possible to request an antenna to be put in the area?

Re: Constantly Poor 4G/5G

bristolian — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 08:51:48 GMT

From the sounds of your description, the issue is not of poor coverage that would be resolved by a new antenna as you describe. You refer to your phone displaying coverage - so the signal is there, and thus the prediction from the coverage map is being borne out.

You've mentioned "nothing loads or works online" which suggests a capacity/congestion issue. Can you make & receive voice calls? Can you send & receive text messages? Do the data speeds vary time-of-day?

Try using the "report a fault" tool using the myEE app rather than the desktop browser - I often find success with one when the other doesn't work. There's an option on here for "poor data speeds" which is what I suspect you probably mean.

Re: Constantly Poor 4G/5G

cje85 — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:37:27 GMT

Unfortunately a check on the Trafford council's planning website, searching for 'monopole' in WA14, show numerous planning applications for new masts in recent years that have all been refused. This is a major problem in the UK where planning permission is very difficult for new masts; networks often already know that the service is poor in a certain area but can do nothing about it, as proposals for new masts are constantly hit by local objections and refused permission

Re: Constantly Poor 4G/5G

bristolian — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:41:23 GMT

@cje85 wrote:
numerous planning applications for new masts in recent years that have all been refused.

Good find, may not be the whole story here but certainly a likely part.

Having additional capacity on existing macro-sites can often resolve some issues, but densification and micro-sites can often be the best solution - especially in dense & urban environments.

And that is indeed where the planning system becomes a dependency. People want the service but without the infrastructure to support it.

Re: Constantly Poor 4G/5G

Bow_Don — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 12:51:10 GMT

Thanks for the helpful reply. As stated in my post though, both my personal and work phone as well as partners phone all show phone signal and 4/5G but despite this, the internet is either painfully slow or doesn't load at all. There doesn't seem to be a pattern with times of day, sadly it is 100% of the time! Phone signal in the area is also poor but generally better than 4/5G.

Unfortunately the whole area is a known as a deadzone for signal on all networks and therefore there is no way to swap to another provider for an easy fix.

Good spot with the rejected planning permission. Is there a way to nudge EE to reattempt a PP application or attempt to fix the capacity on the existing macro-site?

Thanks for the tip regarding the app, I will try log a report now.

Re: Constantly Poor 4G/5G

bristolian — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 14:22:59 GMT

@Bow_Don wrote:
Thanks for the helpful reply. As stated in my post though, both my personal and work phone as well as partners phone all show phone signal and 4/5G but despite this, the internet is either painfully slow or doesn't load at all.

That's exactly the point I addressed in my first post.

Not sure what you mean by "phone signal in the area is.... generally better than 4G/5G". Both 2G, 4G & 5G are radio technologies that are used to provide what some might call signal coverage. You also refer to your area being a "deadzone for signal" which suggests further misunderstanding of what your phone's signal bars are measuring.

Perhaps another way of explaining the concept is this - imagine the coverage at Twickenham Stadium, which has an internal antenna system. For the vast majority of the year, this equipment is providing coverage for a small number of users, thus the voice & data traffic is minimal. Excellent data speeds are achievable. On matchday, the exact same coverage is available but there are upto 82000 users in the stadium - thus the capacity is put to full use and, whilst mobile data is still usable (I speak from experience), it's not going to achieve the same speeds as on a mid-summers weekday.

The village of Pilton in Somerset is another similar case - once a week two years out of 3, the village hosts the Glastonbury Festival... with huge demands on capacity.

Regarding resubmitted planning permission, networks generally tend to have a good idea of where poor coverage areas are, and/or where additional capacity is needed. But they won't just keep on resubmitting "in-case" a subsequent attempt is accepted - the process isn't cheap and there's not endless budget!

And to put it bluntly, local residents groups and suchlike can often be quite organised and methodical in opposing planning applications for new-builds. If you're keen for new infrastructure to be built, I would suggest you direct your efforts to write in support of the applications that they will likely be objecting to.