Slow data speeds

[a_ukboy]

Hi, I’ve just joined EE and moved over from Three, I’ve noticed in my home location RM111NA the signal to be poor, and speed tests show about 2mb down and 0.4 up! Looking at the coverage checker it shows I should receive full 4G signal and status checker shows no problems in the area, often the speed test app fails to start, and also if I open apps like Sky News they tell me I have no internet, I have an iPhone 12 Pro 

[Chris_B]

@a_ukboy   How many bars of signal does your device show ?   Are you on contract or PAYG ? 

[a_ukboy]

Fluctuates between 1-3 bars

[a_ukboy]

Sorry forgot to add, I’m in contract on the £20 160GB and I have an iPhone 12 Pro! 

[Chris_B]

@a_ukboy  So if it’s as low as 1 bar your not getting a great signal.  The EE coverage checker is just a guide and is stated as such.  Your home can be the cause of a poor signal as it can block signals and no network will guarantee you’ll get a great signal indoors because of this. 

what’s you signal like outside your home ? 

[a_ukboy]

Outside 3-4 bars, and also outside I get 5G, so yes faster speeds.. on 4G outside I get 3-4mb, still not great, I don’t think it’s the house because I use to get decent indoor signal with Three, I moved because the local mast was congested and I didn’t get any data, my partner is on Vodafone and he gets decent signal too! Looking at the coverage checker I thought I’d get a better signal then I do, still I have the 14 days to try it out..

[bristolian]

The number of signal bars displayed shouldn't really have any direct correlation on your data speeds, it's a different measurement.

I can see in your location, there's Band 3 (1800Mhz), Band 7 (2600Mhz) & Band 20 (800Mhz) coverage available, so there's a variety of possible reasons for your issue.

You've mentioned speeds improve outside, which may be indicative of your indoor coverage being largely on B20 - this would potentially explain your slower speeds but is only supposition at this stage.

Do you have similar problems in other areas?

[a_ukboy]

Well it’s only my second day on EE, what I’ve seen away from my home area has been a strong fast signal. 

[bristolian]

By means of a bit of explanation, the signal bars on your phone are measuring the quality of the received signal - in other words, "how good it is"

The data speeds you get, are dictated as much by how much available bandwidth there is - which not what the bar indicators are measuring although if your signal is especially poor it can impact.

I'd recommend checking the coverage & status checker - if you use the "check network" link rather than "check coverage", this checks for known network issues and faults in your locality, and also lets you report suspected issues. Although slow data speeds are not, of themselves, a fault, it's certainly worth checking as a first-line tool.

Are your speeds varying from time-of-day, day-of week etc?