constant timeouts since October 2021 outage.

[Knightstone]

On October 15th 2021, there was an EE outage in my area. I couldn't make calls, or receive them for two weeks, then got that sorted, around the same time, i was sent a "network configuration" text message, from one of the EE tech's, because of said outage.

But since then, my internet connection has been awful. Sites that i used to go to, i just can't get there, it sits there for ages, then tells me, "The site took too long to respond", and I'm talking about well used tech websites, Tomshardware.com  , Anandtech.com, IMDB etc. nothing nefarious. It's making my connection just about unusable, and i can get to about 30% of the sites i want. This never happened before Oct.15th. i could access any site, anywhere, and i have been with EE for over 3 years. 

I have ran some trace tests on it, and it appears that maybe EE are using multiple proxies, so the authentication is being sent down one connection, and it's using another proxy for traffic, like an F5 load balancer changing the server your connecting to, from the previous connection, I can't be sure, i can't see EE's "end", but the entire thing stinks of something like that. This is further backed up, by the fact that if i keep reloading the page, i can occasionally access it, but only after getting a message telling me the site is unsafe and i should go back to safety. IMDB? back to safety? dropped authentication/token anyone?

I am on the highest tariff for mobile date, and quite frankly, it's making the connection unusable, please give me some advice, before i take my business elsewhere.

[Knightstone]

I am largely housebound, I am not able bodied, so don't travel much.. this is all from my armchair.

[mikeliuk]

Hi @Knightstone ,

In your particular situation, I would recommend that you have a spare working phone in your house unlocked to work on another network if necessary (you can buy a cheap one if you don't have an old one).

I would recommend that you check the Ofcom mobile coverage checker to obtain at least a pay as you go SIM from another network for use in emergencies (you don't even require credit for emergency calls).

I think it's unacceptable that the service provider would take an action that would leave you without the possibility of being contacted in an emergency situation and might even have put you at risk of being unable to make emergency calls.

You should report the situation to EE and ask that they note the unacceptable situation on the account until it is fixed. You may need to borrow a phone to do this or ask to connect to your neighbour's WiFi.

[Knightstone]

Sterling advice. thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated.

O2 are doing a SIM with 100GB compared to EE's 60Gb for the same price.

It's probably alot quicker than trying to get this fixed.

thanks.

[mikeliuk]

Hi @Knightstone ,

Be aware that you may get buyer's remorse if you throw too much money at the problem to fix it.

If you obtained your current device from EE, it may be locked to their network so would be less useful in an emergency if you have another network's SIM. Best to unlock all phones as soon as practical (unless VoLTE or VoWIFI are relied on).

Once you have a spare phone, or if you try your EE SIM in an old unlocked phone, you may find the problem disappears entirely so may again get buyer's remorse. Generally, I feel it's better to buy a device outright than via a service provider (to avoid high charges and overpaying).

You may wish to consider rolling one month contacts to avoid being tied in to a long contract with another provider that may overlap with your current and thus deplete your bank account.

Once you have a reliable way to make calls, you should request a refund for any part month which you did not have service and have been put at risk. You should be careful any new network is stable before considering porting a number and beware of early termination charges.

Hope you find a way to fix things. I usually just assume that anything which can go wrong will go wrong.

[Knightstone]

The phone i bought new, and not tied to anyone's network. 

I wouldn't be throwing money at it, the O2 SIM is free, and for the same amount i give EE every month, i would be getting 40Gb more, i take your point about unstable networks, but O2 have been doing this alot longer than EE, and i would expect their network to be without issue.

It's not just that. i have money in my EE account, from before adding my bank card details, and it's sitting there, EE tell me it's "not policy to give it back", yet they won't credit it against my monthly payment.

And i caught them telling me i was using more data than i was, once i proved it, they started throwing data at me to shut me up, 

Every time i see Kevin Bacon on the TV, i want to put my boot through it.

The only buyers remorse, is that i went with EE and stuck through it this long.

enough is enough

thanks

[mikeliuk]

Hi @Knightstone ,

I'm sad to hear of the bad experience you've had to go through. I'm pretty sure I would be quite upset at having those things happen to me.

Hopefully the O2 SIM might immediately begin working in your phone and could reset things such that the EE SIM also begins working again.

At the moment I use a cheap £6/mth SIM on one network for calls, texts and 3GB data allowing roll over for a month. I have a dual SIM phone so I can access two networks if one has bad signal, and I use a third SIM in a 4G router so that my TV, laptop and guests can have internet. Hopefully this gives you some ideas so that you never find yourself in such a horrible situation again.

There's still time for things to improve before Christmas and I hope EE takes note and takes action!

[Leanne_T]

Hi @Knightstone 

Thanks for posting on the community. 

Do we have any problems showing for the area on our EE Coverage and Network Status? 

If you enter the postcode and select 'Check Network' this will show any reported problems. You can also, report this if nothing is showing and the network team will keep you updated. 

Thanks. 

Leanne.

[Chris_B]

@mikeliuk You don’t need a SIM card to call the emergency services from

a mobile phone so why do you keep telling people they need a 2nd phone that’s unlocked for emergency services.