There's a popular misconception that a particular technology - in your case 3G - is better because it covers some locations where others don't. Coverage levels are dictated much more by the frequencies in use, not the technology. There are some very rare cases where individual radio sites are equipped with one technology but not others, but the vast majority of EE's sites carry 4G on at least Band 20 or Band 3.
In your phone's network connections menu there should be an option to force network modes of 2G, 2G/3G or auto. Try selecting 2G-only, as this will be a good test of whether 2G1800 is available in your area - if you're in a rare location where 4G isn't deployed, then your phone will fall back to 2G if that's available. Calls & texts should be fine over 2G1800, but data will only be usable for the most basic functions.
