Oh dear, 5G has gone in HU18 1EL

archercj · ‎13-10-2023

I thought my long running saga with EE signal in the HU18 1EL area was over. I had a 4G router an external aerial and was getting reliable and constant 4G speeds of around 60mbps. Then almost overnight they dropped to 2-4mbps with no improvement. The usual dialogue with EE and an admission they were doing work in the area and upgrading the 4G signal (note: no mention of 5G).

Then if by magic I noticed a 5G signal. Tests showed it was good but not excellent but in desperation (as I need a good connection for business use as well as personal streaming and landline is not an option) I forked out a few hundred quid on a decent 5G router.

Amazing results - 150mbps+ and stable. Well for 3 weeks.

But you've guessed the 5G signal as now gone and I'm back to the 2-4mbps 4G one.

I shall await the EE customer service response of 'well 4G is fine in your area and there are no faults, oh and 5G isnt available yet'.

Maybe I was hasty in buying a 5G router (but it was out of desperation, has anyone tried a Teams call when you are only getting 2-4mbps) but I also think it is very coincedental that the degredation of the 4G signal in the area (60mbbs down to 2-4mbps) coincided with the introduction of 5G.

And here I am paying £36pm for the privilege. And no I cant switch supplier as I have tested all the main ones and when EE4G was 60mbps it far exceeded the others (they were all 4-6mbps).

Rant over for now. It's good to get it off yer chest.

bristolian · ‎13-10-2023

@archercj wrote:

an admission they were doing work in the area and upgrading the 4G signal (note: no mention of 5G).

What a well-intentioned CS agent calls a signal upgrade could mean several things, but it's worth noting the multi-band nature of EE's 4G & 5G networks.

4G services are carried across 4 frequency bands (1, 3, 7 & 20) with multiple carrier configs in 3 of those.

5G services are carried across 5 frequency bands (N1, N28, N3, N7, N78) with a similar multi-carrier setup.

It's quite common for carrier or tech-adds to be done across both techs during the same works - but by no means necessary.

archercj · ‎13-10-2023

4G is B3 in this area and 5G N1 (although I have seen it at N28 as well).

Frustrating when 4G was stable and good for 2+ years then suddenly it goes and has never returned to former glories.

bristolian · ‎13-10-2023

4G B3 is the standard deployment, although there's a couple of different carrier combinations. 5G N1 is re-farmed 3G, and is usually - but not always - alongside 4G-B1.

A new carrier addition will often mean optimisation activity for a short while.