Really strange problem

[Ian9365]

Hi I've got a Google Pixel 5G and a 4GEE Home Router 2 (unlimited data). Until Sat morning 25/3/2023 everything was fine, getting not less than 10Mbps download on both devices, the Pixel on 4G not wi-fi. I was doing something (using data) on my phone and suddenly it was crawling along like a slug. I was getting 4 bars and 4G so couldn't really understand it. Did a speed test using OOKLA and I was getting less than 50Kbps download. Went on the PC (using the 4GEE router) to check for network errors and it was suffering the same fault.

The router and phone  were still working although very very slow and suffering the same issue so to my mind this indicates the problem is external and not either of my devices.

I can still just about use the web so went on the EE Network Status website put in my postcode and it reported no errors. Next I contact EE customer service and after the usual nonsense (clearing cookies and caches etc) they surmise I must have some sort of genuine issue, so escalate it to tech support.  

They get me to download OOKLA speed test (I had to put a hotspot on my wife's phone (O2) to do it) and make recordings over 3 days and then get back to them.  This I did and the best download I recorded was 22Kbps although oddly the upload speed was huge more than usual.  While doing this from Sat to Mon I had to travel to a nearby town 25 miles away and thought I'll give the speed test a try with my mobile, low and behold everything is fine, better than 20Mbps download. As soon as I get home try it again and virtually zero.

So I get back to tech support this morning, tell them my results and quite quickly get passed up the line. After a lot of checking and questions the guy was scratching his head. Apparently they aren't showing any faults at my postcode and no other complaints have been received. He did a full network reset to my postcode and got me to reset both devices. He is hopeful this will resolve the issue but wants me to record each hour on the hour tomorrow for 6 hours and get back to them on Thu if not  resolved.

This was done at 15:30 this afternoon and as yet (22:00) there is no improvement so I cant see miracles happening by tomorrow. I generally reckon to be fairly tech savvy but this has me beat, it just doesn't make sense. I'm still getting 4 bars and 4G on mobile and router; the tech guy confirmed my account hasn't been throttled; they have no reported faults and no-one else has complained but I'm getting less than 50Kbps on both devices.

To be continued !!

(maybe someone local is doing something causing radio interference)

[Jon_K]

Hi @Ian9365 

This really is a head scratcher.

I'm glad out Tech Gurus have got you doing these tests, this information is usually gathered to raise a fault ticket which will mean it gets passed higher (again).

Did our tech teams say if they would be calling you back about this?

Jon

[Ian9365]

They didn't say they would ring me but invited me to get back in touch after recording the readings. I had another possible related issue this morning. I got an SMS to say my mobile had run out of data.  This is physically not possible as its new SIM only contract only started 7 days ago with 5Gb allowance and for 5 of those days its been suffering this terrible download speed.

So I try to ring support again this morning and the connection was so garbled I couldn't understand a word they were saying. I then ring again using my wife's mobile (Vodaphone) and its perfect, so now my actual phone signal has an issue as well as the data connection. The guy I spoke to was very helpful and agreed quickly that I couldn't physically have used the data and agreed to not only reset my allowance but also gift me 10Gb.

He then went on to say that he couldn't really understand how this had happened but that it was probably connected with the fault condition affecting most of my area.  I was more than somewhat surprised to hear him say this as the tech guy the day before stated quite categorically that there were no known faults in my area and that no one else had complained. I told this to the guy I was speaking to and he sort of went err, ahh, well, ahh, umm I cant understand that because this has been flagged up now for several days and there are loads of logged complaints. He even went on to tell me the location of the mast that has the fault and the exact geographical areas affected, which includes me. 

What he couldn't tell me however was the expected time and date that the repair will be completed which I suppose is understandable.

I am retired but this is nevertheless a major nuisance and more than somewhat annoying that I have EE agents telling me totally contradictory stories. However to someone working from home, and there are still plenty, this would be totally  catastrophic.  This fault occurred early hours last Saturday and its now late Wednesday, how long does it take to fix a fault for gods sake.

[Katie_B]

Hi @Ian9365. 

I am sorry to hear that this known issue was not picked up by the first agent you spoke with but with a fault being shown now this means our teams will be working to get this fixed ASAP. 

Did the agent sign you up for updates? the updates will also continue so should there ever be any planned maintenance or faults in the future you will be notified. 

Speak soon, 

Katie

[Ian9365]

Problem sorted finally.

I do think however that the systems in place for accessing help are too convoluted and error prone. When you first make contact to report a problem you should be given a ticket number that you can quote the next time you make contact and that will take you back to where you last left off. 

During the course of this problem I've spoken to 3 different agents all of whom gave me different and conflicting information. Two of these agents stated that they had put notes on my account so that next time I had to make contact my problem would be immediately apparent and I would be put through to the correct place, THIS DID NOT HAPPEN. 

It wasn't until the last agent I spoke to that I got the impression that they knew what they were doing. They quickly identified a fault condition in my area ( which the previous agents had failed to do) and lo and behold, 24hrs later its fixed.

This is not good enough

[Christopher_G]

I'm sorry to hear of your experience, @Ian9365.

Your account should be fully noted and a diagnostic session saved at the end of each call, so the next person can carry on from where the previous left off. 

I'm glad you're all back up and running though.

Chris