Poor data speeds on 4G

[mr-d-a-v-e]

Ee used to be great, as the adverts purported. Recently however (about the last 6 months) service has shown a steady decline, plenty of signal strength but poor speed. London is particularly bad. I'm guessing this is down to equipment being stripped out and replaced with 5g kit just as we saw on 3g-4g, I remember having an argument with o2 about it shortly before leaving.

(The conversation went something like,

me: I want 4g for free,

o2: no, u can't expect that.

Me: well your service has declined therefore you should offer me a discount,

o2: putting u through to retentions....)

I guess it's all part of the plan to offer new and faster speeds on 5g if u pay us more money....

All I want is 4g to work as it used to...

[James_B]

Hi @mr-d-a-v-e,

Welcome back to the community.

Does the Network Status Checker report any problems in the areas where you're experiencing issues?

James

[bristolian]

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@mr-d-a-v-e wrote:

I'm guessing this is down to equipment being stripped out and replaced with 5g kit just as we saw on 3g-4g, I remember having an argument with o2 about it shortly before leaving.

I guess it's all part of the plan to offer new and faster speeds on 5g if u pay us more money....

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Not at all - no equipment is being actively removed, and if anything the opposite is true.

Quite often 4G capacity is added at the same time as 5G equipment is installed - as part of the same work.

Many sites also have 4G capacity adds or 5G additions independently of each other. There is some refarming of spectrum, but as a proportion of overall capacity holdings it's minimal.

[mr-d-a-v-e]

It's a general thing. Driving to work, the internet radio used to be flawless, now drops out.

As I said before London is very slow. Doing a speed test here you're lucky to get 1Mbps in each direction..

In my house now I'm getting 70 down but only 1 up on 4g... Fastest network....

Maybe I'll collate some info next time I experience issues and can look at the status etc..

[bristolian]

London's quite a big area though, can you be more specific?

[peterkinxl5]

EE are overall making progress in network speed and capacity. However that really can't be said  for everywhere.  For example where I used to live in Barry and Penarth, South Wales the signal has improved considerably. Yet where I'm now living in Swindon the signal  has fallen off a cliff.  This is all due to a number of reasons such as a mast failure and difficulty in gaining access  to repair it, loss of a mast site, difficulties with access to sites to improve coverage, wnd issues gaining planning permission for new masts, When Honda came to Swindon they took out a contract with T-Mobile (EE predecessor in the UK)  which allowed for an on site mast and s whole host of other signal enhancing measures.  Sadly Honda closed down in Swindon and that also meant tbe loss of the site which has adversely affected EE coverage for literally miles  around, EE have so far been unable to locate a suitable site for a macrocell lattice tower style mast. 

Now if any of that has happened in London,  it doesn't take too many of those to have a knock-on effect  leading to a weakened signal, And if you couple that with ever-incresing demand then even EE are going yo struggle with providing a super-fast service. 

Not ideal but it's the way things are.

[bristolian]

The legal lease covering a network site is often separated from any provision for telecoms service, to reduce complications when the building or land ownership changes.

There's no requirement for macrocells to be lattice-towers - they can be easier from a structural side but many such sites are monopoles or rooftops. Deployment within major cities increasingly uses a combination of umbrella macro-cells with street-level small-cells - planning consent can indeed be a major source of frustration for network planners.

I'd be curious to hear where in Swindon you're having issues - there's been no NTQs there to my knowledge, I've been in the town a few times recently and not encountered any coverage problems.

[peterkinxl5]

OK well try SN3 4SQ thats Sputh Marston a village just outside Swindon..an area that used to be well served by EE but (according to EE) last a main site at or near what was the  Honda factory.  Since then it has been a black hole for EE yet jn an adjoining area it seems as if there's now some 5G .Another area is SN2  not far from Cockleberry roundabout . Brilliant  3G(!!!) coverage but very ropey 4G and 5G .  If you're in Swindon at any time you can always give me a shout and I'll be happy to show exactly where the issues lie.