Another week, another load of nothing

[joelhole]

• Lost phone signal over 7 days ago due to local mast repairs in my home area, yet I can't get even get a signal anywhere within a 20 mile radius. What on earth is going on?
• Can't manage my account online or in the app for weeks? Maybe longer.  Growing really tired of seeing the following:

• This service isn't working right now

  We're working hard to get it up and running. Try again later, browse the rest of our site, or get in touch if it's urgent.

[Northerner]

Hi @joelhole 

You have clearly checked EE network status checker to know there is an issue. Do you have access to EE WiFi calling service.

As for app can you access the EE website. If not then ask EE to delete your online account and then register again new. 

Alternatively you can complain here: https://ee.co.uk/help/contact-ee/complaint

Thanks 

[joelhole]

Hi @Northerner 

Yes I've checked DownDetector etc. and there are currently a variety of issues all over the UK. In County Down, Northern Ireland there are no red-spots showing which is surprising. I spoke with an EE operative last week and he confirmed there are multiple red areas showing and ongoing mast repairs in NI but for some reason this is not being reflected in the outage map. No idea of timescales other than the feeling it will be weeks rather than days.  Also WiFi calling stopped working around the same time- go figure. 

For me, and anyone else who needs to park their car using a parking payment system (for me that's everyday), or need to log-in to a website via a text sent to their phone, or God forbid make a call to someone whilst out and about, well you're screwed. 

The website and the app have been fault ridden for years in my experience at least. The service was great when I joined about 5 years ago but it has incrementally got worse as the years have progressed to the point right now where it feels as if it's going to fall off the edge of the cliff any day now.

However, I was a BT customer many moons ago, and it too went to the dogs so none of this is real surprise to me.

Thanks for your help, btw.

[joelhole]

Forgot to mention, EE are aware there is an issue with the website and the app but again no idea of when it will be fixed. For now I guess, everyone will have to ring up to get any kind of support.

[bristolian]

I'm a bit late to this. First off, DownDetector and similar sites - these are good for high-level national issues but are a very poor indicator for local coverage issues which are, by their nature, granular.

I've learned to take any claims of "mast faults all over" with a big pinch of salt - if there were genuinely service-affecting faults affecting huge swathes of the network as per this claim, these boards and other CS channels would be absolutely overwhelmed with complaints and it'd be attracting national press attention.

What concerns me from your first post is mention of no coverage "anywhere within a 20mile radius" - refer to my previous paragraph for the impact an outage of this site would normally achieve. I'm more inclined to think your phone may have an issue in this case - out of interest, what have you done to rule this out?

Issues with WiFi-calling won't be the same as whatever issue you have, the only 2 common elements here are your phone, and the core network control.

Do you know any other friends or relatives locally who use EE, who could compare their service? When did you last restart your phone or toggle flight mode?

[joelhole]

"I've learned to take any claims of "mast faults all over" with a big pinch of salt - if there were genuinely service-affecting faults affecting huge swathes of the network as per this claim, these boards and other CS channels would be absolutely overwhelmed with complaints and it'd be attracting national press attention."

This is from their Network Status Update email as of Monday January 12th:

"Our engineers continue working to resolve the fault on the site that provides coverage in your area. We are now completing some monitoring and final checks to confirm that everything is working as expected. We will next update you on 26 January."

So I'm not sure what your angle on the mast claims is: Why would they confirm 'genuine' issues in the area if there weren't any?

"What concerns me from your first post is mention of no coverage "anywhere within a 20mile radius" - refer to my previous paragraph for the impact an outage of this site would normally achieve. I'm more inclined to think your phone may have an issue in this case - out of interest, what have you done to rule this out?"

I've done the following:

• Asked an EE operative on the phone is there is any issue with my SIM card and he said it was properly registered and appeared to be working from their end. ❎
• Asked about the website and the app and was told  "Yes we are having issues with those aswell. We are getting a lot of calls about that." (Direct quote) ❎
• I've removed the sim card from my Android phone, cleaned it and re-seated it. ❎
• I restart the phone about twice a day and I've toggled flight mode, Mobile data and the sim itself. ❎
• I placed the sim in a brand new iPhone to test it but with the same result. ❎
• I don't know anyone else on the same network, unfortunately. ❎
• WiFi calling is now working afterall, so that is something. ✅

[bristolian]

The network status tool looks to have confirmed an issue on your local serving site, I agree. That's different to "there are currently a variety of issues all over the UK" - my point is that you can't extrapolate from this, that the network is falling apart or riddled with outages.

Have you tried performing a manual network search if having no service in a location you've previously had it? That would confirm the presence (or not) of coverage.

Locations where a single site provides coverage for 20-or-so miles in a given direction, are rare. Out of interest, where is this?

[joelhole]

Sorry but I get the impression you seem more interested in my motivations and claims. My own personal 'extrapolation' (as you put it) is based on me also experiencing actual live problems. If I think that (and looking around online it's seems I'm not the only person having issues with EE) then that's my prerogative. 

There are outages throughout the UK, just as there are with any network, right? It says so on Down Detector and elsewhere. I've spoken to EE and they confirm there are issues and repairs ongoing. I'll take their word for it.

It also just so happens that over the last few years the service from EE has gotten worse. I've found that. Other people on here and elsewhere are finding that. The app and web access is patchy (again, I'm not the only person in the world saying this.) So, perhaps it's not falling apart but it's certainly not looking particular healthy at the moment is it?

And this in Northern Ireland btw.

[bristolian]

There's a few interesting points of debate in your post, but it won't solve anything, so I'll just ask again...

Have you tried performing a manual network search if having no service in a location you've previously had it? That would confirm the presence (or not) of coverage.

Northern Ireland is a large area, with hundreds of sites - I was hoping to do a few basic checks on your serving site to see how wide an area it generally covers.

Happy to help along those lines, but otherwise good luck resolving your issues.

[joelhole]

Yes, I've performed a manual search and Vodaphone, O2, Three, etc are all available.

And you're absolutely right. Debating wether or not EE is or isn't a sh**e network won't solve anything which is why I couldn't understand why you questioned my questioning of it in the first place as I was merely venting my frustration and opinion. I only came on here to bring it to others attention that might be in the same position. Your response was a bit confusing as you appeared to be in some way defending EE whilst also seemingly in doubt about my issue which as I repeatedly explained to you was already acknowledged by EE themselves. 

Yes I know Northern Ireland is a large area lol. Anyway, I've spent enough of my week without a working network. The end goal for me now is to move to a more reliable network provider. 👍