Leith and Stockbridge, Edinburgh - Very slow data

[edinburgh_97]

Hi,

I've been an EE customer for many years now, and generally across the UK I have been very happy with coverage and data speeds.

However, there are two areas in Edinburgh where I have had many issues, even outdoors

Around The Shore and generally in Leith (for example EH6 6QU), there is almost no signal outdoors, a weak 800mhz 4G and data doesn't work at all. I cannot order an uber, receive Whatsapp messages or do anything. 

In Stockbridge, especially around the area of the Deanhaugh street and Hamilton place, the same issue occurs. 

I have an iphone 15 pro max, when I toggle the 5G standalone switch the connection starts working on N28 (700mhz) 5G standalone, but I am quickly dropped back down to 4G band 20 with no data connection whatsoever. It seems the network is configured to prefer 4G band 20 to 5G n28 (700mhz). 

Both O2 and Vodafone have much better coverage in these two areas.

[Schockwave]

Hello. @edinburgh_97 ,

Welcome to the community,

Have you checked here where you can add several places you go to to check, register and receive updates:

https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile-coverage-checker

[Ali_A]

Hi @edinburgh_97 
 

Thanks for such a clear and well‑explained post, you’ve clearly done your homework here. 

It’s frustrating when coverage is generally solid, but a couple of very specific areas let you down, especially outdoors.

Coverage may be affected by a number of factors, such as terrain, tree cover, building materials, as well as the usual weather conditions and how many other people are using the network too.

What you’re seeing in the areas you mentioned is a 4G dominance issue. In those pockets, the network is prioritising 4G band for coverage. 

As @shockwave mentioned, you can check coverage and network status at Check mobile coverage, where you can also report any issues you are facing,
 

Your test with 5G Standalone is really helpful. That band is designed to improve coverage, but at the moment the network can still drop compatible devices back to 4G if the system thinks it’s the more “stable” option, 
 

Something worth trying is Reset network settings (Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPhone, Reset, Network Settings). This can clear older cell preferences.

Ali

[bristolian]

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@Ali_A wrote:

Hi @edinburgh_97 

Something worth trying is Reset network settings (Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPhone, Reset, Network Settings). This can clear older cell preferences.

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This will only clear device-based preferences.

If the reselection criteria is network-side, as I suspect this is, then this won't have any impact. But it will remove saved WiFi passwords, which needs to be mentioned. Also it would be extremely unusual for NR700 to be present without any L800, so coverage on both layers should be pretty well identical.

I would be very interested whether reporting this level of detail via the status tool yields any results, in my experience this is geared towards a much more basic level of detail.

[edinburgh_97]

Thank you for your replies.

I can confirm in the places I visit, both NR700 and L800 are present, usually the signal strength is about the same outdoors - around -105/-110dB. I've watched my phone switch from NR700 to L800 in the field test and the signal strength stayed the same. The data speeds are dramatically different though - from 25/30mbps on NR700 (n28 standalone) to no data on 4G 800.  

This also happens inside shops/pubs/restaurants, 9 times out of 10 I am on band 20 4G with very slow or no data, even though NR700 is available. I don't think it is my phone as I have seen my father's Samsung s24 Ultra also having the same issues with band 20 prioritising over n28 - with no data on 4G band 20. 

Leith and Stockbridge are busy areas and ideally EE should look at installing new masts in these areas. Even looking at cellmapper, there is a lot of red indicating poor coverage. Stockbridge below:

O2 and Vodafone have two masts in this area:

The same with Leith:

Vs O2 with two masts in this area: