Mobile Coverage

Adrian621
Explorer

I live in Bury, one mile from the centre, so not a rural location. If I walk 20-30 metres in either direction on my road I can get a 5G signal. Where I live, there is no 5G signal. 4G only upstairs and very poor voice reception. If it rains heavily we have nothing. This is the same for Android and iPhone. If I check on the Offcom Coverage Checker, I can see that EE has crosses for voice and data for my address, where as other service providers have ticks. So is the recommendation to switch to vodafone for improved coverage, or can EE improve the service I get. Afterall I have been paying above inflation increases for improved services, so I would expect to see some return on that investment.

3 REPLIES 3
bristolian
Legend
Legend

Just as with the launch of 3G & 4G services, 5G is in relative infancy compared with the comprehensive & mature 4G network - it's no surprise to find 4G coverage exceeding that of 5G except in locations where the two services are using comparable bands from the same serving site.

No network guarantees 100% indoor coverage nationally, WiFi-calling is an excellent mitigation for poor indoor coverage whenever it occurs. For every location where EE is poor & VF is good, there will be others where the opposite is the case. For that reason, if you are considering a change of network, I strongly recommend the use of PAYG SIMs by means of survey. A real-world test of different operators is always better than relying on computer predictions.

For what it's worth, I know of many rural locations that have better coverage than urban areas - coverage is largely dictated by site placement & band usage, rather than which RAT you're connected to.

I will be doing a real world test next m9nth with a Vodafone handset. To be honest, I more concerned about the poor voice signal as the iPhone is not good at WiFi calling.Sent from my Galaxy
bristolian
Legend
Legend

If 4G-calling is enabled, you should get either WB-AMR (indicated by "HD" call) or EVS ("HD+" symbol) codec, and calls should be crystal-clear between compatible phones.

Not sure what you mean by "iPhone is not good at WiFi calling"