Mobile reception/service issues

[MartinP8]

Mobile reception in Brighton is generally shockingly poor, on EE and others.
The old "toggle aeroplane mode" method and using the service checker doesn't  achieve anything other than to distract/add to stress.

There are  numerous postcodes in Brighton where i have never had access to the internet or the ability to make good quality phone calls regardless of what nonsense the service checker may tell you.

I regularly have minimum 2 or 3 bars of 4g or 5g on my display whilst completely unable to use a mobile! 

BN3 1T#, BN1 6P#, BN1 5B# are just 3 examples of many places i work in where a mobile network simply doesn't function correctly - and never has, and i suspect, never will. I'm not talking months of non-service, it has been like this for years.

I switched to EE as Vodafone's service was useless, but I'm not having much more success with EE.... i haven't bothered with contacting customer service as i know what the response will be, and i know what the outcome will be!

 I'm only writing this in case anyone has reception/service issues and is still in the hopeful/optimistic phase - don't waste your time stressing, no one is going to sort this out!

[bristolian]

Toggling flight mode can be useful if your phone loses coverage for an extended time and doesn't regain it when expected - modern devices are a lot better at coming "back online" but the technique can still be occasionally useful.

If you have coverage but are having issues with making/receiving calls or using mobile data, then the technique very rarely has any actual effect. In high-demand locations it can make things worse, by virtue of a network connection needing to be re-established where it was already present.

EE have quite a few microcells deployed around Brighton, many of which correlate with the postcodes you mention.

[MartinP8]

Thanks for the reply; unfortunately none of what you have described fixes the fact that right now, today, i can go to any of those postcodes (and more) and will experience what i have described.
It has been like that for years, it is not a temporary glitch or imagined issue, nor is it an issue with a particular model of phone. 
There is simply not a good service there, from EE or other service providers. 

[bristolian]

I suspect your issues may be specific to you. Have you compared with other EE users in the same locations?

Do you get similar service in other locations?

[MartinP8]

Unfortunately it's very much not specific to me.

At all of the aforementioned locations (and others) I have compared with numerous colleagues and clients (using EE and other services) and they experience the identical  lack of usable service.

 In other locations my service is just fine.

I have given up contacting suppliers about these issues because i don't have the time to waste convincing them that their service isn't functional.

It seems the only way to prove this is for provider representatives to come to these locations and try to use their phones, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

Unfortunately the replies are all the same (see above) (i.e. disbelief) and the result is always that no service improvement ever occurs. Customers just put up with it for the same reasons, and will do in perpetuity. 

[ee_user14]

I've got friends in the Preston Park area, signal isn't perfect but it's perfectly usable and I've never had any issues with using internet or calling. I tend to head there every couple of months on average.

The central area district is much improved the past year or so.

[MartinP8]

Yes i appreciate that - my signal is perfect in many locations too. 

Unfortunately in the areas I've discussed (plus others) and am referring to, it is non-existent and has been for at least 2 years, for me plus colleagues and clients.

I'm there daily. 

[ee_user14]

That's odd, a few of your postcodes related to being around Preston Park. Some others seem to be the central area, between the station and sea-front.

Just worth comparing that poor service in those areas isn't affecting everyone!

[MartinP8]

Yes the areas are more specific than "around" a certain area. I haven't completed the postcodes.

e.g. in Preston Park the signal is fine. On the bottom of Preston Drove the signal is fine. On Preston Road the signal is fine.

In half of Bates Road it is non-existent. In half of Beaconsfield Villas it is non-existent. On the top half of Waldergrave Road and Havelock Road it is non-existent. All of these are "around" Preston Park; this is the case for ALL of those people i interact with daily who use EE in those areas (who are not on a wifi signal obviously). 

[bristolian]

Rechecking a more granular coverage map, there are some areas of poorer service in the localities you describe - these aren't close to the microcell deployment area I mentioned.

I'd still expect outdoor coverage to be OK, even based on the testing data I've checked. I've experienced similar symptoms myself in the past.