On calls no one can hear me and say I sound like a dalek, every day.

[Cookyweb]

Good afternoon,

I'm looking for some help please, every single call I make or receive the other person gets frustrated saying they cant hear me and I sound like a robot / dalek.

The call usually starts ok for the first minute or so then it happens. We end the call and start a new call, its fine again but happens at some point within the call and we end and try again.

I've done quite a lot because I am technical, so I've checked settings and reset the network, I've been on with support and they did lots of checks and confirmed all signals etc are ok.

I've been into an EE shop and had the sim card swapped, I've even now swapped back to my old phone and the problem still followed.

Its an Iphone, the only thing I havent tried is to reset and set the phone up from scratch rather than restoring, that is going to be such a big job I only want to do that as a last resort, not sure its worth a go or not?

Looking around this forum the amount of people saying the same is staggering, you clearly have an issue, most like the greedy directors making cut back somewhere but still cranking prices up.

I'm at the point now where i've lived with this for around a year and I'm done with paying for a service that isnt fit  for purpose, I need some answers and a fix or I want my 3 contracts cancelling, I'm paying for a phone that I can't make calls on meaning you're in breach of the contract.

I want this fixing or discounting or cancelling, can you tell me what are my next steps please?

Thank you.

[Peter_W]

Hi @Cookyweb, welcome back to the Community. 

It certainly sounds like you've tried quite a few steps here, so I'd just like to check over a few details so we can be sure on exactly where we're at with this. 

Am I correct in thinking that the same issue occurs regardless of what phone you're using, and you have also tried replacing the SIM outright and this has made no improvement?

Do you notice any changes in call performance based on location too, for example if you travel to a completely different area? 

We wouldn't usually class the same town / general area as different, as these can often be served by the same masts.

Peter

[bristolian]

---

@Cookyweb wrote:

I've done quite a lot because I am technical,

---

Can you be more precise over exactly what you have done thus far? To a radio engineer, technical means completely different tests to a layman who just wants their phone to work.

You suggest that budget cuts could be causing this issue, alas not - although it's a good conspiracy theory!

One reliable test would be whether you can still use mobile data when on calls, as this proves whether you're using VoLTE or 2G.

Single radio sites or sectors can cover anything from 100m distance, to several miles radius - depending on their config, but the wider an area you're experiencing this over, lends more towards a core network issue than radio-side.

Ultimately you need to have reported the issue to CS, for a fault ticket to be raised into (non-customer-facing) technical/engineering teams. You'll need to have a handful of examples of problematic calls over a 2-3 day period immediately prior to reporting it - CS agents can retrieve network logs of those calls and add those to the fault ticket. Make sure you obtain an INC reference.

[Cookyweb]

Thanks for the reply,

The conspiracy comment is a funny one, considering we all know how outright greedy the mobile phone companies are and they way they crank prices up way above whats neccessary just to give themselves hefty unearned bonuses, I definately wouldnt put it past them to cut on infrastructure if it means a bigger payout.

Regardless of that, this is what I've tried so far:
Logged a ticket online which prompted a call back from the technical team, several diagnostics and test were tried from a scipt but nothing that would do anything, things like switch to another network and swich back, all things that a restart would naturally do to be honest but I tried them all anyway.

Problematic calls wise its basically every call, every day but the tech guys didnt ask for examples or do any digging into them as such.
From my point of view I've tried calling from different places with in the house, outside the house, aross the other side of the city and whilst out of town, all have experienced the issue. not every single time, but all have done it.
At home and another house 1 mile away are were most calls are made and the issue is relentless at both

When I say technical I more mean to rule things out, so I've tried:
Removing cases
Connecting to a handsfree
I've tried a new sim card
Switching to another phone entirely (although still iphone)
I've tried wifi calling on and off
This is what is getting me to a point where the network is the only thing left

[Cookyweb]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply, yes i am currently on a newer iphone 14 and I switched back to my iphone 13 and the fault still existed, its been happening for around a year now.
I mostly use the phone in my home town at my house or my parents house 1 mile away, I have experienced the issue out of town too, but its harder to say whether it improves out of town as I've had much change to fully test it

I did speak with tech support at the weekend though and  they ran tests and said there are no issues in my area or the masts i'm connecting to.

Its infuriating now, its got me to the point I want to move from EE if its not fixed as its not fit for purpose.

[bristolian]

This reply will be lengthy - but hopefully worth it.

You wouldn't have spoken to Technical Support, they're not part of CS and aren't customer-facing - but some CS agents/teams do call themselves that! Although I can totally understand your frustration if CS aren't seen to be taking your report seriously or correctly following process - i.e. raising an INC fault case into network tech support.

You've ruled out most of the basics, the next steps for me would be to be pointedly eliminating different parts of the network architecture. Without some knowledge of the radio interface, attempts to change your serving site/sector can be a lottery - but in most urban areas, 1 mile away would usually be a safe bet.

By means of some explanation, both VoLTE (4G-based) & VoWiFi (WiFi-calling) calls use the same common IMS-core, so if the issue is happening across both radio bearers, it seems to point at a core network issue rather than access side. And on that basis, CS can "check the masts" all day long, but it's unlikely to solve it. Not to mention all users connecting to an affected site/sector would be complaining PDQ if that were the root.

You've not said, but you do need to be sure - that all the phones you've tested with, otherwise work perfectly well without quality issues. You mention that you're currently using an iPhone 14 but the issue still existed when you switched back to your iPhone 13. Does that mean the problem was happening on the iPhone 14 or not? You do need to be 100% sure that the phone is not the cause, being Apple does not make them immune from problems. Are you able to try your SIM in an Android device, just to rule that out? I'd usually expect network issues (be they radio or core-related) to cause occasional bursts of audio problems, rather than the more continual symptoms you seem to be reporting.

One scenario that I've personally found can provoke a short burst of dalek-speech is when you're on the fringe of cell-edge coverage (at or below -115dBM), and audio breakup is how VoLTE handles the poor RF conditions. But a handover to a different site/sector, or to/from VoWiFi usually solves that - and thus it's short-lived.

My recommendation to you - once you are 100% sure this issue is not device-related as above - would be simple, but potentially requiring some patience. Call back into CS with ~5 examples of problem calls over a 2-3day period. Follow their escalation process and ensure the outcome of the call is an INC fault reference. If they try telling you that "there's no problem with the masts" or other shoulder-sloping suggestions, firmly but politely respond along the lines of "well there's clearly a problem somewhere, I'm not calling you for the fun of it, please raise a fault ticket or pass me to someone who can" - and repeat along similar lines until you get an INC reference.

You may need to be passed through a couple of agents, the team with ticketing access generally label themselves as "Level 2" or suchlike. The expertise even within this team can vary, and there's no doubt good guys and bad (as with any CS teams), so you may require some patience alongside politeness.

[Cookyweb]

Hi There,

Thanks alot for the reply, before I respond fully, someone had mentioned to see if data still works whilst on a call, can I just check I'm understanding this test? I presume I'd need to disconnect from wifi, be on the call and then try using whatsapp or loading a website, is that correct?

In response to your message, this is the exact timeline.
I had my iphone 13 with no issues for almost 2 years, then this dalek issue appeared and happened several times over the week. I was due an upgrade anyway so I ordered the iphone 14 and in my head assumed the issue would disappear.
I switched over the 14 (by restoring from an icloud backup) and the fault still happened, right away.

I persisted for way too long, about 6 months before I eventually returned back to the 13 as another test for 1 month, it happened constantly, I then switched back to the 14 and obviously its still happening.

thanks for your suggestions, i will look to give that a try but its so frustrating having to force help and demand people do their job, I just want it fixing.

I'm tempted to get a pay as you go sim from another provider and just swap over to it for 2 weeks, if there is no issue at all I'll switch back and if the fault returns then one way or another the fault is with EE and thats all I need to know. I'm happy to log times of calls and when the fault occured during the call, but if it still cant be resolved then I dont see any other alternative but to have the contract cancelled and go somewhere else.

To me there is something fundamentally wrong with the network because the amount of people saying the same thing on this message board is concerning.

[bristolian]

The purpose of the mobile data test is to ensure your calls are using 4G/VoLTE rather than 2G. Thus disconnect from any WiFi hotspot, make a voice call and simultaneously use mobile data for any function - website, app, take your pick. If this works, you've confirmed that you're using VoLTE. If it fails, you could be using 2G.

Community fora such as this tend to attract two types of user. Regular ones who assist, and those with problems. People tend not to post to say "my service is great, thankyou" - VF, O2 & 3UK all have their own foibles and those are reflected in forum posts. But testing using a PAYG SIM is absolutely the way to go if you run out of patience with CS - something I can sympathise with.

The only part of your description that I'm struggling with, is that ordinarily - if multiple phones are affected by an issue, it does indeed tend to point at a network issue. Yet you suggest that a large proportion of your calls are affected, and if this were replicated across all users, then the complaint volumes would be significant - there's no evidence of that.

[Cookyweb]

Hi There,

Thank you for the reply, I'm in complete agreement that everyone would be complaining, thats what baffles me.

I'll run the data test on a call and I've ordered a new sim from a different provider as a test, I do have an EE pay as you go sim I could try but if that worked fine then I'd be completely lost, I suppose it is worth a test just to see though.

I keep toying with the idea of resetting the iphone and setting up from scratch instead of restoring, but that is such a big task, does that seem worth it or pointless in your eyes?

[bristolian]

Regarding the master reset, you needn't even set up from scratch instead of restoring. Just make some test calls immediately after the reset before restoring. I'm not an Apple-user, so can only think that this being caused by user-data would be unusual - but it's an easy way to rule it out.

Providing the timed examples of problem calls to CS, can be compared against call traces to check for any common radio elements.

The EE PAYG SIM also sounds an excellent test.