Poor Signal Strength NG22

[eedvalentine]

I was recently recommended to move to EE by my long standing supplier Plusnet who are leaving the mobile business.  Following many recent dropped calls caused by poor signal from my home I have measured signal strength in my area. Outdoors up to a couple of hundred metres from my home is typically -110dbm. Indoors is typically -120dbm. Before the move, I had no signal problems, so did not measure levels. I have checked signal strength on two different phones to prove the problem is not at my end.
EE don't seem interested. Claiming I have good coverage in my area and there are no equipment outages!
Simple decision really. Can anyone in the community tell me where I might find helpful information about whether the signal is going to be improved? Or do I just ditch EE and go elsewhere?

[bristolian]

Plusnet is BT's budget brand, who used EE to provide their mobile service.

Do you have WiFi-calling enabled, as this is EE's recommended indoor coverage solution. You are at cell edge, but some devices are better at handling this than others. I would expect WiFi-calling to provide reliable service indoors.

[nottechyenough]

As you, I have recently moved from Plusnet to EE.  I was very happy with Plusnet.  An important point in this post is that my wife and I use choc bar phones (Nokia 110 4g and a Doro , both denied as existing by the phone selection list offered by EE on option 2!!!).  Both phones worked with the new SIMs but recently when making a call the line would drop out about 20 seconds after the other end picked up the call and started talkng.  The indicated signal strength was strong.  So I dialed 150, fell into the option 1 trap!!! tried again but with option 2 which was definitely offering a real person and after many option selections was told "not to worry, they would check my network and send me a text" before it ended the call.  I did this several times using both phones.......no text!!!  If you think about it, if there is a network problem, trying to ring them on a dodgy phone signal is a bad idea.  But if I ring on a land line they would need to ask for my mobile number.  But I found 5 different landline numbers on the web and some had dire warnings about not just the network charge but an EE charge!!  So I came on here and found a way to check network issues and it seems that there has been a problem in my area and a "hint" to try entering airplane mode or reselecting the network.  Did this on my phone and it worked.  My wife could not have done any more than ring 150 which doen't help anyone!!!  I did try entering the web address for option 1 in my laptop but it wanted me to select an App but no hint at what app I should go for and I gave up that route.  My wife regularly switches her phone off and I wonder why it didn't benefit from auto network selection and it doesn't have an airplane mode!!  The upshot of this saga is, as a new EE customer I am apalled at there being no "real person" to reach and even the website is pretty bad for the biggest network provider in the UK.  But I congratulate EEs success in avoiding helping customers.  Thank goodness for this forum!!

[eedvalentine]

Thank you for the suggestion.
Having suffered intermittent broadband issues I am reluctant to use this as a primary communication method. Especially as the budget Plusnet worked so well.
Basically the last 300M or so of copper from the green box has multiple joints and a mix of over/under ground runs. The underground cables being over 40 years old. When the rain starts, so do the connection issues. By the time anyone comes to look, things have dried again. At one point I did wonder about abandoning a land line and using mobile internet.
A further consideration is how to make/receive calls if the mains supply goes off. Yes I would need battery backup on the modem and various other network comonents in the property.
It is looking like a better solution would be a new SIM using BT resources, as that did work recently.

In an idea world the phone providers would be open and honest about locations of their network infrastructure, and resource sharing within a 'cell tower'. This allows users to make informed decisions.

[eedvalentine]

Thank you for your very helpful reply. I suspect that EE would really like to sell me a replacement for my 2020 vintage phone, looking at how their signal enquiry only lists newer phones! Not everyone is daft enough to fall for the ploy😂.
It is looking like I should be spending a few £ on a SIM to connect into the BT network and that will resolve the problems. Even if it doesn't work, it is a small amount to lose. As a temporary measure to prove things, I have old phones and I don't need to migrate the number.

[bristolian]

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@eedvalentine wrote:

I suspect that EE would really like to sell me a replacement for my 2020 vintage phone, looking at how their signal enquiry only lists newer phones!

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Newer phones do often allow access to more recent network features. VoLTE for instance, unlocks access to the low-band 800Mhz "extended range" coverage which can enhance in-building & rural service levels.

The "phone model" drop-down list on the status checker includes devices launched from 2014 onwards.