Re: EE network getting worse in my area?

Happytoon · ‎22-06-2021

Same issue here.
Nearly 10 years with EE, I had a strong 4G signal in my home (to the point that I was using an EE 4G data sim as my main home broadband) at the time, we were surfing on 30+ mbps, which was great.
For the past year or so, my signal has been progressively reduced to the point that now, 3G and 4G signal is only outdoor (as confirmed by the network coverage and speed test). I had to change data Sim operator for my home and currently concerned that I will also have to move my 2 EE lines to vodafone (after so many years with EE).
in my local town (Taunton, somerset) the signal coverage is also pretty bad. There is a big shopping area (sainsbury etc) and you can barely receive a signal on the car park (outdoor) pretty slow data too...
I have check which mast I am connected too (Cellmapper) and I am connect to a far away mast (3.6km or 2.2 miles). The mast closer to my home have no sectors covering my area.
The above has been notices over several months/weeks, not a punctual fault (which we had a few and I check the network status in doubt).

I would like a way out of my contract (currently to 2022) as it is become increasably difficult to use EE signal (in the countryside). My phone (the excellent Sony Xperia 1 II 5G) doesn't have Wifi Calling as it was not purchased (not sold by) with EE.
On most days, my partner can't receive call/make call at work either (Taunton) and no she can't connect to the wifi of her company for personal use while in her office. Her colleagues have all moved away from EE for the same reason.

I have raised this with support a few times, but unless EE steers better antenna sector to my home and my partner work place, this is unlikely to change anytime soon, hence I want out before my end of contract!
What's next? what can we do on this ??? Any advice / similar experience welcome.

bristolian · ‎25-06-2021

With the benefit of hindsight, part of my previous reply was mis-phrased:

It should have read, " if signal strength is as borderline as it sounds, that will attract more devices onto it (B20) which will substantially reduce available data speeds."

I suspect the permanent solution here will be hardware changes and/or a new site - neither of which are necessarily quick. Your next stage to follow this up would be speaking to EE C/S as previously suggested, and most likely go through to second-line support. I am unsure whether they will be able to add anything to this thread, but they should be able to raise a fault ticket for anything they deem worthy of closer investigation.

View solution in original post

bristolian · ‎22-06-2021

Hi @Happytoon

I've moved your post to a new thread 🙂

If this is the Hankridge Retail Park you're referring to (M5 J25) then I can see that outdoor coverage isn't the strongest, however the serving cells do have Band20 (800Mhz) coverage which I suspect would be the only indoor service available. A coverage breakdown for Sainsbury's carpark reports 800Mhz as the strongest available service, although the high-bands should be usable outside.

I suspect - but cannot be certain - that coverage in this area is primarily optimised for the transitory motorway traffic, and that the long-term solution will be a new network site in this area.

If you have a non-EE supplied phone, then it would be interesting to know if you're using VoLTE (4G-calling) as this enables access to the extended-range coverage on the low-band and could well make a material difference in your case.

Assuming that access to the 800Mhz layer either isn't a solution or is impractical, then your only solution is to speak to EE C/S on 150 and discuss your circumstances with them. Their answer may well be that you are contractually tied until 2022, and whether you pay for early termination or "sit it out" has to then be your choice.

You've also commented on rural coverage levels - again, EE make significant use of the low-band service in many areas and this can make a material difference to the service.

Happytoon · ‎23-06-2021

Hi Bristolian,
Great answer thank you.
I checked my Xperia 1 II and my partner Xperia 5 II for VoLTE setting. none of the phone has this option. Her phone is on the UK firmware (out of the box) so she has the WiFi calling setting but not the VoLTE. (mine is on a non-UK firmware so no WiFi Calling)...
Is VoLTE a setting that need to be pushed from the network??

At home, when I "cellmappe" my signal, I only have Band 1 and 3 (no 20).
Sainsbury is indeed Hankridge Retail Park... Next time I go on that car park, I will check if I get band20... I only know that so far the data on that car park is very slow and the signal is non-existant inside Sainsbury.

When you have a look at the signal measurement point on cellmapper and rootmetrics the data points (data speed on rootmetric) are all mostly red!!! I whish EE look at these too... (I know that the MyEE app is supposed to report bad signal automatically?).

bristolian · ‎23-06-2021

All pay-monthly customers have access to VoLTE-enabled, but it also depends on your device having compatible/supported firmware - and this is often the limitation.

I've seen the CM data that you refer to, EE's internal teams have their own toolsets - and the vast majority of poor coverage areas are fairly well known. Unfortunately, solutions are not always as straightforward as any of us would like!

Happytoon · ‎23-06-2021

Hi Bristolian,

(EE internal tool... Yep a long time ago I was involved with the development of an EE/T-Mobile (my customer) internal tool for Cell mapping and alarm management used by the network team based, at the time, on the T-mobile/EE campus in Hatfield)

I tried to chat with the CS yesterday and the indian support agent was sadly clueless... I was talking about VoLTE and he kept sending me back on how to set up wifi calling on the EE web site (I know how to do that!)...
Anyway, I look at the stat and IMS status on my phone.
I am not IMS registered on the network therefore:

- VoLTE not provisionned (hence no switch in setting,

- Wifi calling not provisioned

- video calling not provisioned.

My modem radio is European. Data service connected. My phone is running Android 11 and has a 1 year old qualcomm modem chipset.

Any way I can trigger the Operator provisioning and IMS registration?

Christopher_G · ‎24-06-2021

Hi @Happytoon

I've sent you a private message to get some more information from you.

Please have a look and get back to me.

Thanks

Chris

bristolian · ‎24-06-2021

@Happytoon wrote:

(EE internal tool... Yep a long time ago I was involved with the development of an EE/T-Mobile (my customer) internal tool for Cell mapping and alarm management used by the network team based, at the time, on the T-mobile/EE campus in Hatfield)

I think I may know the toolset you're talking about - it was part of my dayjob for many years.

@Happytoon wrote:

I am not IMS registered on the network therefore:

- VoLTE not provisionned (hence no switch in setting,

[snip]

Any way I can trigger the Operator provisioning and IMS registration?

IMS is the network back-end that supports both WiFi-calling (VoWiFi) & 4G-calling (VoLTE).

This status confirms you're not using IMS, so your voice calls are using 2G & 3G rather than VoLTE - which also prohibits access to the low-band "extended range" 800Mhz layer.

If you have EE-supported firmware and are on pay-monthly, access to this is automatic. I suspect the device is the limitation in your case.

Happytoon · ‎24-06-2021

Hi Bristolian,

I checked my partner and her phone was bought in the UK and is on the UK firmware, all good on her side.

Last night, I flashed the UK firmware on my Xperia 1 II.
I can now confirmed that I am IMS registered and have Wifi Calling enabled on my phone 👍👍.
However, for the VoLTE, *#*#4636#*#* -> Phone information reports that VoLTE is provisioned bur the IMS service status shows unavailable.

IMS registration : Registered
Voice over LTE: Unavailable
Voice over Wi-Fi: Available

Video Calling: Unavailable

UT Interface: Available

So still not sure if VoLTE is on or not. I will "cellmappe" at the weekend in Sainsbury car Park and see if I can catch the band 20 (800Mhz).

Sony UK and other Xperia users report that there is a switch to enable on/off the VoLTE in the network setting, similar to the VoWiFi switch (which I know have enabled).
How do I enable VoLTE? (Android 9, Android 10 or Android 11) | Sony UK

bristolian · ‎24-06-2021

@Happytoon wrote:

However, for the VoLTE, *#*#4636#*#* -> Phone information reports that VoLTE is provisioned bur the IMS service status shows unavailable.

IMS registration : Registered
Voice over LTE: Unavailable

So still not sure if VoLTE is on or not

VoLTE is short for Voice over LTE. (my bold & underline above)

It is the gatekeeper for access to Band 20 800Mhz.

Happytoon · ‎24-06-2021

Hi Bristolian,
Yeah, I know VoLTE = Voice over LTE, hence my confusion as:

- *#*#4636#*#* -> phone info says that VoLTE is provisioned, and the other part

- IMS Service Status) says VoLTE: unavailable.
So it is provisioned but not available?
What's missing?
on the Xperia "network setting" screenshots I saw on user forums etc, there is a toggle switch for VoLTE in Android 11 (same as VoWifi/Wifi calling). I have the wifi calling switch but not the VoLTE one, hence something is missing somewhere...

(could this be related to the network fault on my local mast (eNB 19361) for the past week or so?, hence not available at the mast not the phone?). I will need to test with another mast just in case.