Is it just me or is ee phone signal poor

[Pyromanic]

I've noticed a huge degredation in network coverage in the past few months.  The network civerahe checker indicates I should get excellent coverage at home, but I currently get 1 bar, and sometimes that drops out!  I travel around the country a lot and have never previously experienced such poor signal on EE.  I don't know what EE have been doung to the network, but the signal has significantly reduced virtually everywhere I've travelled.  Been a customer for over 18 years but now find EE network to be so poor, I'll be going elsewhere unless this gets sorted soon.

[OldSchoolTech]

hi @Jfdjwd 

sorry to hear you are having issues calling your daughter, especially during these winter months when heavy snowfall is, once again, predicted to sweep across the uk. ❄️

to remedy this (for phone users) i've been working on a succinct "definitive guide for signal optimization" on  EE (and in fact, any GSM network): all android and iOS phones are, in fact, radio receivers.

i invite community stars, tech specialists and seasoned radio engineers, or knowledgeable phone users, to comment, or amend my guide as and when they wish (since optimization is always an ongoing process) : enjoy x

1.  check network status (you will need your full post code and be logged into My EE)

coverage checker link:

https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile-coverage-checker

even if signal is reported as "excellent" in your area, you can still report an issue to EE engineers.

2. update your system software (on your phone) to the latest "android version".  (usually called a "system update")

3. check your phone's data download and upload speeds (before and after my suggested tips) x

i recommend:

https://broadbandtest.which.co.uk/

or

https://fiber.google.com/speedtest/

4. remove temporary files from your phone (this usually makes your phone more responsive). i recommend:

junk cleaner - ora phonemaster [receives 4.7 rating on google playstore from real users]💖

link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=phone.clean.master.battery.antivirus.ora&hl=en_GB

5.  a diy way to boost radio signal receiver at home (when phone is stationary)

matthaisWendal : wifi antenna booster dish [1.3 million views]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZKc3PBs67c

6. signal boosters and "repeaters" can be installed in phone/router user homes for persons suffering from particularly acute "dead zones" (due to architectural inhibitors like metal frame installations, thick concrete, or low elevations)

examples are:

SureCall Flare 3.0 [editors choice, PCmag 2025]

weBoost Drive Sleek [editors choice PCMag 2025]

best regards, OldSchoolTech

[Surpic]

Thank you for detailed reply and the time you took to do so,
But quite frankly this is the 21st century and we are paying for a .iss poor service from EE that is being ignored at the moment. I’m just glad they don’t show the plane landing adverts anymore, but the new ones are just as nut grinding annoying.
It’s not our phones it’s the PROVIDER.
YOU WERE THE BEST . NOW YOUR THE WORST

Sent from my iPad

[OldSchoolTech]

@Surpic 

appreciate your feedback and support 💖

with respect, EE network service is consistently described as the best in the UK. however, you mention:

"that is being ignored at the moment"

do you have any direct evidence you can share, so we can move forward? i'd like to get to the bottom of this network coverage issue for the benefit of hard-pressed service users, here on our EE community (which does enjoy many specialists and experts, that personally, i find reassuring)

then you state:

"its not our phones. it's the provider"

with respect, all mobile phones (usually called smart phones today) are radio receivers, therefore are an essential part of network service delivery. being an old army tech, i spend time assisting friends and families optimize their phones, since (as you point out) we have to pay for the device and service on a regular basis. 

phones clogged with "temp data" , or with uncleared dns entry data, or poorly inserted or "dusty" sim chips will negatively affect network signal (on an  ongoing basis). as will incorrectly configured APNs and other phone settings. (that, alas, are becoming more complex these days, due to the rise of advanced android and iOS operating systems and updates).

however...

there may be "dead zones" in various parts of the UK, where (even) EE network coverage is poor, and i wonder if those can be collated and published here to assist our phone owners (and our EE engineers) get to the bottom of this important issue? (hmm..we shall see)

best regards, OldSchoolTech

[bristolian]

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@OldSchoolTech wrote:

phones clogged with "temp data" , or with uncleared dns entry data, or poorly inserted or "dusty" sim chips will negatively affect network signal

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Gotta love urban myths! This also depends on what your definition of "network signal" is....

[OldSchoolTech]

hi@bristolian !

(appreciate your feedback), particularly from community stars : thank you

personally, i attempt to test my optimizations (so i am posting real results, rather than "urban myths") 😋 i am certainly no specialist in GSM networks or RF engineering! (my background was as a hardware technician, looking after old "cat5" tcp ip networks, usually fault-tracing on windows installations of various flavors).

friends and family (sometimes) give me their smart phones to repair, so i noted clearing the "phone cache" appears to allow messages (txts and voicemail notifications) to "appear" faster (although i haven't tested this rigorously). one of my friends had 6 GB of temp data on her old motorola, so i wondered how she was able to receive notifications at all ! 😁

poorly inserted, dirty or dusty sims came up (as a solution) when we were looking at fixing the perennial "calls divert too soon" issue that seems to plague many phone owners. although this probably only applies to older phones, or phones in heavy use, there appears to be a benefit to ensuring the sim chip itself it communicating correctly with the phones internal circuitry.  (chip also needs to be bone-dry, of course).

temporary dns entries (or all dns entries) can be cleared via a set of windows commands (the old dos commands) when ones router (or phone) is hooked up to any windows computer. i have tested this and it appears to speed up data transfer. as you probably know not all dns servers are "made the same". writing code (a program to clear old dns entries) for android or iOS is beyond my skill set, but i find that possibility intriguing...

anyway, it would be great to get you "on board" with a definitive network optimization guide ... i suspect this will benefit many hard pressed (non-technical) phone owners here on the EE community.

thanks for reading: thoughts welcome

OldSchoolTech

[StewXXL]

Whilst I realise I'm adding to this ongoing conversation about 6 weeks after original post, I just wish to add my phone signal has been incredibly poor/weak in various locations, Herts/London/Essex mainly, for months & also on my travels in Kent/Surrey/Suffolk/Norfolk/Oxon/Sussex/Berks/Hants/Bucks.

NO it it NOT my phone, have used payg sims in at least 3 different phones & they're ALL the same, NO my phone is not clogged with 'temp data,' etc as I use CC cleaner & also manually gone through clearing off everything as has been suggested in previous posts, but all to no avail & YES my phone is updated with latest system update.

I use the 'coverage checker' all the time in all different locations (as above) & it always tells me there are no signal problems. A blatant lie!!

I have been with Mercury One-2-one/T-mobile/EE since 1991/2 - yes, network loyalty - & have had up to THREE separate lines at varying stages & have ALWAYS praised EE (as now) for their coverage but now like most , I'm paying for 5g & getting a truly awful service, I am considering changing when my current contract is due for renewal in July.

EE, what have you done to the once great service you provided? Why are so many complaining about it, it can't be ALL our phones at fault, can it?

[OldSchoolTech]

hi @StewXXL

appreciate your feedback, i am waiting for more feedback from the questions i have raised here, to assist hard-pressed phone owners who experience "poor service", in your case, over a wide area.  i find it interesting my questions are not answered, but as an old school engineer myself, i am patient, because i suspect there are data maps available that show "dead zones" across the EE network, they just arent published here 🙂 (i'll do some more digging on that front ...) 😉

of course, the reality is, our network is a cooperative venture between phone-owners and telecomms engineers who maintain the network.

you state:

"I use the 'coverage checker' all the time in all different locations (as above) & it always tells me there are no signal problems. A blatant lie!!"

i tested the "report a problem" link, kindly provided by EE on their "coverage checker" page. i don't know if you have got that far? but i am guessing we (the phone owners) have to be proactive, since "dead zones" may appear for various reasons in parts of the uk (eg: due to adverse weather conditions). 

the key to solving coverage issue is having enough powerful transmitting masts that broadcast in enough directions to provide "frequency coverage" (you mention 5G which is such a frequency). whether or not EE masts are omni-directional or not is unknown to me at this juncture.

on EE's actual "mobile status" page, we are provided with the atypical "branching" help pages:

check your device

report a problem

turn on wifi calling

get regular network updates

contact us

given time, i will attempt to test all parts of this repair mechanism, focusing on "wifi calling" and "network updates", since these are the two aspects of EE's repair service i know least about. [screen shot attached]

best regards, OldSchoolTech 

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[bristolian]

Hi StewXXL,

You've raised a few points, and this reply will be necessarily lengthy and more detailed than I'd normally post.

First off, you're absolutely right to dismiss the "clean temp files" and various cleaning techniques. These may be useful in improving performance of the computer-side of a mobile device, but the usefulness on the telecoms side is, to be extremely generous, not..

Your reference to the "blatant lie" is a combination of issues. Very many users get confused between the "check coverage" link for predicting normal service in a given area, and the "check service status" option for faults & issues lookup. Both searches are a lookup against internal databases - the coverage predictions used by radio planners are a lot more granular than those needed for public consumption, while the fault lookup is a very basic representation of service-affecting faults. Those will be internally split out against individual RATs (radio access technologies) and radio frequencies - something unnecessary externally.

You mention that you're "paying for 5G" - again, a popular misconception. You are paying for access to EE's network, which has both core & access elements - but not necessarily any particular "G" in any given area. Furthermore, by using a 5G device, you are introducing additional variables on the radio access layer - a 4G-phone & 5G-phone may well perform differently in the same location. Heck, an end user on 5G may have fewer signal bars than a 4G user and think less of the network as a result. I could write chapter and verse on this fallacy, but won't.

I have personally experienced issues where symptoms that appear network-related can be device-borne. But the inter-working between 4G & 5G coverage layers can often create misconceptions and additional complications.

A later reply mentions "you mention 5G which is such a frequency" - again, incorrect. 5G is a radio access technology, it is not a frequency. Aside from 2G which EE only operate on 1800Mhz, both the 4G & 5G networks operate across multiple frequency bands. Good coverage needs a combination of the right sites in the right places, carrying the right combination of RATs & bands.

[robmob]

Flicking your phone to 4G only can resolve (stabilise) certain situations- eg switch on power saving often does this by default (Samsung) - or just go to the network settings and select 2G/4G etc.

BTW the signal indicator isn't as important as it looks, just as long as you're showing service: back in.... 1994 when this all started (1993 really..) most phones would show full service even when it was poor- it's more a comforting marketing thing- than anything arguably? (Motorola m300 used to flick from 1 to 5 bars all of the time!)

The reason for your problems maybe that phones tend to be biased towards selecting 5G over 4G signals for operational efficiency reasons- generally 5G protocols work more efficiently than 4G. (It's not the same but Motorways tend to be better than A roads, as long as they've been built and they're are enough of them....)

...But not every mast has been swapped out to 5G (be it using the existing "4G" frequencies with more efficient 5G protocols or the newer 3500MHz  sort real 5G (high capacity) so to speak.) and so you may find your phone is more stable in certain areas (could be rural, could be burbs?) on 4G only.  

Where I live I get superb EE 4G service indoors: upload and download (70Mbps up, 100+ downlink easily!) with a 4G router (Huawei b625 4G router) ..but it's unreliable on the EE 5G (Alcatel?) QTAD52E 5G router - ie 2-3 up, 150Mbps down... But then no service as it loses connection. It's using a weak 5G signal(s) further away- which it was designed to do. 

So if I flick the 5G router to 4G only: bingo all sorted, stable usable 4G; although the Huawei 4G router is still 6-7x faster on the uplink due to its design.

Just my experience- conversely with low band 5G 700 be more prevalent now I am finding (esp train lines) 5G service really improving in parts - Chislehurst - Elmstead Woods- Bromley in SE London for example. And just to confirm if you have decent 5G - as often I do when out and about- my phone flies using it, there's no comparison nationally- ask any canal boat owner 😉

I am not here to discuss the precise details- just to relay my experience-  and just to get the point across that removing 5G in some settings fixes things: in general leaving your phone on 4G/5G is recommended.

[bristolian]

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@robmob wrote:

...But not every mast has been swapped out to 5G (be it using the existing "4G" frequencies with more efficient 5G protocols or the newer 3500MHz  sort real 5G (high capacity) so to speak.) and so you may find your phone is more stable in certain areas (could be rural, could be burbs?) on 4G only.  

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Masts are just one type of structure on which radio equipment & antennas are housed. There's not really any such thing as a "5G mast" or a "4G mast", but there are "EE sites".

All of EE's radio sites carry a combination of radio technologies operating a combination of frequencies. EE operate across both low-band & high-bands for both 4G & 5G, all 6 bands are good at different types of coverage.

It's entirely normal for a phone to prefer a newer RAT (i.e. 5G over 4G, 4G over 2G) providing the received signal is strong enough. The strength of signal does not correlate with the attainable speeds.