Very poor signal at home

[Stu2502]

Hi I'm wondering if anyone can advise. Our mobile signal at home is terrible, rarely getting to one bar. We have had customer support assistance with this regarding our bill, but it would be more important for our phones to work as intended and paid for.

Both my wife and I have fully updated Galaxy S21s with WiFi calling enabled and have been suffering this problem since Oct 2022. When asked for a expected resolution to the problem highlighted on the network status checker there has been no response. What would anybody suggest my next steps might be we've been with Orange/EE for years so it would be a shame to go but we're paying for a service we're not getting.

[Schockwave]

Hello @Stu2502 ,

Welcome to the community,

Is the problem indoors or outside? If indoors, then EE are not responsible for the signal coming into a property, if outdoors, then checking network status checker, registering and reporting it is what you need to do.

Does anyone else in your area have problems with signal?

This is why there is wifi calling for when signal is not good, so long as you have fixed broadband and not mobile broadband.

[bristolian]

What is the issue you're having with using your phones at home? If it's lack of ability to make calls, receive calls and send/receive text messages, that's what WiFi-calling is designed for. It's near impossible for any network to provide 100% national indoor coverage, and WiFi-calling is EE's recommended mitigation for this issue, whenever & wherever it occurs.

VoWiFi (WiFi-calling) & VoLTE (4G-calling) are designed to hand calls between the two radio carriers, to allow seamless service in any location where indoor mobile coverage isn't available.

[Stu2502]

Thank you both for your responses I can understand your explanation of the limitations of LTE signal at home however it was very good previously i.e. before October last year, better than my works Vodaphone signal. I now have missed calls at home and have dropped calls if calling swaps between WiFi and LTE. The issue is also outside the house in a radius of approximately 1.5 miles until signal gets to 2-3 bars. It means that I cannot use Android Auto until I get to this point.

During this period the network status checker has shown problems for my area, WS5, that are 'taking longer than usual to resolve'.

In response to the query about other service users experiencing issues the household all have the same issue over both Android and iOS.

[bristolian]

There's nothing wrong with "only" having a certain number of bars - they're only a rough guide, and hide some complex calculations.

If you're getting failed calls when on VoLTE or VoWiFi and/or failed handovers - potentially the same underlying issue - that's an issue which should be pushed through CS/TS channels.

I've had some similar issues myself over the past year, and have my suspicions as to the underlying reasons.

[Surbian]

We get exactly the same thing. Indoors we rarely get more than 1 bar (and usually no bars) on the signal strength indicator and when making/receiving calls people often have trouble hearing us and calls will sometimes drop out totally.

Started happening towards then end of last year (late 2022).

Anyone got any response from EE?

[Stu2502]

Thanks for the response again @Brig I know that the bars are generated through a very basic attenuation measurement but it gives a rough idea of what the signal is like. My concern is that there is no improvement in sight, I've reported to CS a number of times now and nobody has given me a suitable response as to why this is happening and it's galling that they've put up prices on a service that's not being provided. I'll contact them again and see what they come back with.

[Katie_B]

Hello @Stu2502. 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Have you been able to sign up for updates on your area using the network status checker?

When there is more information to provide you will be updated. 

Did our technical care team have a rough estimate when the issues should be resolved?

Katie

[Stu2502]

Hi @Katie_B thanks, yes I did sign up for notifications but there haven't been any updates since I was actively watching the problem.l which was around December time.

Nobody has been able to provide me with any details of the problem or a timescale for resolution which is something of a worry as it could suggest that there is a wider issue that is not being provided to customers.

[Katie_B]

Thanks for getting back to me @Stu2502. 

I would recommend speaking with our technical care team again to see if there is anything else they can advise at this very moment. 

Please be sure to keep us updated.

Katie