Unreliable O2 internet access?

Dark 1 · 25-07-2010, 01:02

Is it just me, or is O2's internet access really really crap?

I don't mean signal level. I mean its reliability. Even with a good signal, it can often go for long periods of time when anything internet based simply continually times-out.

It really is very irritating when you call up Google Maps to find where you need to go, and all you get is a grey patchwork. And rather embarrassing when someone asks you to look something up on your fancypants smartphone, only for it to chug along until it chokes.

How common is this?

legends wear 7 · 25-07-2010, 09:02

The by product of them spending years buying customers rather than building a robust network.

Rossall · 25-07-2010, 09:17

Yes, it's crap. Their coverage maps are a joke.

3 is much better.

tealady · 25-07-2010, 10:44

The mast is supposedly in the middle of the town centre and I am 1.5 miles away and getting just a G. Meanwhile, someone else here with the same phone is on vodaphone and is getting an H. Rubbish really.

tellyadict · 25-07-2010, 10:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rossall

Yes, it's crap. Their coverage maps are a joke.

3 is much better.

I am with 3 all of 2 days (Iphone 4) and is going very well + £80 cheaper than o2 for my requirments.

My brother is with o2 and he had not had any issues though and just got the new phone as well.

fluffed · 25-07-2010, 10:51

The O2 coverage maps are indeed fantasy, the maps say at work and home I should be getting HSDPA, reality is I struggle to maintain 3g for any longer than a few seconds at a time. Had to make use of the 14 day money back thing, and go back to my old provider.

moox · 25-07-2010, 11:02

o2 was clearly the best network to make their phone exclusive on back in 2007, same for the Palm Pre/Pixi which are both still exclusive.

I guess it was a case of who gave Apple/Palm the most money, money that could have been better spent on their network.

Instead, they have the poorest 3G coverage across the UK (so much so that Ofcom reprimanded them for not sticking to the requirements in their licence) and when you do get a 3G signal the data network is slow and often collapses.

john_locke · 25-07-2010, 11:03

Don't have a really serious problem on O2 for the iPhone but for sustained use in one place on the iPad, i have found Orange far preferable.

gomezz · 25-07-2010, 11:05

O2 coverage round here is far superior to T-Mobile (or whatever they are called these days). T-mobile made it easy to hide from work out of hours just be going to the pub though.

belleville1 · 25-07-2010, 11:22

It was down again where I live last night for several hours - I could call and text, but not use GPRS data. I've got into the habit of carrying a 3 SIM card around in my wallet for times like that!

It's leading me to wonder whether I shouldn't just change to 3 altogether; giffgaff (which is basically O2) is cheap, but if it doesn't work when I need to do something simple like pull up a Google map, what's the point? I love the way they've stuck the giffgaff MVNO, with its unlimited data attracting the iPhone byte-guzzlers, on the most overloaded network there is. I've realised I don't actually need unlimited data... the counter on my Nokia says I've used just over 500MB since I bought the thing in February!

I can at least more often than not get 3G with 3 too, even in rural areas, whereas O2's 3G blows away in a slight breeze and only seems to cover the very centre of towns.

The only benefit of O2 is that their 900MHz GSM network gets into buildings a bit more easily than 3 and Orange's higher frequency networks and you find yourself less often without a signal at all in places like, er, the pub.

DXRulz · 25-07-2010, 11:27

On my N95 8GB with 3 i can get full 3G signal at ALL times!

With O2 as soon as it goes 3G it drops straight back to GPRS!!

alanwarwic · 25-07-2010, 16:25

Is congestion why they charge £3 per MB?

Party Animal · 25-07-2010, 16:46

I live in North Leeds area and have various contracts in my family and T Mobile is easily the best - I have O2 phone and home broadhome and could kick my self folr re-signing up again with the home broadband as I thinks it is a terrible service these days

when I first went with O2 they were good but it just cuts off rather too much for my liking these days so will be bidding bye bye at the end of the 12 months

must also put a word in for Three which is pretty good on my wifes mobile... and being really greedy we also have a Vodaphone contract as well

ranked like this
T Mobile
Three
Vodaphone
O2

r_mitchell85 · 25-07-2010, 16:50

yeah my O2 mobile internet is sometimes unreilable.... but its ok most of the time.

they are joining up with vodafone thought arent they? shouldn't this mean they're going to be working on their masts together to improve things?

Thine Wonk · 25-07-2010, 17:01

Well they do statistically have the worst 3G coverage of any network in the UK, so what do you expect !

On top of that they coverage they do have seems to be under strain as they regularly have 3G data failures meaning the service is unavailable in areas or even nationally for long periods of time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r_mitchell85

they are joining up with vodafone thought arent they? shouldn't this mean they're going to be working on their masts together to improve things?

It means they are consolidating masts and sharing but each network is still going to be responsible for the back end and calls etc

A lot of the issues with O2 are capacity related and sadly a mast share wont always fix this, what they need is a lot of new masts, expansion of 3G and a better more reliable data network and more capacity.

Simply sharing the same mast / cabinet as another operator isn't going to help much, it's not a roaming agreement or a network merge it's simply sharing things at transmitter sites.

O2 has been well behind in terms of capacity for a long time because they put all their money into buying customers rather than investing in the network, there is little 3G coverage out on the railways, motorways and more rural areas, whist in inner city areas the capacity is lacking due to over-subscription for the amount of cells.

Here's a 3 vs O2 coverage map picking a random area:

http://i.imagehost.org/view/0645/comp

Thine Wonk · 25-07-2010, 17:33

And another random area comparison:

http://a.imagehost.org/view/0060/comp2

and with Orange included:

http://i.imagehost.org/view/0236/3333

Daveoc64 · 25-07-2010, 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

And another random area comparison:

http://a.imagehost.org/view/0060/comp2

and with Orange included:

http://i.imagehost.org/view/0236/3333

You can't compare maps like that.

The way that the maps are calculated is unique to each network.

Daveoc64 · 25-07-2010, 21:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by alanwarwic

Is congestion why they charge £3 per MB?

While they charge £3 a MB, almost all packages have a limit of £1 per day (up to 25MB) - that assumes you don't have an inclusive allowance.

Thine Wonk · 25-07-2010, 22:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveoc64

You can't compare maps like that.

The way that the maps are calculated is unique to each network.

Whether you compare it via the website, via Ofcom maps or via the networks own coverage % figures O2 comes out the worst.

I'm simply using the maps available and letting people make up their own minds.

Daveoc64 · 25-07-2010, 22:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

Whether you compare it via the website, via Ofcom maps or via the networks own coverage % figures O2 comes out the worst.

I'm simply using the maps available and letting people make up their own minds.

I wouldn't trust any of those figures to make an informed choice.

Only actual usage in the places where you will want to use the phone are worth it.

If network x has the best percentage coverage, but they don't cover your home or your work place, they are totally useless.

moox · 25-07-2010, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveoc64

I wouldn't trust any of those figures to make an informed choice.

If they're useless, why does Ofcom use them as part of the conditions for the networks' 3g licences? o2 was dragged over the coals for not meeting them. It speaks volumes about their attitude to 3G.

Daveoc64 · 25-07-2010, 22:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by moox

If they're useless, why does Ofcom use them as part of the conditions for the networks' 3g licences? o2 was dragged over the coals for not meeting them. It speaks volumes about their attitude to 3G.

Ofcom doesn't.

This is a serious misconception.

Ofcom clearly stated that the maps they released were:

1) Out of date (and that was nearly a year ago)

2) Not suitable for establishing the level of coverage each network has.

Ofcom used much better criteria for determining if the licence terms had been kept to (O2 as with all of the networks had done - so I have no idea why you think they were dragged over coals).

moox · 25-07-2010, 22:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveoc64

Ofcom used much better criteria for determining if the licence terms had been kept to (O2 as with all of the networks had done - so I have no idea why you think they were dragged over coals).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...lephones.apple

Quote:

The mobile phone company O2 faces having its licence to run 3G services in the UK shortened by the regulator, Ofcom, unless it brings its broadband wireless network within the reach of more of the population by the summer.

Quote:

Under the terms of the licence, the five companies awarded 3G spectrum had to have networks covering 80% of the population by the end of last year.

While Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and even new entrant 3 have all managed to get at least 80% population coverage, Ofcom said today that O2's network covers just 75.69% of the population. The shortfall is equivalent to approximately 2.5 million people.

Daveoc64 · 25-07-2010, 22:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by moox

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...lephones.apple

Yes, but O2 quite comfortably met that target by the actual deadline.

What's your point?

moox · 25-07-2010, 22:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveoc64

Yes, but O2 quite comfortably met that target by the actual deadline.

What's your point?

They only met it because of Ofcom's kick up the backside, they continue to lag behind 3 other networks today. It's odd that o2 have been the only network to have such action taken upon them.

Are you an o2 employee or paid shill? You do seem to defend them to the hilt.

25-07-2010, 01:02	#1
Dark 1 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,975	Unreliable O2 internet access? Is it just me, or is O2's internet access really really crap? I don't mean signal level. I mean its reliability. Even with a good signal, it can often go for long periods of time when anything internet based simply continually times-out. It really is very irritating when you call up Google Maps to find where you need to go, and all you get is a grey patchwork. And rather embarrassing when someone asks you to look something up on your fancypants smartphone, only for it to chug along until it chokes. How common is this?

25-07-2010, 09:02	#2
legends wear 7 Guest Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,070	The by product of them spending years buying customers rather than building a robust network.

25-07-2010, 09:17	#3
Rossall Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 9,433	Yes, it's crap. Their coverage maps are a joke. 3 is much better.

25-07-2010, 10:44	#4
tealady Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: colchester Posts: 15,352	The mast is supposedly in the middle of the town centre and I am 1.5 miles away and getting just a G. Meanwhile, someone else here with the same phone is on vodaphone and is getting an H. Rubbish really.

25-07-2010, 10:49	#5
tellyadict Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire Posts: 3,910	Quote: Originally Posted by Rossall Yes, it's crap. Their coverage maps are a joke. 3 is much better. I am with 3 all of 2 days (Iphone 4) and is going very well + £80 cheaper than o2 for my requirments. My brother is with o2 and he had not had any issues though and just got the new phone as well.

25-07-2010, 10:51	#6
fluffed Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,789	The O2 coverage maps are indeed fantasy, the maps say at work and home I should be getting HSDPA, reality is I struggle to maintain 3g for any longer than a few seconds at a time. Had to make use of the 14 day money back thing, and go back to my old provider.

25-07-2010, 11:02	#7
moox Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 14,645	o2 was clearly the best network to make their phone exclusive on back in 2007, same for the Palm Pre/Pixi which are both still exclusive. I guess it was a case of who gave Apple/Palm the most money, money that could have been better spent on their network. Instead, they have the poorest 3G coverage across the UK (so much so that Ofcom reprimanded them for not sticking to the requirements in their licence) and when you do get a 3G signal the data network is slow and often collapses.

25-07-2010, 11:03	#8
john_locke Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,367	Don't have a really serious problem on O2 for the iPhone but for sustained use in one place on the iPad, i have found Orange far preferable.

25-07-2010, 11:05	#9
gomezz Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Buckingham Posts: 28,590	O2 coverage round here is far superior to T-Mobile (or whatever they are called these days). T-mobile made it easy to hide from work out of hours just be going to the pub though.

25-07-2010, 11:22	#10
belleville1 Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 2,619	It was down again where I live last night for several hours - I could call and text, but not use GPRS data. I've got into the habit of carrying a 3 SIM card around in my wallet for times like that! It's leading me to wonder whether I shouldn't just change to 3 altogether; giffgaff (which is basically O2) is cheap, but if it doesn't work when I need to do something simple like pull up a Google map, what's the point? I love the way they've stuck the giffgaff MVNO, with its unlimited data attracting the iPhone byte-guzzlers, on the most overloaded network there is. I've realised I don't actually need unlimited data... the counter on my Nokia says I've used just over 500MB since I bought the thing in February! I can at least more often than not get 3G with 3 too, even in rural areas, whereas O2's 3G blows away in a slight breeze and only seems to cover the very centre of towns. The only benefit of O2 is that their 900MHz GSM network gets into buildings a bit more easily than 3 and Orange's higher frequency networks and you find yourself less often without a signal at all in places like, er, the pub.

25-07-2010, 11:27	#11
DXRulz Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Oswestry, Shropshire Posts: 4,196	On my N95 8GB with 3 i can get full 3G signal at ALL times! With O2 as soon as it goes 3G it drops straight back to GPRS!!

25-07-2010, 16:25	#12
alanwarwic Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: the wild world web Posts: 28,132	Is congestion why they charge £3 per MB?

25-07-2010, 16:46	#13
Party Animal Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 1,319	I live in North Leeds area and have various contracts in my family and T Mobile is easily the best - I have O2 phone and home broadhome and could kick my self folr re-signing up again with the home broadband as I thinks it is a terrible service these days when I first went with O2 they were good but it just cuts off rather too much for my liking these days so will be bidding bye bye at the end of the 12 months must also put a word in for Three which is pretty good on my wifes mobile... and being really greedy we also have a Vodaphone contract as well ranked like this T Mobile Three Vodaphone O2

25-07-2010, 16:50	#14
r_mitchell85 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 4,884	yeah my O2 mobile internet is sometimes unreilable.... but its ok most of the time. they are joining up with vodafone thought arent they? shouldn't this mean they're going to be working on their masts together to improve things?

25-07-2010, 17:01	#15
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	Well they do statistically have the worst 3G coverage of any network in the UK, so what do you expect ! On top of that they coverage they do have seems to be under strain as they regularly have 3G data failures meaning the service is unavailable in areas or even nationally for long periods of time. Quote: Originally Posted by r_mitchell85 they are joining up with vodafone thought arent they? shouldn't this mean they're going to be working on their masts together to improve things? It means they are consolidating masts and sharing but each network is still going to be responsible for the back end and calls etc A lot of the issues with O2 are capacity related and sadly a mast share wont always fix this, what they need is a lot of new masts, expansion of 3G and a better more reliable data network and more capacity. Simply sharing the same mast / cabinet as another operator isn't going to help much, it's not a roaming agreement or a network merge it's simply sharing things at transmitter sites. O2 has been well behind in terms of capacity for a long time because they put all their money into buying customers rather than investing in the network, there is little 3G coverage out on the railways, motorways and more rural areas, whist in inner city areas the capacity is lacking due to over-subscription for the amount of cells. Here's a 3 vs O2 coverage map picking a random area: http://i.imagehost.org/view/0645/comp

25-07-2010, 17:33	#16
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	And another random area comparison: http://a.imagehost.org/view/0060/comp2 and with Orange included: http://i.imagehost.org/view/0236/3333

25-07-2010, 21:23	#17
Daveoc64 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bristol (BBC1 West) Posts: 15,143	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk And another random area comparison: http://a.imagehost.org/view/0060/comp2 and with Orange included: http://i.imagehost.org/view/0236/3333 You can't compare maps like that. The way that the maps are calculated is unique to each network.

25-07-2010, 21:33	#18
Daveoc64 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bristol (BBC1 West) Posts: 15,143	Quote: Originally Posted by alanwarwic Is congestion why they charge £3 per MB? While they charge £3 a MB, almost all packages have a limit of £1 per day (up to 25MB) - that assumes you don't have an inclusive allowance.

25-07-2010, 22:11	#19
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	Quote: Originally Posted by Daveoc64 You can't compare maps like that. The way that the maps are calculated is unique to each network. Whether you compare it via the website, via Ofcom maps or via the networks own coverage % figures O2 comes out the worst. I'm simply using the maps available and letting people make up their own minds.

25-07-2010, 22:19	#20
Daveoc64 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bristol (BBC1 West) Posts: 15,143	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk Whether you compare it via the website, via Ofcom maps or via the networks own coverage % figures O2 comes out the worst. I'm simply using the maps available and letting people make up their own minds. I wouldn't trust any of those figures to make an informed choice. Only actual usage in the places where you will want to use the phone are worth it. If network x has the best percentage coverage, but they don't cover your home or your work place, they are totally useless.

25-07-2010, 22:24	#21
moox Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 14,645	Quote: Originally Posted by Daveoc64 I wouldn't trust any of those figures to make an informed choice. If they're useless, why does Ofcom use them as part of the conditions for the networks' 3g licences? o2 was dragged over the coals for not meeting them. It speaks volumes about their attitude to 3G.

DS Forums

Unreliable O2 internet access?

25-07-2010, 22:27	#22
Daveoc64 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bristol (BBC1 West) Posts: 15,143	Quote: Originally Posted by moox If they're useless, why does Ofcom use them as part of the conditions for the networks' 3g licences? o2 was dragged over the coals for not meeting them. It speaks volumes about their attitude to 3G. Ofcom doesn't. This is a serious misconception. Ofcom clearly stated that the maps they released were: 1) Out of date (and that was nearly a year ago) 2) Not suitable for establishing the level of coverage each network has. Ofcom used much better criteria for determining if the licence terms had been kept to (O2 as with all of the networks had done - so I have no idea why you think they were dragged over coals).

25-07-2010, 22:29	#23
moox Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 14,645	Quote: Originally Posted by Daveoc64 Ofcom used much better criteria for determining if the licence terms had been kept to (O2 as with all of the networks had done - so I have no idea why you think they were dragged over coals). http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...lephones.apple Quote: The mobile phone company O2 faces having its licence to run 3G services in the UK shortened by the regulator, Ofcom, unless it brings its broadband wireless network within the reach of more of the population by the summer. Quote: Under the terms of the licence, the five companies awarded 3G spectrum had to have networks covering 80% of the population by the end of last year. While Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and even new entrant 3 have all managed to get at least 80% population coverage, Ofcom said today that O2's network covers just 75.69% of the population. The shortfall is equivalent to approximately 2.5 million people.

25-07-2010, 22:29	#24
Daveoc64 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bristol (BBC1 West) Posts: 15,143	Quote: Originally Posted by moox http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...lephones.apple Yes, but O2 quite comfortably met that target by the actual deadline. What's your point?

25-07-2010, 22:31	#25
moox Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 14,645	Quote: Originally Posted by Daveoc64 Yes, but O2 quite comfortably met that target by the actual deadline. What's your point? They only met it because of Ofcom's kick up the backside, they continue to lag behind 3 other networks today. It's odd that o2 have been the only network to have such action taken upon them. Are you an o2 employee or paid shill? You do seem to defend them to the hilt.