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Vodafone and O2 4G experience thread


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Old 02-01-2015, 21:06
jaffboy151
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LTE works quite well at range, and with 800mhz the range can be quite long. Shame no VoLTE yet for phone calls.



Only the Field Test mode tells you the cell site ID number, but none of the apps show you the location. I've tried one on Android and it points in completely the wrong direction for the local cell site, so its not reliable either.
It's quite high up where I live and despite being a long way from any 4g coverage, i get 3 bar signal on my ee mifi router and can get 40mbps download and if I do a scan on my phone all networks come up with 4g despite vodafone and O2 not have any cells live for quite some distance, so it really must travel well...
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Old 03-01-2015, 09:59
M1kos
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I had voda 4G 800 signal from 15 miles away (Whitstable to a cell in Rainham) I use network signal info which shows cell ids. There probably is a live site or two which hasn't been put on the map yet but yes range on 800 is impressive
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Old 03-01-2015, 11:48
enapace
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I had voda 4G 800 signal from 15 miles away (Whitstable to a cell in Rainham) I use network signal info which shows cell ids. There probably is a live site or two which hasn't been put on the map yet but yes range on 800 is impressive
Not really sure why this is surprising it's about the same range as 2G 900MHz and it's always been the case that 2G on Vodafone and O2 was brilliant for range and indoor coverage.
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Old 03-01-2015, 12:51
M1kos
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True you used to be able to make a call back in the day on analogue etacs outside eastenders beer place in calais 20+miles from the Dover cell
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Old 03-01-2015, 17:27
jchamier
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Not really sure why this is surprising it's about the same range as 2G 900MHz and it's always been the case that 2G on Vodafone and O2 was brilliant for range and indoor coverage.
In an old people's home this lunchtime I used my Moto G to scan for networks, nothing on 3G or 2G - O2, Voda, EE and Three all outside - EE has 4G outside.

But thanks to 700mhz, O2 and Voda had 4G indoors. Sadly I don't have a Voda 4G enabled SIM to test if it was usable.
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Old 03-01-2015, 22:12
charger21
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Just about to upgrade my phone again with vodafone. Had considered a 4g plan but as the 3g is hit and miss to say the least Ive decided against forking out for something Im unlikely to ever get the use of.
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Old 03-01-2015, 23:24
sammy_boy
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I had voda 4G 800 signal from 15 miles away (Whitstable to a cell in Rainham) I use network signal info which shows cell ids. There probably is a live site or two which hasn't been put on the map yet but yes range on 800 is impressive
Slightly off topic but how did you get that app to show what frequency you were connected to? I've installed the free version of it and it's not showing that info.

More on topic, O2's 4G signal has improved massively in the Derby area where I work in the last couple of months. Decent speeds but they're still doing work on masts in the area. Still a few miles off where I live in Lichfield though currently.
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Old 04-01-2015, 01:32
jabbamk1
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Slightly off topic but how did you get that app to show what frequency you were connected to? I've installed the free version of it and it's not showing that info.

More on topic, O2's 4G signal has improved massively in the Derby area where I work in the last couple of months. Decent speeds but they're still doing work on masts in the area. Still a few miles off where I live in Lichfield though currently.
Vodafone only use 800 spectrum. Its not the app that shows it.

Tbh, apps like those can be quote inaccurate at times so I wouldnt trust them 100%.

(Voda have 2600 as well but likely not deployed in the area the op lives)
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Old 04-01-2015, 20:51
WellHiddenMark
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Just about to upgrade my phone again with vodafone. Had considered a 4g plan but as the 3g is hit and miss to say the least Ive decided against forking out for something Im unlikely to ever get the use of.
The Vodafone 4G service is in a completely different league to the 3G service in my experience. If you have coverage, you will be pleasantly surprised.
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Old 04-01-2015, 22:00
The Lord Lucan
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Been using Vodafone 4G sim the last few days as my EE phone was nicked. Not impressed, even though the local transmitter is far closer than EE's I only get Edge in my house where as I get 2 Bars, 30Mbps 4G on EE. When on Vodafone 4G I'm only seeing 8-10 down and a few up. So EE 3G speeds... Seems to be the same deal elsewhere in London & Edinburgh.. Yes I get occasional 20+ speeds but rarely and let's not talk about the 3G coverage when you leave the cities. Vodafone REALLY need to pull their finger out. Strangely in Edinburgh O2 & Vodafone don't seem that well integrated at each site, especially with 4G.
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Old 04-01-2015, 22:27
andyukguy
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Are you saying you are commonly seeing Edge in London on Vodafone or slower speeds than expected?
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Old 04-01-2015, 22:38
Gigabit
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To be fair, EDGE is picked up in London more than you'd think...
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Old 04-01-2015, 23:10
plymouthbloke1974
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EDGE on Vodafone is slower than GPRS lol
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Old 04-01-2015, 23:29
maverickjesus
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So Vodafone's closer, 800mhz transmitter gives no 4G but an EE transmitter on a much higher frequency, further away, does?
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Old 04-01-2015, 23:37
david16
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To be fair, EDGE is picked up in London more than you'd think...
Mind you they get most things good in London compared with the rest of us in the UK.
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Old 04-01-2015, 23:43
Gigabit
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There are a load of basement-level restaurants in London where only EDGE is available. I thought more 900MHz 3G would have been rolled out but I guess not.
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Old 04-01-2015, 23:51
jonmorris
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So Vodafone's closer, 800mhz transmitter gives no 4G but an EE transmitter on a much higher frequency, further away, does?
On Three, my phone will swap from 4G to 3G quite a bit (and back if there's no data flow) and unless I'm upstairs, it will favour 3G.

EE, presumably from the same transmitter but perhaps a bit higher or lower, seems to favour 4G almost all the time.

O2 can offer reasonable 4G speeds and according to the maps, I'm covered all over by good indoor coverage. However, it seems to favour 2G over 3G and 4G. I might be on 4G for a while, but once it drops to 2G it NEVER goes back!

I'm currently without a Vodafone 4G SIM card to see how that might have changed, but when I last had one - it was just like O2. Good 4G but then 2G and stuck on EDGE or even GPRS.
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Old 05-01-2015, 01:03
sethpet
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When i was last inn London i ran about half a dozen speed tests on vodafone 4g in different areas.

All were well over 30mb dl highest was just over 60mb
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Old 05-01-2015, 01:42
jabbamk1
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O2 can offer reasonable 4G speeds and according to the maps, I'm covered all over by good indoor coverage. However, it seems to favour 2G over 3G and 4G. I might be on 4G for a while, but once it drops to 2G it NEVER goes back!

I'm currently without a Vodafone 4G SIM card to see how that might have changed, but when I last had one - it was just like O2. Good 4G but then 2G and stuck on EDGE or even GPRS.
Can't you disable 2G? Or does that leave you with no signal?
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Old 05-01-2015, 04:23
The Lord Lucan
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So Vodafone's closer, 800mhz transmitter gives no 4G but an EE transmitter on a much higher frequency, further away, does?
Yup, although the EE mast is a proper 30m high multi site and the Voda site is basically a lamp post job (13m). EE mast is 1.5 miles away and Voda mast is 0.5...

To make matters a little more bizarre, there is a Voda/O2 4G mast operating on that same tower as EE..

Edge is seen quite often in London.. Far more often than one would think and expect. That's not to say 4G coverage is poor, it isn't within M25.
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Old 05-01-2015, 06:59
jchamier
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O2 can offer reasonable 4G speeds and according to the maps, I'm covered all over by good indoor coverage. However, it seems to favour 2G over 3G and 4G. I might be on 4G for a while, but once it drops to 2G it NEVER goes back!
I've seen this for years with O2 and Vodafone and assumed they'd biased the SIMs so that phones selected 2G in preference to anything else - to ensure voice coverage is everywhere? Instead of letting the handset make its own determination. Rebooting (airplane mode toggle) often allowed phone to rediscover a strong 3G signal.

(e.g. outdoors near the mast!).
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Old 05-01-2015, 10:50
enapace
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Yup, although the EE mast is a proper 30m high multi site and the Voda site is basically a lamp post job (13m). EE mast is 1.5 miles away and Voda mast is 0.5...

To make matters a little more bizarre, there is a Voda/O2 4G mast operating on that same tower as EE..

Edge is seen quite often in London.. Far more often than one would think and expect. That's not to say 4G coverage is poor, it isn't within M25.
Assume Edge is seen so often because of the amount of masts in London ?
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Old 05-01-2015, 17:17
1manonthebog
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I live in the sticks and recently switched to O2 from EE, On EE I used to get 4G 80% of the time, I've yet to see O2 4G but not only that, H+ speed on O2 is 2mb at best, on EE it was 12mb+
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Old 05-01-2015, 17:21
Silent No More
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I live in the sticks and recently switched to O2 from EE, On EE I used to get 4G 80% of the time, I've yet to see O2 4G but not only that, H+ speed on O2 is 2mb at best, on EE it was 12mb+
What made you switch in the first place?

Presumably you didn't get a free SIM from O2 before you switched to test the network?
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Old 05-01-2015, 17:38
d123
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I live in the sticks and recently switched to O2 from EE, On EE I used to get 4G 80% of the time, I've yet to see O2 4G but not only that, H+ speed on O2 is 2mb at best, on EE it was 12mb+
That pretty much sums up O2 in my experience, though I do have some O2 4G around me, unfortunately it's normally slower than 3G on either EE or Three.
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