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Old 24-02-2016, 22:32
Gigabit
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Lots of Vodafone maintenance going on around the UK the next few weeks. Many improvements on the way.
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Old 24-02-2016, 22:34
DevonBloke
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Already on full power imo.
I will politely disagree!
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Old 24-02-2016, 22:35
DevonBloke
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Lots of Vodafone maintenance going on around the UK the next few weeks. Many improvements on the way.
Cool, would be nice if I could get the sodding map up to see if there's any future plan here.
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Old 24-02-2016, 22:46
georgi_prodanov
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Thanks for the info DevonBloke. The Vodafone map loads but very slowly. I just tried it.
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Old 24-02-2016, 22:48
beans0ntoast
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Crikey, really? What, they've actually done some upgrades in Devon?
Wow.... wait, look....... flying pigs!! : )
Excellent.
EE on there too, haven't been there to see if they are 4G yet. EE map no good as it's about 4 months out of date. Imagine if Vod had 4G there but not EE...
Here are the panels... https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.48...8i6656!6m1!1e1

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.48...8i6656!6m1!1e1
They still look like the old panels on Maps though, unless they have upgraded the panels?

Also, have Vodafone expanded on their 4G any more than Torbay? As in not having to drive from Totnes down to Torbay just to get some 3G/4G?
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Old 24-02-2016, 22:49
beans0ntoast
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Lots of Vodafone maintenance going on around the UK the next few weeks. Many improvements on the way.
Wonder if the Raunds mast (Northants) will finally get something better than crappy 2G?

In 2016, 2G is just inadequate. Voice quality not as good as 3G, and appalling data rates!
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Old 24-02-2016, 22:49
lightspeed2398
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Lots of Vodafone maintenance going on around the UK the next few weeks. Many improvements on the way.
Mast upgrades or on the core network side?
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Old 24-02-2016, 22:51
Gigabit
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Mast upgrades or on the core network side?
Believe it to be mast upgrades. Beacon are out in force.
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Old 24-02-2016, 23:08
jchamier
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Not sure what voda are playing at with MBB. bought a data sim on PAYG and it clearly says 4G on MyVodafone but neither my Huawei MiFi nor laptop will connect on any more than HSPA 3G. Even in iPhone 6 it's 3G only.

Borrowing a Vodafone USB dongle tomorrow to try but bet it's stuck on 3G.
I wonder if voda only allow 4G to devices they've sold? Same devices work on EE SIM's and I need to try with O2 next to check.
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Old 24-02-2016, 23:10
beans0ntoast
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Well just checked and the Vodafone coverage checker isn't loading for me too. I wonder, will they totally revamp it, so that 2G does not show as 3G?
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Old 24-02-2016, 23:13
georgi_prodanov
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On my laptop the map loads but a bit slowly
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Old 24-02-2016, 23:18
M1kos
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Here's the new Antennas
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f9w0rf96oz...83313.jpg?dl=0
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Old 24-02-2016, 23:50
GreenLantern
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Not sure what voda are playing at with MBB. bought a data sim on PAYG and it clearly says 4G on MyVodafone but neither my Huawei MiFi nor laptop will connect on any more than HSPA 3G. Even in iPhone 6 it's 3G only.

Borrowing a Vodafone USB dongle tomorrow to try but bet it's stuck on 3G.
I wonder if voda only allow 4G to devices they've sold? Same devices work on EE SIM's and I need to try with O2 next to check.
I don't even think Vodafone have the tech in place to do that to be honest lol.

But no I've never heard of that, on the UK network.

Must be a SIM issue or a provisioning issue at their end - or you loaded up the wrong data pack which then loads provisioning ?
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Old 24-02-2016, 23:56
camer_000
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Well just checked and the Vodafone coverage checker isn't loading for me too. I wonder, will they totally revamp it, so that 2G does not show as 3G?
Vodafones entire website is giving an error message for me. - https://gyazo.com/0ca561377f336bef3b9324d6b280a13d
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Old 24-02-2016, 23:58
Gigabit
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Not sure what voda are playing at with MBB. bought a data sim on PAYG and it clearly says 4G on MyVodafone but neither my Huawei MiFi nor laptop will connect on any more than HSPA 3G. Even in iPhone 6 it's 3G only.

Borrowing a Vodafone USB dongle tomorrow to try but bet it's stuck on 3G.
I wonder if voda only allow 4G to devices they've sold? Same devices work on EE SIM's and I need to try with O2 next to check.
Do you have data added to the dongle? I believe 4G is only enabled when data has been added.
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Old 25-02-2016, 00:41
red_snow
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Any of you guys on O2? How are they doing coverage wise nowadays? The reason I ask is that I'm on EE but their indoor coverage is poor! I presume O2 using the same frequency as VF will have better indoor coverage vs EE?

I'd go with VF but my experience with them is the worst I've ever endured!!!! Seriously bad!!!!
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Old 25-02-2016, 01:24
daveyfs
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Any of you guys on O2? How are they doing coverage wise nowadays? The reason I ask is that I'm on EE but their indoor coverage is poor! I presume O2 using the same frequency as VF will have better indoor coverage vs EE?

I'd go with VF but my experience with them is the worst I've ever endured!!!! Seriously bad!!!!
I'd advise you to stick with EE for the time being. They're due to turn on their low frequency 4G network (800 Mhz) which penetrates into buildings far better in the next few months, and this is likely to make a massive difference to their indoor coverage on 4G, as long as you have a compatible phone (currently iPhone 6/6S, Samsung Galaxy 6 upwards.... there are probably others too??).

The coverage on Vodafone will be mirrored on O2 from now on, as they have a mast sharing agreement (CTIL/Cornerstone) for all new mast builds and refurbishments, but Vodafone has much more spectrum in total than O2 meaning the possibility of faster speeds than O2, though still not nearly as much as EE.

O2/Vodafone also has 800 Mhz spectrum, but EE's (and Three's) is likely to be run at much higher power, consequently with greater coverage - if you search through the EE and Three discussion threads you'll find numerous discussions of the technical reasons why Three/EE can have it on full power and O2/Vodafone can't (at the moment anyway).

I'm not an EE fanboy, I just want to be on the network which performs best for the money I pay for a mobile contract. I understand your frustrations with EE's indoor coverage - it's been the main Achilles heel of EE and previously Orange/T-Mobile for many years. Once they switch on 800Mhz, it should be a step change in that network experience, as long as they do it properly.

Recently I've been sorely tempted by the 20Gb for £20 sim only offer on Vodafone, but I just don't think they're anything like as far ahead with their 4G rollout as EE are in the areas where I spend my life, and so for the time being I'm resisting the temptation and keeping the faith
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Old 25-02-2016, 01:25
hammy_y
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Any of you guys on O2? How are they doing coverage wise nowadays? The reason I ask is that I'm on EE but their indoor coverage is poor! I presume O2 using the same frequency as VF will have better indoor coverage vs EE?

I'd go with VF but my experience with them is the worst I've ever endured!!!! Seriously bad!!!!
It varies by area but I've generally found O2/Vodafone are best indoors cause they have the lowest frequencies. At school, O2 is the ONLY provider to NEVER show "No Service". It's just O2's 3G and 4G coverage isn't great everywhere. But if you're in an area with decent 3G/4G coverage on O2, and indoor signal on O2 but not EE, and you really need signal there, then I'd say go for it. You can always get a free sim to try the coverage out. And I think if you're not happy you have 14 days to cancel from when you bought the sim, so just make sure you're happy with it during those 14 days and then enjoy signal indoors!
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Old 25-02-2016, 07:38
jaffboy151
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There maybe lots of maintenance shown for Vodafone out and about but there seems to be a big problem with monopole supply as almost all sites I've seen having work is all things but the pole swap, always listed as 'to be done at a later date' out and about around the country there seems to be quite a few vod/O2 sites with new cabinets but no new pole.
Vodafone 4g 800mhz is certainly NOT at full power, it tends to sit somewhere between the strength of 2100mhz 3g & 900mhz 3g, some masts around me have started off at the lower end but then increased slightly after a few weeks or when more upgrades have happened in the area. Even at this low power level it travels very far at low dB levels, force your phone to 4g only and it will stay for ages way into the 120db.
Red snow asked about coverage, theres a good mix of urban and rural areas around my part of the world, coverage wise O2 has had quite a boost overall as it was always better then Vodafone, yet cornerstone only seem to be upgrading Vodafone sites and then adding them to 02.
EE are miles ahead here though, even before any 800mhz switch on you are rarely without a signal even in very rural areas compared to Vodafone and O2, and that's before you get into what type of signal it is..
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Old 25-02-2016, 08:34
red_snow
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It varies by area but I've generally found O2/Vodafone are best indoors cause they have the lowest frequencies. At school, O2 is the ONLY provider to NEVER show "No Service". It's just O2's 3G and 4G coverage isn't great everywhere. But if you're in an area with decent 3G/4G coverage on O2, and indoor signal on O2 but not EE, and you really need signal there, then I'd say go for it. You can always get a free sim to try the coverage out. And I think if you're not happy you have 14 days to cancel from when you bought the sim, so just make sure you're happy with it during those 14 days and then enjoy signal indoors!
Thanks hammy. It is frustrating as undoubtedly EE have the wider 4G coverage and in far more places but not much good if you can't get a signal indoors. This is really important to me. I don't actually use voice calls that much but it is nice to know that if my child's school needs to get hold of me they can.

IIRC, when I had O2 a few years ago, they applied some pretty hefty compression to streaming! remember having to change the APN settings to circumnavigate this. Is this still the case?

I just remembered I have a GiffGaff SIM kicking around, I'll test coverage with that and see how we get on. Is GiffGaff limited in some way on the O2 network, throttled perhaps?
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Old 25-02-2016, 08:40
red_snow
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Red snow asked about coverage, theres a good mix of urban and rural areas around my part of the world, coverage wise O2 has had quite a boost overall as it was always better then Vodafone, yet cornerstone only seem to be upgrading Vodafone sites and then adding them to 02.
That was one of the things worrying me. I do remember years back when I went anywhere rural then you may get a signal on O2 but was always 2G! It looks as though VF are overtaking O2

EE are miles ahead here though, even before any 800mhz switch on you are rarely without a signal even in very rural areas compared to Vodafone and O2, and that's before you get into what type of signal it is..
I guess its down to where you spend most of your time. At my work I have no signal but folks on Tesco mobile (O2 net) and VF do. A lot of pubs I visit has good signal outside but not in. When I say lots of pubs, I mean the away games playing darts
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Old 25-02-2016, 08:50
jchamier
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Do you have data added to the dongle? I believe 4G is only enabled when data has been added.
1GB of data topped up on the SIM for £10 - and now its in a Vodafone 4G dongle with Vodafone dashboard showing connected at 3G+ in an area where right next to it is my iPhone 6 with a 4G signal. (This dongle is normally used by my colleague with a business contract SIM that does give 4G).

The MyVodafone website shows:
"UK 1GB 4G 30 days £10"
Data used = 0.08GB - will expire 19th March.

Still can't get a MBB 4G signal. Not willing to top up more just to get 3G ; given EE and Vodafone have essentially the same MBB PAYG price plans, and on EE I get 4G.

Bizarre.... maybe the Vodafone store I got the SIM from set it up wrongly - but I wonder if Vodafone offer 4G on MBB PAYG - the website says they do
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Old 25-02-2016, 08:52
jchamier
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I don't even think Vodafone have the tech in place to do that to be honest lol. But no I've never heard of that, on the UK network. Must be a SIM issue or a provisioning issue at their end - or you loaded up the wrong data pack which then loads provisioning ?
Thanks I thought it had to be a screwup - LOL - and it was activated in the store when I bought the SIM / topped up at the same time. Obviously I don't want to spend any more of my money with VF if they can't actually do 4G on PAYG MBB.
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Old 25-02-2016, 09:08
jonmorris
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Vodafone has a weird mix of plans, some with 4G and some without. Not sure why anyone would want to go without 4G. Sure, if you have a 3G only device then you can't use 4G but why have different plans? There's no 2G only plans anymore!
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Old 25-02-2016, 09:57
Gigabit
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All Vodafone plans have 4G and have had for sometime...
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