Vodafone - Providing unbeatable 4G coverage in London

matty1000kk · 29-09-2014, 20:54

Just seen the Advert on TV. A pretty bold statement I must say!

A few others from there website as well;

Unbeatable at connecting your calls.
Unbeatable at keeping your calls connected.
Unbeatable 4G coverage indoors and outdoors.

Call performance measured by Vodafone group. 4G coverage assessed by LLC.

Thoughts?

Zee_Bukhari · 29-09-2014, 20:59

I saw this on a billboard and laughed. what a joke.

rjb101 · 29-09-2014, 21:11

Well I had a work Vodafone contract and they were rubbish in London. I changed to 3 - much better

d123 · 29-09-2014, 21:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by matty1000kk

Just seen the Advert on TV. A pretty bold statement I must say!

A few others from there website as well;

Unbeatable at connecting your calls.
Unbeatable at keeping your calls connected.
Unbeatable 4G coverage indoors and outdoors.

Call performance measured by Vodafone group. 4G coverage assessed by LLC.

Thoughts?

A very early April Fool story?

Joel's dad · 29-09-2014, 22:20

Vodafone are beyond rubbish IMO, in Birmingham. I rarely got 3g and calls dropped frequently, on top of that they are ridiculously expensive offer poor data packages. It would take a lot for me to trust them again after their abysmal customer service who are as helpful as monkeys

M1kos · 30-09-2014, 08:49

No problems for me In SE London very good in fact. we all know Voda/o2 are well behind with geographical 3G coverage over the uk but in London 4G is as good as any of the others Ive even had 4G well inside some tube stations due to 800mhz And 2600 is now live in some places giving very fast download speeds maybe time to stop knocking them

paulker · 30-09-2014, 08:54

Vodafone Glasgow coverage is top notch. Cant complain,

SkipTracer · 30-09-2014, 09:47

Their carrier pigeon service is not bad in the South West; well it beats their 4G service anyways.

planetf1 · 30-09-2014, 14:19

Unbeatable... quite possibly.
Did it say "unbeatably good"
Nope... go figure

Aye Up · 30-09-2014, 14:40

It really does depend where in the country you are....

From my own perspective where I live 4G/3G/2G coverage plentiful and vast. Admittedly they were starting from a low base so anything is an improvement really. Same goes for O2 4G coverage is lovely and strong again plenty of capacity. Naturally the aforementioned would be similar given their rollout plans.

EE offers good 2G/3G/4G coverage the latter not hugely strong but it maintains signal. Again speeds and capacity are great.

Three......well words fail me

Coming back to the original point, areas that have seen upgrades by Vodafone & O2 will inevitably see a vast improvement. Its no secret both operators were appalling during the 3G era, they have realised how much its come back to bite them in the arse. Hence why they aggressive rollout strategies.....

I have to be fair to Vodafone, the areas I frequent they are great. My only concern is customer service.....but then that is an issue for another day.

japaul · 01-10-2014, 20:02

Unbeatable doesn't mean unmatchable. This is a summary of the LCC assessment they are using as the basis for the 4G coverage part of the claim on the billboards in London.

http://imgur.com/Pq3ig9C

plymouthbloke1974 · 01-10-2014, 23:32

O2 or Vodafone 4G in Plymouth - zilch.
Their 3G is questionable outside of the city centre (Vodafone is much better than O2 - they are so bad around here they are called Slow2 LOL)

Both EE (plus OUK and TMUK) and Three deliver solid 3G all over the South West, with very respectable 3G speeds all over (up to 20+ Mbit on 3G in places). 4G on EE and Three in Plymouth, Torquay, Paignton and Exeter etc all good. EE more widespread than Three in this regard for 4G, however Three's 3G in these areas is blisteringly fast anyway, almost to the point of negating 4G altogether.

Once the capacity issues are sorted in the South West, then there will be real competition. And I think EE will win the battle in this region. but it will take time.

mediamogal · 02-10-2014, 19:39

Just got back from 5days in Barcelona, bought a 12e Vodafone SIM. The 4g was 50+mbit all over, was well impressed

The Lord Lucan · 03-10-2014, 02:11

None of the networks are that bad in London regarding 4G.. I wouldn't say any are outstanding yet and certainly wouldn't say Vodafone is "unbeatable" unless they have improved since i used them a month ago. EE was usually stronger and faster.

Gigabit · 03-10-2014, 07:45

London is the one place where I would say 800MHz LTE is pointless. There are so many masts (look it up if you don't believe), it must negate any benefit from lower frequencies, no?

Thine Wonk · 03-10-2014, 07:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by japaul

Unbeatable doesn't mean unmatchable. This is a summary of the LCC assessment they are using as the basis for the 4G coverage part of the claim on the billboards in London.

http://imgur.com/Pq3ig9C

Looking at the graphic you posted it looks like they measured purely signal on thresholds given by Vodafone

Not data throughput, reliability, latency or performance, just simply measured signal level. Maybe they also did other tests and they didn't come up on top (as they haven't in Root Metrics) so they just decided to concentrate on signal level.

The problem is, consumers measure the network on page load times or download speeds, or reliability.

The Lord Lucan · 03-10-2014, 18:41

They are certainly not what they claim in Edinburgh. EE is all over Vodafone, which if IMHO are behind O2 here. It's very close between O2 & EE here, EE edging on speed day to day, O2 ever so slightly better in coverage (deep in building at least).. overall experience similar. Vodafone just isn't as fast, strong or reliable.

paulker · 03-10-2014, 20:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan

They are certainly not what they claim in Edinburgh. EE is all over Vodafone, which if IMHO are behind O2 here. It's very close between O2 & EE here, EE edging on speed day to day, O2 ever so slightly better in coverage (deep in building at least).. overall experience similar. Vodafone just isn't as fast, strong or reliable.

From a brief visit to Edinburgh I would say Glasgow 4g on Vodafone is better. On a side note I am finding that 4g is slowing down on Vodafone in recent weeks but then EE has been poor too.

Zee_Bukhari · 03-10-2014, 20:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gigabit

London is the one place where I would say 800MHz LTE is pointless. There are so many masts (look it up if you don't believe), it must negate any benefit from lower frequencies, no?

I live in London and don't see any masts, anywhere, just trees. 800MHz is important in greater London but inner London may be pointless.

uno · 04-10-2014, 02:24

Don't forget as well that Vodafone are busy rolling out 2600mhz across London with some high usage sites already active. They are also rolling this out nationwide with Coventry sites being done this week

Steven L Hunter · 04-10-2014, 10:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulker

From a brief visit to Edinburgh I would say Glasgow 4g on Vodafone is better. On a side note I am finding that 4g is slowing down on Vodafone in recent weeks but then EE has been poor too.

You're lucky to get EDGE in some parts of Edinburgh central especially around south side area and if you get any data coverage it's usually 3G when you pay for 4G.

sethpet · 04-10-2014, 11:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zee_Bukhari

I live in London and don't see any masts, anywhere, just trees. 800MHz is important in greater London but inner London may be pointless.

You either are not looking or don't know what your looking for.

There are hundreds of antenna all over London.

Gigabit · 04-10-2014, 14:39

Interesting that O2 and Vodafone are first to have 4G in Winchester. I thought EE would have been there ages ago but nope.

Stereo Steve · 05-10-2014, 13:25

Problem EE and 3 have in the SW is that 900 is far superior to 1800/2100 in our landscape so for just calls, O2 and VOD are just better. Best not talk about their record on 3G down here but if you mainly want your phone to ring in most places, the 900 networks are just better.

EE need to be serious about sorting VoLTE at 800 around these parts. No good to me being able to get 80 meg data if I stand on the roof of my car, waving my phone around. I want reasonably fast data (3G is ample for me at the moment) and lots of allowance but also a phone that rings as often as it does with an O2 sim in it. Simples.

At the moment, we down here have to choose. I'm sure it's the same in other parts of the UK with rolling hills, lots of trees and old houses with thick stone walls. I hope EE can get this up and running soon and roll out 800 at the same time so I can ditch my O2 sim. Because it smells.

daveyfs · 05-10-2014, 19:23

Playing around with Vodafone's coverage map, its interesting to see that 4G coverage comes alive in a number of places across south Wales if you toggle 'View our planned coverage'.

The odd thing is that it seems to be in quite specific areas rather than city and town centres. For example in Swansea, there is planned coverage showing for the city centre but it is showing for Killay, a suburb 3-4 miles to the West. I wonder why its so random?

29-09-2014, 20:54	#1
matty1000kk Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 272	Vodafone - Providing unbeatable 4G coverage in London Just seen the Advert on TV. A pretty bold statement I must say! A few others from there website as well; Unbeatable at connecting your calls. Unbeatable at keeping your calls connected. Unbeatable 4G coverage indoors and outdoors. Call performance measured by Vodafone group. 4G coverage assessed by LLC. Thoughts?

29-09-2014, 20:59	#2
Zee_Bukhari Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 1,319	I saw this on a billboard and laughed. what a joke.

29-09-2014, 21:11	#3
rjb101 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,609	Well I had a work Vodafone contract and they were rubbish in London. I changed to 3 - much better

29-09-2014, 21:27	#4
d123 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,993	Quote: Originally Posted by matty1000kk Just seen the Advert on TV. A pretty bold statement I must say! A few others from there website as well; Unbeatable at connecting your calls. Unbeatable at keeping your calls connected. Unbeatable 4G coverage indoors and outdoors. Call performance measured by Vodafone group. 4G coverage assessed by LLC. Thoughts? A very early April Fool story?

29-09-2014, 22:20	#5
Joel's dad Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 4,481	Vodafone are beyond rubbish IMO, in Birmingham. I rarely got 3g and calls dropped frequently, on top of that they are ridiculously expensive offer poor data packages. It would take a lot for me to trust them again after their abysmal customer service who are as helpful as monkeys

30-09-2014, 08:49	#6
M1kos Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 499	No problems for me In SE London very good in fact. we all know Voda/o2 are well behind with geographical 3G coverage over the uk but in London 4G is as good as any of the others Ive even had 4G well inside some tube stations due to 800mhz And 2600 is now live in some places giving very fast download speeds maybe time to stop knocking them

30-09-2014, 08:54	#7
paulker Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 901	Vodafone Glasgow coverage is top notch. Cant complain,

30-09-2014, 09:47	#8
SkipTracer Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The City and County of Bristol Posts: 2,623	Their carrier pigeon service is not bad in the South West; well it beats their 4G service anyways.

30-09-2014, 14:19	#9
planetf1 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Hampshire Posts: 521	Unbeatable... quite possibly. Did it say "unbeatably good" Nope... go figure

30-09-2014, 14:40	#10
Aye Up Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: North West Posts: 4,885	It really does depend where in the country you are.... From my own perspective where I live 4G/3G/2G coverage plentiful and vast. Admittedly they were starting from a low base so anything is an improvement really. Same goes for O2 4G coverage is lovely and strong again plenty of capacity. Naturally the aforementioned would be similar given their rollout plans. EE offers good 2G/3G/4G coverage the latter not hugely strong but it maintains signal. Again speeds and capacity are great. Three......well words fail me Coming back to the original point, areas that have seen upgrades by Vodafone & O2 will inevitably see a vast improvement. Its no secret both operators were appalling during the 3G era, they have realised how much its come back to bite them in the arse. Hence why they aggressive rollout strategies..... I have to be fair to Vodafone, the areas I frequent they are great. My only concern is customer service.....but then that is an issue for another day.

01-10-2014, 20:02	#11
japaul Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 1,662	Unbeatable doesn't mean unmatchable. This is a summary of the LCC assessment they are using as the basis for the 4G coverage part of the claim on the billboards in London. http://imgur.com/Pq3ig9C

01-10-2014, 23:32	#12
plymouthbloke1974 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Destination: Hard Brexit Posts: 6,368	O2 or Vodafone 4G in Plymouth - zilch. Their 3G is questionable outside of the city centre (Vodafone is much better than O2 - they are so bad around here they are called Slow2 LOL) Both EE (plus OUK and TMUK) and Three deliver solid 3G all over the South West, with very respectable 3G speeds all over (up to 20+ Mbit on 3G in places). 4G on EE and Three in Plymouth, Torquay, Paignton and Exeter etc all good. EE more widespread than Three in this regard for 4G, however Three's 3G in these areas is blisteringly fast anyway, almost to the point of negating 4G altogether. Once the capacity issues are sorted in the South West, then there will be real competition. And I think EE will win the battle in this region. but it will take time.

02-10-2014, 19:39	#13
mediamogal Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Chatham, kent. Posts: 42	Just got back from 5days in Barcelona, bought a 12e Vodafone SIM. The 4g was 50+mbit all over, was well impressed

03-10-2014, 02:11	#14
The Lord Lucan Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,966	None of the networks are that bad in London regarding 4G.. I wouldn't say any are outstanding yet and certainly wouldn't say Vodafone is "unbeatable" unless they have improved since i used them a month ago. EE was usually stronger and faster.

03-10-2014, 07:45	#15
Gigabit Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,887	London is the one place where I would say 800MHz LTE is pointless. There are so many masts (look it up if you don't believe), it must negate any benefit from lower frequencies, no?

03-10-2014, 07:59	#16
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	Quote: Originally Posted by japaul Unbeatable doesn't mean unmatchable. This is a summary of the LCC assessment they are using as the basis for the 4G coverage part of the claim on the billboards in London. http://imgur.com/Pq3ig9C Looking at the graphic you posted it looks like they measured purely signal on thresholds given by Vodafone Not data throughput, reliability, latency or performance, just simply measured signal level. Maybe they also did other tests and they didn't come up on top (as they haven't in Root Metrics) so they just decided to concentrate on signal level. The problem is, consumers measure the network on page load times or download speeds, or reliability.

03-10-2014, 18:41	#17
The Lord Lucan Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,966	They are certainly not what they claim in Edinburgh. EE is all over Vodafone, which if IMHO are behind O2 here. It's very close between O2 & EE here, EE edging on speed day to day, O2 ever so slightly better in coverage (deep in building at least).. overall experience similar. Vodafone just isn't as fast, strong or reliable.

03-10-2014, 20:38	#18
paulker Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 901	Quote: Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan They are certainly not what they claim in Edinburgh. EE is all over Vodafone, which if IMHO are behind O2 here. It's very close between O2 & EE here, EE edging on speed day to day, O2 ever so slightly better in coverage (deep in building at least).. overall experience similar. Vodafone just isn't as fast, strong or reliable. From a brief visit to Edinburgh I would say Glasgow 4g on Vodafone is better. On a side note I am finding that 4g is slowing down on Vodafone in recent weeks but then EE has been poor too.

03-10-2014, 20:56	#19
Zee_Bukhari Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 1,319	Quote: Originally Posted by Gigabit London is the one place where I would say 800MHz LTE is pointless. There are so many masts (look it up if you don't believe), it must negate any benefit from lower frequencies, no? I live in London and don't see any masts, anywhere, just trees. 800MHz is important in greater London but inner London may be pointless.

04-10-2014, 02:24	#20
uno Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Leicestershire Posts: 507	Don't forget as well that Vodafone are busy rolling out 2600mhz across London with some high usage sites already active. They are also rolling this out nationwide with Coventry sites being done this week

04-10-2014, 10:26	#21
Steven L Hunter Guest Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 10,517	Quote: Originally Posted by paulker From a brief visit to Edinburgh I would say Glasgow 4g on Vodafone is better. On a side note I am finding that 4g is slowing down on Vodafone in recent weeks but then EE has been poor too. You're lucky to get EDGE in some parts of Edinburgh central especially around south side area and if you get any data coverage it's usually 3G when you pay for 4G.

DS Forums

Vodafone - Providing unbeatable 4G coverage in London

04-10-2014, 11:05	#22
sethpet Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 494	Quote: Originally Posted by Zee_Bukhari I live in London and don't see any masts, anywhere, just trees. 800MHz is important in greater London but inner London may be pointless. You either are not looking or don't know what your looking for. There are hundreds of antenna all over London.

04-10-2014, 14:39	#23
Gigabit Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,887	Interesting that O2 and Vodafone are first to have 4G in Winchester. I thought EE would have been there ages ago but nope.

05-10-2014, 13:25	#24
Stereo Steve Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 1,378	Problem EE and 3 have in the SW is that 900 is far superior to 1800/2100 in our landscape so for just calls, O2 and VOD are just better. Best not talk about their record on 3G down here but if you mainly want your phone to ring in most places, the 900 networks are just better. EE need to be serious about sorting VoLTE at 800 around these parts. No good to me being able to get 80 meg data if I stand on the roof of my car, waving my phone around. I want reasonably fast data (3G is ample for me at the moment) and lots of allowance but also a phone that rings as often as it does with an O2 sim in it. Simples. At the moment, we down here have to choose. I'm sure it's the same in other parts of the UK with rolling hills, lots of trees and old houses with thick stone walls. I hope EE can get this up and running soon and roll out 800 at the same time so I can ditch my O2 sim. Because it smells.

05-10-2014, 19:23	#25
daveyfs Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Swansea Posts: 871	Playing around with Vodafone's coverage map, its interesting to see that 4G coverage comes alive in a number of places across south Wales if you toggle 'View our planned coverage'. The odd thing is that it seems to be in quite specific areas rather than city and town centres. For example in Swansea, there is planned coverage showing for the city centre but it is showing for Killay, a suburb 3-4 miles to the West. I wonder why its so random?