Hi all.

Just recently moved back to the uk and signed up for a Vodafone contact.

I went to about five towns in Somerset a few days ago and was surprised to find no Vodafone coverage.

I have the right handset so could access 4g, 3g and 2g if any existed.

My question is whether Vodafone are actively improving their network, or should I just move to a different network?

No signal at all is unusual. Vodafone have a pretty good 2G network, a pretty awful 3G and a really good 4G that is rolling out fast. However they (along with O2) are behind Three and EE in many locations for data services.

Vodafone and EE are pumping in tons of money but you won't get a timescale. If you need to go to those locations a lot - then get some prepay SIMs from all 4 networks from a pound shop or amazon etc, and try them in an unlocked phone to see who covers where you need.

So are Vodafone not upgrading their 3G as they upgrade their network?

Seems a tad shortsighted.

I think they are installing 5MHz of 900MHz 3G when they do the 4G upgrades, however I'm not sure if they are installing much 2100MHz which they really need for speed and capacity. That said, in cities I have found Vodafones 3G to be better than Threes simply due to how congested Three seems to be at the moment. I can't see this changing anytime soon either :-\

Great if their 4g network is rolling out quickly but not so helpful as they are not running voice over LTE currently...

I'd recommend trying EE or 3 (as someone else said, get a SIM from a pound shop or supermarket, or get one sent to you for free from their website), I'm in a different part of the SW and the coverage difference is like night and day between them and Vodafone/O2.

I get at least 3G practically all the time

You should get VOD 2G voice pretty much everywhere and 3/ EE can't compete with 900Mhz. But data? Nah. Forget it. If you want a phone for calls in the SW then it's VOD. If you want data and pretty good call coverage then EE. 1800 just doesn't bend like 900 does.

4G, 800Mhz, VoLTE etc. will change all that over the next 24 months and it's going to be interesting.

I would say Cornwall is probably better than Devon for 3G to be honest.
Once you leave Saltash it's all massive hills and valleys and you think it's going to be crap but it's pretty unbroken all the way down.
They haven't updated the map this week have they. Appears to be every two weeks now?
Almost ended up down Eden this weekend but now not going.
Was going to go all anorak and see if they had turned on 4G on the one in the coach park!
You're the other side of Snozzle aren't you?

ee and three are light years ahead in rural Wales.

If you're trying to go to Exeter you end up on Bodmin Moor for a while which can be iffy for coverage (although some of the mobile networks have tried to do a good job of hiding their masts behind trees)

I'm somewhere between Bodmin/Newquay/St Austell, near the EE 4G blackspot in the middle of Cornwall (still only 1 bar of 4G here)

I see Vodafone now have 4G on in several Devon Towns.
The fake telegraph pole in Kingsbridge is now on and as was discussed in the great CSFB debate it is accompanied by 3G (900 I suspect) to allow calls.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.28...3di_5XYIzw!2e0
The odd thing is this is an O2 3G site and it doesn't show 4G on O2's checker.
If it's shared surely O2 would have 4G there too?

o2 might not just have activated it yet surely? But Cornerstone seem to be full steam ahead still, noticing large continuous coverage in the north now which is always good to see, it does feel strange now though when they begin to develop better networks than Three coverage (and maybe) speed wise.

Is that the approach V-O2 are taking, for both to do everything together?

Or is it MBNL style where EE typically leads and 3 decides if they want to follow

Dunno, but I just thought.....
It's only just gone on so O2 could have 4G there but are slower updating their map, possibly.....

Vodafone do an update every Thursday (dated underneath the map)
O2's seems more monthly (again dated).

The Voda 3G checker is poor - the future coverage is broken and shows less cover than current coverage in some areas. The 4G current/future seems to work properly. Wish they'd make the map area bigger as well!

Ah yes, thanks.
Yeah the map was discussed elsewhere recently.
It's kept small so you can't see how bad their 3G is country wide.
Notice when you go to the full map it's only the 2G you can see. 3G is only visible when zoomed right in and even then they try to confuse by including the 2G coverage as well.

Even their 2g coverage shows 'limited' which in my mind is equal to zero, although their 2g network for calls is pretty good. My work has a 'retreat' in the Lakes where there is only vodafone 2g so need a sim, it's reliable in that sense.

VO2 are indeed doing things together eventually all upgraded masts will be live to both but sometimes baclhaul etc slows things down. Voda are doing Devon/Cornwall so may have the upper hand

Is there a list of planned tower upgrades for voda?

Still no O2 4G in Alton or Alresford.

Think I remeber someone on here saying that VF are sometimes quicker with 4G as they have their own fibre backhaul so don't have to wait on BT

SethPet- It can work both ways with Vodafones own fibre backhaul if it is in a area where they already have it in th area yes it can go live sooner but more often than not the masts outside city centres and business parks do not have Vodafone fibre within 500metres so it takes longer than BT & Virgin media can do the O2 side of things.

Also before go live they often install lots of new fibre in areas so for example down in Devon & Cornwall they have been busy for the last 3months puttings in KMs of new fibre to connect upto masts and sell into business and eventually they will launch their own broadband product this year using this new upgraded core network.

I wonder how much of that is really theirs and isn't simply leasing Western Power Distribution's own fibre network, like Virgin and others do (Virgin's network map for Devon and Cornwall follows the path of WPD's network on one route and the railway line on the other)

I can just see it now.....
Devonbloke's mast gets Vodfafone 4G before EE........
Noooooo.... Arrgggghhhhhhh!!!
Hahahahahahaha

Anyone know what happens in the case of my mast.
EE have put in for a quote to get fibre to it from the A38.
Would they not ask the other networks if they want to chip in for the trenching so reducing the cost for everyone.
There is NO fibre there at present.