RootMetrics has published their biannual H2 2019 study of mobile network (3G and 4G) performance across the United Kingdom, which once again named EE (BT) as the best overall operator and they also delivered the fastest aggregate median (average) mobile broadband download speed of 36.5Mbps.
As usual the organisation conducted their work by harnessing a batch of Samsung Galaxy S9 (4G) smartphones, which were purchased off the shelf from operator stores. The testing itself was conducted during both the day and night across 16 of the UK’s biggest cities, while walking and driving. Overall a total of 593,343 tests were completed including 21,535 miles driven, 811 indoor locations and over 750 total places visited.
The study then split the results into several categories (network reliability, speed, data, call and text quality) and each was assigned a score out of 100 (higher number = better). In terms of the UK-wide results, EE came top of every single category and for the most part their closest rival was Vodafone. Meanwhile O2 and Three UK were left to battle over the bottom two places, again.
Curiously though we noted that all of the operators have suffered a slight fall in their overall scores since H1 2019, although this was a bigger fall for Three UK and as a result O2 has finally moved up into 3rd place. Meanwhile Vodafone continues to threaten EE.
Overall Scores for H2 2019 (vs H1 2019 Result)
1. EE – 95.6 (down from 96.1)
2. Vodafone – 94.7 (down from 95.2)
3. O2 – 89.7 (down from 90.5)
4. Three UK – 89.3 (down from 92.1)
The RootMetrics study also gave a result for each operator’s aggregate median mobile broadband download speed across each of the four UK nations, including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. On this front we note that O2 does a lot better in Northern Ireland than elsewhere, although EE still remains dominant.
I always like to see Root Metrics’ results.
Them and OpenSignal. I usually let the app run to do it’s mapping thing while I’m in the car. I’ve mapped a lot over the last 2/3 years!
http://www.rootmetrics.com/en-GB/home
That’s the UK link.
What’s the point in all the different “awards”.
Directly below this post is one that says O2 is king.
A few weeks back, Vodafone was king.
Shall I make my own metrics that say Three is awesome next week ?
I hear U! I think Three is awesome anyway!
What is kind of funny to me is that Rootmetrics consistently ranks EE best but my repeated and ongoing experience is that Vodafone offers the best overall service across the country – anywhere I go, Vodafone will be perfectly usable. EE on the other hand has whole areas where the service is all over the place – it’s far less stable.
The other report listed today on here also showed EE most reliable in Exeter which is hilarious because that’s not been the case for the past 2 years and even EE told us that’s the case.
Not in my area does EE perform whatsoever, in fact I would not recommend this provider as I have spoken to there technical dept who would look into it, but asked me if I had another mobile phone so they could test my phone and signal,my answer was I don’t have numerous phones at my disposable. I would probably be better off ordering one of the first tickets out on Virgingalactica to circumnavigate the earth to achieve a mobile signal, as I have at the moment a cat in hells chance of speaking or having a near normal conversation with another human being