JSHarris
Super Pro Member
I've wasted hours trying to find out why I can't get any signal at all from the provider with supposedly the best coverage here, to the extent that I've gone so far as to wander around the area with three devices doing an ad hoc survey (tablet with a 3 SIM, two phones, one with an O2 SIM, other with a Vodafone SIM).
The results are surprising. For example, the provider with the very best apparent signal here (according to their coverage checker) is 3. Their prediction for my post code is:
In reality there is no signal at all from 3 here. I've even climbed up to the top of a ladder at the gable end of our house to see if there's any signal at height and there's nothing at all from 3.
EE is much the same. Their coverage checker has this to say about our location:
Again, there is no EE signal at all here, even at the top of the ladder, so the EE checker is also wrong.
O2 and Vodafone seem to be pretty much spot on. They both predict the signal here is good enough for calls and 4G when outdoors, which it is (if stood on the top of a ladder).
All four providers use the same mast, all four have sector antennas facing us that are about the same beam width and all four are using Band 20. I'm struggling to get my head around the reasons for the EE and 3 coverage checkers being so wrong, wildly so for the 3 checker (so wrong as to make it completely useless).
Anyone have any idea why things on the ground are nothing like the predictions from the providers?
It's annoying, as I've wasted time and a bit of cash on getting a SIM for what I assumed would be the best provider for our area, only to find that in reality they are the worst.
The results are surprising. For example, the provider with the very best apparent signal here (according to their coverage checker) is 3. Their prediction for my post code is:
In reality there is no signal at all from 3 here. I've even climbed up to the top of a ladder at the gable end of our house to see if there's any signal at height and there's nothing at all from 3.
EE is much the same. Their coverage checker has this to say about our location:
Again, there is no EE signal at all here, even at the top of the ladder, so the EE checker is also wrong.
O2 and Vodafone seem to be pretty much spot on. They both predict the signal here is good enough for calls and 4G when outdoors, which it is (if stood on the top of a ladder).
All four providers use the same mast, all four have sector antennas facing us that are about the same beam width and all four are using Band 20. I'm struggling to get my head around the reasons for the EE and 3 coverage checkers being so wrong, wildly so for the 3 checker (so wrong as to make it completely useless).
Anyone have any idea why things on the ground are nothing like the predictions from the providers?
It's annoying, as I've wasted time and a bit of cash on getting a SIM for what I assumed would be the best provider for our area, only to find that in reality they are the worst.























