HP4 - Little Gaddesden

[SJG2017]

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Post Title: 'First half of post code - Area' e.g. ST1 – Stoke-on-Trent

1) Does the issue happen in just one location? If so, how far do you have to travel to regain service?  

Indoors in home and outdoors till I walk about 30 metres from the house. Issue has only arisen in last 3/4 weeks.  Before that I got 1 or 2 spots signal strength showing on my phone and could make/receive phone calls and texts even when in the house.  My husband's phone has exactly the same problem (also on Vodafone) - this also worked reasonably well indoors until 3/4 weeks ago.

2) What is the full postcode (e.g. ST1 1AA) of where the issue occurs? If you don't want this showing on the Community, add it to your profile here.

I will add this to my Profile.

3) Does the issue occur if you try your SIM card in a different phone?

SIM and phone work perfectly well in other locations.  Also see above re my husband's phone on the Vodafone network having exactly the same problem.

4) What errors are seen or heard when the issue occurs?  

No send/receive ability indoors.

5) Does this happen on 2G, 3G, 4G or all?  

2G, 3G and 4G on my phone.  2G and 3G on my husband's phone (it has no 4G facility).

6) When did you first notice this issue?

3/4 weeks ago.  I was told by Vodafone Support on 13 Feb that their records showed that a local mast was undergoing maintenance and the issue should clear in about 6 days.  I rang again on 20 Feb as there had been no improvement and was told that all the local masts were working fine.

7) Is the issue permanent or intermittent? If intermittent, are there certain times of the day when it occurs?

Permanent.

[Jenny]

@SJG2017 - I’ve checked the coverage in your area and whilst 3G and 4G are mostly outdoor only, you should be able to get 2G at home.

Your local site looks to be performing fine.

Please try changing your network settings to 2G only as this should help improve the coverage you receive.

[SJG2017]

As my answers on the Template form indicate, 2G is no better than 3G.  What I can't undertand is why there was indoor coverage, even on 3G, up to about 3 weeks ago, and since then zilch.  Something has changed with your network over this period, so I suggest that your tech people check the mast again.  EE seems a better bet at the moment according to neighbours, although Vodafone has been the local network of choice for many years due to its better local coverage - but no more.

[PedroC1999]

I've had a little check and it doesn't appear that any sites have been turned off or anything like that. 

[Jenny]

@SJG2017 - There are a number of reasons the network may have changed in your area, such as new buildings, overgrown trees, or an increase in area population, resulting in more people using the local masts.

Your phone will always try to connect to 3G over 2G, even if the 2G coverage is much stronger and the 3G coverage is intermittent – this is why changing your settings to 2G only should help improve the connection you get.

[SJG2017]

Thanks for your thoughts.

Conservation area - so no new buildings and no increase in local population.

Winter - so no tree growth in the last 3 weeks.

Has anyone at Vodafone actually carried out a local mast performance test since my complaint or the Tech people just work off the internal records?  I think my local Vodafone mast is at the Ashridge-Business School (83883).  They regularly have building works so these may have affected performance.

Have switched both phones to 2G - no improvement unfortunately. 

[Alex]

@SJG2017 I've just checked your local serving site (8144) and it's performing correctly. 

I can see there's been no recent changes to this site. 

You could look into Wi-Fi Calling or a Sure Signal to improve your network at home.