Mobile Broadband - Poor HSDPA reception

[jah]

Hi Folks,


Put this in the wrong forum earlier. Sorry for the duplicate.

I've been a Vodafone HSDPA customer for several years now since around November 2008. For at least 18 months I got excellent reception near where I live, particularly in the area of Byward Street, London, EC3R: normally 3.6Mbps on HSDPA. For around the last year or so, however, the reception has been absolutely appalling. Persistent disconnections(I mean connected for 30 seconds and then cut off ad nauseum), connection speeds varying from GPRS all the way up to 3G HSDPA if you're lucky for a few minutes at a time.

I contacted your engineering people several times but not had any joy. One just said that that area seemed to be a bit of a black spot but protesting the fact that it hasn't always been a black spot fell on deaf ears. Something has changed and I'd like to know what it is and have it fixed.

This area is in the heart of The City with a lot of business and personal customers who really ought to be able to expect a steady HSDPA signal while sitting in a cafe having a sandwich but they aren't getting one in that area from Vodafone at the moment! Even my iPhone on O2 does better there.

Could someone please arrange for an investigation into what's changed in that area? It might be caused by building work, cranes, etc., in the area but surely something can be done about it? If something else is causing the interference then it needs to be tracked down and fixed.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

jah

[Retired-Dave]

Hi jah, welcome to the eForum.

There could, as you say, be a number of reasons why signal might not be as high as it has been previously, including building work affecting line of sight or high demand at peak times.

In order that we can have another look to see if there is anything which needs checking, we need the full postcode of the area affected - as you say it's near where you live I cannot assume that your profile postcode is correct so I can't just check that. If you can provide that for me we can have a look to see what we can see.

If, as you say, engineers have previously been unable to find a fault, I certainly cannot guarantee that we'll be able to see anything off at the moment, but we can have a look and see what comes up just in case.

DaveN

eForum Team

[jah]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your reply.

You could try the following addresses:

EC3R 5AS (Full addresses removed for security)


EC3R 5AS

The people I've spoken too simply said to me that that area was a blackspot. The fact of the matter is that it has become a blackspot; it certainly wasn't before. Something has changed. Whether it's a Vodafone change, e.g. a base station has moved, or interference from building work, or something else altogether, there is considerable interference with the mobile network in that area which should be a concern for you and warrant more investigation than has been done so far. I also experience interference on O2 in the area though not at the same place. Presumably if someone is doing something that's interfering with your network, under the Wireless Telegraphy Act you can do something about it.

Cheers,

jah

[lrollason]

Hi jah, welcome to the eForum.

There could, as you say, be a number of reasons why signal might not be as high as it has been previously, including building work affecting line of sight or high demand at peak times.

In order that we can have another look to see if there is anything which needs checking, we need the full postcode of the area affected - as you say it's near where you live I cannot assume that your profile postcode is correct so I can't just check that. If you can provide that for me we can have a look to see what we can see.

If, as you say, engineers have previously been unable to find a fault, I certainly cannot guarantee that we'll be able to see anything off at the moment, but we can have a look and see what comes up just in case.

DaveN

eForum Team

Hi Dave,

So, this seems very similar to the issues I've been having in EC2. It would appear wise to get engineers involved now to increase capacity - it's only going to get worse over the summer witt he World Cup etc.

Thanks

[jah]

Hi Dave,

So, this seems very similar to the issues I've been having in EC2. It would appear wise to get engineers involved now to increase capacity - it's only going to get worse over the summer witt he World Cup etc.

Thanks

I imagine there's been explosive growth in data usage over this period. Certainly I'd like a proper investigation into the issues in the area if at all possible,

Cheers,

jah

P.S. There was no need to remove the addresses for security or any other purposes. They were the Subway and Pret a manger sandwich places respectively;).

[Retired-Jon_V]

EC3R 5AS (Full addresses removed for security)

Hi Jah,

At this address, 3G coverage is provided by cell 866. It has recently had some work done to it, and a follow-up visit is already scheduled in for tomorrow, so hopefully if there are problems with this site, they will be spotted once our engineers are present.

The case reference for this visit is 205292. If you want us to chase this up at any time, simply post back after the 4th of June, and we'll check the case notes for any follow-up actions and if necessary, raise a new fault if our engineers can't find one during the inspection.

Jon

eForum Team

[jah]

EC3R 5AS (Full addresses removed for security)

Hi Jah,

At this address, 3G coverage is provided by cell 866. It has recently had some work done to it, and a follow-up visit is already scheduled in for tomorrow, so hopefully if there are problems with this site, they will be spotted once our engineers are present.

The case reference for this visit is 205292. If you want us to chase this up at any time, simply post back after the 4th of June, and we'll check the case notes for any follow-up actions and if necessary, raise a new fault if our engineers can't find one during the inspection.

Jon

eForum Team

Hi Jon,

That's great, thanks. Does that mean that there are known, ongoing issues there? Fingers crossed the engineer will fix it.

Cheers,

jah

[lrollason]

Hi Jon,

That's great, thanks. Does that mean that there are known, ongoing issues there? Fingers crossed the engineer will fix it.

Cheers,

jah

Hallelujah!!! Well done jah for getting them to sort this out.

I raised concerns about virtually non-existent HSDPA download speeds in EC2 over two weeks ago, and Vodafone consistently denied that there was any fault.

I'm on my guard now

[jah]

Hallelujah!!! Well done jah for getting them to sort this out.

I raised concerns about virtually non-existent HSDPA download speeds in EC2 over two weeks ago, and Vodafone consistently denied that there was any fault.

I'm on my guard now

Well, not sure if that cell will cover your area too but fingers crossed! It's been really bugging me for the best part of a year.

Cheers,

jah

[jah]

Any news on how the engineer visit went guys?

TIA

jah