S9 - Sheffield

[jamesnsuk]

1) Does the issue happen in just one location? If so, how far do you have to travel to regain service? Yes, travel less than a mile towards the city centre and 4G is normal and works as you'd expect again 

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. S9 3LS. Anywhere else that 4G shows on the phone it works as expected. 

3) Does the issue occur if you try your SIM card in a different phone? Yes, I have 2 phones - one work and one personal. Both are Vodafone and both have ineffective 4G in S9 3LS. Both also work fine on 4G in other areas of Sheffield. 

4) What errors are seen or heard when the issue occurs? Data speeds are totally ineffective. I end up turning 4G off and using 3G to get any decent data speed which I shouldn't have to do.

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

6) When did you first notice this issue? December 2016. This was reported to 191 at the time who assured me it would be addressed and resolved but it never has.

7) Is the issue permanent or intermittent? If intermittent, are there certain times of the day when it occurs? This is a permenant issue in the S9 post code area only. I don't have any issues with 4G anywhere else. 

[jamesnsuk]

1) Does the issue happen in just one location? If so, how far do you have to travel to regain service? Yes, one location. Travel a mile or so towards S1 and 4G is then fine with amazing 4G speeds. At home and other areas of Sheffield, if phone says 4G the speed of data reflects that.

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. S9 3LS

3) Does the issue occur if you try your SIM card in a different phone? Yes. I have 2 phones - one personal and one work phone, both Vodafone and both are a dead loss on 4G.

4) What errors are seen or heard when the issue occurs? Phones show 4G but speed non-existant. Can't even do a speed test as it times out or comes back with latency error. If I turn 4G off and use 3G it's far better than 4G. But shouln't have to turn 4G off to use data.

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

6) When did you first notice this issue? December 2016, reported to 191 at the time who assured it would be fixed but it's never improved.

7) Is the issue permanent or intermittent? If intermittent, are there certain times of the day when it occurs? Permanent, 4G never works in this location.

[Tash]

@jamesnsuk I've checked your local site (1678) and you should be getting good 4G coverage.

I can see that the location you've provided is an industrial estate - any local machinery from local businesses, or any building materials, can have an impact on the coverage in your area.

Are you experiencing the issue when indoors, outdoors or both?

[jamesnsuk]

There is no issue with the coverage - I get 4 bars on 4G. It's the 4G data speed that is non-existant. 3G speeds are fine but I shouldn't have to turn 4G off to use mobile data efficiently. 3G speed test right now is 14mb download and 0.48mb upload. 4G speed test right now "latency test failed"...

It's not an "industrial" area as such, certainly no heavy machinery or the like in the vicinity. Problems are indoors and outdoors. Colleagues on other networks don't have any issues with their 4G speeds (eg: 3 or iD - if there is 4G on the other networks it works as you'd expect 4G to work). 

If it's not an issue with the network (ie not a fault) then I suppose I will have to consider my options when the contract term is up.

[Tash]

@jamesnsuk So we can look into this further for you, a private message will be sent to you shortly with details to contact our team directly.

[jamesnsuk]

That private message says "click here" to contact my team but there is no link to click!! I know it may be an oversight/error but getting in touch with you (Vodafone) and getting anything done is always an epic - never simple, never easy.

[jamesnsuk]

Speed test screen shots

[Tash]

@jamesnsuk I'm sorry to see you're experiencing issues with the private message.

I've sent another message to you, please let us know if you experience any further issues.

[jamesnsuk]

No updates on this issue. After a day away, both phones still show 4G but if I try and do anything that uses 4G they flick to 3G which is as bad at the 4G was when I first reported it on 21 July. At least before today, if 4G wasn't upto it (which it generally wasn't) then the 3G would actually allow me to do things that use data - now it's just painful!

What's happening?!

[Alex]

@jamesnsuk Our Network engineers are currently still working on INC3007845 - the fault relating to 4G is being investigated.

We're unable to provide a timescale for this fix, you can see why here.