Network coverage has deteriorated in AL1 4EE area

[Blackhawk7117]

Hi,

I've noticed that the signal in my area has dropped off significantly of late. Your network coverage map shows that I should get a good 2G signal indoors and outdoors, but recently the signal indoors is one bar which regularly disappears completely causing calls to be dropped. 

Can someone please check this issue out.

Thanks you

Paul

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @Blackhawk7117 

In order for the Vodafone Social Media Teams here to look into the possible issue in your area and pass this onto their networking Teams can you please use the following link with a template to use to copy and paste it back here with your answers.

Network-issues-initial-checks-and-template. 

Other interim options are wi-fi-calling if you have an eligible phone and contract or the Sure Signal Device but that does cost a one off £69.00 and works off Home Broadband Wifi.

[Blackhawk7117]

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

Most areas of our house we are down to one bar on 2G. If you step outside it goes up to 2 bars on 2G. If you walk to the end of the road the signal goes up to 3G.

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.>

AL1 4EE

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

Haven't tried this, however we have four iPhones in our household all on the Vodafone network and they all show the same signal levels. My work iPhone XR has the worst reception.

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

The network coverage sometimes drops off completely and  if we're making a call, the call is dropped. This happens regularly. Texts sometimes take an age to receive.

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

 We only have a 2G signal which is an issue in itself as we live near the centre of St Albans. It's not like we live in a remote area.  It's pretty poor for a City location. 

6) When did you first notice this issue?

 We have had it on and off for the last year, but recently we have noticed that the network signal strength is consistently particularly poor. 

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

[TJ]

Hey @Blackhawk7117, thanks for getting in touch. I've checked around the postcode you provided and can see that we've recently made some changes in that area. Not to any of the masts that you're connecting to, but this may have caused a possible knock on effect.

I can see the coverage around your area is generally patchy, though all the masts near you for 2G, 3G and 4G are working correctly. There's actually a planned upgrade to your nearest 4G mast (7953) very soon. 

Have you tried Wi-Fi Calling, to help boost the call signal at home? You could also look into a Sure Signal, this will produce a 3G signal around your home; you can find more information here. 

[FPK]

TEMPLATE-----------------------------------------------

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

 AL1 St Albans 

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

So far it is just around my home in AL1 5DA and AL1 5DQ.

 I have to get to AL1 5GF to be able to have a meaningful call or usable data. 

I can usually hear people but they cannot hear me. 

Whilst walking from AL1 5QF, as soon as I turn into Castle Road AL1 5DQ, they cannot hear me. I have to wait until I get home and switch on WiFi calling to continue a conversation. So my phone is useless around my home area. 

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.

AL1 5DA 

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

Yes, and friends on the Vodafone network who visit have the same problem.

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

None or very limited data, cannot be heard on phone calls. Although two bars are usually show on the signal strength.

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

All 

6) When did you first notice this issue?

Over a year now. I had a replacement SIM provided but it made no change. I generally put on WiFi calling at home, but if this continues, then I will be changing network. 

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

Permanent 

[Amanda]

Hello @FPK - thanks for reaching out to us and for letting us know what's been happening over the past year. I understand it's important to stay connected and can be frustrating when you're not getting the service you'd expected. 

I've taken a look into this to see how your local cell sites are working and the coverage you'd expect to see - you should generally get what we call 'dense urban' coverage in the postcodes provided, which means good indoor and outdoor service on 2G, 3G and 4G. We'd only expect to see occasional patchy 5G outdoors in your area. 

In the areas immediately around your home postcode the service is patchy, so we'd expect you to see some difference in service whilst travelling around in that area. 

I've dug a little deeper into the performance of these cell sites and they all appear to be working as expected. There was a full drop of service between 7am and 8am on 17 June, which would have probably resulted in you struggling to get service, including calls texts and data - since then there have been no other drops and there are no notes of concern following this. 

Looking a little further back, I can see large drops over 4G on 12, 13 and 14 June which lasted a few hours and I can also see this impacted the other surrounding sites, which were likely to be a little more congested whilst users would have picked up the signal from these sites instead. 

I do appreciate this appears to be the opposite of what you're seeing, where you have service around your postcode but not within it. 

Do you currently have 4G Calling set up on your account/phone? If not, I'd recommend enabling it, as this would support your call service further and you can see how to do this on here. 

There is also a fault on a cell site a little distance away (in AL4 0PJ) and this could also cause congestion to the signal, as more users would connect to your site rather than the one being worked on. You can register for updates on this on the Network Status Checker.