SO23 - Winchester

[highpriest]

Anyone else in SO22/SO23 Winchester experiencing extremely poor 4G speeds? I've been struggling for months with poor 4G speeds in Winchester (in the city centre mainly). Contacted Vodafone via Twitter - no help at all. Contacted CS and I've gone through every single troubleshooting technique (reset network settings, change APN, re-register sim with network, etc. etc.) in the book and nothing has helped.

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

SO22 (home) less affected, SO23 (work) is particularly bad. If I move outside of Winchester City Centre (even just a few miles), 4G data speeds can jump to as much as 50 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up.

2) What is the full postcode (e.g. ST1 1AA) of where the issue occurs?

SO23 8US

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

Yes.

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

Phone shows full 4G signal. Calls are unaffected but data speeds are extremely poor. There's quite a bit of variation, but speeds could be as low as 250 Kbps and sometimes between 1-2 Mbps. Upload speeds are not affected to the same degree. Speed tests show 4 or 5 Mbps upload.

Sometimes it is so bad that the speed test app will fail to even locate a server to run a speed test against and just give up.

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

Not tried 2G or 3G (and don't ask me to). Problem is with 4G.

6) When did you first notice this issue?

A few months ago (Q3 2017).

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

Permanent. Data speeds range from non-existent to ultra-slow. Everything buffers constantly or just times out and gives up.

I use an iPhone 8 Plus.

[Colleen]

@highpriest I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with the 4G speeds in your area. 

Could you please provide us with 3 screenshots of speedtest results, taken at different times throughout the day? 

We'll then be able to get more of an understanding on this and advise you further 😊

[highpriest]

Attached. Run from various locations in Winchester city centre. The coordinates are in the screenshots (if you want to look up the location).

[highpriest]

Three more.

[Gemma]

@highpriest - Thanks for sending us the speed tests. Your 4G site 37131, is performing correctly without any errors or known issues.

With you saying you’ve noticed the drop in speed only recently, we’ll need to take a closer look.

Please send us your details by following the steps in this private message.

[highpriest]

Thanks, done.

I know there are no errors as everything works. Just extremely slowly due to (I presume) massive congestion in the area that Vodafone is unwilling to resolve.

This has been going on for months and months now and is getting pretty tiresome. Is this grounds for early termination of contract? I'm on a 12 month SIM only deal. Am I actually getting what Vodafone would consider as acceptable levels of service? Could you tell me what would be considered acceptable?

[Gemma]

@highpriest - Thanks for emailing us. I’ve just replied to it.

You wouldn’t be able to cancel your contract based on this, without paying the early termination fee. 

[highpriest]

Even if the speeds are bad and it is barely usable and I have to spend 20 minutes to watch a 7 minute video because it is buffering constantly? How is that considered an acceptable level of service when other providers are able to give their customers very good 4G speeds in Winchester?

[highpriest]

Is there a document or webpage that explains what Vodafone's minimum service obligations are to their end users for a 4G mobile contract?

[Colleen]

@highpriest I understand this must be frustrating and we'll ensure it's looked into. 

Please reply back to the latest email @Gemma sent you and a member of our team will be able to help you further.