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.

===========

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.

[sappercaptain]

Well, here we are, another 3 mo this on (and 2 years since problems first experienced) and VODAFONE still can't provide workable 4G outside it's own store in a major county town.

No decent explanation is available from Vodafone and thus no timetable for resolution.

Please can someone set out the steps taken to ensure 4G that is for for purpose in Winchester city centre?  Please do not reply asking for all the same details that have been provided by me and others for over a year.

see attached speedtest...the other photo shows the location

[Tash]

Hi all, I can see we have a number of planned upgrades for the area with its 4G site (22065).

These will appear in the near future on our network status checker and should help to improve things for you once completed. This should be by the end of the month, however can be subject to change due to a number of factors such as weather, repairing the site or requesting permission to access the site.

[Strowger]

But the network status checker that you linked to shows that 4G coverage in central WInchester is "good indoors and outdoors", so either (1) there's a problem with the status checker, or (2) it's configured to provide falsely optomistic information.

As it currently incorrectly claims good coverage, how would we use it to tell when the upgrades have happened?!

[sappercaptain]

I just find it really hard to believe that it's down to a couple of upgrades required.  The problem has been going on for well over a year.  Either nobody cares about Winchester (seems unlikely given the number of Voda execs that live here) or there is something more fundamentally wrong which is being either overlooked or not discussed by Vodafone.  Which begs the binary question, are they incompetent or not telling the truth...?

[Tash]

@Strowger Our network status checker is a computer generated prediction of the service in any area and isn't a guarantee of actual signal coverage. This is in our coverage disclaimer underneath the map. 

Once the planned upgrades are in place, this will appear as maintenance work on the coverage map. Once it appears, this will be updated over time to show a scheduled completion date or to say that the work has been finished in the area.

@sappercaptain We're always investing in our network coverage throughout the UK, which is why we have planned upgrades in the area soon. Please be assured that this is an area our Engineers are aware of and will be working hard to improve your signal there.

[Strowger]

Thanks, but all the Coverage Disclaimer says is that you can't trust the coverage map - which makes it a totally pointless (and borderline dishonest) tool. Vodafone has a vested interest in making it look as optomistic as possible.

If the computer-based prediction is incorrect, then the computer modelling used to generate the maps needs to be tweaked/optomised to make the maps more accurate.

I wonder how many Vodafone customers have subscribed based on the information in that coverage map?

[highpriest]

---

@sappercaptain wrote:

I just find it really hard to believe that it's down to a couple of upgrades required.  The problem has been going on for well over a year.  Either nobody cares about Winchester (seems unlikely given the number of Voda execs that live here) or there is something more fundamentally wrong which is being either overlooked or not discussed by Vodafone.  Which begs the binary question, are they incompetent or not telling the truth...?

---

Completely agree. This is beyond parody now, and is causing real issues. I can't even run a speed test in some parts, let alone access data or make a WhatsApp call. The Cathedral grounds, and surrounding streets (Great/Little Minster St.) have turned into complete data black spots. Ridiculous.

All the while, my phone reports a strong (usually full) 4G connection (signal). Yet even basic webpages refuse to load. That's how bad it is.

https://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/3488865859

https://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/3488839893

https://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/3468001684

[highpriest]

---

@Strowger wrote:

Thanks, but all the Coverage Disclaimer says is that you can't trust the coverage map - which makes it a totally pointless (and borderline dishonest) tool. Vodafone has a vested interest in making it look as optomistic as possible.

If the computer-based prediction is incorrect, then the computer modelling used to generate the maps needs to be tweaked/optomised to make the maps more accurate.

I wonder how many Vodafone customers have subscribed based on the information in that coverage map?

---

It's pointless, misleading and utterly useless.

Tech Download Upload

2G	0 - 0.2 Mbps	0 - 0.2 Mbps
3G	0.9 - 22.5 Mbps	0.2 - 4.6 Mbps
4G	3.8 - 60.0 Mbps	0.9 - 23.2 Mbps
5G	0 - 0 Mbps	0 - 0 Mbps

So I should get a minimum of 3.8 Mbps on 4G?

Also then says:

Signal quality and speeds can be negatively impacted by using your device indoors or in a moving vehicle. Actual speeds may also vary depending on the device used.

That's that covered. You can get nothing whatsoever but their clever wording covers it.

[highpriest]

Just so it's clear that my phone/sim is not faulty, this is a speed test I ran while at Heathrow Terminal 2.

https://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/3427304939

[highpriest]

Looks like data completely stopped working for an hour or so during lunch time. It came back for a bit, but it is still struggling. Couldn't even send an iMessage! Phone was switching between EDGE and 3G. EDGE!

I had 4G for a little while but it has disappeared again. Phone displays 3G but I cannot access ANY data now (13:27).