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.

[highpriest]

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@Strowger wrote:

I have just received a text message from Vodafone to say that 5G Ultra is now available on my Galaxy S22 Ultra. So I checked the network coverage map, and indeed it says that most of Winchester is covered by 5G (if not necessarily 5G Ultra).
Only problem is that my handset is currently showing 2 bars of service on 4G and I have NEVER seen 5G (indoor or outdoor) in central Winchester. Nor has my wife on her iPhone. I frequently have no service.
Frankly it's insulting for Vodafone to send out such garbage text messages when they can't even run a usable 4G network!

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5G Ultra 🤣 Thanks, I needed a good laugh.

Is that the new name for 90s Dial-Up technology? Because that's what I still get here. City centre is marginally better but it is still diabolically bad in Badger Farm (SO22). And has gotten worse since the 3G switch-off.

My VDSL connection is down today (some big Openreach fault) and I'm struggling to get any work done while tethered to my phone. Welcome to 2024 Britain. How is it possible that things are THIS bad in this day and age?

Also, happy 6th birthday to this thread!

Sitrep: Vodafone still useless as ever in Winchester. Thanks chaps.

[sappercaptain]

My car doesn’t have DAB, so I Bluetooth the Virgin Radio app through its speakers….

i just drove from Paris to Winchester today. Perfect coverage for streaming audio for 334/336 miles, just Winchester where I can’t listen to a radio programme despite 4+ bars of 4G and 5G.

[highpriest]

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@sappercaptain wrote:

My car doesn’t have DAB, so I Bluetooth the Virgin Radio app through its speakers….

i just drove from Paris to Winchester today. Perfect coverage for streaming audio for 334/336 miles, just Winchester where I can’t listen to a radio programme despite 4+ bars of 4G and 5G.

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It really beggars belief. Even if you initiated a project with the express aim of creating the worst network possible, you'd still end up with something more usable than what we have.

And the other 3 are just as bad, if not slightly worse. How is this acceptable? Wrote to the previous MP Steve Brine numerous times, and also to HCC and WCC but of course nothing happened.

I have now written again to Danny Chambers. No reply yet.