Voxi very poor 4g signal and very slow data speeds North east London

[redparrot]

I'm a new Voxi customer. I've activated my sim and paid my monthly fee.  I am experiencing very slow data speeds of between 4 and 0.01 Mbps.  This is on 3g.  4g signal is intermittent and mostly not reachable.  When it is reachable the speeds are as poor as the 3g speeds.  The service status webpage says there is no problem in my area. and that there is a good 3g and 4g signal both indoors and outdoors.  There obviously is a problem in my area so why does the service status page say there isn't?   I've tried this sim in three different phones with the same result and spent a good deal of time on the Voxi webchat trying to resolve this problem.  I feel that I have been mis sold this sim as I think your service is over subscribed in my area which is seriously affecting the data speed.  Any comments?  Should I ask for a refund as the service provided is unusable?

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @redparrot 

I totally understand and appreciate how frustrating problems with signal can be.

The status-checker gives an indication of coverage but within that page there is also a Coverage Disclaimer that says " Our coverage checker was last updated on 30th Jan 2020 and network status information refreshes every fifteen minutes.

Coverage may vary by location. This map shows a computer generated prediction in a given area. It should be used as a guide only and is not a guarantee of actual signal coverage. As with all radio-based systems, service may be affected by a number of local factors, such as building materials, tree cover and even weather conditions. Data reception or speed may not be as good indoors or in a car. "

If I'm discussing with a person whonwants to join Vodafone or move home in regards to network signal then I always suggest using a Payg Sim Card where they intend to move to or open up a new contract to get a real world user experience to see what they do get and if possible to ask other people around them such as neighbours that may also be on Vodafone.

Even tho everything shows as fine there could be mast congestion, population increase, new buildings and fringe coverage and not spots which all the networks suffer from.

If you fill out this template the Vodafone Social Media Teams here can take a look and if necessary feed this back to their networking teams.

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

To add a person has a 14 day cooling off period to be able to try out the service and if deemed necessary cancel without penalty and return the phone.

Vodafone also supplies the following options.

》wi-fi-calling to people on eligible contracts and phones.

》sure-signal which creates a 3G signal in the home which works off Home Broadband but does cost a one off £70 for the unit.

Please.do speak with voxi customer service via contact-us and they'll be able to help further.

[Anonymous]

Please make sure:

• Your phone has B20 800MHz, B1 2100MHz and B7 2600MHz.

If you're having problems with 4G dropping to 3G, I would recommend downloading (will work if you don't have iPhone)

• 4G Switcher (no ads)
• and using the app, locking your network setting to LTE / 4G only.

This should help with your network troubles.

Hope this helps 

[redparrot]

@OctopusLabs

Thanks for your reply OctopusLabs. I've tried 3 different android phones, a Moto G5, Samsung S6 and an Honor 10. I locked the network setting to 4g using an app called Radio Switcher. It has made absolutely no difference at all. The signal is still weak and slow. 3g is equally slow, though the signal is stronger. I had a webchat with Voxi support who once again checked all my settings and then after a lengthy chat informed there was maintenance in my area that would be resolved by the 7th Feb. It wasn't. The signal is still as slow and weak as before. Now when I check the Network Status Checker I see that there is more maintenance that should be finished by the 11th Feb. I'm not holding my breath. Another user on another forum who lives near me has had slow data/weak signal for the last 5 months. https://www.hotukdeals.com/comments/permalink/39830118 There is obviously a major problem with 4g in my locality and I think Vodafone aren't doing much about it because they are concentrating on 5g. I ordered this Voxi sim to test the network before taking out a Vodafone contract. I think I'll be looking elsewhere now.

[Anonymous]

With 5G, 4G is also upgraded for more 'lanes of data' to be on the network from 4T4R (4 lanes) to 8T8R (8 lanes) for more data to be freely flowing on the '4G motorway'.

5G phone would have Massive MIMO 64T64R for 64 lanes on a new '5G motorway'.

Bandwidth also increased (adding extra frequencies (aggregating) improves bandwidth)

1. Base layer; B20 w/ 10MHz bandwidth
2. added to base layer for more capacity: B1 w/ 15MHz to make total 25MHz bandwidth.
3. added to above for even more capacity: B7 w/ 20MHz to make total 45MHz bandwidth.
4. added to above for a little more capacity: B3 w/ 5MHz to make total 50MHz bandwidth.

Occasionally, other bandwidth strategies are added but these are the most common. Hope this helps. 

[Davidshdhehejsi]

4.46 download and 0.07 download  on 4g, when I am sitting in my house looking at the Vodafone mast less than 200 metres away  is a real disappointment, two days running calls dropped , to bank and HMRC, Lucky its only a one month contract , at least my old Tesco (o2) contract let me talk, thought voxi would be a step up, not here in Chatham 

[Jhayes42]

Must be your phone mate... There's absolutely no way that it could be the fault of the network...

Have you tried "reseating the SIM" or deleting all your data and doing a "factory reset". Maybe your sitting the wrong way when your using your data. 

Don't forget that Vodafone are always here to blame your phone and not their network, you can use the signal checker to see for yourself that it's not them.