4G no internet, no service and constantly on E since 3G shutdown

[Rxbski]

Ever since the 3G shutdown, I have been getting 4G no internet in most places that never before, even if I have full bars 4G or even 5G, it just doesn’t work at all! Vodafone customer service don’t care in the slightest as it’s “good” on their end, and also in areas where I used to get amazing 4G or 3G I now only get EDGE connection, no service or just 0 bars. I’ve raised the complaint with Vodafone 3 times and nothings been done to fix the faults. 
I’ve switched to E-sim, tried it on both a Samsung galaxy s23 ultra and a iPhone 14 Pro, I’ve configured all my APN settings and done the basic troubleshooting and I still get no connection it’s unbearable. My signal does work sometimes, but only in limited areas, I feel like a o2 user.
If anyone had a fix to this I would be so greatful. Thank you

[Gemma]

Hi @Rxbski - I understand how important it is to have the best signal at all times. It's not good to hear it's got to the stage of you making a complaint. With you mentioning it's at this stage, this is at the highest point of escalation, so we're unable to intervene from here. Please get in touch with your complaint case handler. Their details can be found on an email you should have received from them. If you don't have this, then please message us on Social Media. 

[JAMESORCHARD]

Hi vodafail won't help! all that will happen is you'll get smarmy politician awnsers on here to make appear they are helping only fix is a new network provider.

[Lee_Paul]

Hi @Rxbski, I appear to have exactly the same issue as you. Managed to get out to Chatsworth (Derbyshire Dales) and Bourton-on-the-Water (cotswolds) over the bank holiday weekend. This is the first time I've been to both places since the 3G switch off. I was completely shocked that at each place I had absolutely no data throughput from when arriving until I left. Last time I went it worked fine through 3G (manually selecting in settings). There's clearly a bigger network issue that isn't being addressed. I did have a decent 4G signal so was able to make calls which I guess was better than nothing.

Out of curiosity I activated my second sim card on 'three' who I was with a while back and Internet was working absolutely fine. Vodafone network checker doesn't show any issues in both the areas I was in when there is clearly issues with the data.

When arriving back home in the Midlands everything was back to normal and fast. Seems I'll have to get used to no data when going anywhere remote. 

Maybe this is what's to come for all networks after 3G switchoff. Just seems unfair out bills keeps going up each year but the service has clearly gone massively down hill. 

All the best, 

Lee 

[Jayne667]

I have the same issue, I’m so frustrated as I had the same issue with sky so moved to Vodafone who I trusted because I’d been with them previously and it had always been good. I’m now stuck in another contract with rubbish data when I’m away from my WiFi at home. It shows I have bars but actually there isn’t any signal! My husband on re with less bars and signal works without any issues. 

[Lee_Paul]

Hi Jayne, I understand your pain. I am just over 12 months into my contract now and as you mentioned Vodafone was always good. I'd had no issues until recently.

Where I live in Worcestershire I am fortunate to get a very fast 5g signal but it's really annoying that the 2 places I visited on the weekend had 4g with no data at all. When I'd visited these places before the data had worked fine. I'm not sure if it's a network congestion issue or not enough spectrum etc. Strange as it worked before 3G was switched off and the whole idea was they was reusing the 3G spectrum / frequency to provide a better 4G service. Turns out its currently a worse 4G service. I will be away again at the end of the month going through rural parts of Norfolk and Lincolnshire so I'll be keeping a close eye on it. I really hope this pattern isn't the same elsewhere.

[Jayne667]

I often go rural locations with work and for pleasure when caravanning. I’d say it happens pretty every time wherever I go, I want to use my 80GB of data to hotspot for Netflix etc but it doesn’t work, I can barely search the internet or use it for navigation/maps.  I’ve got til August 2025! If you find a solution please do share. 

[Lee_Paul]

Hi Jayne,

Hope things are sorted for you soon. This situation reminds me of the packet loss issue hundreds of people were reporting and Vodafone kept arguing there wasn't any issues with the service. Fast forward 6 months and the issue just disappeared and has never came back (thank goodness).

If I manage to find a solution I'll update this thread but not holding out hope it'll be any time soon. 

Regards, Lee 

[japitts]

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@Lee_Paul wrote:

he whole idea was they was reusing the 3G spectrum / frequency to provide a better 4G service. Turns out its currently a worse 4G service.

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The re-use of spectrum won't necessarily be immediate, and may also depend whether a regional or national approach is taken.

[japitts]

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@Jayne667 wrote:

so moved to Vodafone who I truste

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It's always wise to test a new network in the all locations you frequent, to ensure the coverage & performance meets your needs. It doesn't sound like you did this?

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@Jayne667 wrote:

My husband on re with less bars and signal works without any issues. 

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The on-screen bars are a rough guide to signal strength. Data speeds are dictated by the carriers & spectrum available, which is not measured by the bars. I presume "re" means EE in this context, whose 4G service does generally perform very well.

You can have a poor signal ("only one bar") but if there's a high-cap carrier behind it, you should get good speeds (local congestion not withstanding) or an excellent signal ("full bars") but if that's a low-cap carrier or there's a lot of local usage - data speeds will suffer.