O2 Issues?

[Scarletpimpofnel]

I've been using O2 for years but am on the cusp of giving up. I live in the South West.

Over the last few months I frequently find I have either no signal (where normally I have very good signal) or I have a signal but no actual capacity to do anything.

Other people have complained about the same thing local to me recently so I don't think it is my device. When I report the issue to Sky or O2 I always get a no known issue response but have then had a refund despite their being no known issue??? I reckon they are doing what the likes of Apple do - deny any problem until they release a patch to fix the denied issue.

I'm thinking of swapping to EE as a result.

I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on this, as in inside info on O2 issues, other causes, is going from O2 to EE out of the frying pan into the fire?

[ToNyC1]

I’m in Lancashire and have the same issue! For example signal in the gym used to work fine to stream Spotify, now I’m lucky if I get E! Like you reported to sky and came back no fault found.

[x5tuu]

I have the same too but just outside Newcastle - however they have acknowledged a problem here and they are replacing the mobile masts and there was a broken part(s) so thats the hold up here. Seems to be quite a common issue lately though all over.

[geeks]

Actually something I have noticed over the last 18 months or so that my data coverage on O2 is getting gradually worse, phone will say I have a 4G or 5G signal with "full bars" but I can't even load a simple webpage or pay for my parking with an app. Contract is up in November and I am binning them off for EE as they seem to have to best signal in the areas I travel the most

[Scarletpimpofnel]

geeks said:

Actually something I have noticed over the last 18 months or so that my data coverage on O2 is getting gradually worse, phone will say I have a 4G or 5G signal with "full bars" but I can't even load a simple webpage or pay for my parking with an app. Contract is up in November and I am binning them off for EE as they seem to have to best signal in the areas I travel the most

That's exactly what I am getting. Full bars, but nothing loads.

[Scarletpimpofnel]

x5tuu said:

I have the same too but just outside Newcastle - however they have acknowledged a problem here and they are replacing the mobile masts and there was a broken part(s) so thats the hold up here. Seems to be quite a common issue lately though all over.

I have no issue with an acknowledged problem and a plan to fix it. But I just get denials despite many experiencing the same issue. It stinks of a corporate cover up to me and it wastes my time as I restart the phone, ask others if they are having the same issue etc.

[malks222]

I remember reading a thread similar to this, and the general consensus is the network is basically overloaded. o2 bought/ merged ‘virgin mobile’ a while back and since then the network has been getting worse and worse as they haven’t increased capacity, so you might show a signal, but the network can’t cope with everyone using it at once

basically any time i’m a busy area (think football/ concert) my phone becomes useless. for example tonight i’m going to the scotland game, I know once i’m within a mile of the ground my data won’t work. when in the ground I can’t even send a text message, but there will be people around me watching highlights/ replays at halftime and scrolling social media (EE network usually!)

I don’t want to leave o2, because of o2 priority tickets….. but don’t know how much more crap signal i can put up with

[Whataguy]

I'd used O2 in the past when travelling around the South UK but recently stopped using them as I could barely get data - it was particularly bad indoors.

I switched to ee this year, much better performance plus it works indoors as well no issue where I travel.

I only plan to use O2 now as pay as you go when I travel to Europe on holiday to get the free £2 a day use there. In the past the signal was always ok there, hopefully it still is.

[wyson]

Been a few threads on this sub forum complaining about the same. I switched from 02 to EE, have never looked back. Almost always have 5G data and reception around London now.

[-Cappo-]

I've been with o2 since forever but agree with everything said above - the full signal/no service thing, and the very poor signal around where I live (mid Kent, not particularly rural). MrsC complained to o2 a few weeks back and they told her that our local mast needs repairing. Funnily enough when a few local people complained a couple of years ago, the local mast "needed repair" then as well, so it's clearly a stock answer.

Pretty much the only reason I haven't moved is that I still get free roaming with o2 and nobody else seems to offer that to new contracts. Well, that and not knowing which fire to jump into out of this pan.

[blue_haddock]

Scarletpimpofnel said:

I've been using O2 for years but am on the cusp of giving up. I live in the South West.

Over the last few months I frequently find I have either no signal (where normally I have very good signal) or I have a signal but no actual capacity to do anything.

Other people have complained about the same thing local to me recently so I don't think it is my device. When I report the issue to Sky or O2 I always get a no known issue response but have then had a refund despite their being no known issue??? I reckon they are doing what the likes of Apple do - deny any problem until they release a patch to fix the denied issue.

I'm thinking of swapping to EE as a result.

I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on this, as in inside info on O2 issues, other causes, is going from O2 to EE out of the frying pan into the fire?

I've been with Virgin originally and now switched to O2 themselves and i have found over the last 6 months the signal has been woeful.

If i go to anywhere slightly busy i cant connect to anything and its become a right pain in the ass.

I've switched to 1p mobile who use EE and hopefully things improve massively.

[Scarletpimpofnel]

blue_haddock said:

...If i go to anywhere slightly busy i cant connect to anything and its become a right pain in the ass.

I've switched to 1p mobile who use EE and hopefully things improve massively.

I could accept losing data capacity if I'm somewhere busy but I've been losing it sat in the middle of nowhere where months ago there was no issue and it's over a wide area at intermittent times.

Years ago someone who knew about the carriers recommended that I use O2 as that was the network the emergency services wree going to use so it was likely to offer best coverage to support that contract. Was he fibbing or have they since lost the contract?

[journeymanpro]

I switched to o2 from ee, easily the worst decision I have ever made.

[pitlane]

-Cappo- said:

Pretty much the only reason I haven't moved is that I still get free roaming with o2 and nobody else seems to offer that to new contracts. Well, that and not knowing which fire to jump into out of this pan.

EE have a roaming bolt on that includes all of EU, USA, Australia and a few others. Most of the higher tariffs have at least one 'free' bolt on allowed I think. For Asia etc an E sim system like Airalo is so cheap and easy that world roaming isn't really much of an issue cost wise these days.

[wyson]

-Cappo- said:

Pretty much the only reason I haven't moved is that I still get free roaming with o2 and nobody else seems to offer that to new contracts. Well, that and not knowing which fire to jump into out of this pan.

How often do you travel for that to be a worthwhile benefit?

Its easily possible to test different networks. Just spend £5 on a few PAYG sims.

Personally I just checked the coverage map, checked the reviews, saw EE was by far the most expensive and decided it was probably the best option. Kept both O2 and EE overlapping for a week. Tested EE, saw I got 5G everywhere, fabulous speed test results for data. Then ported my number over and transitioned fully. Could have backed out if EE didn’t offer good coverage. Understandably, O2 made it possible to back out of cancellation in the 4 week notice period. EE had a 2 week cooling off period where you could cancel with no quibbles.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 14th September 11:16

[Essarell]

Scarletpimpofnel said:

I could accept losing data capacity if I'm somewhere busy but I've been losing it sat in the middle of nowhere where months ago there was no issue and it's over a wide area at intermittent times.

Years ago someone who knew about the carriers recommended that I use O2 as that was the network the emergency services wree going to use so it was likely to offer best coverage to support that contract. Was he fibbing or have they since lost the contract?

EE have the dedicated ESN (Emergency Services Network) contract, they’ve been building it right across the country since circa 2017, it’s a bit behind schedule as 100% geographical coverage isn’t straightforward re power and data connectivity to the masts.

https://business.ee.co.uk/large-business/esn/

Cellnet used to have the original emergency network (Airwave) but that was sold off / demerged in 2000.Airwave should have been switched off years back but due to delays with ESN it’s had a stay of execution.

[x5tuu]

-Cappo- said:

Pretty much the only reason I haven't moved is that I still get free roaming with o2 and nobody else seems to offer that to new contracts. Well, that and not knowing which fire to jump into out of this pan.

This. It’s what keeping me with O2 as well.

I spend c.20weeks of the year at the moment in the US and there’s no additional cost to me - if I was still on 3 that would be an extra £840/yr minimum (@20wks/£6day) … even the EE and Vodafone bolt ons wouldn’t be cheap (although not as expensive as 3)

[PeteS2k]

Similar issues around Blackpool area. I moved from PlusNet (EE network) to Virgin (now O2) earlier this year. I only have a cheapo sim-only contract and mostly use the data for streaming audio in the car.

There are few 4G dead-zones around the Fylde area on EE, but it's far, far worse with O2. What's particularly irksome is that if you look at the published coverage maps O2 looks like near complete coverage - it's a downright lie! I also note that O2 don't have a published date for planned switch off of their 3G service, which is a good job, I suppose, as otherwise they would have no data coverage at all across many areas. I'm taking that as tacit admission of dire 4G service nationally. It's also a challenge for the new emergency broadcast service, as that needs 4/5G - many people didn't get the recent test broadcast round here as they're in a 3G only area.

I'm seriously tempted to move back to an EE based service. They don't seem to do low-cost, low-ish data sim-only deals, but it's probably worth paying the extra to fill the holes in coverage. Or maybe try Vodafone....

[wyson]

I think the coverage is there, they are just massively over subscribed so you can’t connect, which I guess amounts to the same thing for the user, but isn’t on dodgy legal ground regarding coverage claims.

[Hedgedhog]

I echo all of the comments above re O2. Historically they provided a good service with adequate bandwidth. These days I frequently find myself struggling to connect despite a 4G or 5G connection. My kids quite rightly remarked on holiday in Crete this year that there was a perfect 5G signal everywhere whereas in the UK I rarely find 5G outside of central London and even then it doesn't always work.