Best mobile network for reception between the commons? Post Reply

[pie81]

We live between Northcote and Nightingale Lane and have dire mobile reception in our house. Vodafone gets about 1 bar, BT mobile (EE network) is even worse. I don't get much reception on Northcote Road either. This seems ridiculous in fairly central London...

If you have reasonably decent reception BTC (south end) please tell me your network! (And do you have a signal booster)?

Thanks

[actuallyadad]

they are all awful. We use whatsapp calling a lot.

ALSO we use this amazing phone which is connected, via a wire, to a special socket in the house. It's great, works every time! Feels very retro!

[pie81]

Ok ...I will investigate signal boosters and whatsapp calling...

actuallyadad we have one of those too, unfortunately it doesn't have all my contacts programmes in so I have to <gasp> dial a number!

[Alchemy]

Not sure about your specific area, but I have full reception all along Northcote Road with Three. Previously used to be with Vodafone, which was abysmal, but Three are great -- not only is the reception excellent, but so is their customer service: They even call you back to ask whether your problem is resolved! That certainly never happened with Vodafone...

At home, where no network has any coverage whatsoever, Three provide a Home Signal booster box, which works well, or they have an app (Three inTouch), which allows you to make calls over Wifi using your package minutes.

[jbee]

Glad this has come up, we have one phone on Voda and one on Three. Three used to be brilliant (for months!) and as of last week has gone completely to zero bars / no service in our entire flat on Northcote Rd. Anyone else have this problem with Three? I'd never heard of a signal booster so that's helpful too!

[Roxron]

If you'd asked a week ago I would've said that EE works great however after 7 years without ever once losing the signal in my house over the last week
I've had none at all. According to EE's coverage checker there's no issue in the area so they're not acknowledging it!

[jonathan @ hamptons]

I second the post by Roxron, having lived & worked on Northcote Road for over 15 years I had got used to no phone reception after the first 30 seconds of a conversation but when someone in the office switched to EE we were amazed that he could actually carry on a conversation!! I switched to EE about a year ago and all has been well (apart from the dire service out of London) but then about a week ago we all lost signal almost completely so I spend most of the time with 'no service' showing. I will pop into the EE shop this week and see if they know anything about it.

Jonathan

Hamptons International
98 - 100 Northcote Road
020 7924 2170

[pie81]

Thanks everyone, sounds like the EE service is having a blip for everyone then. I will wait and see if it returns...

In the meantime does anyone know how to get a signal booster? Voda sell them for their own customers but EE only seem to sell them to business customers as far as I can tell?

[AbbevilleMummy]

There are only 2 networks in the UK and they are Vodafone and EE (previously called Orange). Everyone else rents their signals from one of these companies. Most of them from EE. I.e. only EE and Vodafone have masts. Three buy their network service from EE which is why when EE is down, Three is also down.

I only say this because there really is no need to hunt around all the different for the best signal. There are only 2 providers you need to check as there are only 2 networks, Voda and EE.

As I understand it, the main reason we can't get any signal is because we are in between the commons and there are no masts on the commons which creates a bit of a black out area for us.

[mummo]

Jonathan I look forward to hearing an update. Another EE customer here who has gone from really quite good reception around Northcote rd and at home btc to very poor or non-existent was wondering if it was my phone but sounds like it might not be.

[audrey]

@Pie81, I also had poor mobile reception when we moved into our new house BTC 2 years ago and have been with EE with no signal problems most of the time before that. When I called Customer Service to enquire what my options were regarding the poor signal, I was told I needed a signal booster as well. Apparently you can buy something like this off eBay, but I managed to get it in the end from EE for free (initially they wanted to charge me about £99 for the kit). I had to keep a log of poor service reception for 24 hours. Now with the signal booster I have full 5 bars on my phone, but only inside my house where I have a strong wifi signal.

[pie81]

Thanks Audrey! trouble is I'm not with EE, I'm with BT who use the EE network and BT don't do signal boosters... Husband is with EE, I might ask him to call them. I'll have a look at ebay, thanks.

[jonathan @ hamptons]

Hi all,

I popped down to EE earlier and they confirmed that they have had a problem with their local mast sometime last week. They claimed that the problem has been fixed and suggested that I reset the network settings on my phone (for iphone users go to 'settings', 'general', scroll to the bottom then go to 'reset' and the third one down is 'reset network settings' after which your phone will restart).

Having done this I certainly seem to have slightly better service (in that I now have reached the dizzy heights of one bar) but it's by no means perfect.

Hope that all helps,

Jonathan

Hamptons International
98 - 100 Northcote Road
020 7924 2170

[boonkoh]

Definitely first port of call is your network, ask for a signal booster device that you can plug into your internet router at home. Vodafone's signal booster product is called SureSignal I think. If they try to charge you, make a bit of fuss on the line (threaten to leave, say its unacceptable there is no coverage in "London") and they will likely give it to you for free.

Otherwise the only way really is to test out all the networks. Go on eBay/Amazon and purchase PAYG sim cards for each network - should be 99p or less delivered each. And then test them one at a time in your phone.

Note that it could be the phone. Especially with 4G and especially if you bought your phone overseas. Not all phones have the full spectrum of 4G bands. It is a complicated subject but Google can provide more info

[Rocks]

When I called EE on Sunday to find out why I suddenly have no signal at home or along NCR, I was told a mast is down in our area and an engineer is booked to repair it on the 29th Jan... 2 weeks!! That was apparently the earliest appointment that they could get someone out in Central London....