back to article At last we know for sure. Blighty's 'best mobile network' is ...

The biannual survey of mobile networks conducted by RootMetrics has found that EE still leads the pack, and provides the best mobile phone coverage. RootMetrics' report said that “EE earned a clean sweep of all six UK RootScore awards including Overall Performance, Network Reliability, Network Speed, Mobile Internet, Call, and …

  1. Ol'Peculier
    Happy

    4G speeds

    Well, when I was having a look at EE's 4G, the best download speed I got was just down the road from my flat at 88Mbps, and that's here in sleepy Scarborough.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Slight error...

    "Three, which was second to launch on 4G"

    Nope, they launched it last - December 2013, vs August 2013 for O2 & Voda and October 2012 for EE.

    In their favour, when 3 finally did launch, they gave all customers 4G access without any price increase.

  3. Alan Denman

    EE paid their fee again?

    Yes,

    For the last few years EE is the main sponsor. This likely started at the point that EE got 4G.

    With half the population likely on 2G or 3G how important is this test?

  4. Trollslayer

    Last on customer service?

    That's why I don't touch EE.

    Oh, voice and text are fine.

    1. AMBxx Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Last on customer service?

      Yep, next week the survey will be on customer service with EE last (again).

      That's why I put up with O2's crap network.

      1. dotdavid

        Re: Last on customer service?

        Or they could measure billing performance, with a special bonus for raising prices mid-contract for no discernible reason. Again EE are a shoo-in to win that.

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

          Re: Last on customer service?

          Ah, billing performance. Well EE are tops here. Not that we've used 3. But Vodafone managed to overcharge us one month by £2,500 (on a £230 contract). Basically they forgot we had a data allowance, and so charged us pay-as-you-go rates.

          Whereas O2 forgot to bill us for 4 months, despite the fact that I'd had to call them after setting up the service as they'd taken one direct debit, then stopped. Then they double billed us the next month, as they put our service back on the billing system, then re-created the account again from scratch...

          O2's call centre lose on grounds of utter cluelessness though - and one department not being able to talk to another.

  5. Alister

    Well anecdotally, I would have to disagree, my brother went for a phone on EE and ended up giving it back, as he never got any useable signal at all round where we live, never mind 4G. Of the others, O2 is the most consistently available network in this area, but even that has dead spots, with Vodafone a close second.

    1. dotdavid

      I was on GiffGaff for a while (which uses O2's network) but had to switch as the data was very unreliable. Good call signal coverage though, and I was sad to leave GiffGaff.

      1. Richard Wharram

        Giffgaff

        Giffgaff is pretty good for data and signal round me. The call quality is never the best but adequate.

        On the other hand Giffgaff is pretty useless at the in-laws. The signal is great and shows no sign of weakness, calls are fine too, but the '3G' connection seems unable to process data at more than GPRS speeds.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Probably gonna have to switch from O2 to EE myself, all the networks claim to have really good signal in my area but O2's signal tends to be around 2 bars when in the house.

      Normally not a issue (texts get through etc) but whenever I actually use the phone to phone someone , a shocking thing to do with a phone I know, I can hear them but they can't hear me properly, every single time. Its happened with multiple phones now as well to varying degrees.

      O2 just say "well the signals apparently good in your area" yeah I know what your map says but its not true :P

      Housemate had similar issues with Three so maybe just our street is a generic mobile phone blackspot.

      1. Cynical Observer

        Sure SIgnal/Home Signal

        While they have their failings, I'll give Three their due. It took all of about 30 minutes to agree that the signal indoors was non-existent - it didn't even have enough ummph to qualify as pants. Once that was agreed, it was a quick hop and a skip to securing their Home signal which backhauls over the broadband - and as the rest of the family are on Three as well, they can all be registered on the same device. Result - 4 bars indoors.

        Changed SIM recently - and when that didn't sign on, a quick call to Three support and 5 minutes later it was sorted - the registration on the Home signal is via the SIM ID.

        All in all - it makes them usable.

  6. Ermintrude

    That may be all well and good in the big citty, m.boy, but it ain't naw good roun' these parts. Arrgh.

    We get arr broadband bits and bites deliverrd by oxen cart so we do, arrggh.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      as a Yank

      Yeah that is why Verizon gets away with the stuff they do here in the US. Being spread out all to hell GSM* is pretty spotty away from the coasts.

      *Yes yes LTE is GSM but hardly anyone uses for voice in the US because it still counts as data.

  7. msknight

    Well....

    ...not where I live.

  8. Little Mouse

    "That's why I put up with O2's crap network."

    Same here. I've received consistently good support from O2 via their online chat feature over the 12 months I've been with them. Occasionally you can find yourself completely reliant on after-sales support, and they didn't let me down when it mattered (phone nicked whilst on holiday in Spain).

  9. Missing Semicolon Silver badge
    FAIL

    Cheshire for EE is lousy

    With coverage and data outages on major motorways a regular occurrence. Plus several well-known dud spots on A-roads with even no 2G coverage.

    The inability to keep a conversation going in the office near Warrington is a pain too.....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Cheshire for EE is lousy

      Cheshire's no better for O2, in my experience.

      I'm spending a lot of time travelling from Brum to Chester in the last few months.

      Having been an Orange customer for many years, I abandoned EE at home in Brum after their 3G service collapsed shortly after their 4G went live. I picked O2 because it worked at home. Turns out O2 doesn't work where I am 'away'.

      So I now have a dualSIM phone with O2 and EE networks available. Neither works well in the M6/M56 area. Some areas have not even got GSM coverage, and the idea of using internet radio along the way is laughable,

      Aren't market forces wonderful.

  10. GreggS

    4G?

    Bloody jailers pets. I can't even get a 2G signal with EE at home or in my employers secondary office (which ironically is right next door to Adastral Park). It's also took them well over a month to sort out a problem with my booster to as of yet, no avail.

  11. Bod

    Rubbish prices, best coverage

    I'd go with Three as their pricing for data is miles better than everyone else (though getting more expensive for unlimited now), but coverage is key for me especially in the more rural spots and in buildings and EE still rule there for where I use it. Plus 4G is rather nippy.

    Customer service is rubbish of course but they all are.

    Other attraction of Three however is they believe in Gaining Provider Led switching, i.e. where you sign up with a new provider and they do all the switching work for you without you spending hours or days battling with the existing provider's retention department just to get a PAC and then all the faff involved in the meantime switching, assuming you haven't been conned into taking a new phone contract just to keep you on their expensive tariff and as a customer.

    Three were even promoting contacting your MP about it. I did and I got an obviously prepared copy'n'paste answer effectively saying the Tories have an interest in keeping it Lost Provider Led in the UK. I would assume because they have interests or investments in some of the major operators in the UK. All wrapped up in some fluff about how the UK is a unique market, blah blah, and they don't believe it's good for the UK to change it.

    Bollox. And Ofcom agree with me... http://hexus.net/mobile/news/service-providers/85013-mobile-network-switching-easier-proposes-ofcom/

  12. simmondp
    FAIL

    Pity they are not rated by their customers

    The Which customer satisfaction survey rated EE 2nd to bottom for "Pay monthly" and bottom for Pay as you go".

  13. user_4574

    Hilarious!

    EE the best, all I can say is the roflcopter has landed. They are, without doubt, the worst mobe operator, well in my area anyway (near Woking, Surrey). In fact, I paid £120 for me and £90 for my wife to get out of their contract early. O2 pwns them easily in every way

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hilarious!

      Moving to Woking next week. Switched from O2 to EE on a three year contract three months ago. Bugger.

  14. breakfast Silver badge
    Facepalm

    EE have signal sometimes

    With my phone on EE I often have no signal. When I have a data connection it has a selection of letters: 'H', 'H+', 'G', 'E' and maybe a few others? Anyway experience has shown that all of these letters signify that I have download rate a little slower than a 22.5k dial-up modem.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    EE great for hardware sales

    My employer has its contract for mobile phones with BT. When BT decided to buy EE we were forced to move from the Vodafone network to EE. Within two weeks 90% of our staff had ordered femtocells for their homes because the reception was so bad they couldn't make or receive calls. My company and its staff are located in the remote wilderness of central Sussex.

    1. Ermintrude

      Re: EE great for hardware sales

      Ah in that case your problem is likely to be the lack of base stations because all of your neighbours fear electricity.

  16. Tim 11

    Don't forget virgin mobile

    Anyone who has ever had to use EE customer service would never touch them with a barge pole, but if you're a virgin cable customer you can get to use EE's network and still have some semblance of customer service. YMMV IMHO etc.

  17. John H Woods Silver badge

    Until we got rural fibre ...

    my Three phone easily beat the 2Mbps of the ADSL. SWIMBO's on EE, and if she wants data in this part of Warwickshire, most of the time it has to be done by my phone's hotspot. Text and Voice no problem; but data's an absolute joke - I'd have to keep reminding myself its 100x better than Voda or I'd burst into tears.

  18. BOBSta

    Standards?

    1 dropped call in 50 is acceptable? Hmm...

    Given that mobile voice and data are so heavily relied on by the public and business these days, Isn't it about time that government and OFCOM got some teeth and forced a mandate for all mobile operators to meet specific and publicly visible standards for signal coverage for voice and data, voice call quality, minimum acceptable data speeds (per G type), number of dropped calls, and maximum acceptable outages? (amongst others). Especially for out-of-city locations.

    1. Expectingtheworst
      Unhappy

      Re: Standards?

      I don't have any problems with dropped calls. No signal.

      Moved from Vodafone as they had no signal and as did Vodafone before, they lied about having signal.

      Why does Trading Standards not stop this. It is worse than up to 8Mb/s claims for 0.25Mb/s which I had for a while.

      So BT (EE) gives me no signal 6 miles south of Norwich with a combined adjacent 3 village population of 4000+.

      Heaven help anyone in South Norfolk that brakes down or needs urgent assistance. Coverage is area NOT population.

  19. Featherstone

    Fed up with poor signal

    Why do all these comparisons always talk about 4G when something like 20% of the UK still doesn't even get call and text coverage, it's ridiculous. The closest i've come to an answer is a multi network sim that basically hops from one network to the next grabbing the strongest signal from whichever network happens to have the best coverage in that particular area, but it can be reasonably pricey, https://pebblenetwork.ltd.uk is one such best mobile coverage provider network and for 500 mins or texts it's £24.99 per month on a sim only basis. It's better than being stuck without signal entirely, obviously and I can see how it would be great in rural areas etc but with data being expensive from these types of providers you'll probably want to use a dual sim arrangement where you can use a cheaper sim for data when you're in area with a signal decent enough to get mobile data. I don't believe EE's 95% landmass coverage by 2020 for one minute personally, they keep pushing the deadline back, same as the rest of them, always moving the goalposts.

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