Phone Networks in Stafford.

Cue

Well-Known Forumite
So given how abysmal the offering I’ve had from O2 these past two months has been (<2Mbps most of the time, basically not usable) I’m looking at an early termination

How are people finding speeds on the various networks? We were on EE before and I get the feeling we may find ourselves wandering back to them…

(If anyone would like to do a speedtest on 4G and a rough idea of where in Stafford you did it, my go to is https://nperf.com and it would be much appreciated)
 

cj1

Well-Known Forumite
I'm on rwg mobile that piggybacks off now/EE networks . I'm on a "freemium" plan so I get 750mb of 2g/3g/4g data 100 mins and 100 texts for free every month for a one off £15 if you go over that allowance then you use that £15 top up at a rate of 5p per min and text and 1p per mb.premimum plans start at £2 per month. I agree that O2 speeds suck especially in the town centre that why it's my second sim now. Once my credit is gone I will port over.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
I had EE for years. Then suddenly couldn't get a signal at all at home , except the very far corner of the garden. ( coincided with Baswich House & it's masts being removed).

Had to change to O2 with Tesco mobile.
Internet working fast. Phone signal here a better reception than EE , but have to stand in hallway or bedroom windows for decent reception.
 

Cue

Well-Known Forumite
O2 have just broken us out of our 24 month contract for two lines at 2 months as the speed was borderline unusable now, and they couldn’t resolve that

Looking around I’m eyeing up Zevvle, which is quite an interesting one as shared data pools is their default setting… £27 for two lines sharing 30gb isn’t half bad and I do like the fact that they came out of one programmer being sick of poor customer service

Inclusive roaming in the EU still too…
 

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
So given how abysmal the offering I’ve had from O2 these past two months has been (<2Mbps most of the time, basically not usable) I’m looking at an early termination

How are people finding speeds on the various networks? We were on EE before and I get the feeling we may find ourselves wandering back to them…

(If anyone would like to do a speedtest on 4G and a rough idea of where in Stafford you did it, my go to is https://nperf.com and it would be much appreciated)
Vodafone, Creswell 4g 24.12 Mbps just now.

I have two SIM cards in my phone, I use Tesco (O2) for calls & texts, and Vodafone for data.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Outside Hindles on Bridle Road earlier I was getting 426 Mbps download and 85 Mbps upload on 3 5G. In town this morning in Mill Street it was 4 Mbps download on 4g! On Cannock Chase it's very patchy and you're lucky to get enough data to be able to use the internet much of the time. Milford Common, no signal.

At home there is no signal on any network.
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
I had EE for years. Then suddenly couldn't get a signal at all at home , except the very far corner of the garden. ( coincided with Baswich House & it's masts being removed).

Had to change to O2 with Tesco mobile.
Internet working fast. Phone signal here a better reception than EE , but have to stand in hallway or bedroom windows for decent reception.
The mast removal affected all networks but they have all now erected masts to replace the ones lost.


EE around Stafford is good for me. o2 was ok coverage wise but I had issues with calls going straight to voicemail with them which is why I switched to EE.

I tried a Three sim and couldn't get any signal in my house, went outside and it worked. Wouldn't recommend them as other people have had similar issues.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Reminds me of going up to the Lakes hill walking some years back and stopping off in Stafford for a night to break the journey. Went into Burtons to buy a couple of shirts and came out with an EE phone instead !!! :urgh:

Still with em because it's the best signal in the village, and my place is practically a Faraday cage for various reasons. :eek:
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
The mast removal affected all networks but they have all now erected masts to replace the ones lost.


EE around Stafford is good for me. o2 was ok coverage wise but I had issues with calls going straight to voicemail with them which is why I switched to EE.

I tried a Three sim and couldn't get any signal in my house, went outside and it worked. Wouldn't recommend them as other people have had similar issues.
I'm finding lots of calls are going straight to voicemail with 02 as well , even when the phone is in the good spots .

Not sure if EE would be any better nowadays for me here , as it was a few years ago I started having issues with their signal . Sons phone gets a decent EE signal all over our house , but he's got a more expensive Iphone (mines more the bottom of the range android)

When Carphone warehouse was in the Queensville retail park , so that's going back a while as well, I'd seen a good Three deal but they checked my postcode and said I wouldn't get any coverage
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
Reminds me of going up to the Lakes hill walking some years back and stopping off in Stafford for a night to break the journey. Went into Burtons to buy a couple of shirts and came out with an EE phone instead !!! :urgh:

Still with em because it's the best signal in the village, and my place is practically a Faraday cage for various reasons. :eek:
I still call it "The old Burtons shop" when giving hubby directions to where places are in town.
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
I'm finding lots of calls are going straight to voicemail with 02 as well , even when the phone is in the good spots .

Not sure if EE would be any better nowadays for me here , as it was a few years ago I started having issues with their signal . Sons phone gets a decent EE signal all over our house , but he's got a more expensive Iphone (mines more the bottom of the range android)

When Carphone warehouse was in the Queensville retail park , so that's going back a while as well, I'd seen a good Three deal but they checked my postcode and said I wouldn't get any coverage
Shouldn't matter if you have a top or bottom of the range phone. If your son gets decent EE signal with his phone, then you should.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
Shouldn't matter if you have a top or bottom of the range phone. If your son gets decent EE signal with his phone, then you should.
Not tried mine on EE since that time I started getting absolutely no signal at all in the house and most of the garden a few years ago. I'd been with them for years before that with no problems. I had to change , and stuck with the Tesco 02 ever since.
(Supposed to be moving soon, and was getting good signal with both my 02 and sons EE when viewing the new house. So hopefully no probs once we get there. )

In the mean time it's sticking with leaving the phone sitting on the lounge windowsill in the hopes of calls and messages getting through , and racing upstairs to the front bedroom window whilst in the call so that people can actually hear me.
 

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
In addition to my regular SIMs, I've also got a Manx Telecom PAYG SIM, which is very useful if visiting remote locations across the UK, or indeed anywhere that struggles to pick up a signal.

Unlike UK based SIMs it roams across all networks, which means it can usually hold a signal when other SIMs can't. It is used by many emergency services across the UK.

The SIM is free; you just have to use it once at least every 180 days to keep it active. Incoming calls, in the UK are free, whilst outgoing UK calls are 15p + 48p per minute.
 

Alee

Well-Known Forumite
E sims are usually built into the device eg Apple Watches. Can’t imagine you would be able to just buy one … but I could be wrong 🧐.
You can request an e sim though from a provider , they just send you a QR code which you have to scan and it changes all the carrier settings on your device …. But again … I could be wrong 🤣
 
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Alee

Well-Known Forumite
You used to be able to convert an existing pay as you go sim to an e sim through your provider. Whether or not they allow the sim to remain as pay as you go is another story though…
 
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