Observations on Three vs EE data speeds in Manchester

[Sunbed]

Having put up with slow web page loading and YouTube buffering on Three for long enough I decided to buy an EE PAYG SIM to do a proper speed test comparison.

I did eleven tests on each network at the same places in Manchester, starting at the city centre, testing at various tram stops and finishing at my house in South Manchester.

Results Three [Down (Mbps) / Up (Mbps)/ Ping (ms)]:

Average = 8.3 / 6.6 / 46
Average (city centre) = 3.3 / 5.4 / 49
Worst = 0.2 / 7.7 / 53
Best = 18.3 / 9.1 / 45

Results EE [Down (Mbps) / Up (Mbps)/ Ping (ms)]:

Average = 30.3 / 19.2 / 37
Average (city centre) = 16.9 / 22.6 / 37
Worst = 3.2 / 31.2 / 42
Best = 71.3 / 7.1 / 39

It's worth pointing out that most, if not all these tests showed full signal but for some reason there are quite a few spots close to buildings where the download speed drops to almost nothing. This seems to affect Three more than EE.

The speed difference confirmed my suspicions and it was enough to convince me to order an EE's SIM only deal. All credit to Three, they gave me my PAC code with minimal hassle and if they sorted out those city centre slow spots in future I'd have no issues going back to them.

I just thought I'd share in case anyone else is in a similar situation. The Black Friday deals are on at the moment so it seemed like a good time to move.

 

[Rimsy]

Similar story here. Moved from Three to EE and my speeds have trebled from around 25mbs to 80. Also enjoying the novelty of having phone signal inside large buildings which was always hit and miss with three.
On the other hand three seems to have better coverage out in the countryside so not all roses but on the whole I'm happy with the move.

 

[Dirk]

I've given up trying to use 4G on Three. I get much better speed keeping my phone on 3G.

 

[Liquid_Entity]

I stand on East Croydon Station with a Three SIM and have full 4g bars but speeds barely get above dial up. It's absolutely dog **** but my personal and work SIMs are both Three in my dual Sim phone so I'm stuck without an alternative. Everywhere else is fine just around East Croydon.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Around me, Milton Keynes, Three is noticably better on 4G than 3G (40-20 mbps vs 16-8 average), even inside, but I do suspect they have a real issue with oversubscribed masts.

 

[MrRockliffe]

I recommend giving DNS changer a go - here in Hampshire, and London, I find EE awful. Throughput seems okay, but the connection hangs quite a bit.

I've also found Vodafone surprisingly good after slating them for years. In fact, over 3 months, I've felt they've been better than EE in the areas I've used them, especially indoor coverage.

 

[reflux]

Moved from 3 to EE a couple of months ago, and so far the coverage and speed are both far better on EE than they were on 3.

EE has the added bonus of WiFi calling without having to install the awful 'Three In-Touch' app, so that's me completely sold tbh.

Yes I'm paying £7 more a month, but for me it's worth it.

 

[xb8browney]

I managed to pull 160 from EE last week, quite impressive.

 

[Semple]

snip

I've just ran some speed tests on three in south Manchester and i'm getting 70-75Mbps down / 11-12Mbps up whilst on 4G.

I've never really had a problem in south Manchester with the speeds, but am seeing at least once a month where the signal completely drops out, i log a report and within a few hours it's back up and running again.