Wilderness coverage - o2 vs vodafone

413x

413x

413x

Caporegime
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Llaneirwg
My 24 month o2 contract is now at an end. And I'm eyeing up 30 day sim only.

What is most valuable to me is wide coverage.

I don't care about 5g city speeds. I do care about getting some coverage, even just voice call, in as many places as possible.


This is probably impossible, but does anyone have any views on this? I think o2 might be better. But their coverage checker isn't as good as Vodafones. Can't seem to scroll around the map.
 
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I live rurally and spend a lot of time in rural areas. Between my partner and I (Vodafone and O2 respectively) we get decent coverage off the beaten track in most places.

I've had signal on Vodafone at the summit of Snowdon and in the middle of the ridge up Ben Nevis. Some obscure areas can be troublesome, especially remote valleys, but that'll be the same as everyone else I imagine.

Be wary of PlusNet and other cheaper 30 day SIM providers. They don't all give access to the all the main carriers frequencies. In the case of PlusNet, the frequency used for rural 4G is missing and calls only go through 3G. I found this made the phone pretty much useless when it had a signal that wasn't 4G.

I've recently moved to VOXI which uses the whole Vodafone network and I'm getting a much better network experience. My partner has been on O2 for the last 5 years and never complained about signal.
 
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EE has the contract for providing coverage for emergency services, including mountain rescue, so they give you the best coverage in remote areas typically, as part of that contract means they've put in extra masts to cover hard to reach areas.

It's very rare I'm completely out of signal on EE, even up in the mountains.
 
Generally find 3 and EE give best coverage in remote spots(which I should qualify my experience is limited to the Devon/Cornwall and much of Scotland). Voda and O2 typically terrible.
 
3 were awful in the North East.

Now with Lebara - cheap, free EU roaming and a great signal in the Highlands (Vodafone network).
 
Rimsy said:
Generally find 3 and EE give best coverage in remote spots(which I should qualify my experience is limited to the Devon/Cornwall and much of Scotland). Voda and O2 typically terrible.
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3 are awful in remote areas. I'm frequently out in the mountains with my other half, she's on 3, I'm on EE, and we always have to rely on my phone signal.
 
Have to agree with the above, O2 are woeful in both coverage and speeds. Call quality is awful as well.
The minute my sim only deal is up I'll be moving.
 
I thought EE were the worstI except for 3? Best for cities, poor for rural?

3 is a no no. I've been told by most they are the worst.

I might give Vodafone a go then. I guess there's only one way to find out!
 
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On giffgaff (O2), I get terrible, almost no, reception at my office in a business park whereas my colleagues get decent reception.
 
I live in the heart of the Kent Downs which has been frustrating with mobile signal over the years. I've toyed with different providers in that time and always go back to Vodafone for signal, EE/o2/3 always drop calls, not saying Vodafone doesn't, but they drop the least.

It's handy that most of them have PAYG sims to test it for a month too, 3 were the worst, terrible call quality and constantly dropping out.
 
413x said:
I thought EE were the worstI except for 3? Best for cities, poor for rural?

3 is a no no. I've been told by most they are the worst.

I might give Vodafone a go then. I guess there's only one way to find out!
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Like I said, EE have the best rural coverage, they provide the emergency services network and had to invest in remote coverage to get the contract.
 
I'm going to give Vodafone a go via lebara.

Its 93p a month (yep under a pound) for 6 months. Then 7.90 after.

15gb of data too. Seems too cheap! As its a 30 day contract! Ridiculous when I'm spending 25ppm for o2
 
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Popped the lebara sim in phone.
Much to my surprise I get no 5g in my house despite the lebara coverage checker saying good 5g in and outdoors.

I get a smidge of o2 5g. But it's coverage map does say 'good outdoors'.


So are Vodafones maps just waaay off?
 
413x said:
Popped the lebara sim in phone.
Much to my surprise I get no 5g in my house despite the lebara coverage checker saying good 5g in and outdoors.

I get a smidge of o2 5g. But it's coverage map does say 'good outdoors'.


So are Vodafones maps just waaay off?
Click to expand...

Have you tried checking your coverage on https://bidb.uk/ , this site seems to be quite accurate.
 
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