Does Voda prefer 2G??

Legacy_user

I've recently changed to Vodafone from 3 (sim only) and I've noticed that my phone seems to be on 2G most of the time.

I thought that there was mostly 2G only coverage but when I switch the phone to 3G only it finds 3G in locations that was 2G previously.

Data on 2G seems to be 'E' but is very slow and sometimes even times out.

username

The 3G coverage (from what I recall) on Vodafone was rubbish, and my phone spent a lot of its time on GPRS, which was dog slow.

"E" meant ... err, extra terrestrial mode . Well, that might as well have been the only way to communicate, as whenever my iphone displayed "E" (for Edge) the internet never worked. Even in the City where I got full bars etc, the 3G performance was awful.

Can't fault Vodafone for voice and text coverage, it was pretty good. But for internet -- you're on the wrong network!

Rusty!

Did you check coverage before switching?

Silk

SPalin wrote: »

I've recently changed to Vodafone from 3 (sim only) and I've noticed that my phone seems to be on 2G most of the time.

Depends where you are ....If I go to an area with a poor signal I might only get 2g but in an area with a good signal it's 3g all the time

Vodafone

Hi SPalin,

You can check the coverage in your area via the coverage checker on our website. This also contains a network status checker which has details of any faults being worked on.

Although I can't link you directly to it, due to the posting rules which company representatives have to follow, you'll find it in the 'Discover Vodafone' section.

Kind regards,

Lee

Social Media Comms

Vodafone UK

Frozen_up_north

Around her in East Yorkshire Three are way ahead of Vodafone for data, as they say your mileage may vary. Check out actual measured data using either the Rootmetrics App or their web page:
http://webcoveragemap.rootmetrics.com/uk

fishybusiness

Same view as others...if you want quality Internet go with Three or other.

We have a Vodafone contract and also T-Mobile, previous to that Three.

Vodafone always so slow on the net, the others are good.

Vodafone have great voice calls, always better and great coverage where others fail

d123

SPalin wrote: »

I've recently changed to Vodafone from 3 (sim only) and I've noticed that my phone seems to be on 2G most of the time.

I thought that there was mostly 2G only coverage but when I switch the phone to 3G only it finds 3G in locations that was 2G previously.

Data on 2G seems to be 'E' but is very slow and sometimes even times out.

If you use data that was a bad move! Vodafone is really a 2G network with some 3G added on without updating the backend of the transmitter so there is very little capacity for 3G data, hence why they seem to make phones prefer 2G.

On the bright side, they do seem to be investing in 4G, so in the next year or so they might be comparable to Three or EE for data.

At least you will have good 2G coverage for calls and texts in the mean time .

sparky93

Coverage on Voda

System

My handset occasionally says 'H' but the H+ never seems to come up unlike 3 and even O2. I'm not a heavy data user as I have Wi-Fi at home and work but like to have usable data when mobile.

I don't understand why my phone clings to 2G even there is 3G coverage.

Have Vodafone mostly skipped 3G and trying to jump from 2G to 4G but adding decent data as premium service??

d123 wrote: »

If you use data that was a bad move! Vodafone is really a 2G network with some 3G added on without updating the backend of the transmitter so there is very little capacity for 3G data, hence why they seem to make phones prefer 2G.

On the bright side, they do seem to be investing in 4G, so in the next year or so they might be comparable to Three or EE for data.

At least you will have good 2G coverage for calls and texts in the mean time .

d123

SPalin wrote: »

Have Vodafone mostly skipped 3G and trying to jump from 2G to 4G but adding decent data as premium service??

Simplistically, yes. It is also caused by them not upgrading the data pipes to and from the mast (the backhaul), so often even when a site has been upgraded to 3G it is still running off of 2G infrastructure back to the network (which is where the complaints of strong signal but almost no data flow come from).