MVNOs

ThemeOne

You always hear it said that if you have a SIM from an MVNO, the coverage you get is the same as for the parent operator.

However, I've often wondered if this is really true. For example recently I've noticed that the reception from Lycamobile is noticeably worse than from O2 itself, yet they're using the same network.

sdduk

O2 them selves get the best signal and then Tesco not sure about Lycamobile but Gigggaff get's the worst signal don't know why because O2 own GG out right and own half of Tesco mobile not sure again about Lycamobile.

Frozen_up_north

Networks have been adding additional frequency bands to base stations in order to increase capacity and in the case of lower frequency ones, to improve penetration into buildings.

Could it be (a) the MVNO SIM is configured to less bands, or (b) the main network limits the use of the additional bands to their own SIMs?

Also, are you comparing different SIMs in the same phone? Not all phones have all the current bands and if using a different phone, there can be a huge difference in performance between phones. As an example an old Three S2 "Skype" phone was able to hold a clear conversation whereas an iPhone 5 at the same location showed no signal, both were on 3 and the location was a car park with no local obstructions.

ThemeOne

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

Also, are you comparing different SIMs in the same phone? Not all phones have all the current bands and if using a different phone, there can be a huge difference in performance between phones. As an example an old Three S2 "Skype" phone was able to hold a clear conversation whereas an iPhone 5 at the same location showed no signal, both were on 3 and the location was a car park with no local obstructions.

Completely agree - I've found to get good call reception you need the magic combination of the right SIM, the right network, the right handset and the right location. I suspect hardly anyone is ever lucky and gets all right.

In this case the Lyca and O2 SIMs were in two iPhone 6s, but this isn't the first time I've noticed inferior performance from MVNOs.

I suspect that on average you probably get better performance sticking to the parent network, but of course subject to handset / location.

I do rather yearn for the days of the landline where it just worked, unless you go back many many decades!

Conrad123

I have been having problems with signal strength since switching two iPhone 5's from TalkTalk (Vodafone) to Virgin (EE).

Virgin customer services have tried several different options including new SIMs - twice - but nothing has improved the signal.

In conversation with Virgin I got the impression that even though they rent bandwidth from the EE network they don't actually rent that bandwidth on ALL the available EE masts.

Could it be that, to save money, MVNO suppliers only buy into main masts (i.e. masts which have the largest coverage) and so many areas that are served by 'fill-in' masts do not get service on MVNO SIMs?

There is a quote on the MSE website that says, [FONT=&quot]"[/FONT]We've heard some reports of the signal strength not being as good on MVNO networks as it is on their parent networks but Ofcom has told us it should be exactly the same. This is because it's the same network and it says other factors, such as the handset type or location, are more likely to cause signal problems. "
I would like MSE to ask Ofcom if MVNOs do indeed only buy in to some of the masts and not all.

How can I get MSE to ask this question?

By comments on other forums as well as this one it seems that many people with MVNO sims feel they are getting a poorer signal that those with contracts with the main suppliers.

boatman

I'm pretty sure there is a pecking order, they have admitted to throttling data, so I have no doubt there are ways and means.

[Deleted User]

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

Could it be (a) the MVNO SIM is configured to less bands, or (b) the main network limits the use of the additional bands to their own SIMs?

This may apply to @Conrad123 as well but I beleive EE now have a 800Mhz band (Band 20) which is exclusively for a select few phones (possibly all iPhones as well) but only if bought from EE themselves and of course if you stick with EE (no BT or Plusnet switching).

Edit: other than that I don't believe the coverage is different for MVNO's although Giffgaff is certainly data throttled.

alanwsg

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

This may apply to @Conrad123 as well but I beleive EE now have a 800Mhz band (Band 20) which is exclusively for a select few phones (possibly all iPhones as well) but only if bought from EE themselves and of course if you stick with EE (no BT or Plusnet switching).

You're right, in fact it worse than that ...
You don't get access to the 800Mhz band from EE unless you buy the whole phone from them! Just having an EE SIM in a compatible phone isn't enough.

Frozen_up_north

Conrad123 wrote: »

I have been having problems with signal strength since switching two iPhone 5's from TalkTalk (Vodafone) to Virgin (EE).

The old iPhone 5 lacks the frequency bands now used by some providers. I'm on Three with an iPhone SE and that has what Three call "Super Voice" (a 4G feature) for increased penetration into buildings. The iPhone 5 lacks that, and may have less coverage as a result.

The same issue may apply on EE with an iPhone 5.

[Deleted User]

alanwsg wrote: »

You're right, in fact it worse than that ...
You don't get access to the 800Mhz band from EE unless you buy the whole phone from them! Just having an EE SIM in a compatible phone isn't enough.

Not only am I right but that's actually what I said

d123

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

This may apply to @Conrad123 as well but I beleive EE now have a 800Mhz band (Band 20) which is exclusively for a select few phones (possibly all iPhones as well) but only if bought from EE themselves and of course if you stick with EE (no BT or Plusnet switching).

Edit: other than that I don't believe the coverage is different for MVNO's although Giffgaff is certainly data throttled.

alanwsg wrote: »

You're right, in fact it worse than that ...
You don't get access to the 800Mhz band from EE unless you buy the whole phone from them! Just having an EE SIM in a compatible phone isn't enough.

You're partially right, and Three do the same thing with access to their 800MHz band as well.

The service is open to customers with any compatible iPhone or Pixel as well as certain models from Huawei, HTC and Blackberry which can be sourced from anywhere, as well as a number of other phones that have to be supplied direct from EE with EE firmware installed.

This is what EE says:

you purchased one of the below phone models:

Apple iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7 or 7 Plus
Google Pixel, Pixel XL
Huawei P10, P10 Lite, P10 Plus
HTC U11
BlackBerry Priv, Dtek 50

you purchased one of the below phone models directly from EE (in one of our EE stores, online at ee.co.uk, or through our business sales or telesales teams), and not through another operator or retailer:

Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, S7, S7 Edge, Xcover 4, A3 (2017), A5 (2017)
Sony Xperia L1, XA1, XZ, XZ Premium, X, XA, X Compact, Z5, Z5 Premium and Z5 Compact
Microsoft Lumia 550, 650, 950, 950XL
Huawei P8 lite (2017)
HTC 10
LG G6, G5, G5 SE, X Cam, K8 (2016), K8 (2017), K10 (2017)

Three don't make it as easy to know what phones are compatible without entering the model into their coverage checker to see if it shows as "SuperVoice" compatible. It's a similar list to EE's though.