Signal strength

mazjohn108 · 12 July at 9:11PM

Hi, Just been comparing sim only deals and included the signal checker in the results. My best signal is with EE but Vodafone gets 3 bars and 3 gets 2 bars. As Vodafone and 3 have merged and now share masts, surely the signal should be the same on both?

savergrant · 12 July at 9:26PM

Vodafone and 3 have merged, but I don't think it's true to say they 'now share masts'. Vodafone customers can access 3 masts and vice versa but I don't think it applies to mvno's who use the original networks. Just checked and my lebara sim offers a choice of lebara, 3, ee, and o2 as before, and will only connect to lebara (Vodafone). I'd be interested to hear the experience of others.

mazjohn108 · 12 July at 10:02PM

The Talkmobile website clearly says that customers will automatically be able to Vodafone and 3 networks, giving them more coverage at no extra cost.

savergrant · 12 July at 10:48PM

From Vodafone.co.uk

"Customers of both Vodafone UK and Three UK will be able to use both networks, so their phones will use the signal of whichever network is best at their location.

Customers of Vodafone UK, Three UK, VOXI, Talkmobile and Smarty can all take advantage of this benefit. All five are brands of VodafoneThree, the new company formed from the merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK

.Before MOCN, a phone with a Three UK SIM couldn’t make calls or transmit data through a Vodafone mast. The same was true for a phone with a Vodafone UK SIM and a Three mast.

That all changes with MOCN. Whether your phone has a Vodafone or a Three SIM, it will connect to either a Vodafone or a Three mast – whichever one provides the best signal in your location.

With MOCN, the Vodafone and Three core networks in the UK remain separate. What is shared are the radio waves used by the RANs, which is known as spectrum.

The roll out of MOCN has already started in the areas of the country that will gain the most benefit from it. 95% of the rollout will be complete within six years, with the entire rollout finished in eight years."

Key words are BOTH networks, and only applies to brands owned by the new company (for now at least) . when the rollout is complete they will likely have significant doubling up of masts.