Signal strength

mazjohn108

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

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

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

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.

flaneurs_lobster

MCON?

RAN?

Rodders53

Google tells me that

MOCN (not MCON) stands for Multi-Operator Core Network.

RAN is Radio Access Network in telecomms speak.

Other search engines are available. Note that it was all a quote from Vodafone/Three.

brewerdave

I'm with ID mobile, nominally on the 3 network, but I'm currently connected to a Voda mast ,as shown on cellmapper app.

redux

One of my Three SIMs does not connect to Vodafone. I haven't tried the other

tinker411

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82067277#Comment_82067277

Yes, they're going around enabling it as we speak. It is, sadly (or not, depending on your point of view), not a flick of a switch situation. It's not like when T-Mobile and Orange merged back in the day when you could force your phone to use one network or the other either.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82067245#Comment_82067245

Indeed, it's more sharing signal rather than actual masts.

In response to your last line - here, Vodafone did 6 weeks(!) of upgrade work in the area here and, going by my Talkmobile sim, it's all a bit odd on 'upgraded' masts; 4G wise, they're sharing some bands (Bands 1, 3, 20 and 28) but not others (Bands 7, 8 and 32). 5G wise they're sharing Three's 100MHz block but nothing else.

As an aside - going by some posts elsewhere on here, isn't Lebara in the midst of moving to EE? As with that in mind Lebara may not be the best example to check on how this is all going.

savergrant

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82067571#Comment_82067571

Interesting...isn't ID mobile owned by currys? So not a division of vodafonethree.

On their website it says they use 3, but also;

"Faster and more reliable 4G/5G coverage, thanks to the VodafoneThree merger."

So it does look as though they are included in the rollout, which at the moment suggests it is targeted at areas where it will have a significant impact for customers. I'm guessing that means where one network has poor or no coverage. I might try my lebara sim in the wilds next week and see what happens in very rural spots.

SevenOfNine

I'm with O2 & have been for over 5 years. Got a new phone about a month ago, noticed I now only get 1 bar of signal with 02, who keep insisting the signal is good where I live. Clearly not any more.

Indoors, outdoors pretty much anywhere. EXCEPT one area that's a short car drive away. Could this be connected to O2/Virgin now? Surely not my new phone!

Husband is with EE & gets full 4 bars wherever he is in/out/anywhere So I'm thinking of switching to them using 1pmobile who piggy back EE. I'd just like to understand why my signal is poor when it used to be fine.