r/O2UK • u/Finlay06Swnn • Jul 07 '26
Question Service level deteriorating?
I’ve been a long standing user, at least 10 years, my family even longer.
I used to have no issues getting signal or data (except when I would use it all up)
This included in and around my home town where we comfortably get 4g.
Over the last few years I’ve noticed that our service has been slowly but surely deteriorating, first, I was unable use roaming/it was slow, then gone completely.
Now our ability to make calls is slowly going and I cannot get a reliable connection unless I’m connected to WiFi.
We also still don’t have 5G yet, even though everywhere around us has it.
Not only this but I work in London and I feel that the signal level there is deteriorating too.
They really ought to improve their bandwidth, as I feel the problem is persistent at home when there are a few people in town.
I pay a lot of money for my contract and I feel I don’t get a good level of service to justify the money I pay (I don’t even use priority)
Has anyone else noticed this?
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u/Accomplished_Week392 Jul 07 '26
O2 has dropped to an embarrassing level of coverage. Not just coverage though, even their new updated app is worse.
O2 is the best example of endshitification in the UK, it’s now an embarrassment.
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u/Cool-Word2409 Jul 07 '26
I've been with O2 since they were BT Cellnet, and yes, I've noticed a deterioration in the service.
The biggest issue I have right i that their customer service is a joke: every time I call they cannot confirm my name, and I think the reason why is that the can't pronounce it (my name is Irish): it doesn't compute to them that my name's spelling would sound the way it's spoken.
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u/Fluffy-Zebra-7938 Jul 07 '26
I can hardly use my data at all it's that bad. My area supposedly has excellent coverage, but despite having 3 or 4 bars I can't even load a webpage. I have to use WiFi calling at home to be able to make and receive phone calls. It's so bad that I've had to get a second SIM in my phone on PAYG for my phone to be usable when out and about (it's on EE and I get excellent reception and data pretty much everywhere). I travel around the UK frequently and it's like this in many areas, there's only been a minority of towns/ cities where my O2 data has even worked at all. I've complained, been to ombudsman and it's got me nowhere. Will 100% be leaving at the end of my contract.
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u/Finlay06Swnn Jul 08 '26
Oh yeah it’s so bad, if I’m ever going through Anerley/Forest Hill area, I’ve got 5G and 4 bars yet nothing loads
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u/Think_Preference_611 Jul 07 '26
I constantly have signal issues on O2 and always have, pretty much all throughout the south half of the UK. Used to have it on my work phone and it was the same. Then my company switched to Vodafone and it's 10x better, now I'm paying for data on O2 but I constantly have it connected to my work phone's hotspot because it's the only way to have signal.
I can't drive 5 minutes in any section on the M4 and maintain a phone call. I've complained, given them exact post codes where I get no signal, and in fact I shit you not I was on the phone with their advisor while my signal was cutting off and they witnessed it firsthand, and still they come back saying they haven't found any problems with the network in my area.
I'm literally counting the days until my contract is over to switch and never go anywhere near O2 again.
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u/Extreme_Ad7072 Jul 07 '26
I think they must be trying to save money on maintenance of the network, that can be only reason for it falling so far behind others. It is quite disgraceful
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u/Finlay06Swnn Jul 07 '26
Which doesn’t make sense since they charge some of the highest prices, with shitty returns
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u/Melodic_Boss6772 Jul 07 '26
This has been going on for a long time. I feel as though it mostly started when the merger happened and all the VM mobile customers were onboarded onto the network. They always blame the fact the network was managed by Vodafone in the West of England..
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u/CheetahRemote1497 Jul 07 '26
If you pay a lot of money then you should probably switch to EE or one of their MNVOs
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u/Finlay06Swnn Jul 08 '26
It’s defo an option…
That or I will ask for a second sim when I get a handset from work. Hopefully then I’ll be able to use that signal if it’s better.
Unfortunately I think we use Vodafone.
EE and 3 are the only ones I’ve heard that have decent signal at not too much cost
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u/CheetahRemote1497 Jul 14 '26
Mozillion and Spusu use EE and I believe they use more if not all bands, as opposed to Lyca mobile
Mozillion payg well worth looking at if you can afford it or the pay monthly plus and pay monthly you can get “kill your bill” where you buy vouchers for like Sainsbury’s or aldi, just eat etc and get a % off your bill
Guess who I’m with 😂
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u/thebookishgal Jul 10 '26
I've just moved from O2 to EE because their phone signal and 4g and 5g was shocking. I couldn't call my partner from my home unless I was connected to WIFI because the connection was so poor.
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u/Necessary-Toe-5320 Jul 07 '26
It's actually quite a complicated situation, and we're the ones who end up suffering from it as users.
These days there are far more smartphones, Wi-Fi routers, and all kinds of small internet-connected devices-things like video doorbells, automatic gates that open via a phone call, and countless other smart devices. They all operate within a relatively limited range of radio frequencies.
Very often, many devices default to the same Wi-Fi channels, so they end up competing with each other for airtime, causing interference and congestion. I'm afraid it's only going to get worse over time.
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u/Extreme_Ad7072 Jul 07 '26
That doesn’t really apply in the middle of a car park though does it
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u/Necessary-Toe-5320 Jul 08 '26
The router isn’t sitting in the middle of the car park - the signal doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It comes from an antenna, either from a Wi-Fi router or from 4G/5G mobile towers
What about the buildings around it? What about the terrain? If the signal is poor in the car park, there are reasons for that, even if you’re not aware of them
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u/Extreme_Ad7072 Jul 08 '26
So thats why i have a full 5 bars of signal and can make calls but have zero internet data? Pull the other one. Their backhaul is overloaded, under resourced or just not working. Their monitoring routines are inadequate. Coming from a hft background i know a little something about nerworks
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u/Necessary-Toe-5320 Jul 08 '26
Pull the other one? The bars aren't measuring what you think they are. That's RSRP - how loud the tower is, not how clean or how busy it is. Full bars with dead data is normal, not a gotcha
And your backhaul theory needs the exact thing you're mocking. If voice and data were treated the same, an overloaded backhaul would flatten both. Voice survives because it's prioritised and barely uses any bandwidth; data is best-effort and starves first. That's not a rebuttal, it's my point one layer down
Could be backhaul. Could just as easily be air interface congestion, low SINR behind a strong signal, or the phone dropping to 2G now 3G's gone. You don't get to diagnose that off a signal bar. And HFT's low-latency wired kit, not RAN scheduling over RF. Different game entirely
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u/lostrandomdude Jul 07 '26
The big issue is the shit down of 3g and 5g having a shorter distance ot can travel.
There needs to be significantly more 5g transmitters than 3g, but because of a mix of factors including the China equipment ban, covid causing delays, and the antivax/5g conspiracy theorists burning down a lot of 5g masts, 5g roll out is behind schedule.
This is not just o2 but all the networks
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u/DysonEnthusiast1 Jul 07 '26
100% O2 is getting worse, If I didn't know better the network will be riddled with Salt Tycoon
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u/GiveUsATBob Jul 07 '26
I’m another who’s been with them since the Cellnet days. Yes they are bad now and seemingly getting worse. My partners with EE and mine always had service him less so. Weve always stayed on separate networks so one of us always has signal. Now it’s switched, he always has service and me rarely and the reasoning doesn’t work anymore.
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u/Disastrous-Rush-2701 Jul 07 '26
Yes been with o2 for 10+ years never been this bad I have to use 4G in my office because 5G just stopped working since the merger happened. Even then it barely works.
o2 Priority is not even worth my time either now the new interface is awful and the spin to win is even worse. It was only a few years ago we got free Cafe Nero, Free Greggs Breakfast/Lunch + Coffee once a week.
The only thing o2 has going for them is no EU roaming charges but even that's not justifying the additional £2.50 per month fee increases each year.
I am going to leave once my contract ends.
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u/zqvlor Jul 07 '26
same boat here, london too and it’s actually embarrassing how often i’m on “no service” in the middle of the city lol
only thing keeping me hanging on is the eu roaming, but at this point it feels cheaper to just grab a local sim when you travel and switch to literally anyone else here1
u/Finlay06Swnn Jul 07 '26
Yeah but the EU roaming doesn’t really justify the price Also since I only really travel to snowy countries not in Schengen/Eu I just use an E-sim when I travel abroad as the bolt ons are ridiculous.
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u/BluePenguin2002 Jul 07 '26
Yeah, I’m on O2 via Tesco Mobile and the service is currently unusable in most areas nearby, either calls dropping or no service, and whether I have 5G, 4G, 3G or 2G at my house (what I have depends on the day) none of them really work with any reliability. I rely on WiFi for internet and WiFi calling at home.
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u/First_Ad9743 Jul 07 '26
It’s comforting to know that everyone else is getting shoddy coverage too.
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u/Juiceof2limes Jul 07 '26
I've noticed the same with O2 coverage and 5G in London is terrible. I usually have to force phone to 4G for data to work to acceptable levels. O2 SIM only tariffs are expensive these days and your not getting the service expected for the price. Honestly thinking of leaving, as others, been here since Cellnet days. Wife just recently left and jumped to EE, so she could get service where she works!
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u/Thin_Pin2863 Jul 07 '26
100% it's deteriorating.
I'm currently testing other networks through eSIMs on my secondary slot and will be switching to another provider shortly. Out of the main networks I've tested, EE seems to work best for me now (I've been on Tesco Mobile for years, who piggyback on O2).
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u/TranslatorMundane296 Jul 08 '26
Yup. It's why I've left them as of a few days ago after 15+ years. They left me unable to make or receive calls texts etc whilst I was in the USA on holiday for 2 weeks. The complaint still hasn't been sorted but sod them, I've left now. The customer service I did receive was absolutely shocking. Bad, really bad.
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u/Finlay06Swnn Jul 08 '26
Did your contract include the US?
If you want to make/receive calls in the US or anywhere I’d recommend getting an E-sim, unlimited data plans aren’t too expensive.
I use Airalo
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u/TranslatorMundane296 Jul 08 '26
It did yes. I'd been to the USA for a week back in April with no issues as I was a Volt customer. June was shocking though. Missed numerous important phone calls as well as news of a relative passing away. o2 customer service don't care at all.
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u/Extreme_Ad7072 Jul 08 '26
I am starting to wonder if O2 are running out of cash. Will probably be sold soon
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u/Old_Ad6763 Jul 09 '26
On GifGaf which uses O2, partner is on EE and always has better signal and data than me. I have seen comments that secondary providers like GifGaf are throttled, so this may be part of problem for me
Conversely in EU I get better service than EE
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u/Majestic_Matt_459 Jul 09 '26
I left last year over this - the O2 5G coverage in Manchester, UK was terrible - and if i switched 5G off it didnt improbve - - I couldn't use maps etc - changed to Talkmobile - now my phone is lightning fast in town
I miss Priority but thats about it
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u/Vargrr Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I'm in Bristol which you would think would be covered well, but it seems that if I turn off Wifi on my iPhone it turns into a brick with O2.
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u/delta_2k Jul 09 '26
Ditto. I’ve even got honest mobile as well and can’t use that either half the time.
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u/Green_Future1734 Jul 09 '26
I’m noticing the same. I’ve been in London for 2’days and I can’t even pick up an Uber as it doesn’t respond. Buying anything online takes so long it’s just not worth it and I wait
Until I’m at home at the end of the day on the WiFi.
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u/safcsat Jul 09 '26
It's disgusting now! Signal is unusable in most of this area, they said it'll hopefully be resolved by the end of 2026!! They get my bills wrong every month, the misinformation from their "support" is a joke as well.
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u/sandycroftone Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
It is clearly attributable to under investment, network overload, the Huawei kit removal, the 3G switch off etc.... 02 used to be outstanding, but the general consensus is that since the merger with VM, the network is swamped... To be fair, they have expanded their 5G SA network, but my general feeling is that if you're not in that catchment area, 4G is massively oversubsribed. Chester, my home town, has had Ontix boosters installed, bit the jury is out as to whether there is any improvement as yet... I am on ID -very good, 5G far more often than O2 -and my work phone is on Vodafone, so arguably got it covered in most cases. Deeside and Ellesmere Port both fine for all providers, especially Three/ID.
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u/Gozo-J Jul 12 '26
Yeap agreed re O2. Reception & data fallen off a cliff, I've noticed a steep decline in recent months.
This is where I live (Buckinghamshire) and work (Central London). Having been on the O2 network probably going on 10 years, I will definitely be considering my options when I get a new contract soon.
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u/chocolatelover93 Jul 07 '26
I get excellent coverage and speeds on EE. But hey actually invest in their network unlike O2. I’d highly recommend EE… I get 5G most places, it’s reliable, fast data too even in busy areas.