UKC

My Mobile contract with Vodaphone is up in a few weeeks. Anyone with O2 happy with its coverage in the hills. I can get a much less expensive deal using O2. Did a bit of research on both (reportedly they share masts) but rather hear from bona fide users. Vo has let me down on lots of hills - even when full bars are showing - but pretty good otherwise.

In reply to gilliesp:

I have a Vodafone personal mobile, and an O2 work one. I generally find the Vodafone has better coverage in the mountains, certainly in the Highlands, but just occasionally its the other way around. I'd heard masts were shared, but my experience suggests not. O2 can be noticeably better in more urban/lowland areas at times, but if I had to chose one, it would be Vodafone.

In reply to Mal Grey:

Thanks for that. I checked the signal strength charts for various networks but it was a bit difficult to decide.

In reply to gilliesp:
I can't recommend O2. They were an absolute nightmare to end the contract with, and passed me to a debt agency despite owing me money!
Have a look at giff gaff. Much cheaper than O2 and use their masts.

In reply to Dave the Rave:

........and owned by O2.

I've tried them all and find EE the best round the UK; but the worst in the Highlands.

O2 has very bad coverage on hills in my experience as well.
GiffGaff is using O2 network, has much better prices than O2 itself, but no customer service.

In reply to nutme:

i switched from Vodafone to EE a few months ago for improved coverage. EE does seem to beat everyone else in overall UK coverage.

In reply to Dave the Rave:

No recent experience of O2, but my several encounters with Vodafone over the years have made me vow never to deal with them again.

In reply to gilliesp:

My work switched me from Vodafone to O2 a year or so ago. I'm switching back to Vodafone as soon as the contract is up. In the areas I visit regularly Voda are much better than O2. My wife was on EE and half the time she might as well have left her phone at home, it was useless outside towns. I've just switched her to Vodafone and it's a big improvement.
There will always be places where you can't get Vodafone and can get other networks though. None of them are ideal.

In reply to gilliesp:

They do indeed share masts. There are some differences in coverage in urban areas but in rural areas I would expect the coverage to be very similar as the kit will generally be co-located. There could still be differences at the fringes due to the frequencies used. I'm not an expert in this area however.

Of course, for emergencies your phone will roam to any network it can find, so you don't need to worry about that aspect.

If you're saving money by switching, I'd probably go for it.

Disclosure: I work for a major mobile company, but the above is my personal opinion.

In reply to gilliesp:

I have a Vodafone PAYG "hill phone" because I searched various forums, and most people report much better coverage on the hills.

In reply to climbwhenready:

Yes, that could be the way to go. I had seen elsewhere that some folks did this. If I was on a cross country backpacking trip I would end up with two phones though as one would be a smart phone with all the bells and whistles. I am giving this some thought.

In reply to Y Gribin:



I thought Telefonica owned 02 and giff gaff?
02 wouldn't match giff gaffs PAYGtariff?

In reply to Dave the Rave:


Correct. Giff Gaff is owned by Telefonica but not part of Telefonica UK, which trades as O2 to consumers.

In reply to gilliesp:

My experience round the Lakes is that there's no obvious winner overall - some areas will have one and not the other (I've got a phone on Vodafone and iPad on O2).
If internet connectivity is useful, I've found that marginally better on O2 in the areas of the north Lakes I'm most commonly in.

In reply to gilliesp:

I find O2 useless in Langdale, right from The Band in the west right over to Loughrigg although higher up to the north around Pavey Ark sometimes ok. Don't think it's good in Little Langdale either, but not sure. Vodafone seems about same, from mates as well as an old Vodafone non-smart phone I sometimes carry. However, I find O2 fairly good around inner and outer Hebrides even out to sea when I'm sailing. I think it's very difficult to be precise but anyway, this is what I've found, fwiw. Mike

In reply to Mikek:

Might be worth taking a new phone with O2 on a wee trip out northwest within the 'money back' period...... Suck it and see!

In reply to David Barlow:

But EE is light years ahead on 4g data than anyone else.

I went from EE to Vodafone and personally I found Vodafone to be inferior most of the time for general reception (calls / data) too.

Since then I went to 3, not really impressed. Trying out GiffGaff and I don't think the 4g is a fast as Vodafone, haven't had it long enough to know if the reception is good in the hills.