News - Is EE 4G starting to become a victim of its own popularity?

[HEXUS]

We'll have to wait at least five more years for EE 5G.

Read more.

[Devastater6194]

I want 4G but EE is the only one in my area and they don't have an unlimited tariff yet so I'll wait.

[Jowsey]

Well that sucks if it's true.

I'm on 3 and I will admit that there roll-out has been slow but that's what you would expect from the smallest firm, and the 3g speeds I was getting were pretty good! (~ 6/7 mbs). But the 4g just rolled out where I live and wow... I hardly notice a difference XD web browsing isn't marginally faster but it's hard to point out. It's nice I can have HD youtube video's when i'm on the go and large android apps update quickly.

Also, unlimited data. Thank you.

[[DW]Cougho]

I recently switched from 3 to EE, not because of the 4g speed claims but because of 3's stupid decision to restrict tethering to 2GB on the one plan - whereas EE allow you to use your whole data allowance for tethering. This is vital for me as although I am based from home, I often work remotely on customers sites where I have no network access.

I must say though I am not particularly impressed with the coverage or speed of EE's network, despite everybody telling me I would see a noted difference. 4g is generally around 25Mb/s, but I have seen those speeds on HSDPA before so that's nothing new. 3g speeds are a little bit lower than I saw on 3, typically about 5Mb/s. The problem is 4g is not particularly common so normally I'm stuck with slightly lower speeds than I am used to.

If you don't need tethering like I do, go with 3 (and keep EE bandwidth for me).

[LSG501]

what's 4G.... honestly where I live I can barely get 3G from t-mobile, vodafone can't even manage that....

My nearest 4G service is 15mins away by car but then there isn't another one for at least an hour to an hour and a half drive.

I'd rather they focus on speeding up delivery of 3G and 4G, something vodafone have failed to do after they agreed to, than worry about 5G.

Not to mention the fact that wired broadband is going to be so much slower than wireless broadband it's time BT got off their behinds and upgraded the wired (I can get adsl2 @ 24mb/s but no chance on fibre)

[Whiternoise]

I recently switched from 3 to EE, not because of the 4g speed claims but because of 3's stupid decision to restrict tethering to 2GB on the one plan - whereas EE allow you to use your whole data allowance for tethering. This is vital for me as although I am based from home, I often work remotely on customers sites where I have no network access.

I must say though I am not particularly impressed with the coverage or speed of EE's network, despite everybody telling me I would see a noted difference. 4g is generally around 25Mb/s, but I have seen those speeds on HSDPA before so that's nothing new. 3g speeds are a little bit lower than I saw on 3, typically about 5Mb/s. The problem is 4g is not particularly common so normally I'm stuck with slightly lower speeds than I am used to.

If you don't need tethering like I do, go with 3 (and keep EE bandwidth for me).

That's a bum, I have the one plan - bought from September or so last year and it still has the properly unlimited tethering clause in it. Saved my life while our internet was being installed and EE kept making a mess of it. I can see why they did it though, if they allowed unlimited 4G access it would be faster than most people's home broadband connections...

I'm also paying £15/mo not £20. Speaking to retentions is going to be fun this Autumn

[[DW]Cougho]

That's a bum, I have the one plan - bought from September or so last year and it still has the properly unlimited tethering clause in it. Saved my life while our internet was being installed and EE kept making a mess of it. I can see why they did it though, if they allowed unlimited 4G access it would be faster than most people's home broadband connections...

I'm also paying £15/mo not £20. Speaking to retentions is going to be fun this Autumn

The unlimited tethering is still in place for the SIM-only deal. It's just the contracts that include phones which have this 2GB cap.

However my employer pays my mobile bill so it makes no sense for me to get a SIM-only deal and pay for the phone out of my own pocket.

I did inform 3 that I was leaving specifically because of this new clause, and if enough people do the same there is hope they will reverse it.

[edzieba]

I haven't notices a big speed difference on 3's 4G masts (from about 6-7ish to 9-10 ish, depending on time and usage), but I HAVE noticed a dramatic drop in latency when I'm in a 4G cell.

3's stupid decision to restrict tethering to 2GB on the one plan

They really effed up the PR on that one. Only the One Plan provided with a subsidised phone is affected. If you have the SIM-only One Plan, you still have an unlimited tethering allowance.

[Tabbykatze]

The unlimited tethering is still in place for the SIM-only deal. It's just the contracts that include phones which have this 2GB cap.

However my employer pays my mobile bill so it makes no sense for me to get a SIM-only deal and pay for the phone out of my own pocket.

I did inform 3 that I was leaving specifically because of this new clause, and if enough people do the same there is hope they will reverse it.

They only capped the one plan for contracts negotiated after the specified date and any contracts made before that date would not have the cap.

As long as you don't renegotiate the contract, you will not have the cap placed.

[[DW]Cougho]

They really effed up the PR on that one. Only the One Plan provided with a subsidised phone is affected. If you have the SIM-only One Plan, you still have an unlimited tethering allowance.

Yeah - see my post above. FWIW I had a 24 month One Plan with a Samsung Galaxy S3.

They only capped the one plan for contracts negotiated after the specified date and any contracts made before that date would not have the cap.

As long as you don't renegotiate the contract, you will not have the cap placed.

Also true, I was at the end of my 24 months and as I get my phone bill paid by my employer (and I like shiny new phones) it was a no-brainer to upgrade / get a new contract. Therefore it wasn't practical for me to stay with 3.

EE aren't bad anyway, and my new phone (Xperia Z2) is awesome.

[Funkstar]

I want 4G but EE is the only one in my area and they don't have an unlimited tariff yet so I'll wait.

Interesting one. A riend of mine had 4G through Vodafone and has an "unlimited" tariff... and every month gets throttled and needs to buy more full speed data. He only has his phone (no laptop or broadband) and watches a lot of video streaming on his S5. I think he spends about £60-70 month on Voda, I've shown him EE packages that have defined amounts of data and he would be much better off with them as there is no woolly "fair use policy" you get what you sign up to. For example the Galaxy Note packages for up to 60GB "double speed" 4G.

[kingpotnoodle]

Their 4G tariffs are pretty pricey and the coverage is still limited to cities, one use-case of 4G is to use the improved range and signal on rural connections but thus far they don't seem to be doing that. Would be good if they could at least start to try and fully cover major road routes like the M4/M25 etc for sat nav and back seat entertainment.

I want SIM free for my Nexus 5, I want decent or unlimited data and not have to waste money on thousands of minutes and texts I won't use... the only company I could see offering that and at a reasonable price was 3, so they got my money and their 4G rollout will benefit me eventually. I totally understand the tethering and fair use policies, mobile networks are potentially faster than many domestic fixed lines but higher cost per Mb so can't have people using it like a fixed line, <5% of customers hogging the bandwidth and ruining the experience for everyone else is what happens without any limits and controls.

I think it's a shame that it can't just be billed at a fixed sum per MB every month, say 0.25p or lower. Whatever it actually costs + margin... that is the actual fair way of doing it, right now to get unlimited data I pay the same for using maybe <10GB as someone who wanders about constantly streaming YouTube and using 100GB. Per MB billing isn't possible though because Joe Public likes the word "unlimited" attached to a small fixed number and is generally too daft to manage data usage so they can afford to pay the bills at the end of the month.

[Funkstar]

Their 4G tariffs are pretty pricey and the coverage is still limited to cities, one use-case of 4G is to use the improved range and signal on rural connections but thus far they don't seem to be doing that. Would be good if they could at least start to try and fully cover major road routes like the M4/M25 etc for sat nav and back seat entertainment.

Roll outs take time and money. Large scale coverage will happen eventually. Obviously networks are being to build their coverage in areas they can make most money from first, meaning cities where there is the most demand. However those customers will soon be demanding universal coverage when they go visit family, go on holiday, travel with business etcetera.

I don't live in a 4G area, but i'm looking forward to an imminent handset upgrade to take advantage of 4G in areas I do travel to.