Mobile data coverage is shocking

[Nickb1971]

I've been with sky mobile for 2 years but working from home connected to wifi most of the time never realised how bad the mobile data coverage is.  Being back out on the road the 4G coverage has been dreadful and have never seen so much 3G connectivity in years.  Even on 4G the speeds are slow and wondered whether O2 are prioritising their customers over Sky customers on the shared network.  I have just changed to a 14 Pro so it isn't the phone and have also tried everything Sky suggest to fix the problem but no joy. Just wondered if anyone else is experiencing this shocking coverage. 

[63johnw]

Hi @Nickb1971  have you tried a new sim ? Helped with my connectivity issues a few months back. 

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/replacement-sim#mobile-help-page-technical-contact-us

[Nickb1971]

Thanks @63johnw for that suggestion, I've not tried a new Sim.  Did you just call Sky and ask for a new one? 

[63johnw]

Hi @Nickb1971  use the link above. 

[Anythingttt]

Yes! It's so frustrating I have 3 family phones with Sky mobile and I'm planning a 4th for my son but I'm not going with Sky due to the data issue and as soon I can leave the other 3 contracts I'll gladly give my money to a better provider. Giffgaff has better coverage! 

[stereohaven]

A long standing issue with the base O2 network I'm afraid, the backhaul is so weak from many of their cell sites it doesn't take long for data throughput to dwindle to zero.

O2 does have solid coverage across the UK and is good at making calls (remember them?), from places other networks don't reach, but 4G performance is almost non-existent in many highly populated or busy areas.

[Anythingttt]

Thx for the reply. What network has the best data coverage for the uk? 

[stereohaven]

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@Anythingttt wrote:

Thx for the reply. What network has the best data coverage for the uk? 

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It's a hard question to answer.

For me, EE has consistently won awards for its coverage and data speeds, so could arguably be considered best.

Three has really decent speeds but coverage is not as good as others. Vodafone on my work phone has decent coverage and speeds, apart from where they have a sharing agreement with O2.

The good thing is that much like Sky Mobile, there are plenty of MVNO's out there so you can test networks locally without commitment and even these days carry spare SIMS if you travel and you need access to data urgently which your day to day network can't provide. 

[Spanish+Dave]

I agree, it's awful. Had 3 of my family members on Sky so when mine was due for renewal with Voda I stupidly assumed it would be best if I joined them on Sky so we could share data, worst decision I ever made!  Can have 4G full signal and still data won't load, not fit for purpose. 

[Paul+steele]

My sky mobile is exactly the same, shocking coverage and usually 3G which is terrible.

I've been with friends who are on O2 who are getting 5G whilst I'm with them getting 3G on my iPhone 14. Only been with sky for 6 weeks and regretted switching from previous provider already. Certainly won't be staying with sky

[1stTimePoster]

I've taken out contracts for two mobiles which are used for the business we set up a year ago. We've replaced sim cards which made a slight improvement for a short time but now we've got to the point of dispair and are looking to find a way to cancel our contracts as it is now affecting our business, not to mention the calls between family members!

Anyone got any tips on leaving sky mobile mid-contract?

Disappointing as banking data has been a really good feature and the packages are very competitive.

[Brigh-123]

@Nickb1971 yes mine is the same my calls fail up to 3 times a day I've spent a lot of time on trying to resolve it with Sky, one suggestion was to upgrade. As soon as my contracts over I'll never go back. It's shocking. 

[Nickb1971]

They allowed me to move my provider elsewhere and just paying for the phone now.....only costing me slightly more but I now have a fully working mobile. 

[stereohaven]

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@Nickb1971 wrote:

They allowed me to move my provider elsewhere and just paying for the phone now.....only costing me slightly more but I now have a fully working mobile. 

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This is what I ended up doing. We have 2 mobiles and an iPad left on Sky Mobile finance, with only the iPad having a Sky Mobile SIM. 

All SIMs have moved to Vodafone based networks and have much better speed and throughput (even at low signal). With Vodafone and Three merging the combined network could easily rival EE. I would love it if Sky Mobile became an MVNO on the new network instead of using O2, as I like the features and would return with better coverage and speeds.

Sat in the car last night waiting on a child finishing a club as you do, and fired up the iPad with the Sky Mobile SIM in to watch Sky Go. 3 bars of 4G service, best it could manage was what looked like 240p, or peaked at 360p on YouTube... 🤣

Hotspot to my iPhone with a Vodafone based SIM in it and I can watch at full quality (which is still poor on Sky Go mind), and full HD on any other streaming service without issue, also with 3 bars of 4G service. The difference in our areas (Surrey/Hampshire), is like night and day. 

[MJB2]

What was your process for getting them to agree moving plan to new provider?