Further Resources: Mobile signal survey: Appendix 2 – Examples of difficulties encountered
Personal details have been removed from these responses and edits are shown by [substitutions] or truncated information …
- I am often unable to use my mobile phone at my address.
- My phone picks up Internet phoning
- Unable to take work calls at all (on O2) so have had to release my home (landline) number to my employer. My employer also provides equipment for mobile working to enable working from home, I can only use the equipment as I have installed broadband
- i often have to go into the garden to use my mobile ,not a very private place to hold a private conversation, ie talking to the bank, official people every nieghbour can her what you are saying ,i can also hear other neighbours on there phones having private conversations ,not really ideal especially if you have to give you bank details out or explaining your financial situation ,i also have a land line but the line is very distorted so you can not hear on that ,i have complained to bt but they just say its fine there end
- Very inconvenient for working at home! Without wifi calling, it would be impossible.
- I have to use an i phone so i can get signal via wifi. I am [mobility disabled] so good signal is really important for emergencies if i fall etc
- We use wifi calling and whatsapp so we don’t have too much of an issue. However we had to buy a special signal changer for my husband’s mobile phone as he works from home and could not get a signal. Also, if the electricity cuts out we have no way of contacting anyone at all, and with a small baby that is a bit worrying.
- Missed some important work calls and texts
- I work from home and have to have a booster box installed to use internet for mobile coverage. Unable to have a smart meter fitted as they rely on mobile signal to send data.
- on line banking. delivery drivers calling ahead.
- i can only use the mobile phone if i enable WiFi calling. No visitors to my house can get a signal no matter which network they use
- Unable to get One Time Passwords by text from my Bank every time I make transactions. I have difficulties being in touch with my customers who prefer to use text or mobile to communicate.
- In the past (before wifi calling) I have missed business calls losing work
- We always used to get an o2 phone signal but in the last few years (we have lived here for [many years] this has been dreadful in the last 5yrs). We were contemplating ending our land line phone contract a few years ago but have been unable to pursue this given the increasingly terrible coverage). We have also experienced numerous problems with our BT landline (although this has been addressed) so have at times been cut off entirely. We welcome the investigation and have approached 02 on numerous occasions – they blame our older mobile phones (only a few years old and completely inaccurate excuse). We have considered changing our mobile provider so would welcome feedback about your findings. With a [child] commuting to and from school walking up the village road independently, we feel there are safety concerns with the lack of service. We often have one bar upstairs but the quality of phone calls are dreadful (often breaking up). Unable to send texts due to no service. We have found what’s app phone calls to be successful (not relying on o2). Many thanks, [Name]
- As the Technical Manager for [Business Name] I need to be contacted. Because of the lack of signal I have missed critical calls.
- Just to clarify, I sometimes have a usable signal downstairs (weather dependant) but can almost always get 2/3 bars upstairs.
- I have to use wifi to connect to people because of insufficiant mobile signal
- We seem to suffer frequent WiFi router issues too (I think power surges on overhead telegraph lines causes faults to BT homehub), and when this happens we are pretty much cut off from the outside world with no signal is most of our house!
- Missed important work related calls. Missed text messages. Only get limited signal indoors if phone is left in certain windows.
- Need telephone for business calls, as no signal inside the house I only pick up missed calls and voicemails when I have driven down the road. This is a significant problem for my business.
- Yes, I couldn’t use my mobile to call an ambulance during [a medical event]. Subsequently, having a severe … allergy means the poor signal strength is worrying … I had to get myself to the downstairs landline on my hands and knees to call the doctors …
- Can’t get texts from my bank giving one time passwords
- I rarely am able to phone or receive any calls successfully in my house. We have to step outside front door to send texts.
- I have to work from home at least once a week as well as covering a duty phone line 24/7 on a rota basis and my work (mobile) phone signal is very poor. Meaning I have had to talk outside in order to enable the signal to be good enough for me to be heard, with the phone often breaking up, leading to much frustration and me being unable to fully undertake my role.
- I have WiFi calling which helps
- It’s just the whole inconvenience, for example, taking calls or messages from work, I don’t receive texts or voice messages until I’m outside of the village this has caused confusion, as sometimes I don’t get the messages until a couple of days later. If I need to change my password for internet access or bank transfers on my laptop, they usually require the password to be sent via text on my phone, but I can’t receive any texts unless I drive out of the village.
- During the bad snow we experienced a few years ago in the area we lost power and our landline (wireless phones) did not work. We were snowed in … we had no mobile signal or anything. We were fully cut off. My neighbours experienced similar issues. I now have a corded landline because our mobiles are just so unreliable. It’s very frustrating and costly. …
- Impossible to receive authorising phone calls from bank, when making payments. Bank say they are unable to phone our land line as it is ‘one digit short’!?
- Not possible to have a fully audible conversation
- In a power cut I have no phone
- There have been a number of times when messages sent by family members have not been received at home for several hours. Luckily up to now this has not caused significant inconvenience as the nature of the messages have not been crucial. However, if for example someone was stranded without transport and in need of collecting from somewhere, the fact that we may not receive a message for hours could cause significant inconvenience.
- When trying to set up accounts or access online banking I am often sent a verification code By text but cannot receive these in my house. I also cannot receive important phone calls.
- Much of the time we get the signal indicated above. However often there is no signal or a poor signal. This can cause a particular problem if we need to receive a code to confirm a service, such as setting a new instruction to make a payment to a person or business.
- With [name] being self employed it didn’t make it easy 2 communicate with customers and we r forever trying 2 return customer calls
- I run my business from my home office. I have wifi calling but it is very patchy. I cannot receive text messages at home.
- When I first moved here it severely affected my self employed work. I had to change network, buy a new phone and wait weeks for broadband and WiFi calling. WiFi calling is ok but not as reliable as a decent mobile signal so it still affects my work.
- Nobody can use their mobiles unless they go upstairs – which is inconvenient personally and from a safety aspect for me as I am [of pensionable age]. Also professionally it is a problem, as my children sometimes need to work from here when visiting.
- Rarely able to receive text messages. Phone calls, no hope
- Can’t send or receive text messages. Can’t receive security codes from bank when doing online banking.
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