BT Mobile signal vs ee

[Moggy56]

Evening all,

Having been offered a (what I considered) good deal for BT mobile sim only plan I moved from Vodafone (great signal) to BT and now have a really bad signal and can only use the phone at home using Wi-Fi calling. Another reason for taking the deal was that I have an ee data plan (for about 4 years now) and the signal from them is fantastic even indoors. Now the reason for this message is I'm aware that ee and BT use the same masts for transmission so why is the BT signal so bad. Am I missing something?

I don't expect anything can be done here, but just making others aware that if thinking of moving to BT and you are wanting a good signal indoors I would suggest getting a family member or friend who has BT, to visit your house and check what you can get. I shall move back to Vodafone when contract finishes. 

BTW I have done all the normal checks, reset phone, taken sim out and in even tried another phone.

I can also say that all dealings I have had with BT have been good (I have BB as well with them) just wish I had checked the signal before I swapped company.

[RobbieBaron]

That is surprising as not only do BT & EE Mobile share the same masts they are in fact EE's masts. BT Mobile is actually an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) that piggy-backs on EE's (real) mobile network.

Are you comparing both networks with their respective SIMs in the same device? If not, the difference could well be down to the devices.

[Moggy56]

Hi Robbie,

I must admit I've not swapped between these 2 devices, but I have used another phone with the BT sim and was talking to my neighbour who just happens to have a BT contract as well and they suffer the same. However like me they have Wi-Fi calling for the house. It's not all bad, when out and about I normally get a good signal, just seems that ee seem to be a little better, in fact with ee I'm amazed that I even get a signal in some places I go whilst travelling.

[japitts]

Apologies for picking up an old thread, but I hope this post helps someone.

Absolutely right that BT is a "virtual" operator on the EE network, but EE does use 800Mhz to improve indoor & rural coverage in many locations. That additional coverage is dependent on being an EE or BT-Mobile 4G-calling/VoLTE user.

It may be that, depending on phone compatibility, a BT user might not be getting access to the same additional coverage that an EE user could be.

[flowboy]

With one of the last houses at the end of the landline, we have BT BB & mobiles, or rather bt sim cards in our own phones (which might be relevant*). Its a very rural area & there is basically no mobile reception at home. Randomly a call might be received, basically fluke but friends on EE seem to have ok reception as poss. they benefit from the 800 MHz uplift. The nearest edge of any mast cell (EE) is about 300m away across a field. *I read that BT don't guarantee you will get 4g/5g or WiFi calling unless you buy a phone from them, which wasn't mentioned when we got the Sims... We got a BT phone booster which has worked at times but often barely.  We also discovered by chance that if you turn the router off for a time then on, it takes ages, (like weeks to never at present!) for the BB to re-stabilise & provide tolerable download speeds. The BT system "sees" this as a line problem & reduces line bandwidth to the connection. The booster is obv. also affected by this & takes at least 24hrs to stabilise. Even then, a call to BT engineers is often reqd. to get the system working. Despite previous dealings with BT help, the switching off problem was never mentioned. (We are often away & were sw. everything off before we found this out...) I wondered if moving to EE Sims would help on mobile front at least, even if the BB is likely to remain useless in our circumstances (& contract will be cancelled)  When first installed the BB was good enough to do an online course & zoom I think but its been downhill ever since.

[ctrlz]

I assume the phone booster you’re talking about is the signal assist? They’ve been withdrawn from service so you won’t be able to take advantage of that now.

BT and EE don’t guarantee wifi calling on any device, as there are too many variables if you’ve purchased your own handset. Generally speaking though if your device won’t work with wifi calling on BT it’s unlikely to work on EE.

[flowboy]

Thanks. Thanks for the "signal assist" info, a pity BT never bothered to tell us!

We had pretty much given up with it anyway particularly as the landline came down in storms earlier this year & is still on the ground in a state of temporary repair. When it's back on the poles again we'll chase up the BB problem. Its last chance saloon there I think.  Way too expensive for the useless service we've had.