Calls - people can't hear me. Please help. Issue on 2x BT SIM mobiles. Coverage?

[besmirched]

Hi, recently we've been experiencing some issues. In the house there's two of us who both have BT SIM's. The issue was first noticed on one mobile while making calls. The person frequently can't hear us and this is incredibly frustrating - tested calling different people to confirm it's us with the issue. I first thought it was a fault with the mobile phone itself, but we've since switched to using my phone to call back and I am also experiencing very similar issues.

It's at this point, experiencing similar issues across two mobiles that I thought it might be some sort of coverage issue with the BT/EE network. The coverage bars on the top area of the iPhone shows one bar, this is the same on both iPhones. I think these bars were higher before.

I checked the BT status page and followed the link to the EE coverage status, and for my postcode and iPhones selected it shows I should have full bars with excellent coverage. We're only getting one bar, why is this, and how can it be sorted?

[rbz5416]

Note that the EE page defaults to Check Coverage, you need to select Check Status to see any issues.

Also try switching on WiFi Calling on the phones.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@besmirched 

Have you tried restarting both phones, as there was a recent update to the BT/EE network which required you to restart your phone? You may have received a text from BT about it.

[imjolly]

does your coverage improve if you stand near the window?  what is coverage like if outside your home?  if ok sounds like some shielding causing reduced signal in you home.  

I wouldn't expect that to reduce call volume more like a phone setting

[besmirched]

Thanks all for the comments. I will try the Wifi calling in the meantime, didn't know about this feature.

We've only noticed this becoming an issue in the last couple of days. Been at the same address and using the same phones and BT SIMs for a few years, all without issue - until now.

I'll have to test and make some calls when out and about to see if it's still a problem there.

I did miss the status page as suggested above, checked that now, and that is showing all fine too. I see on the EE page I can also report a problem for them to investigate. Is that free? It's not like a typical engineer visit, where if they don't find a fault you get charged?