4G often claims to be on but doesnt work

[Heisenberg912]

As the title says really. I find very often my phone shows as connected to 4G but when you try to use anything on the Internet (browsers, apps, speed tests etc) they just don't work. 

I first noticed this at my work where coverage seems to come in and out. But just recently I went on holiday to north Wales and the issue was ubiquitous, I just found the coverage to be extremely unreliable. I've also been travelling around the lake district in the last week (around where I live) as I've been off work and again the same issue. Much more often than not my phone says it has 4G but you try it and it doesn't work. 

This is very frustrating as I'm paying for mobile data but like I say most of the time it doesn't work.

When I first noticed the issue at work I ordered a new SIM card to rule that out. And I've done all sorts of reboots, aeroplane mode off and on, delete settings etc.

But like I say this is all over the country. I also have to travel around the Northwest a bit for work and i checked it a lot when driving from the lake district to Wales, similar story. Indeed in my home town it will cut in and out as I move through town. One street it works fine, a few streets over nothing.

Why does my phone say it has 4G when it doesn't? Is there anything I can do? I just want reliable 4G. I've been with Three for a long time now but the coverage seems to be much worse for me than it has ever been. Ironically the only place I find it works always is at home, where I don't need it thanks to WiFi....

Can anyone help?!

[ShaunV]

I have this issue all the time with Three. If I have 5G things are fine. If its 4G… forget it. No internet. This seems to be the case across the country, at any time of day and night. It’s infuriating and I will not be renewing my Three contract. 

[PeteG]

Hello, Shaun. 

That doesn't sound like a network issue, but perhaps a SIM or device issue. Our 4G coverage is present in all areas where our 5G is present, and 4G generally has the furthest range and ability to penetrate walls. In most cases this means you should be able to get connected on 4G. 

Since you're having the issue on 4G in all locations across the country, all of the time, which would mean you're having issues in areas where other people are using 4G just fine, it just leaves the device and SIM as the possible cause for the issue. 

You can try requesting a replacement SIM, or switch to eSIM, as that's the easiest thing to test. You can also try a different device if you have access to one, but if not, you might want to contact the manufacturer for advice. 

Pete. 

[ShaunV]

I disagree. Im using a brand new iphone 16 and 4G on Three is still as useless as ever. If I’m not in a 5G signal area I may as well not bother. 

[PeteG]

The age and brand of your phone don't prevent the possibility of there being a problem with it, same goes for the SIM. In your message, you said the issue was happening across the country, so you'd be having issues in areas where other people are not having issues, so that's why I suggested it could be the phone or SIM. 

It is just a suggestion though and of course you can disagree with it. Hopefully another cause for the issue becomes apparent soon so that you can get it sorted.

Pete. 

[Ormchancer]

I won’t be using three again, the 4g/5g signal seems to bare no resemblance to the actual coverage, it’s awful everywhere, I travel a lot for work, it only works well when I’m abroad on other networks.

Whats the point of a mobile phone if it only works well when I’m at home!!!

[PeteG]

Hello. 

It sounds like a frustrating issue to be having. I'm not sure what would be causing you to have issues everywhere you go, but it seems unlikely that it would be an issue related to the network side of things since everyone would be experiencing that same issue. 

I'd recommend using the reset option in your phone to complete a reset of the network settings to see if that helps things. It might also be worth trying a different phone to test and see if that works any better.

Pete. 

[REDNED]

I have exactly the same problem with G4, and the issues are accelerating. I am now unable in some locations to even make telephone calls. If you try and use Three’s support service you enter some kind of purgatory that seems specifically designed to prepare one for a descent to hell. Looking more and more like I shall be forced to upgrade and go to G5. 

[JadeF]

Hey @REDNED 

Welcome to the Three Community page.

How long have you had this issue? We did have an outage yesterday effecting some of our customers. 

Please see below.

Following an issue affecting voice calls yesterday, services have almost returned to normal overnight. Our monitoring has picked up an issue with calls connected via WiFI which we are investigating urgently. 

Today, we also expect to see an additional impact on our service due to Storm Éowyn in some areas. We have already deployed extra engineering resources and planning for these areas, so we can bring sites that are impacted back online as soon as it is safe to do so. A normal volume of 999 calls were connected yesterday and our monitoring confirms the service is working fully this morning.  

We continue to investigate the small number of reports that we received about 999 call failures. We apologise sincerely for the inconvenience caused by the issues on our voice network.

Thanks, Jade

[REDNED]

Hi Jade, 

I have had this issue for some months. It has become progressively worse in that time. For example, I used to be able to access 4G services from anywhere inside my home, I can now no longer access 4G services from any location in my home. I am unable to use 4G in much of the BS15 area of Bristol and even parts of BS1. This is nothing to do with the storms and temporary outage you mention in your reply.