4G reception at Luton Airport

[BrianBu_2735929]

Needed to access the 4G network at Luton Airport this morning. It was impossible even with 3 or 4 bars showing on my phone. My wife’s phone using EE was fine. Once I had returned to the airport car park, my reception was fine. 
I am sure most travellers will rely on their mobile phone at the airport to pick up boarding passes and info. It could have been disastrous for our holiday. 
Why was Smarty reception so bad at this major transport hub?

ps I had VPN deactivated. 

[MSF]

@BrianBu_2735929  None of us here will know the definite answer to that.

Smarty rely on 3 network as I'm sure you realise. Was there any network status issue showing? Could it be congestion at the time? If it worked in the airport car park soon after, that suggests something temporary like congestion.

[BrianBu_2735929]

Definitely not a  congestion problem as the airport was very quiet at the time. Too distracted to check on status although I did have 3 or 4 bars showing just outside the terminal with no connection.  Apparently Smarty coverage in this area should be good. 
I had a similar problem with Smarty at RHS Wisley about a year ago. I’m starting to wonder whether Smarty is reliable enough when communication is essential. 

[SmartyTrousers]

@BrianBu_2735929 It shouldn't really be that surprising that the UK's most expensive network performs better than one of the UK's cheapest networks some of the time.

Regarding boarding passes, I'd have thought virtually everyone using a digital boarding pass would have sorted this before  arriving at the airport. On Ryanair you can sort this between 24 hours and 2 hours before your flight's scheduled departure time, and I suspect most other airlines will have similar cut offs, so you'd be cutting it a bit fine waiting until you got to the airport to sort it.