4G speeds atrocious no phone signal either..

[Steve_O_Morse]

Moved from O2 last week because of escalating costs.  PAC Code from O2 instant.  Activated Smarty SIM Thursday and applied PAC to port my number to SMARTY.  Didn't  port next business day as stated. Finally ported this lunchtime.  Despite my area being reported by SMARTY and 3 as being good this pm my phone signal in my property is pants, keeps trying to go to WiFi calling and 4G speeds so slow its laughable.  Not even 1 day and I've decided I'm ditching SMARTY.   I've been robbed.   Porting out as soon as I get myself a new sim.  THOUGHTS.  DON'T JOIN SMARTY. 

[JohnHep_3203357]

I have had exactly the same experience. Smarty should be called **bleep**ty

[MSF]

@JohnHep_3203357  What experience is that? Do you mean that signal has been getting worse? Is there work on the local mast?

Putting in comments that get bleeped out does not really help.

[JohnHep_3203357]

Exactly as the comment I replied to of course. I was on O2 but ported due to high and rising costs. Number ported over on 4th march and all week I have had calls where I could hear them but they couldn't hear me, I have spent all the call time saying "Yes I am here, can you hear me?" and the caller saying "Are you there?" Smarty said there is no issue with the network in this area. It was a massive mistake switching to this network. I had to switch RCS messages off because in this mode it sends out  the number that the card originally had before porting and people think they are getting texts from an unknown number. No wonder it's cheap, it's as much good as a chocolate kettle. Getting rid ASAP

[MSF]

@JohnHep_3203357  "Of course"  really? You were replying to a post made in May 2024 and so I couldn't be sure that you were in the same position as the OP who had been with Smarty for five years; turns out that you have recently joined.

It doesn't seem to be working for you and that is a pity, but it does work for over a million other customers.

I am assuming that you did do a coverage check beforehand. Many of us do get a pretty good signal.

The issue with the number that your phone sends out may be cured by a network reset. I'm also wondering whether that may sort out the other issues.

Anyoldhow, your choice as to whether to try that or move on.

[ClaudiaO_206853]

My 4g with Smarty has been getting steadily worse over the last month. I received a message saying that there will be work going on because they are removing the 3G element to their masts/connections etc and I know that Smarty gets their signal from Three who are the ones doing this, but it's just atrocious now since I got that announcement. I've been with Smarty for over 5 years now and only ever had 4g with them and it's been fine but in recent weeks it's been dreadful. I haven't moved, so there are no other changes except that notification. And I see Three customers are complaining the same. Maybe it's time for Smarty to find another internet supplier? 

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Smarty is owned by Three, who in turn are owned by Hutchinson Telecom, so yeah, that’s not happening. 

[MSF]

@ClaudiaO_206853  Given that both companies are owned by Hutchison, do you think that Smarty get that level of choice?

Also, what do you mean by "internet supplier"? We are talking about mobile signal here.

[Jennife_270378]

Sadly I've experienced same I stepped away from O2 for same reason and have been woefully dissapointed by the low level of 4G with smarty despite all their promises. 

[Chalkychap]

That's unfortunate, @Jennife_270378. You could go-back to O2, without an early termination fee for switching. 

Although I've been happy with SMARTY 4G, and especially their 5G, perhaps O2 is a better choice in the locations you use your mobile phone, @Jennife_270378.

[EthanielUK]

Hi, I also moved properties in the last 5 days. In my previous property, everything was fine—200–300 Mbps downloads, 100 Mbps uploads. Now it's 20 Mbps and 0.35 Mbps uploads.. 

• Today, we have sunny skies, good weather, and 5G is 30 Mbps, with uploads of 0.30 Mbps. It is still not acceptable. Walk two minutes down the road, and I get 800 Mbps downloads. I have been talking to Ofcom, as the price I pay for unlimited is not justifiable. They gave me £6 off. However, my argument is that the service is not fit for purpose. I pay £16 a month and was over the moon with the service, really pleased at my previous address, but here I even struggle with 4G. My signal strength is one bar, two bars. I have used a program called Cell Network Info Lite and Mastdata. I performed a survey by walking around the streets and recording every step and signal power and found that my area is around -112 dBm, which is poor. Up the road, it drops to -99, and downloads are 200-300 Mbps, with uploads of 20 Mbps. Have a look on your phone in Settings, About, Status Info, SIM card, and you will see your signal power. You don't need apps, but Ofcom has already advised me, and I am just getting evidence together. They have stated that there's unplanned work, but Three told me there are no problems reported. I have even thought my phone was broken because I dropped it the other day and thought, "Did I damage the antenna?" It's not fair or right, so let's see what happens.

Let me know how you are getting on.

[MSF]

@EthanielUK  How did Ofcom give you £6 off? Surely, speeds are never guaranteed anywhere so I don't understand the issue fully. Of course, it's a different matter with broadband where the speeds are guaranteed to an extent.

Setting aside that there is a current issue in some areas at present, it may be that you will need to see if any other network provides a better signal in your new home. The fact that you can get a good signal down the road may indicate that it is the property that is blocking the signal  and Smarty cannot be responsible for that.

[EthanielUK]

Hello, thanks for your reply.  Ofcom didnt give me £6 off it was smarty due to thr severely low speeds.  Its conpensation due to the inconvenience really.  Ofcom have advised an 8 week cooling off period whereby if the problem isnt resolved by then ofcom will advise further.  They Smarty stated there is high utilisation in thr area, further someone else fron smarty stated there is also unplanned maintenance.  I checked smarty but there is no plans or problems in the area.

Sooo I have just left it with smarty to resolve due to the fact they admitted there are provldms in the area.  They now have a duty to try and get this repaired within that time frame, failure to do so after 8 weeks is a problem ofcom can resolve.

As for yoyr comment surely its the property I disagree as yesterday I was getting speeds 20Mbps dl and 2Mbps upload. Today its 1Mbps in the same place, my couch in front of the t.v.  lets see what happens I suppose.

Thanks for your input 

[MSF]

@EthanielUK Well, at least Smarty offered you a partial refund and that's good.

I really don't believe that Ofcom will be able to force Smarty to do anything; they can intervene if a company is making a specific offer that it cannot meet. Don't forget that Smarty buys the service from Three and there is never any guarantee of a particular speed with any network - someone can put me right if there is a network offering a cast-iron guarantee currently.

This page may be useful: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/what-is-ofcom

[EthanielUK]

EE offer a guarantee on your connection and if it doesnt meet your demands then they will get it fixed in 30 days.

https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/manage-use/ee-speed-guarantee

[MSF]

@EthanielUK  Smarty do specifically state that customers should not rely on mobile data as a replacement for broadband.

[EthanielUK]

And thats o.k. the problem I have is I have no choice but to use mobile, as the property never had a phone line put in..  Hopefully I wont be here long as I am looking for new accomodation its a temp move for now.

But again cheers.

[MSF]

@EthanielUK Given your circumstances, the cheaper option may be to get hold of cheap PAYG sim's for the major networks to see if you can get any better signal where you are.

[EthanielUK]

Yes, you're right. I was experimenting with antennas using a router that cost £150, I believe it was a Poynting antenna with a TP-Link router.

Then I thought more about what they call a SIM card-based modem, a portable device that can sit just outside on the windowsill, and I can connect to it wirelessly.

Alternatively, I could use a router that allows a SIM card to be inserted inside it and place it just outside.

What are your thoughts?

[EthanielUK]

Just a bizarre update. I went outside by the kitchen window and opened the side gate leading to my enclosed mini garden, and it downloaded at 177 Mbps, with 4 Mbps uploads. Now if only I could get that signal inside without incurring high costs...

[MSF]

@EthanielUK  On the upside, at least you have found that there is a signal near your home!

Not sure about leaving a modem outside on the windowsill - Rain damage and risk of electrical item blowing up? How to keep it plugged in and close window?

[EthanielUK]

I think I need your genius title. I have a little plastic box that my hamster lives in, and the MiFi goes in it perfectly. So it's covered from the rain, and the power bank is in a plastic bag with the handles facing down, so it's totally waterproof...

[MSF]

@EthanielUK  So the hamster gets the luxury of home wifi?  Now that's what I call a real animal lover! Has it also got its own X-box? 😳

[EthanielUK]

Haha it's an old hamster house roll, it's pirched on top of the fence, I cut a hole under it, and screwed in a mop handle to keep it balanced and fed the cable down the hold into the powersupply.  And no hamster gets a ps4 lol

[MSF]

@EthanielUK  I suggest a name change for you......how about Heath Robinson? 😂

[EthanielUK]

Haha

[EthanielUK]

Soooo, I thought I would uodate those interested on the outcome of todays experiment.  I today, purchased a three mobile 4g+ hotspot fron cex, it was second hand and it was £20 cheap.  

So, today I charged it up, out the simcard from my phone into the mobile hitspot device and its sitting on the back of a wooden support bar on the back of my wooden fence door, whixh is wedfed with a rock to sfop the wind blowing it and resultinf it falling on the floor and shattering into pieces.

The result is positive.  I have now 4g signal in my home with at least 53 Mbps, and 10 Mbps upload speeds.

How the hell this works I dont know, because this device is powered of a small battery like the old nokia batteries.  Its sending a wireless or wifi signal out and is going through 3 walls.   So it appears that wifi is stronger than 5g signal maybe but heg, it works..

So yeah cheers for the support...

[MSF]

@EthanielUK  Result then!!👏

How do you know that the sim is not picking up 5G when it sits in the hotspot? Does the manual say that the box will only work on 4G?

That said, what matters is that you get a usable signal, be it 4G, 5G or any other G !! (Not 3G as they're turning it off!!!)

[EthanielUK]

There's an app that allows you to log on to it. It tells you the connection (3G, 4G, 4G+), and if it supports 5G, which it doesn't, it will say so on the app on main screen, only problem is the battery doesnt last long well 2hrs or so not fully tested it yet.  But late last night in the hom struggled with it getting signal so back outside it went..

[MSF]

@EthanielUK  Certainly does sound like it's a problem with the structure of your property. You're not living in a biscuit tin, are you?🤣

[EthanielUK]

I'm not a rat, lol. But it's the area with added complexities of the property.  Its ztill not the greatest option but it will do.

[EthanielUK]

The modem is a very small box. It's used for SIM cards and runs off USB. I have a 20,000w portable power bank, and I can plug it into that. As for the rain, a thin plastic bag tied up would suffice. These are the extremes we have to go through to get something. It's not quite on the windowsill either; it's three steps beyond that behind a fence door where it all happens.

This is going to be tricky... But there has to be a way, and at a low cost just havent found the answer yet..

[MSF]

@EthanielUK  So they do.....but you are looking at the guarantee on their broadband and not their mobile data !!

To quote their website:

Need to know

Speed Guarantee

Your broadband comes with your own personal Speed Guarantee, which guarantees the speed to your hub.

You can check your speed using the steps above.

If it's not what we promised, let us know. If we can't fix it within 30 days, you can choose to leave with no penalty fees.

[sigarner]

Same issue here, data speeds on 4G are so bad websites time out and I can’t even do a speed test! Wish I’d not done the port from o2 so quickly, now I’ve got to wait 2 days then do another move to Lebara (which I’ve tried and data speeds are fine and a lot cheaper!) It’s a shame as the voice signal is full

[davidhow_197735]

i live in the s40 area and when i first got smarty it was great, however gradually it got slower and slower ie speeds of 0.025 mbps, these speeds came daily so i ditched smarty in october 2023 and went to another provider at the same price, my only regret is did not ditch smarty sooner

[MSF]

@davidhow_197735  While I'm glad that you have decent service now, did you do a Coverage Check and a Network Status check when you noticed the problems?

[davidhow_197735]

yes and it said there were problems in the s40 area, i had three for since 2009 and switched to smarty which was really good, after a year or two the problems started we would get good speeds until about 4-5 pm and then speeds would plummet this would go on until around 12am then things would improve, i think the network was overloaded, on the network i am now on i get much the same drop in speed at around 5pm but instead of it dropping down to almost nothing it drops from around 30-35mbps to 8-14mbps so for me it is great and it is the same price.

[Beatriz_2453629]

I had the same experience and I feel like I have been robbed. They can’t sort any issues either, just leave you with the problems and give you the same customised replies. It’s actually ridiculous. Don’t waste your time and money with SMARTY, as soon as you run into an issue you’ll be left with no help.

[MSF]

@Beatriz_2453629 You haven't given much detail as to the nature of the problem, but it is not uncommon for a property to be in a 'dead' zone for mobile signal.

Have you actually had a good signal with one of the other networks? No network can guarantee signal - the coverage checker is purely an indicator for the general area.

Maybe it is not possible to sort the issue?

It's a shame the Smarty has not worked out for you. On the plus side, you are not tied into a long contract and are free to find a network with a good signal in your area.

[Jonatha_2317815]

I had a similar problem with very poor ACTUAL coverage/signal despite Ofcom, Smarty, Three all reporting good 4G coverage and no reported problems.  It happens - sadly.  Often with mast upgrades that are planned + not yet complete but as such are NOT required to be shown in the "problem/outage" database despite, clearly, causing a problem/outage.  [I learnt this eventually from the Smarty Customer Support team.  They admitted the problem, refunded my monthly charge immediately[.

Trial and error.  Try Giffgaff (MVNO and sub of 02) or Voxi (MVNO and sub of Vodafone) or Lebara (MVNO on Vodafone) or Lyca Mobile (MVNO on EE) instead and see which one actually works for you on the cheapest tariff before PACing across.  [Here a dual SIM phone helps with running tests].   Not as cheap perhaps as Smarty but different networks so different coverage and some have better international roaming.