Desperately slow 4g

[Rattlingroger]

Joined Smarty from Lebara (i.e. 3 versus Vodafone).  Great value for money (60gb for £10 pm) but hopelessly poor 4g reception means completely unreliable internet (cannot connect to Netflix etc). Download speeds now often below 1Mb ps. 3 4g reception maps suggest should be good, but not here!  Tried different locations around home but no joy.

[Rebekah_150]

Hey  Rattlingroger

I am sorry this has been the case, we may be conducting work on your local mast, here is where you can check this, https://bit.ly/3EzWp6u If it is a persistence issue i would recommend speaking to our chat team and we can look into this for you, https://smarty.co.uk/contact  and one of our advisors will be more than happy to help, available daily from 8am – 8pm.

I hope this helps

[Rattlingroger]

Local coverage is supposed to be "Good" and no problems reported with equipment.  Unfortunately, "Good" is a relative term: less than 1Mbps download speed is not good or anything like it to me.

[MSF]

Although the map suggests good speeds, it can sometimes be that something in your property is impeding the signal.

As an example, I used to live somewhere not that far from a mast, but the signal was very poor as our road was just in a dip in the area - we had to run upstairs to get a solid connection if the phone rang.

[Peto_Peter]

it is shi t this comps any going downhill

[jwlchan]

I got the same problem. I was join with Smarty before and use the unlimited data with 4g rounter 2 years ago. Due to the unstatable speed I left. I just join in again and was hope that it could make better.
So far, from 2 days ago I notice the speed was down again.
I am consider to move to EE which cost more but the speed is far much better. I have used it to test with 5G phone, EE provided more than 110 mbps download speed but Smarty only provided 60 to 34 mbps. Same location when I carry out the test.

[RuggedRoss]

My brother is getting 80mb on his phone and I'm getting 0.7mb. my phone is 5g so what's the problem smarty? Giffgaff works at 80mb speeds on my phone.

[MSF]

@RuggedRoss  I see that you have posted this a few times. Hard to say what the problem is. Did you do a Coverage check and a Network Status check? They would give an early indication of problems.

If GiffGaff works better in your area, then unfortunately it may be the network that you need to use.

[RuggedRoss]

You seriously advising I check Coverage checker when my brother and I are in the same spot with the same network Smarty. His is 80+mb and I'm at 0.7mb download speeds?

Best to comment this issue to see if Smarty will investigate to fix multiple people's issues as it seems to be a technical issue.

Why would a company advise you to go elsewhere when it's proven that thier product works on a phone right next to my phone.

Fix it and more customers can join the network. If not the network is loosing out on customers.

[MSF]

@RuggedRoss Correct me if I am wrong, but you didn't say that your brother was on Smarty.

You only mentioned GiffGaff and so I assumed that was perhaps his network. 

So, now it does seem like there is service available where you are. The only difference is presumably the phones that both of you are using. Does your sim work better if you put it into his phone?

I don't know what you are asking Smarty to fix if their product is in fact working in your location.

[EdKramer]

Yep, I've been getting rubbish 4G for a while now and it doesn't matter where in the country I am... I often travel a lot and rely on a decent signal for sat nav, communicating, general browsing and booking the odd hotel, so it's nothing to do with being near any override or a long way from any mast, because it's rubbish whether I'm near home in Kent or up visiting friends in Yorkshire same pretty pretty much everywhere in-between... So sort out out smarty!! Yes it might be good "value" but if you focused your efforts on actually providing a reliable service instead of large data allowances that can't be used then your customers would be far happier...

[MSF]

@EdKramer From posts elsewhere on the forum, it is clear that some custoemrs do in fact get reasonable or even great data speeds, so I'm not exactly sure what they can sort out.

Have you tried the sim in another phone to rule out phone issues?

[EdKramer]

Unfortunately I don't have another device to test at present, however this does seem to be an issue that's only manifested in the last few months, so whether it's a hardware issue as you suggest or a gradual degradation of Smarty's services as they migrate to 5G, who can say?  

[Padraic_2461694]

I joined from PlusNet that ceased mobile service.  Originally impressed that it got Martin Lewis badge of approval.  The speed is poor at the vest if times anywhere I go. However go somewhere there is a crowd and no reception whatsoever.  Unreliable when you need connectivity most

[JJP2RidesAgain]

That’s simply not true in my experience here in Bristol, I regularly get between 600 - 700 Mbps on Smarty, even is crowded areas like shopping centres, sports stadia etc 

Your location(s) do of course have a part of play, whether you are in an inner city, rural area etc. 

[TTHF]

Agree with the above posts. I had to switch providers also when Plusnet closed down. The speed and reliability of Smarty is horrendous. I'm currently travelling the country with my wife who is on Talkmobile. her speeds are consistently above 10mbs, where my Smarty mobile is barely able to get above 1mbs. 

Thankfully I only signed up for a month contract as this seems to be a bit of a racket and will be cancelling as soon as I get home.

[MSF]

@TTHF  The Smarty plan only lasts for one month. The great thing is that, if you find it doesn't suit your needs, you can move easily with no tie-in.