I mean it's literally not set up network side for capacity reasons on many heavily-loaded Nokia vendor sites. Same happens for the "temporary" Brighton pier site that turns up every summer (though apparently it's becoming permanent from this/next year!)I'll have a try when I'm back in London - but have to say I've had no issues with bands aggregating on O2 on my iPhone.
Originally interference (or potential interference) due to out of band emissions from the networking equipment, but this seems to be sorted and 5G will arrive on the Elizabeth Line next year according to the TfL press release the other day.Has there been any explanation as to why it's not 5G?
I mean it's literally not set up network side for capacity reasons on many heavily-loaded Nokia vendor sites. Same happens for the "temporary" Brighton pier site that turns up every summer (though apparently it's becoming permanent from this/next year!)
Originally interference (or potential interference) due to out of band emissions from the networking equipment, but this seems to be sorted and 5G will arrive on the Elizabeth Line next year according to the TfL press release the other day.
At Gatwick Airport a few days ago, O2 was way behind there also. Vodafone is still terrible outside the main terminal building (e.g. train station platforms, car parks, McDonald's, KFC etc).
If you're the type of person deciding what to watch on the plane and wanting to download some content for offline viewing (which, let's be honest, most people will do last minute as your mood changes on what you want to watch or listen to), O2 will maybe not be for you.
Three 736.5/61.51/18ms
Vodafone 522.5/65.07/25ms
EE 420.7/28.23/29ms
O2 - 92.4/16.62/38ms
Usual disclaimer; speed tests aren't the be all and end all, results based on just one test in one location (near departures/Wetherspoons, as I didn't go airside) etc. To be taken as a real-world guide and nothing more.
Not only is O2's 4G/5G terrible, but I also find their "WiFi Extra" a lot of the time won't connect, or takes so long to connect that the train has pulled out of the station before completing.
Given the results in this thread, I might look to switch to another operator.
O2 is fine inside the terminal, but still slower than the rest. At the station, they recently went live with a DAS solution while the other networks aren't on that yet. This has made the network usable now, at least on Platforms 5 and 6. Outside of these places, you're lucky to get over 1 Mbps, though.At Gatwick Airport a few days ago, O2 was way behind there also. Vodafone is still terrible outside the main terminal building (e.g. train station platforms, car parks, McDonald's, KFC etc).
O2 is fine inside the terminal, but still slower than the rest. At the station, they recently went live with a DAS solution while the other networks aren't on that yet. This has made the network usable now, at least on Platforms 5 and 6. Outside of these places, you're lucky to get over 1 Mbps, though.
Vodafone are the same as O2 as they share almost all sites across the UK. Inside the terminals, though, they have littered the ceilings with their own DAS solution with proper 5G which can net you up to about 900 Mbps depending on usage.
Three/EE mainly stick to the sites outside the airport in landside departures/arrivals as they've got a big streetworks site near the South Terminal southbound local bus stop. Once you head airside, Three is crippled by this and EE switches over to the in-building solution.
This was a completely separate project as part of the station refurb over the last few years.I thought Three would be on it too as aren't they providing a solution along the entirety of the line?
This was a completely separate project as part of the station refurb over the last few years.
Chancery Lane and Holborn were live today
The contract mandates certain areas of coverage where there is currently no availability, these areas are underground and therefore cannot be covered in any other way. These areas need a special solution over and above the standard approach of the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) who typically use monopoles or rooftop installations to provide coverage in London. TfL and its partner Boldyn networks can only facilitate the transmission of the MNOs network underground.
Well, Boldyn aren't providing a network, just extra antennas to extend the MNOs' networks. So you could say that the MNOs' own antennas extend Boldyin's coverage in the same way!I appreciate their candid reply even if it is very disappointing. How this can be squared with covering every “station” as was the original promise I don’t know.
It appears the section between Bond Street and Marble Arch is also live (?)Chancery Lane and Holborn were live today
It is often hard to explain the intricacies of delivery in the limited s pace a pres s release allows and so the approach to delivering 5G on the E lizabeth line may not be completely explained by our external communications . T his note is des igned to more clearly explain our approach. T he end goal is to have 4G and 5G deployed fully in both s tations and tunnels on the E lizabeth line. In the s hort term to facilitate early delivery we will initially deploy 4G in the s tations and 4G and 5G in the tunnels – this will be s ubject to further testing in both s tations and tunnels . T unnel tes ting has yet to be completed, although we don’t anticipate any is s ues from the intermodulation s tudies that we have already completed. We obvious ly take the tes ting as pect of delivery very serious ly. T he tunnel 5G coverage will inevitably als o leak into the s tation to provide s ome coverage there too.
You're welcome for that requestThe '5G on the Elizabeth line' document attached to this FOI response may be of interest
Imagine building a station and not planning for easy run of cables :/
TfL have updated their coverage map and it is now showing as live between Holland Park, all the way to Bank. Not sure when it was updated, although it says February.Chancery Lane and Holborn were live today
as well as where smaller tunnelled sections need to be treated individually.
With regards to 5G on the Elizabeth line the end goal is to have 4G and 5G deployed fully in both stations and tunnels on the Elizabeth line. In the short term to facilitate early delivery we will initially deploy 4G in the stations and 4G and 5G in the tunnels – this will be subject to further testing in both stations and tunnels . Tunnel testing has yet to be completed, although we don’t anticipate any issues from the intermodulation studies that we have already completed. We obviously take the testing aspect of delivery very seriously. The tunnel 5G coverage will inevitably also leak into the station to provide some coverage there too.
For efficiencies’ sake, as far as possible, we are using the already installed infrastructure to provide cellular coverage. We are also using the maximum number of frequencies to help the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) provide the best possible service. For the tunnels we are only using the existing antenna system (leaky feeders in the tunnels). The rest of the infrastructure is new build and therefore we are using the same approach as we are for the London Underground. This allows us to provide the same service as with the London Underground with both 4G and 5G available.
In the stations we are also initially using the existing station antenna system. It differs slightly for the two types of station, in LU managed stations the infrastructure is shared with all other systems, whereas in Rail for London (RfL) managed stations there are two antenna systems with a slightly different configuration of systems deployed. We repeat the testing on each. However, the major obstacle is that the existing infrastructure does not support the higher frequencies that the MNOs require for their 5G coverage. This is the reason that we are not initially deploying 5G in the stations . To overcome this issue, we would need to install the same small-form low power radios that we have installed in the LU stations . Although this seems straightforward the design of the Elizabeth line stations makes running cables difficult. In the light of this challenge, we decided that early coverage with 4G was a sensible way forward with a longer term aspiration to ins tall the 5G radios at a later date. We will rerun the testing before these new radios are turned on during passenger hours of course.
It appears that the section between TCR and Leicester Square is now live.Chancery Lane and Holborn were live today