Dawlish Discussion

3 UK mobile internet speed issue this week:

Is anyone else having trouble with low mobile internet speeds in the evenings this week ?

I know that ISP's reduce the bandwidth to users on home broadband during peak hours, but this usually doesn't occur with the mobile network.

I've been using the 3 UK mobile network in Dawlish for at least 6 months, and has generally been OK at all times of day. But for some reason this week has seen some dramatic speed reductions.

Since Friday our mobile internet has been reduced to near dial-up from about 5pm onwards til after midnight. During the day it is fine, obtaining 3G speeds. It's odd because when I speedtest my connection, the upload speed is normal, but the download is near nothing - indicating to me that they are obviously throttling download bandwidth but won't admit it.

Phone calls to 3 have been a waste of time - "..make sure you have the latest firmware installed.." blah, blah, troubleshooting 101 rubbish. The last operator said "the new iPhone is out so the network is jammed from updating". In Dawlish, I doubt it They also always use the common excuse - "the mobile tower is being upgraded" - for the past 3 months.

Does anyone know if they are really working on the mobile towers at the moment ? Is anyone not on 3 having the same problems ? Because if not, it's obviously a 3 issue.

Thanks.

vodafon is shit at da min in da lish. as bin 4 last mnth i fink.

gesundheit

The only place I can pick up a 3G signal on O2 is right on the seafront.

@Eleanor is that normal, or only recently ?

Update on the mobile internet speed issue in Dawlish.

The main tower at the north end of the train station is completely dead. Surprise, surprise. I've walked around the whole town and surroundings with the only reception on the northern side coming from Exmouth. There is a smaller tower near the shops in the centre of town providing coverage to the central lower area (which is choking under the load that the main tower should be taking, hence slow evening speeds), and the southern part of town is either over the top from Exmouth or from the Torquay ! tower.

3 emailed me advising it should be back up by the 28th November. I won't be holding my breath. I did advise them of this issue a number of times since the 14th October and their pathetic responses ranged from "the new iPhone is out so the network is busy" to "your phone needs updating, it must be faulty".

They are now admitting that they've known about this since the 31st October (ah'hem.. do they not listen to their customers). I wonder if anyone with a Dawlish postcode has been notified about the downtime/disruption to their mobile plans.

I recommend anyone who is on 3 (or any other network that has been disrupted) to ring them to log your complaint. That way when the tower is fully operational, you can claim back compensation for a faulty network.

I'm on Vodafone and have not had a problem at all - I know 3 can be very unreliable. Hope it all gets resolved soon.

@Cosey vodafone doesn't use the same transmitter as 3 so you're in luck :-)

http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/search

Looks like T-Mobile and 3 use the same transmitter, so it would be interesting to know if anyone on T-Mobile is having the same problem.

I understand some people have been able to cancel their contract with 3 and transfer their numbers elsewhere due to the problems and the low probability of it getting sorted.

We have O2 and Vodafone, both with good service in Dawlish, even indoors.

as slow as rainbow1..........................lol.

New provider?

no juist a freak. lol.

The 3 tower is up and running, and surprisingly I'm getting almost double the speed I was getting before it went down. They must have completely replaced their transmitter ?

Due to the back and forth contact with 3 regarding the problem here in Dawlish, they offered me a months credit on my account. Again, surprising.

I recommend to anyone else on a 3 mobile internet plan to also ask for compensation whilst 3's service was down/faulty. Note that it went down on the 14th October and was back to normal on the 21st November.

my mobile phone signal has been on an d off for 24hrs now any body else with same problem, im with 3

Same here. I ended up turning my phone off yesterday. If you're on Twitter, send a message to their customer support @ThreeUKSupport .

Being based in the UK, they are aware of the problems with the Dawlish tower and are better at resolving issues than their India-based collegues (do not ring 3 support - you'll be on the phone for hours to a tech1 support who reads from a list who won't solve any questions).

I've been liaising with the Twitter support for the past 2 months and if asked, they will offer compensation for any down time.

Good luck !

Three do not own a mast in Dawlish, I have had an ongoing complaint with three, since march 2011, they told me for months they were upgrading "the mobile tower is being upgraded" after 5 months I finally spoke to a senior management member, who told me they piggy back off the orange signal, and do not own their own mast, and Orange had tweaked their own mast, and three was not as good now for some reason, I asked if it was likely to improve, and he said probably not, i also asked him why i was told repeatedly that 3 engineers were working on the mast, when they did not own one, surely it would have been Orange engineers working on their own mast, He agreed, and said he did not know why i was repeatedly told that!!!

I asked them to release me from my mobile phone contract as my phone did not work at home, they said i could not cancel i have not completed the length of contract, and if i stopped the direct debit, i would have to return my iphone, (hang on this isnt my fault!!!) I did not want to send back my iphone, its all set up the way i want it, they reduced the contract from £40p/m to £30 p/m, and unlocked my iphone to any network (i got a pay as you go O2 sim, works perfectly) I was not that happy with how it was dealt with, and did tell them that at the time, but i still had my iphone, and could use it at home, and change back to three sim when i went away from Dawlish.

Seeing as my Three mobile broadband dongle did not work I tried to cancel my 3 mobile broadband, using 3 support, to end up getting the pushed to different people on the other end, the last clicking the phone down on me, this happened three times, so i cancelled the direct debit, heard nothing for 5 or 6 months, then they put a debt collector onto me for £18.00, I told the debt collector to do one, they will never ever get the money from me, i know its only £18.00, but its the principle, I am livid with Three, and am now going to cancel my phone contract, I am considering reporting them to OFCOM, if they want they iphone back they can have it, but i wont be posting it, the only place its getting posted is in a three members F*****g gob when he knocks on my door

Good Luck with Three Everyone, Consider switching networks, Three do not care about you!!

Im considering Giffgaff sim only deal, worth a try www.giffgaff.com... their prices per month are below

• 250 mins
• 400 mins
• 800 mins
• Ultd web
• Ultd texts
• Ultd web
• Ultd texts
• Ultd web
• Ultd texts

The three transmitter is actually on T-mobile mast, but as Orange and Tmobile have merged i guess you can say its Orange, The main tower at the north end of the train station in Dawlish is actually a dedicated railway transmitter for new signalling communication, nothing to do with mobiles, vodafone have a mast in Dawlish football grounds, Three could have put one in there, and paid Dawlish Town Fc, so they did not have to close, would have been nice if vodafone paid Dawlish Town FC instead of the council too !!!!

Hi. Thanks for the info. My 3 mifi works perfectly well, so I wonder why yours doesn't?

Hi there! Has anyone been left totally helpless as a result of slow mobile internet speeds in Dawlish? I'm a journo and would maybe like to speak to someone about this issue.

My problem has been phone continual interuption to network sometimes 24hrs at a time, they promised me it was now fixed, we will see three contract might be terminated soon!!!!!!!!

go see the guy in the mobile shop in dawlish he is brill and if he can help you he will,lovely guy nothing is to much troouble for him,been to big shops in exeter and when a problem they dont want to know so will be going to the man in the strand from now on

Have used O2 here for at least the last 5 years with no problem at all. Perhaps a change of provider might help. O2's coverage in general is a lot better.