Skip to main content

ID Mobile's signal coverage is just terrible, & getting worse.

  • 18 August 2023
  • 35 replies
  • 11190 views

Since switching to ID Mobile the signal coverage on my phone is just terrible, & it’s getting worse.

It doesn't matter where I am in the country ( inside or outside ), the signal on my phone is so weak, & if I am inside I can pretty much guarantee that the signal on my phone will be so weak that I won’t be able to use the internet, & sometimes it will be so weak that I won’t even be able to make calls, & this from a mobile network provider that claims to use the 3 network, & claims that their network covers 99% of the UK.

The only way I can get a slightly better signal with ID Mobile is when I turn my phone to 3G only ( manual not auto ), but again, not without the problems mentioned above, but even if I do this my signal can still be full one minute & dead the next, even when I haven't even moved anywhere.

Also, it seems that I’m not the only one with signal coverage issues when it comes to the ID Mobile network as masses of ID Mobile users are complaining about this issue, not only on this forum, but all over the web.

Also, mine & my girlfriends phones are identical as I bought them together, however, my girlfriends phone uses a different mobile network & she has excellent coverage everywhere, so you can’t tell me this is not down to ID Mobile’s signal coverage.

I'm now thinking of switching to my girlfriends mobile phone provider, as what’s the point of having a  phone if you can’t use it 50% of the time because bad signal coverage.

It’s great that ID Mobile is a cheep costing mobile network provider, but I suppose you get what you pay for, & I’d rather pay more & have a phone I can use, especially when I have serious health issues so might need to use my phone in an emergency. ☹️

 

 

35 replies

A
Rank
Userlevel 3

( 1 ). No I'm a Sim only customer.

( 2 ). No 

( 3 ). No

( 4 ). I honestly can't see it being a problem with my handset aerial if on the rare occasion l can get a full 4 bar signal, because if my aerial was a problem then surely l would never be able to get a full signal ever, & as I've already said, l am not the only one that has problems with ID Mobile's signal coverage as this forum & the Web in general is littered with complaints.

Anyway, I've now arranged to switch to a another network supplier that uses the Vodafone network which my girlfriends network supplier also uses, so hopefully this will sort things out as the Vodafone network has better signal coverage then Three.

I'll let you know the outcome of my switch. 

Jeff Rouse
Rank
Userlevel 1

If you live around Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, London, Bristol and South Wales don't use ID.

 

The service is utterly rubbish, not had a data connection between the above that's reliable for months.

I think ID mobiles staff need to stop negging customers comments. 

The stuff about arials and bands in this chat is pure distraction techniques.

 

For clarity ID can you confirm which of quad bands you support and which handsets can't be used on your network.

Can you also clarify the pints around arials? It's spurious at best, do you your support guys know how smartphone uses bandwiths? How the arial works, they certainly aren't configured as omni direction as implied by IDs staff above.

 

ID spend more time stalking boards than fixing problems because they can't. They just buy bandwidth, no control over their network, services.

Do have control of customer services but appear to want to fight and blame anyone but the service provision that have bought and resell.

A
Rank
Userlevel 3

Thanks mate.

A
Rank
Userlevel 3

Just to update you on this issue, l have now switched to another provider that uses the Vodafone network & l have yet to go to a place where l haven't been able to get a signal. I've even just come back from cinema where l was still able to get a signal in the auditorium.

So I've now confirmed that the problems that I was having with iD mobile was down to their terrible signal coverage, & was nothing to do with my phone. So it seems that that old saying is true, you get what you pay for.

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +10

That was the same excuse I was given last time I complained and thing are no better. Can you tell me when the usage is going to lessen so I can use the internet? I’m permanently having trouble hence the second SIM from Vodafone, which uses the same mast. I cannot make calls sometimes on the ID SIM, the coverage is that bad. Is it possible to cancel my contract without penalties because of the poor service?

Your Vodafone SIM would not be using the same network cell as your iD SIM, @Joolz. 

Unfortunately @Joolz, your iD contract has numerous caveats about the availability and performance of their network services. These basically say that iD don’t guarantee everything works perfectly, all the time, whatever your location.

Sounds like Vodafone is best option for you in the locations you’re using your phone most.

Forum member (non-iD)
Tyler
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Hey there @ROBLOGNICK,  we're very sorry to hear you're having issues with coverage.

 

Please take a look at our coverage checker, which will show you what your signal strength should be like in your area, for all of 3G/4G/5G, for both indoors and outdoors.

 

https://www.idmobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/coverage#coverage-info

 

Furthermore, please take a look at our network partner Three's network status checker, which will show if there is any maintenance or performance upgrades going on in your area. If the website states that's the case, then it's likely that this is disrupting your coverage, and we hope that this is resolved soon for you.

 

https://www.three.co.uk/support/network_and_coverage/network_support

 

Please take a look at both of these. If you believe you should be experiencing better signal than you are, or if the networks status checker on Three's website isn't showing any upgrades or maintenance, then please do let us know.

 

Kind regards,

Tyler

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
J
Rank

Had problems with fraud. Now I have my number back the coverage is useless, I cannot even make outgoing calls sometimes. It’s very hit and miss. I’ve tried all the suggested fixes to no avail. I have a second sim from Vodafone and that works perfectly both connecting to the same mast. Has anyone got any suggestions on what to do?

Tyler
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Hey @Mcfly74, we’re sorry to hear that.

 

Have you checked these pages below to see what your signal should be like?

 

https://www.idmobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/coverage#coverage-info

 

https://www.three.co.uk/support/network_and_coverage/network_support

 

Thanks,

Tyler

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
M
Rank

My problem is now cured. I left and went to Voxi who used Vodaphone. It is early days but i am getting over 100met indoors on 5g. 

ID mobile looked great on paper but for me was really poor. I am in CF62 area if anyone has same issues.

Tom
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +6

Hi @Joolz 

 

As mentioned in a response to another post you've made, taking a look the area of DE13 8DZ has some generally patchy spots which could affect signal, as well as being subject to congestion, which Three UK are aware of, apologies for any inconvenience this causes.

 

Tom

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +10

Hey @andywills8844, sorry to hear about these problems with signal reception. 

Did you choose a new handset contract + line rental when you switched to iD Mobile?
Have you put your iD SIM in your girlfriend’s handset, to check if it’s an issue with your handset? 
Have you tried your girlfriend’s SIM in your handset? 

Perhaps your handset has a faulty aerial. 

On mobile coverage, in the small print iD say they cover 99% of the UK population, which isn’t the same as covering 99% of the UK land area. 
Also, did you know that Three UK are turning off their 3G network, which is currently scheduled for completion end of 2024?

 

 

Forum member (non-iD)
andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +10

( 4 ). I honestly can't see it being a problem with my handset aerial if on the rare occasion l can get a full 4 bar signal, because if my aerial was a problem then surely l would never be able to get a full signal ever.

 

Okay thanks @andywills8844. 
Hope the aerial in your handset is okay, because in your ​​original post, you said: 

As each of the UK network operators use: different radio frequencies for their services, different cell tower locations, different power levels, etcetera, it’s not uncommon for one mobile network to have worse coverage than another, at any given location, and vice versa.    

Forum member (non-iD)
A
Rank
Userlevel 3

In response to your  reply, l went to London the other day. Now London is ranked the 4th best place in the country for mobile phone signals. However, my signal was very weak outside, & when l went into a Costa Coffee my signal went completely, wth no Internet or nothing. However, when l got back to my home in Northfleet Kent l had a full 4 Bar signal, so at the end of the day this can only be down to ID mobiles terrible signal coverage. 😑

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +10

Okay thanks @andywills8844. 
Hope your handset works great on the Vodafone network. 
🤞

Forum member (non-iD)
Tom
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +6

Hi @andywills8844 

 

Could you let us know the full postcode of the area(s) you’ve had issues in?

 

We rely on Three UK for our coverage therefore signal would be exactly what they have, however if your girlfriend is on another network this would likely be completely different to our signal coverage.

 

Tom

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
A
Rank
Userlevel 3

The signal is poor & unreliable most everywhere, especially in buildings.

2 examples, l get no signal in the o2 arena or on trains, while my girlfriend who's got the same phone working on the Vodafone network, has no such problems. 

Kash
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +7

@andywills8844,

I can see that we are carrying out some work on the mast near the O2 Arena which is why you are having the issue there.

Whilst on a train coverage may fluctuate as you will keep passing through areas with different coverage levels.

How’s your coverage at your home address?

 

Kash

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
A
Rank
Userlevel 3

Like l mentioned above, the signal is pretty in general ( mostly 2 bars or none at all ), where ever l am, but l do on the odd occasion get 3 or 4 bars, but it's rare, but it's unlikely to be my phone ariel because if that was the case l would never get 4 bars.

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +10

Like l mentioned above, the signal is pretty in general ( mostly 2 bars or none at all ), where ever l am, but l do on the odd occasion get 3 or 4 bars, but it's rare, but it's unlikely to be my phone ariel because if that was the case l would never get 4 bars.

Why not consider switching to Vodafone @andywills8844? 

You did say your girlfriend has exactly the same handset as yours, but the Vodafone SIM card in her phone works great everywhere. 

Forum member (non-iD)
A
Rank
Userlevel 3

You should read the previous texts as ive already mentioned l was doing this but at the moment I'm still waiting on my new Sim to arrive, but I'll get back to your with the outcome once I've had a chance to test my new Sim & network out.

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +10

You should read the previous texts as ive already mentioned l was doing this but at the moment I'm still waiting on my new Sim to arrive, but I'll get back to your with the outcome once I've had a chance to test my new Sim & network out.

Okay @andywills8844, good luck with service provider you’ve found that uses the Vodafone network, instead of using a Vodafone SIM card. 
🤞

Forum member (non-iD)
A
Rank
Userlevel 3

My girlfriend is not with Vodafone, she's just with an operator that uses the Vodafone network, & I've also just applied to a operator that uses the Vodafone network, but not the same operator.

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +10

Okay @andywills8844, ASDA mobile use Vodafone network, with added bonus of a telephone support helpline - you can talk to customer service staff if necessary.

 

Forum member (non-iD)
A
Rank
Userlevel 3

As I've already mentioned above, I've already joined a new operator but I'm still waiting for my new Sim card to arrive but it should be arriving today ( if its not here already as l haven't had a chance to check my post yet as I'm round my girlfriend's house ).

As for Asda mobile, well their Sim only deals are terrible as they only give you 5GB of data for £7, where as the new operator that l have joined give you 30GB for £7:95, which is ideal for me as l used more than 5GB of data a month, but rarely more than £10GB.

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +10

Okay thanks @andywills8844 - hope you can tell the forum how things go with a talkmobile SIM in your handset.

A shame talkmobile no longer have inclusive roaming in EU destinations with their SIM only plans.

 

Forum member (non-iD)

Reply


Terms & Conditions