Hi everyone. Over the course of last few months I'm having 4G issues indoors in my area at work. I barely have any Internet speed on my phone, even though my phone shows LTE+ logo and shows 5 out 5 bars of service. I have a relatively new phone if that matters (Galaxy S8). I can still make calls, only Internet speed is affected. It happens in my office. When I go out on the street it is better, but if I enter a shop on a high street the Internet is slow again. Something with indoor coverage? My postcode is KT1, according to the ID coverage map it is all good. In fact when I started in this office it was all fine, only started happening since late November last year. Just to note, in other places (such as my home) my LTE speed is fine.

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Userlevel 6

+1

Hi @warfo09
You said you'd checked the coverage map for your location and it showed good quality signal.

Although the coverage map is acurate for outdoor usage. I would point out that for indoor use the signal strength needed to pass through all the walls and windows varies considerably from building to building.
This changes all the time as buildings/obstructions rise and fall.

Improving the signal to get better indoor/outdoor coverage is a 24/7 task in the changable world we live in.

You did note though you get good coverage at home and elsewhere, this proves it's just a problem in that location and not your phone.

Best Regards
Adam

W

Userlevel 1

Adam, thing is, I sit right by a big window if that matters. And it used to work fine before, not sure what happened back in November. Surely I should be getting some speed, whereas I barely have speed to send a whatsapp message despite LTE+ logo and 5 bars?

Userlevel 6

+1

Adzdalton
Newbie
22 replies
5 years ago
11 March 2019
Answer

Adam, thing is, I sit right by a big window if that matters. And it used to work fine before, not sure what happened back in November. Surely I should be getting some speed, whereas I barely have speed to send a whatsapp message despite LTE+ logo and 5 bars?

@warfo09

You could try manually dropping to 3g instead while at work.
Seems counter productive but you'd be supprised.
Maybe the traffic on 4g has increased in your area as of late.
The bars only indicate signal level and if there's a high volume of traffic on that frequency. This can considerably slow connection speeds.

Meanwhile less people may be using 3g, giving you better a better connection.

Worth a try for nothing, i do this all the time.

Hope that helps :)
Best Regards
Adam

W

Userlevel 1

Adam, thing is, I sit right by a big window if that matters. And it used to work fine before, not sure what happened back in November. Surely I should be getting some speed, whereas I barely have speed to send a whatsapp message despite LTE+ logo and 5 bars?

@warfo09

You could try manually dropping to 3g instead while at work.
Seems counter productive but you'd be supprised.
Maybe the traffic on 4g has increased in your area as of late.
The bars only indicate signal level and if there's a high volume of traffic on that frequency. This can considerably slow connection speeds.

Meanwhile less people may be using 3g, giving you better a better connection.

Worth a try for nothing, i do this all the time.

Hope that helps :)
Best Regards
Adam

Wow, amazing life hack! Actually worked. Thanks for that. A bit of a shame you're not getting what you paid for, but at least it's working now. Should have asked this question much earlier 🙂

Userlevel 6

+1

@warfo09

Glad it worked for you, it's a simple trick but makes the world of difference.
I'm sure as iD make improvements to their network it'll improve over time.
I'd recommend manually switching back to 4g in your office maybe every week or two to test the waters so to speak.

Best Regards
Adam

Userlevel 1

As the Galaxy S8 is a CAT16 (LTE Advanced) device, there is no problem there. If you’ve got 5/5 bars then your signal is perfect, so the problem with speeds is likely to be due to network congestion. Three have attempted to stop this by adding LTE+ (carrier aggregation) in your area to boost overall capacity by combining different bands of signal together. However, this has not worked in your case, and speeds are still slow. All you can do is complete a network reset on your device, check your APN which I would recommend setting to three.co.uk, and hope for an upgrade in the future. Best Wishes and Good Luck!