Internet reception - what's normal / acceptable?

[Lebowski]

Hi guys, we're at a far away camp site called Bluebell Coppice just north of Hastings. The reception of mobile signal is almost non existant on the site, so far no problem.

However we were in Hastings today and there I expect to have good reception quality due to it being urban but unfortunately this was not the case.

Today is my first day in the UK and I'm using a Dutch KPN sim card in a OnePlus 11 5G phone. We roam and use any British mobile operator available.

Network reception in Hastings was so bad I could not even perform an Ookla Speedtest nor was I able to capture my given IP-address.

Is the reception in this part of the UK just poor (unlikely) or is it the nature of the agreement of Dutch operator KPN with the British operators?

Would I be better off buying a British sim card for these three weeks or will it get better?

I'm using my phone in hand, outside the vehicle to just find interesting things to do and see. No devices are connected to the phone.


PS: we brought our tent as the van is not ready yet, and there's only one Dometic window in it as the second was not delivered. Will continue insulating when I get home, and next year I'll purchase a VanderMoon interior. Will update build thread every once in a while.

 

[rod_vw]

I'm sorry to say that mobile phone reception can be, and often is, appalling in many parts of the UK. I wouldn't like to guarantee that any of our mobile phone carriers offer good reception generally across the country. Obviously rural areas with significant hills are normally the worst.
I am sat at home and know that there are at least five mobile phone masts within a mile (1.6km) but I still have to stand in certain places to have a good reception!

 

[Lebowski]

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the clarification, we've moved to Widecombe now, in Dartmoor and there's exactly zero 4G/5G coverage here, luckily the camp site WiFi fixes this.

It strengthens my belief that a Starlink hookup is needed for reliable internet connectivity as it does away with mobile blind spots. I need to have some acceptance criteria met before I hand over my money to them, for instance a roof rack and done more things.

 

[rod_vw]

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the clarification, we've moved to Widecombe now, in Dartmoor and there's exactly zero 4G/5G coverage here, luckily the camp site WiFi fixes this.

It strengthens my belief that a Starlink hookup is needed for reliable internet connectivity as it does away with mobile blind spots. I need to have some acceptance criteria met before I hand over my money to them, for instance a roof rack and done more things.

With many parts of Dartmoor being remote I am not surprised that you are having problems with 4G/5G reception.

We have a motorhome forum called MotorhomeFun where there are members who use various methods of improving internet access including Starlink, you may find it useful to visit that forum for help/information.

 

[Raul a/3]

I use a LTE teltonica rutx12 router and a external antenna. Never been without streaming signal, even in the remotes of hi lands in Scotland, and Hebrides.

 

[Lebowski]

That's exactly what we don't have as we just use our phones

 

[Lebowski]

Update: manually switched to EE a couple of days ago and now we have working internet.

 

[Lebowski]

We're at Abbots Reading Farm and Camping Cabins · Ulverston by the way

 

[Raul a/3]

Update: manually switched to EE a couple of days ago and now we have working internet.

View attachment 1294

That is very low speed, are you sure your provider is not throttling you down on roaming?

 

[Lebowski]

Could very well be, or that we're far out of urban areas, far away from reception towers. Or that the speed here is low by default.

 

[S-M]

i work in rural Northumberland and the Scottish Borders as a smart meter field engineer and use 2 different sim cards in my work phone to keep me online more, imo EE offers slightly better coverage than 3(three) but they both fall short.

EE has already turned off 3G which doesnt help
3 Three still has 3G which can help.

I was using a small MIFI router in my campervan recently and its struggling off grid so i have procured the largest 3g/4g/5g external antenna i could get from work and its going on my roof with a dedicated router