Best mobile phone coverage for sailing around Britain.

[Thresher]

This is a question that I thought would be done to death but I'm having trouble getting recent and reliable information and I don't trust the phone operators coverage maps.
Has anyone been around Britain recently? Did you use two phones from two different operators?

 

[westhinder]

When I went round in 2013 I had two different providers, one for the phone and a separate one for the pc, and I didn’t notice a great difference. The West coast of Scotland has patchy reception, due to its geography, you will have to put up with that. But surely getting away from it all is one of the main attractions and the Hebrides are the absolute high point of the trip. Do not worry, just go.

 

[dunedin]

Definitely want to have devices on at least two separate networks for the West Coast of Scotland.
I have my phone on EE/BT and it is one the better ones, my wife is on Vodafone and my iPad is on 3.

Just bought a Vodafone PAYG SIM for my old phone to use as backup when sailing solo.

Have occasionally hoisted mobile phone to top of mast to get better signal. But that is quite rare.

PS. Could I strap my spare phone onto the Mavic Mini to get even better signal?

 

[Railbob]

We have our mobile phones on different providers to maximise coverage. In Portavadie I have poor signal reception with Vodafone whilst my other half gets a good signal from EE.

 

[Minchsailor]

I have heard that EE has (or is that now had?0 the blue light contract for western Scotland, and they had to upgrade their network.. Certainly the coverage is not bad, but a long way off what a city dweller would expect. My No2 phone is on Vodafone, and between the two of them I get by.

(NB - the mobile in the Faeroes and NW and N Norway is immaculate - coverage and speed,. So it can be done in mountainous terrain).

 

[Humblebee]

When I went round in 2013 I had two different providers, one for the phone and a separate one for the pc, and I didn’t notice a great difference. The West coast of Scotland has patchy reception, due to its geography, you will have to put up with that. But surely getting away from it all is one of the main attractions and the Hebrides are the absolute high point of the trip. Do not worry, just go.

I agree, reception in the west is patchy but hey, so what, make that part of the appeal of the area.
Phones and cheap SIM cards mean it is no great cost to have a couple with different providers if you do need to keep in touch, my wife and I have phones on separate networks, but a month without emails suits me fine!

 

[NormanS]

We have three different phone network providers, but still often have to climb a hill to get a usable signal. It doesn't bother me, except that I do like to get an XC forecast occasionally. Texting works very much better than phoning.

 

[Minchsailor]

Texting works very much better than phoning.

Agree.

Quite often well offshore my phone will spring into life and download a whole string of texts, but cant make voice calls.

 

[awol]

 

[TernVI]

Back in the day, we used to get an Eastern European SIM which would roam to all UK networks, it was quite cost effective for SMS data.

It's important to get a phone which covers all the bands.

 

[Sandy]

This is a question that I thought would be done to death but I'm having trouble getting recent and reliable information and I don't trust the phone operators coverage maps.
Has anyone been around Britain recently? Did you use two phones from two different operators?

I'm toddeling round next Aug/Sep/Oct. To date I've used EE happily along the south coast from Falmouth to Ramsgate then up the east as far as Hartlepool. At other times I've used EE in Orkney, the West Highlands (a great signal from the top of Ben Nevis) and in the Scottish central belt. However, Wales is a mystery.

 

[mjcoon]

Back in the day, we used to get an Eastern European SIM which would roam to all UK networks, it was quite cost effective for SMS data.

It's important to get a phone which covers all the bands.

Some years ago, tacking between Kos and Bodrum, I was amused that my phone kept on announcing: "Welcome to Greece" ... "Welcome to Turkey" ...

 

[AngusMcDoon]

It's important to get a phone which covers all the bands.

I have also found a significant difference between different phones on the same network, even from the same manufacturer, and newer is not always better. The best reception I have found is using a Moto G5 on 4G. I can watch cat videos with impunity whilst others with later and flashier options fail to get a plain text email through. They are available refurbished on ebay for not a lot and are great at tethering.

 

[TernVI]

Some years ago, tacking between Kos and Bodrum, I was amused that my phone kept on announcing: "Welcome to Greece" ... "Welcome to Turkey" ...

Worse than that, when I lived in Southsea, my phone often thought I was on the Isle of Wight.

 

[TernVI]

I have also found a significant difference between different phones on the same network, even from the same manufacturer, and newer is not always better. The best reception I have found is using a Moto G5 on 4G. I can watch cat videos with impunity whilst others with later and flashier options fail to get a plain text email through. They are available refurbished on ebay for not a lot and are great at tethering.

The sting in the tail is that apparently, not all 'Brand X, model Y' phones are the same, there are variants for different markets.
4G is spread over a lot of sub bands.
2G is in 4 bands only 2 of which are used in the UK.
3G I've forgotten about.

Minefield.

 

[mjcoon]

Worse than that, when I lived in Southsea, my phone often thought I was on the Isle of Wight.

That could make phone satnav interesting!

 

[Hadenough]

View attachment 104683

image head in the sand.

Well that didn’t work did it?

 

[TernVI]

That could make phone satnav interesting!

satnavs and phones were separate species back then!
There were Sony satnavs, not sure they were doing phones yet?

 

[ashtead]

Ideally if worried I would install an aerial at top of mast with connector running to nav area. It’s amazing the difference having a mobile phone aerial up your mast makes in med for offshore calls and I guess same in those remote northern islands to gain a signal . We use BT and never have a problem compared to the likes of the old Out of range Orange . I guess there must be detailed advice though on web on providers in far flung parts of Scotland etc . Why not buy or rent a satellite phone ?

 

[ashtead]

Worse than that, when I lived in Southsea, my phone often thought I was on the Isle of Wight.

You can but dream of the delights of Seaview but there a million miles between the two.