Mobile coverage at Bradwell

bromleybysea

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I’m thinking of changing mobile provider. Based in Bradwell, my current EE is pretty marginal and 4G comes and goes, though I’d be surprised if any of the competition is any better. 3 offers the best deal for my purposes; can anyone tell me what 3 coverage is like in the marina? Or advise on alternatives. Thanks.
 
There is a useful map on Ofcom's website, with which you can switch on/off layers to show the phone and 4G coverage in a particular area for the four different networks. View mobile availability - Ofcom Checker

It's based on theoretical models but I've found it rather accurate, and as good as you are likely to get without going around the place itself with 4 phones each on a different network (and even then it seems to change in marginal areas according to the weather, presence of goblins and other mysterious factors).

I used this to choose a provider when recently moving to an area with no coverage by my old network, and only marginal on the other three. (It revealed I could have had a much better signal where I lived previously than the one I had put up with for a over a decade!) It was certainly more accurate for my new abode than the diverse views I got from my new neighbours. I got a 99p 'Pay as you Go' SIM with no credit to check the coverage of my provisionally chosen network to check the actuality before committing myself to a contract.
 
Never trust neighbour's opinions. I checked with my neighbours on broadband reliabilty. It depends on what they use the internet for, how aware they are of the issues and (many people think the provider supplies them with WIFI) whether they believed the sales pitch or actually check their speeds. Much the same with phones. The four main providers don't each have an infrastructure covering the whole of the UK. They share the masts with those who operate them.
It's already common practice (piggy-backing) but has now become formalised.

Mobile network operators EE, O2, Three and Vodafone are investing in a network of new and existing shared phone masts, overseen by a jointly-owned company called Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited.
The world-first deal will be a huge boost for people across the country in rural areas and will deliver strong 4G coverage irrespective of which network provider people use. It means all four mobile network operators will deliver 95 per cent combined coverage across the whole of the UK by the end of 2025.

Whilst you can only get what the infrastructure offers, you can get different deals from other providers using the best local network Need to keep your signal? You can still switch network
 
Sadly, information on coverage from Ofcom and my current provider (EE) is of little help as both claim phone and 4g coverage in Bradwell which, in my experience, is very patchy. I want to stay with one of the 4 primary networks because the availability of internet calling-when you can get a decent signal- is better and 3 appeals because it seems a to be making a thing at the moment about not imposing roaming charges and you never know, we might get back to Holland and France in our boats one day. Of course that may change when they have hoovered-up enough disgruntled customers from other networks. Being fairly lazy about chasing the best deals for things like mobile phone and internet, I’ve realised that the average £45 per month for two sim-only mobile numbers with 4 gig of data each is an utter rip-off. So much for being a loyal EE customer. I suspect though, that Bradwell, being a pretty rural place, won’t have decent coverage from any network.
 
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