Is it time to subscribe to a printer service from HP?

Ever since my dad brought home an...

What’s the best way of buying a phone today?

How did you buy your latest phone?...

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that...

Day 103 of the Vodafone Zero-3G Experience in Richmond

Screen shot 2010-10-05 at 22.15.22.png

So I’ve been doing a lot of consultancy with a massive, global, huge, big company in Richmond-Upon-Thames for quite a while now. 103 days, approximately.

There is next to no Vodafone signal in the building, despite it being located in downtown PRIME Richmond. Walk outside and wave your handset around and you’ll be lucky to hit 3G for a few moments. All other times, I’m reduced to sitting with an ‘EDGE’ connection which is utterly utterly useless. The network might as well say ‘you must be joking’ rather than bother to hint that there might be a ‘2G+’ signal capable of more than 20 bytes throughput at any one time.

It’s a flipping nonsense.

Telephone calls still work.

That is pretty good.

Vodafone has managed to get that far.

Meanwhile, I’m having a brilliant, brilliant time with the 3 signal. I now automatically pick up my 3 iPhone4 if I want to actually DO something with my mobile devices. I have also got my BlackBerry Torch roaming on the 3 MiFi unit, so that it can actually function beyond the network equivalent of an occasional limp followed by a long draw on a ciggie, a swipe of cheap whisky and another attempt at limping.

Who does one have to sleep with to get Vodafone to actually make their 3G service work in Richmond?

Their service is almost as bad as AT&T in New York or San Francisco. And that is saying something.

Vodafone: The network you can generally depend on.

Total, total rubbish.

I’m not calling on Vodafone to do anything, obviously. I understand that their hands are tied, that ‘things are in motion’, that ‘engineers will be looking at it [for the next eon]’ and that ‘yes, dear me, that must be frustrating for you’.

Meanwhile I’ve got 3G+ in Marlow. When I don’t quite need it.

Am I seriously, SERIOUSLY going to have experience this kind of shit for the next two decades before we get some kind of ubiquitous blanket data connectivity?

Next.

[And if you are occasionally really frustrated by your mobile operator, read this post to find out about their next bright (stupid) idea — “ The joint mobile operating system: A risible idea.]

5 COMMENTS

  1. While you are not getting a signal, in shanghai i get 5+ bars with tinfoil wrapped around my head, mobile, hell even house. (then again i think they hid the mast in the mcdonald’s sign) 20 gazillion served..

  2. The O2 signal is very poor in the Richmond area too. One might start to think there’s something disrupting it, as I’ve read it used to be very good.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recently Published

Is it time to subscribe to a printer service from HP?

Ever since my dad brought home an HP LaserJet printer (version 3, if memory serves), I have been printing with an HP. Over the...

What’s the best way of buying a phone today?

How did you buy your latest phone? I'm asking because I'm thinking about what I should be doing. When I was living in Oman, I...

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that next to nothing from Mobile World Congress would break through into the mainstream media. I was right,...

How Wireless Will Pave the Path to Neobank Profitability

I'm delighted to bring you an opinion piece from Rafa Plantier at Gigs.com. I think it's particularly relevant given the recent eSIM news from...

An end of an era: Vodafone UK turns off 3G services

I thought it was worthwhile highlighting this one from the Vodafone UK team. For so long - for what feels like years, seeing the...

Mobile World Congress: Did the mainstream media notice?

I resolved this year to make sure I wrote something - anything - about Mobile World Congress, the huge mobile industry trade show taking...