Travelling the continent

[Squiffy]

One of the things that really Ts me off about travelling around Britain is the 4G/5G situation, I've retired, I retired when I was sixty but my wife bless her was only 50 at the time, however she soon was able to work part time as PA to a property developer that she had been working for full time for the previous ten years. Her work is such that she can do the majority of her work on the Internet and mobile phone so we were able to go to the continent more or less at will and as time progressed it got easier and easier as the continentals were putting more and more infrastructure into 3G and then 4G, then came Covid 19, and we were restricted to the UK, don't get me wrong the UK countryside is some of the best in the world and we love touring round, the major trouble with the UK is mobile phone signal strength and 4G signal which is absolute crap, we have to hunt around to find a place to park up that has at least a semblance of a signal where as even in the mountains of Switzerland or Italy you get a strong 3G or 4G signal. Poland had wifi on their buses and coaches long long before British transport companies even thought of putting it on trains and buses, and public WiFi is everywhere on the continent and so we can't wait till France fully reopens. .Phil

 

[Deleted member 12559]

The impression I get is that is that the installation of transmission masts and infrastructure in the
UK is so expensive and difficult to achieve, that it's often not economically viable. 'Profit
maximisation' being the operative phrase of course.
UK land values, planning objections, all contribute to the poor coverage, IIRC some farmers don't half
get huge rents for having a mast on their land.
One thing I'm sure of though, is that poor signal reception in the UK is definitely not due to the high mountain
ranges.
Presumably you have a Wifi range extending aerial if you're expecting to use public hotspots eg McDonalds.

 

[Millie Master]

Oh Phil, I know only too well how the infernal internet, or rather the lack of in the UK, causes so many people so many problems but for us it is sheer bliss as we can sit around enjoying the flora and fauna and the twittering of the birds without the blessed mobile phone ruining the peace and quiet for us!

But Phil, if it does cause you so much of a problem, have you thought about getting a sat/dish set up so that you can get easy access to the internet? At one time when we lived in France, our house was so far away from the exchange that the only way we could get any kind of signal was with a sat. installation.

 

[Squiffy]

The impression I get is that is that the installation of transmission masts and infrastructure in the
UK is so expensive and difficult to achieve, that it's often not economically viable. 'Profit
maximisation' being the operative phrase of course.
UK land values, planning objections, all contribute to the poor coverage, IIRC some farmers don't half
get huge rents for having a mast on their land.
One thing I'm sure of though, is that poor signal reception in the UK is definitely not due to the high mountain
ranges.
Presumably you have a Wifi range extending aerial if you're expecting to use public hotspots eg McDonalds.

No we don't have WiFi range extender but in the UK you surely do need one, but the whole point of me retiring early and for Eileen to be part time Tues to Thursday was so we could travel around and not be stuck in a McDonald's car park or close by in some city area, we might just as well stay home and she could as she does work from the house when we are home. Phil

 

[Squiffy]

Oh Phil, I know only too well how the infernal internet, or rather the lack of in the UK, causes so many people so many problems but for us it is sheer bliss as we can sit around enjoying the flora and fauna and the twittering of the birds without the blessed mobile phone ruining the peace and quiet for us!

But Phil, if it does cause you so much of a problem, have you thought about getting a sat/dish set up so that you can get easy access to the internet? At one time when we lived in France, our house was so far away from the exchange that the only way we could get any kind of signal was with a sat. installation.

Great idea Phil, I had thought about it but the expense is beyond me and Eileen's boss although he pays all phone and broadband expenses when we are home,
Plus use abroad, I think he would definitely bulk at sat Internet prices. She's good at her job and has her finger on the pulse was the reason he allowed her to work remotely, but there is a limit . Phil.

 

[Millie Master]

Plus use abroad, I think he would definitely bulk at sat Internet prices. She's good at her job and has her finger on the pulse was the reason he allowed her to work remotely, but there is a limit . Phil.

Suitably set up Phil, there would be no French, German or whatever charges as you would be hooking up directly to a satellite, well that is how it was when we were living there.

Gaud it's warm in Lincolnshire today!
Phil

 

[Squiffy]

Suitably set up Phil, there would be no French, German or whatever charges as you would be hooking up directly to a satellite, well that is how it was when we were living there.

Gaud it's warm in Lincolnshire today!
Phil

Just had a Google melt down Phil, it would seem that it would not be viable in the UK financially, plus the size of the dish has to be larger than my Camos sat dish so would require another dish to carry round. .

It's 42c on my decking under the pergola

 

[Deleted member 12559]

No we don't have WiFi range extender but in the UK you surely do need one, but the whole point of me retiring early and for Eileen to be part time Tues to Thursday was so we could travel around and not be stuck in a McDonald's car park or close by in some city area, we might just as well stay home and she could as she does work from the house when we are home. Phil

In your post you mention in Poland and on the continent 'Wifi' is available and so you can't wait till France opens fully (as distinct from data services), I assumed you meant Wifi services. Anyway, agreed it is often more often available than here, but can often be out of range, usually due to signal dropout. That's when I give the local Wifi a shot. Unfortunately these days most hotspots, particularly private ones have at least password protection. With roaming charges now making a comeback it may well pay at times to be able to access a nearby gratis Wifi source, perhaps a kilometre distant, or at least well away from a MacKentuckaBurger trough.

 

[Squiffy]

In your post you mention in Poland and on the continent 'Wifi' is available and so you can't wait till France opens fully (as distinct from data services), I assumed you meant Wifi services. Anyway, agreed it is often more often available than here, but can often be out of range, usually due to signal dropout. That's when I give the local Wifi a shot. Unfortunately these days most hotspots, particularly private ones have at least password protection. With roaming charges now making a comeback it may well pay at times to be able to access a nearby gratis Wifi source, perhaps a kilometre distant, or at least well away from a MacKentuckaBurger trough.

That's my point, that on the continent 3 & 4G signals are strong in nearly all parts or at least EE and o2 are strong, the necessity to use a public WiFi is almost not required but its there if needed, the majority not needing passwords. You also do not need to enter your address or email before it will let you on as is the want of most pub/ Coffee shop wifi's in the UK ( So they can sell your email to the highest bidder, regardless of GDPR ). For a little security we use secondary phones with no info on them that would be of any use to a hacker, if money has to change hands she phones the finance department and tells them to pay so and so, X amount. As for roaming charges back in play its a bit of a pain for our personal phones, though I'm lucky that my contract still has a year to run so EE have said that current contracts will not be included hopefully by this time next year they will all have reversed their decision , of course we don't pay for the wife's business roaming or voice calls. Phil

Sorry just realised no not data I meant when French borders reopen fully to allow us back onto the continent, or at least when everything has settled down and not up and downing on Covid rules.

 

[Deleted member 12559]

There's a suspicion that when using data services via your UK provider overseas, that the data rate is sometimes
strangulated by the overseas provider which tends to give preference to it's own subscribers. I don't how true
this is. When my connection goes awol I usually assume it's just my physically poor location at the time.
Some people just buy a local non contract SIM thinking it a better proposition. Something I used to do before
right to roam came around.

 

[Squiffy]

There's a suspicion that when using data services via your UK provider overseas, that the data rate is sometimes
strangulated by the overseas provider which tends to give preference to it's own subscribers. I don't how true
this is. When my connection goes awol I usually assume it's just my physically poor location at the time.
Some people just buy a local non contract SIM thinking it a better proposition. Something I used to do before
right to roam came around.

To be fair to EE and o2 we've never had much trouble with dropping out certainly nothing like as happens in the UK, as a matter of interest what provider do you use. The only time we have used a local sim was our first trip to Poland about 11 years ago on the advice of a Polish friend but found that it was not really necessary and certainly not when we went to a Polish friends wedding two years ago, after the wedding we travelled all over Poland from the South up to the Baltic and no problem with broadband or phone signal..Phil

 

[Deleted member 12559]

I'm with 3uk, AFAIK they use the O2 infrastructure, in turn 02 are owned by Telefonica Espana.
Another reason why we possibly get poorer service in the UK is that years ago the main providers
had to pay, was it 4 or 5 billion? quids to HM Gov. for the Operating licences. They had to get this
money back somehow, so the government of the day gave them carte blanche to charge consumers
extortionate fees and provide the minimum service commensurate with maximum profit, hence limited
spending on infrastructure. Which really meant that when they stated terms such as 90% coverage they really
meant 90% of the population ie cities and towns, not geographical covereage. So it was sod the rural folk,
and the likely places where many motorhomers might be.

I realise that probably most people are aware of these events, but your post prompted me into remembering
why I was such an angry young man at the time

Tbh my Spanish relatives inform me much the same pattern occured in Espana.