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EE customers have best mobile network experience, new report claims
EE has passed 90% 4G availability in the UK for the first time, as it continues to outperform its rivals in giving its customers the best network experience, according to Opensignal.
The mobile analytics company's latest UK Mobile Network Experience report has seen further improvement from the network giant, which continues to sit above rivals O2, Vodafone and Three when it comes to availability and speed.
EE might have the best network experience but who offers the best customer experience? - find out in our roundup of the best and worst mobile networks for 2019.
How does EE compare to O2, Three and Vodafone?
4G availability
4G availability looked at how often network customers were able to access 4G signals.
EE was the only network whose customers were able to access 4G more than 90% of the time and was well ahead of its closest rivals, O2 and Vodafone, both of whom scoring around 85%.
Three barely improved on its score from the last set of results in April, only adding 0.2% more to its 4G availability performance compared with an almost 5% increase for EE.
4G speeds
4G download speeds looks at the average speed customers experienced when using their mobile device.
EE again vastly outperformed its rivals when it came to download speeds, being the only provider to offer speeds over 30Mbps to its customers, offering a whopping average speed of 33.7Mbps.
This was almost exactly double the speed O2 customers were experiencing on average - 16.9Mbps.
Three slightly improved on its score, as did Vodafone, both getting average speeds in the low to mid 20Mbps.
4G upload speeds
4G upload speeds are particularly important if you are someone who posts on social media regularly or likes to play online mobile games.
The competition was much tighter here with all four providers actually worsening in terms of the average upload speed customers were experiencing.
EE offered average upload speeds of 8.9Mbps with Vodafone and Three close behind on 7.8Mbps and 7.4Mbps
O2 customers again had the worst speeds with customers receiving an average speed of 5.7Mbps
What about 5G?
With 5G being so new as a technology, reliable enough data has not yet been collected but as 5G availability widens and more people start to access the network, data on 5G experiences will become available.
EE will be hoping to retain its crown but Three is fighting back hard and has bought the most spectrum (the radiowaves that carry 5G signal) which should mean it has the best 5G availability but it is still all to play for.
Read more - what is 5G?
How did real customers rate EE, O2, Three and Vodafone?
Our survey asks over 6100 mobile customers to rate their experience with some of the biggest mobile networks in the UK on various aspects of its service, from value for money, both at home and when roaming, to customer service and technical support.
Find out which mobile networks impressed well enough to be awarded Which? Recommended Provider status by going to our guide on the best and worst mobile networks for 2019.
You can also read our individual mobile network reviews of EE, O2, Three and Vodafone by clicking the network you wish to read more about.
